Karma Yoga Sastra -Tilak
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CHAPTER III
THE SCIENCE OF RGHT ACTION
(KARMA-YOGA-SASTRA) that is : " inferential logic is uncertain, i. e., it is such that if will give birth to various inferences according to different degrees of keenness of intelligence in men ; the Srutis, that is the precepts of the Vedas, are all mutually conflicting ; and, as regards the Smrtis, there is not a single rsi (sage) whose precept we can look upon as more authoritative than that of others Well, if we seek the fundamental principle of this (worldly) dharma, it is lost in darkness, that is to say, it is such as cannot be understood by a man of ordinary intelligence. Therefore, the path which have been followed by venerable persons is the path of dharma". very well! but who are the venerable persons (mahajanah)? That word 'mahajanah' cannot be interpreted to mean ' a large (maha) collection of persons (janah)'. Because, following the path which has been laid down by ordinary persons (or collection of persons),whose minds are never troubled by and what is right and what is wrong will be like playing a blind man's buff or like " andhenaiva niyamana yathandhah", i.e., "the blind being led by the blind", as stated in the Kathopanised.If you interprete the word ' mahajanah 'as meaning conveyed in the above verse-then, where is there, any uniformity in their behaviour?: The sinless RamaCandra discarded his wife though she had passed through the ordeal of fire, merely on the ground of public criticism; and the same Ramacandra, in order that Sugriva should be on his side, entered into an offensive and defensive alliance with him, by making him 'tulyarimitra', i. e., ' with common friends and enemies ', and killed Vali who had in no way wronged him ! Parasurama murdered his own mother at the behest of his father !, and as regards the pandavas, five of them had only one wife ! If [1]you consider the gods in the heavens, then some of them are the paramours of Ahilya, whereas others are seen lying in the sky mutilated bodies, being wounded by the arrows of Rudra, as was Brahmadeva because he ran after his own daughter in form of a stag [2]. With these things before his mind's eye, Bhavabhuti has put the words : "vrddha te na vicaraniyacaritah", i.e., "one must not attach too much importance to the doings of these old people " in the mouth of Lava in the Uttararamacarita. |
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