Gita Rahasya -Tilak 265

Karma Yoga Sastra -Tilak

CHAPTER IX THE PHILOSOPHY OF THE ABSOLUTE SELF That man whose Discerning. Reason has become devoted to the Self, that is, has become steady in the contemplation on the Self and Non-Self, and who has Realised the identity of the Atman with all created beings, must, undoubtedly, also possess a Desiring Reason which is pure. But, as there is no other external measure except a man's conduct for finding out the- state of his Reason, the words ' jnana' ( Knowledge ) or ' stmabuddhi ' ( equable mind ) are usually made to include the pure Discerning Reason, the pure Desiring Reason, and pure Conduct; this thing must be borne in mind, especially in these days of bookish knowledge. There may be many who can give long dry discourses on the Brahman, and also others who hearing those discourses will nod their heads in apprecia- tion and say 'Hear, hear', or, like courtiers in a drama, say,. "Let us hear the same thing again " ; but, as stated above, that man who has become internally and externally pure, that is, equable in mind, is the true devotee of the Atman, and he alone attains Release, and not mere learned men who may be how well-read or intelligent soever, it has been plainly stated in the Upanisads that: "nayam atma pravacanena labhyo na medhaya na bahuna srutena" ,. ( that is, " this Atman is not reached by giving discourses, nor by intelligence, nor by great learning " — Trans.), and the Saint Tukarama has also said : — " you have become a Pandit (i.e.,. learned man), you interpret the Puranas t but you do not know who you are II " . See how narrow our minds are ;' The words ' attains Release ' easily come out of our mouths, as if Release is something different from the Atman. There- would be difference between the Observer and the visible- world, before the Knowledge has been acquired that the Brahman and the Atman are identical ; but, our Vedantists- have come to the conclusion that when one has fully Realised the identity of the Brahman and the Atman, the Atman is merged into the Brahman, and the brahmajnam (one who has Realised the Brahman) acquires the form of Brahman wherever he is ; and. this Metaphysical state is known as the ' brahmanirvana Release,' which is not given by anybody to anybody, and which does not come from anywhere, and for obtaining which it is not necessary to leave this world and to go to another world. Whenever and wherever the complete Realisation of the Atman comes, Release is obtained at that very moment and at that place ; because, Release is the fundamental pure, state of the Atman, and is not some independent thing or place. There is a stanza in the Siva-Gita that :— moksasya na hi vaso 'sti na gramantaram eva va I ajnanahrdayagranthiriaso moksa iti smrtah II