Gita Rahasya -Tilak 138

Gita Rahasya -Tilak

CHAPTER VI THE INTUITIONIST SCHOOL AND THE CONSIDERATION OF THE BODY AND THE ATMAN (ADHIDAIVATA-PAKSA AND KSETRA-KSETRAJNA-VICARA) The body of man ( pinda, ksetra, or sarira ) may be said to be a great factory. As in any factory raw material is first taken in from outside, and then all the material is selected or arranged, and having determined which of the material is useful for the factory and which not, the raw material taken In is manufactured into different articles and sent out, so also are there numerous activities going on, every moment in the human body. The first of the means man has for acquiring the knowledge of the various objects in the world, made up of the five primordial elements, are his organs. The, true or fundamental form of the objects in the world cannot be realized by any one by means of his organs. Materialists say that such form is the same as it appears to oul organs; but if tomorrow a human being acquires another new organ, then, from his point of view the qualities of the different objects in the world will be different. Human organs are of two kinds, namely, organs of Action ( karmenndriya ) and organs of perception (jnanendriya). The hands, the feet, the voice, the anus and the generative organs are the five organs of Action. All the Actions which we perform by means of our body are performed through these five organs. Besides these, there are the five organs of perception, namely, the nose, the eyes, the ears, the tongue and the skin. "We perceive colour by the eyes, taste by the tongue, sound by the ears, smell by the nose, and touch by the skin. All the knowledge that we acquire of any external object, is the effect of its _ colour, taste, sound, smell or touch, and nothing else. For instance, take a piece of gold. It looks yellow, it seems heavy to the touch, and it is elongated on being hammered. These and its other qualities which we perceive by means of our organs, is what is 'gold ' in our eyes; and when these qualities are seen to recur in any particular object, then such object becomes an independent physical object named 'gold' in our opinion. Just as there are doors in a factory for taking material in from outside and for sending out the material which is inside, so also, the organs of perception and the doors of the human body for taking material inside and the organs are the doors for sending that material out. When the raysof the Sun fall on any object and enter our eyes on being ref- lected, our Atman perceives the colour of that object ; and whenthe minute atoms of scent, emanating from that object come and strike our olfactory nerves, we smell it. The functionsof the other organs of perception are carried on in the same way ; and when the organs perception are functioning in this way, we become aware of the external objects in the world through their medium. But the organs of perception do not themselves acquire the knowledge of the activities which they carry on ; and therefore, these organs of perception are not called 'jnata ' (Knower), but they have been referred to as the portals for taking in material from outside.