Gita Rahasya -Tilak
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CHAPTER VI
THE INTUITIONIST SCHOOL AND THE CONSIDERATION OF THE BODY AND THE ATMAN
(ADHIDAIVATA-PAKSA AND KSETRA-KSETRAJNA-VICARA) In ordinary affairs, we say instead : "Do as the Mental Deity (manodevata) pleases. In the Marathi language, the word 'manahputa' has acquired quite the contrary meaning ; and on many occasions, when a person does whatever he likes, he is said to behave 'manahputa ' . But the true meaning of this phrase is that : 'One should do only that which the Mind considers as sacred or pure'. In the fourth chapter of the Manu-Samhita, Manu himself has made the meaning clearer by saying : yat karma kurvato 'sya syat paritoso'n taratmanah I tat prayatnena kurvita viparitam tu, varjayet II [1] that is, "One should perform by efforts that Action by which i one's innermost Atman is satisfied ; and one should give up whatever is disliked by it", So also, Manu, Yajnavalkya, and the other Smrti-writers, in mentioning the fundamental rules of practical morality such as the rules of Morality applicable to the four castes, etc. have said : vedah smrtih sadacarah svasya ca priyam atmanah I etac caturvidham prahuh saksad dharmasya laksanam II [2] that is, "the Vedas, the Smrtis, good behaviour, and the satisfaction of one's Atman, are the four fundamental elements of righteousness (dharmam). The meaning of the words 'the satisfaction of the Atman' is, 'that which one's Mind looks upon as pure' ; and it is quite clear that where the righteousness or unrighteousness of any particular Action could not be decided by consulting the Srutis, the Smrtis, and the principles of good behaviour (sadacara), the fourth means of deciding the matter was considered to be its 'manah-putata', i. e., its 'being considered as pure by the Mind'. In the Mahabharata, Dhrtarastra, after relating the stories of Prahlada and Indra mentioned in the last Chapter, has said in describing 'silam', that : yad anysam hitam na syad atmanah karma paurusam I apatrapeta va yena na tat kuryat kathamcana II [3] that is, "That Action of ours which is not beneficial to others, or of which we ourselves would feel ashamed, should not be performed in any case. My readers will notice that by using the expressions 'is not beneficial to others' and 'feel ashamed this verse has included in the same place both the doctrines of 'the greatest good of the greatest number' and the 'Mental Deity'. Even in the Manu-Smrti, that Action for having done which or when doing which one feels ashamed, is referred to as tamasa', and that Action of doing which one does not feel ashamed, and whereby our innermost self (antaratman) remains happy, is referred to as 'sattvika' [4] ; and these ideas are to be found also in the Buddhistic treatise Dhammapada [5] Kalidasa says that when there is a doubt as to the doability or non-doability of any Action : satam hi samdehapadesu vastusu pramanam antahkaranapravrttayah I |
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