Talks on the Gita -Vinoba 195

Chapter 16 CONFLICT BETWEEN THE DIVINE AND THE DEMONIACAL TENDENCIES 90. Four Stages in The Development Of Nonviolence 12. Now we are in the midst of the fourth experiment, in which the whole society is engaged in resisting violence through non-violent means. These are the four experiments in non-violence. All of the earlier experiments were imperfect, and our present experiment too is imperfect. This is but inevitable in the course of evolution. But in the context of their times, the experiments of the past were the best possible ones. After thousands of years, our present non-violent war too would appear to have a large measure of violence in it. There will be many more experiments in non-violence in future. Not only jnana, karma and bhakti, but even all the virtues have been continually developing. Only the Lord, the Supreme Self, is perfect; none else is. Purushottamyoga in the Gita is perfect; but it is yet to be fully developed in individual and social life. The sayings too go on acquiring newer and higher meanings and connotations. The sages are considered ‘seers’ of the mantras (Vedic verses), not their authors, as they ‘saw’ their meanings through a vision. But those are not the exclusive meanings of the mantras. More developed meanings can be seen by us. This is so, not because there is something special in us; it is on the basis of their experiments and experiences that we have gone ahead. I have chosen non-violence as an example and reviewed its development, as it is the essence of all the virtues, and also because we are engaged in a nonviolent struggle.