Lokmanya Tilak- the First National Leader

by Gayatri Pagdi

  Tilak has dedicated the Geeta Rahasya not to a deity, but to “Mankind Deified”, “To the Divine Lord united with the Populace” that makes clear how he treated society as divine manifestation, and how his writing of this book stood for his life-philosophy. At the beginning of the Geeta Rahasya, Tilak quotes the verses from the Geeta: “Hence tirelessly perform (your) assigned duties in a detached mind; for so doing the duties, man attains the highest reward.”

  It is quite evident that the discussion of morality plays a very important if not the decisive role in the Geeta. It is a treatise on right or proper action (karmayoga) containing the philosophy of morality, based on brahmavidya. Tilak did not accept the traditional understanding which said that there were four paths to liberation namely Karma Yoga, Raja Yoga, Bhakti Yoga and Dnyana Yoga. In his speech in Amravati in 1917 he said, “There is a blending of all these Yogas in the Geeta and as the air is not Oxygen or Hydrogen or any other gas alone but a composition of all these in a certain proportion so in the Geeta, all these Yogas are blended into one.”

  Tilak was of the opinion that the crucial question of the Geeta was whether to act or to renounce all and be passive after one had reached the realisation of the Divine; or then, to continue to act according to one’s duty, the svadharma, for the well being of the world. He makes clear, that the Geeta answers this question by supporting activity. The world was not an illusion or Maya. It was a place where an individual has to live and strive and in the process perform his duties. The individual will, in this way, would attain spiritual freedom and promote the welfare of his fellow creatures.

  He writes in the Geeta Rahasya: “The Geeta accepts the doctrines of the writers of Upanishads that there is no release without dnyana and that by sacrifical ritualistic karma, one can at most attain heaven (Mundaka Upanishad 1.2.20, Geeta 2.41-45). But it is also a doctrine of the Geeta that in order that the affairs of the world should go on, the wheel of karma must be kept going on. And that it is foolish to give up karma any time. And therefore, the Geeta advises that instead of performing the rituals . . . ignorantly, one should perform them with a frame of mind which combines spiritual knowledge with indifference towards the world and merely as a duty so that the karma which is performed will not obstruct the release and at the same time the circle of the yugas will not be disrupted.”

  Tilak makes his spiritual stand perfectly clear in the Poona Sarvajanik Sabha Quarterly:

  The karma yoga that I preach is not a new theory; neither was the discovery of the law of karma made as recently as today. The knowledge of the law is so ancient that not even Shri Krishna was the great teacher who first propounded it. It must be remembered that karma yoga has been our sacred heritage from times immemorial when we Indians were seated on the high pedestal of wealth and lore. Karma yoga, or to put it in another way, the law of duty, is the combination of all that is best in spiritual science, in actual action and in an unselfish meditative life. Compliance with this universal law leads to the most realisation of the most cherished ideas of man . . . our forefathers, (who) never intended that the goal of life should be meditation alone. No one can expect Providence to protect one who sits with folded hands and throws his burden on others. God does not help the indolent. You must be doing all that to lift yourself up and only then may you rely on the Almighty to help you. You should not, however, presume that you have to toil that you yourself might reap the fruit of your labour. Remember, it is not you who had planted the mango-trees the fruit whereof you have tasted. Let the advantage now go to our children and their descendants. It is only given to us to toil and work. And so there ought to be no relaxation in our efforts, lest we incur the curse of those that come after us. Action alone must be our guiding principal, action disinterested and well thought out. It does not matter who the Sovereign is. It is enough that we have full liberty to elevate ourselves in the best possible manner. This is called immutable dharma, and Karma Yoga is nothing but the method which leads to the attainment of dharma or material and spiritual glory . . . God has declared His will. He has willed that self can be exalted through its own efforts. Everything lies in your own hands. Karma Yoga does not look upon this world as nothing; it requires that only your motives should be untainted by selfish interest and passion. This is the true view of practical Vedanta, the key to which is apt to be lost in sophistry.

  Rüstau, while comparing the Geeta Rahasya and the Dnyaneshwari says, “The social environment of Jnandeva and Tilak were different and so were their individual circumstances but nevertheless both had much in common, especially the interest in morality and ethics, demonstrated by Jnanadeva in his unique description of moral qualities, by Tilak in his explanation of why and how one has to act. Says Jnandeva, duty plays an important role. “If a person ... is firm in the performance of his duty, he will accomplish all his desires without effort . . . ” but “. . . he who ignores his call of duty loses his freedom.”

