Gita Rahasya -Tilak 19

Karma Yoga Sastra -Tilak

CHAPTER I INTRODUCTORY The opinion of Nimbarkacarya regarding the Conscious Ego (Jiva) the Cosmos (jagat) and the Isvara is, that although these three an different from each other, yet the existence and activity of the Conscious Ego (jiva) and of the Cosmos are not independent but depend upon the desire of the Isvara; and that the subtle elements of the Conscious Ego (jiva) and of the Cosmos are contained ir the fundamental Isvara. In order to prove this doctrine Nimbarka has written an independent bhasya on the Vedanta- sutras, and Kesava Kasmiri Bhattacarya, who belongs to this school has written a commentary on the Bhagavadgita called " Tattvaprakasika ' and has shown in it that the moral laid down by the Gita is consistent with the doctrines of this school. In order to differentiate this school from the Qualified-Monism school of Ramanujacarya, one may refer to it as the Daal-Non- Dual (dvaitadvaita) school. It is quite clear that these different Devotional sub-cults of Duality and Qualified- Monism which discard the Samkara doctrine of Maya have come into existence because of the belief that Devotion, that is, the worship of a tangible thing, loses foundation and to a certain extent becomes forceless, unless one looks upon the visible objects in the world as real. But one cannot say that in order to justify Devotion, the theories of Non-duality or of Illusion have to be discarded. The saints in the Maharastra have substantiated the doctrine of Devotion without discarding the doctrines of Illusion and Non-Duality ; and this course seems to have been followed from before the time of Sri Samkaracarya. In this cult, the doctrines of Non-Duality, the illusory nature of things, and the necessity of abandonment of Action which are the concomittant doctrines of the Samkara cult are taken for granted. But the advice of the followers of this school, such as the Saint Tukarama is that Devotion is the easiest of the means by which Release in the shape of realising the identity of the Brahman and the Atman, can be obtained : " if you want to reach the Isvara, then this is the easiest way " ; and they say that the path of Devotion based on Non-Duality is the principal moral of the Gita in as much as the Blessed Lord himself has first told Arjuna that klesodhikatarastesam avyaktasaktacetasam " ...i. e., " con- centrating the mind on the Intangible Brahman is more difficult " and subsequently told him that : " bhaktasteliva me priyah " i. e., " my devotees are most beloved of me " . The summing up of the Gita. which has been made by Sridhar Svami in his commentary on the Glta. is of this kind. But, the most valuable work relating to this school, though in the Marathi language, is the Jnanesvari. In this work it is stated that the Doctrine of Karma is dealt with in the first four out of the 18 chapters of the Gita, the Doctrine of Devotion in the next seven and the Doctrine of Jnana in the subsequent chapters and Jnanesvara himself has at the end of his book said that he has written his commentary " after consulting the Bhasyakaras (Samkaracarya)." But, as Jnanesvara. Maharaja had the wonderful skill of expounding the meaning "of the Gita, by numerous beautiful illustrations and com- parisons and also, as he has propounded the doctrines of Desireless Action and principally the doctrine of Devotion in a much better way than Sri Samkaracarya, the Jnanesvari must be looked upon as an independent treatise on the Gita.