Gita Rahasya -Tilak
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CHAPTER III
THE SCIENCE OF RGHT ACTION
(KARMA-YOGA-SASTRA) That is what is meant by Manu when he says : " na mamsabhaksane doso na madye na ca maithune " [1], i. e., "Eating flesh or drinking wine or enjoying sexual intercourse, is not sinful. ", that is, there is nothing in them which is contrary to the rules of nature. All these things are the inherent desires, not only of ,'men but of every living being_ _ "pravrttir esa bhutanam", i. e., " these are the tendencies of created beings ". Morality consists in putting proper limitations on an unrestricted course of life resulting from passions in the interest of the maintenance of society or of general welfare. Because : — aharanidra bhayamaithunam ca samanyam etat pasubhir naranam I dharmo hi tesam adhiko viseso dharmena hinah pasubhih samanah II i. e. " eating, sleeping, fear, and sexual relations are the? heritage of men, same as of animals ; dharma, ( that is, restrain- ing them by rules of morality ), is the difference between man and beast ; and those who are not governed by this code of morality may be looked upon as beasts. " There is in the Santiparva of the Mahabharata, a similar verse[2] and the verse in the Bhagavata, which prescribes limitations on the desires of hunger etc. has been quoted in the previous chapter. In the same way what the Blessed Lord is referring to, is the nature of morality to lay down limitations on unrestricted mental impulses, where in the Bhagavadgita, He says to Arjuna : — indriyasyendriyasyarthe ragadvesau vyavasthitau I tayor na vasam agacchet tau hyasya paripanthinau II i.e. "the attractions and repulsions between the organs of sense on the one hand and the various objects which are pleasurable or repulsive to them on the other are unchangingly inherent. One should not become their slaves, because, both love and hate are enemies". The organs of a man urge him to behave like a beast, and his intelligence pulls him in the opposite direction. 'Those persons who redeem themselves by sacrificing the animal tendencies rampant in their bodies into the fire of this warfare are the true sacrificers, and are indeed blessed. Call dharma, 'acara-prabhava' (born of custom), or call it 'dharanat' (something which upholds or keeps together), or call it 'codanalaksana' (some precept which has been dictated), which- ever definition of dharma (worldly morality) is accepted, none of them is much, useful for coming to a definite conclusion, when one has to decide between what is moral and what immoral. The first definition only tells us what the funda- mental form of dharma is! The second definition tells us what its external use is, and the third definition tells us that moral restrictions were laid down in the beginning by some persons or other. Not only is there much difference between customs and customs but, as there are numerous consequences of one and the same act, and also as the 'codana' i.e., precepts of different rsis are also different, we have to look out for some other way of determining what the dharma is, when there are doubts in the. matter.When Yaksa asked Yudhisthira what this other way was, Yudhisthira replied :- tarko 'pratisthah srutayo vibhinnah naiko rsir yasya vacah pramanam I dharmasya tattvam nihitam guhayam mahajano yena gatah sa panthah II [3] |
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