  On the issue of how much Tilak was influenced by Dnyaneshwari, Rustau feels that his understanding of the term “yoga” in the Geeta as meaning “Karma Yoga” and the philosophical conclusions resulting out of this are his own and original contribution to the history of ethics in India. But what is common to both Dnyaneshwari and the Geeta Rahasya, is the stress laid on ethics in general within their respective commentaries. No doubt Dnyanadeva also stressed the point of non-attached action leading to liberation and the fact that one has to act also after one has reached liberation, this was not directly seen as an influence on Tilak’s book as interpretation of the term “yoga”. However, Tilak’s Geeta Rahasya breathes the spirit of the Dnyaneshwari because its pivot is also morality and ethics.

  Rüstau feels that the vitality of a tradition can be recognised by its ability to correspond with the further development and the change of thoughts though the form of it may become obsolete. The Geeta quite obviously belongs to those traditions. Its content is sound and valid for a very long time since it answers questions of vital human importance. The Dnyaneshwari belongs to these traditions, which are always new and vivid and able to influence our thoughts and actions and to which also further generations may return from time to time for inspiration and orientation. A very similar thought echoes in Tilak’s words when he says, “We all are responsible to plant trees the fruit of which our children will harvest.”

  What exactly did religion stand for as far as Tilak was concerned? In one of his letters he said, “Religion in the true sense of the term means and includes the knowledge of nature of god and soul and of the ways and means by which the human soul can attain salvation.” Dharma, according to Tilak, was the integrative principle, and svadharma the spiritual and social duty of each individual. Here was the guide to social and political action.60 For Tilak, the Hindu religion represented an inalienable part of the Indian nation which provided all Indians with a link to God, that is, a higher truth, as well as with a link to their fellow-citizens: “Religion is an element in nationality. The word Dharma (Religion) means a tie and comes from the root ‘dhri’ to bear or hold. What is there to hold together? To connect the soul with God, and man with man.”

  Indeed, the word dharma means that which upholds and supports everything that exists. Dharma is the Eternal Law of the Universe, the Universal Order (Rta) which supports and holds everything together and enables all things, from the universe itself to human society, to function in an ordered, harmonious and efficient way in accordance with the Will of the Creator (Ishwara). In the Hindu tradition, therefore, religion or dharma stands for everything that is right, including righteousness (truth, order and justice) itself. Being a law, dharma also implies a duty to obey and carry it out incumbent upon all living beings:

  “Dharma means our duties towards God and duty towards man. Hindu religion as such provides for a moral as well as social tie. This being our definition we must go back to the past and see how it was worked out. During Vedic times India was a self-contained country. It was united as a great nation. That unity has disapp
eared, bringing on us great degradation and it becomes the duty of the leaders to revive that union.”61

  It is clear that for Tilak there was no distinction between religion and ethics for ethical values such as right, freedom, law, order and justice were the values of the Hindu religion. They were the expressions of the Supreme Eternal Law of the Universe, which was the very essence of the Hindu religion.

  Tilak believed that just as religion and ethics could not be separated, religion and politics could not be separated either. God and His Eternal Principle of Dharma (Righteousness) stood at the very centre of Hindu culture and civilisation. From that spiritual centre proceeded the values which formed the ethical and moral foundation of Hindu society and from that ethical and moral foundation proceeded all the duties, rights and actions in the civic sphere on which public life was based.

  Indeed, Hindu religion was a practical system, which inspired and directed all spheres of human knowledge and activity. Politics, therefore, was clearly inseparable from the Hindu religion. Hinduism was an activist religion and not a religion of renunciants. The path to liberation or God-realisation (Mukti) was a path of action. His support to the revolutionary movement in Bengal led by men, some of who were sanyasis of sorts, simply strengthens this belief. In fact, even Adi Shankaracharya has said in his own commentary on the Geeta, Bhagavadgeeta Bhashyam, “By doing works for the sake of God, man attains Supreme Liberation or God-realisation.” True renunciation, therefore, is not inaction but selfless action in service of God.

  Tilak commented in a speech on February 1908: “Religion and practical life are not different. To take sanyas (renunciation) is not to abandon life. The real spirit is to make the country your family instead of working only for your own. The step beyond it is to serve humanity and the next step is to serve God.”62 Shankaracharya also said that God is the supreme spiritual and ethical authority who decides the fate of all creatures. “Samsara and Moksha come from the Supreme Lord, because scriptures teach that.” On his part, man can only do his duty to God and society. Like the Lord said in the Geeta, “If killed, you will attain Heaven; if victorious, you will enjoy this world. Therefore, stand up, determined to fight.” The results of man’s efforts, physical, mental, and spiritual, depend on Him alone. As Shankaracharya added, “In either case, you stand only to gain—this is the Lord’s idea.”

  Wrote N. C. Kelkar, Tilak’s lifelong associate and his personal secretary, in his biography of Tilak: “‘Were I to abandon action, there will be world-wide catastrophe,’ so says Lord Krishna, for, the common man imitates the actions of distinguished leaders. So it is the bounden duty of the wise, to set example in conduct to the society. Says Tilak in the same vein, ‘Learned people are the very eyes of the society, and so their shirking from duty will lead to social destruction through mental blindness and imbalance.’ Further, ‘the wise constitute the eyes of the society even its preceptors, mending the society when and where needed, so as to suit the changing times and region.’”

  Says Kelkar further, “For Lokmanya, Adherence to Truth (Satyagraha) meant specifically Adherence to Absolute Truth. Like all things in the sphere of Maya, Conventional Truth could be manipulated in the higher cause of Absolute Truth. In political terms, the Highest Truth was that Independence was India’s divine birthright and that the goal was to attain Liberation from foreign rule. To attain this Higher Truth it was legitimate to manipulate Conventional Truth if and as necessary, according to circumstances.”

  Quoting the Mahabharata, Tilak wrote: “Religion and Morality consist in behaving towards others in the same way as they behave towards us; one must behave deceitfully towards deceitful persons, and in a saintly way towards saintly persons.” Thus, in a Hindu revolutionary context, the use of deception to overcome a political adversary was not a violation of Absolute Truth but a violation of the Untruth represented by the enemy of the people, that is, the British imperialist order. Nor was Lokmanya telling any untruth in his dealings with his political opponents. He had always stated very clearly that his ultimate goal was independence and that every compromise was only temporary and tactical according to his well-known motto, “Accept what you get, but exert yourselves to get more.”

  Tilak understood that the highest religion was absolute adherence to duty which man was obliged to carry out according to the example given by God in Scripture. The proper performance of one’s duty was the high road to spiritual salvation and political liberation (Mukti). This involved fighting for the defence of oneself and one’s country as taught in the Geeta and other Shastras: “Parameshwara, than whom nobody’s reason can be more equable, Himself takes incarnations from time to time for protecting saints and destroying evil-doers, and thereby brings about universal welfare (lokasamgraha); then how can the case of ordinary persons be different?” Tilak, with irrefutable logic, asks, “If a dnyani becomes uniform with the Parameshvara as a result of dnyana, how will he escape the necessity of performing that Action which is performed by the Parameshvara?”63 He says, “The sum and substance of the entire philosophy of the Geeta is that one should follow the same example and at all times do one’s duty in this world, and to the best of one’s abilities, and that one should be willing to lay down one’s life, if necessary, while one is doing so; and that one must not under any circumstances fail in one’s duty. This is the true Karma-Yoga.” Tilak also quoted from the Vishnu Purana:

  apahaya nijam karma Krishna krishneti vadinah

  te harer devasinha papah dharmartham janma yad dhareh

  (Those who give up their duties and simply sit back chanting the name of the Lord are really the enemies of Hari [the Lord] and sinners because even Hari has taken birth for protecting the dharma.)

  Tilak said the Geeta “was not preached either as a pastime for persons tired out after living a worldly life in the pursuit of selfish motives, nor as a philosophical advice as to how one should live one’s worldly life with an eye to release, moksha, and as to the true duty of human beings in worldly life . . . One should not fail to thoroughly understand this ancient science of the life of a householder, or of worldly life, as early as possible in one’s life.”

  Tilak also proved to the people that God Himself had to participate in political actions. In his speech, “Tenets of the New Party” he talks of the story of how Krishna went to mediate between the Pandavas and Kauravas. “This is politics,” he wrote.64

  According to Tilak, “Swarajya is the natural consequence of diligent performance of duty. The karma yogi strives for swarajya and the dnyani or spiritualist yearns for it. What is then this swarajya? It is a life centred in self and dependent upon self. There is a swarajya in this world and the world thereafter. The rishis who laid down the law of duty betook themselves to forests because the people were already enjoying swarajya or People’s Dominion which was administered and defended in the first instance by the kshatriya kings. It is my conviction, it is my thesis that swarajya in the life to come cannot be the regard or people who have not enjoyed it in this world.”65

  Tilak believed that the issue was not the political liberation of India alone because he believed in the political and spiritual liberation of the entire human race. He once said that when India had gained her own independence, Indians would like to help other nations, which had lost their freedom. Personal liberation was the first step towards political liberation of a nation and that was a step in the direction of the liberation of mankind and the establishment of “Vishwa bandhutva” or the universal brotherhood of man.

  It was the same universal brotherhood that a spiritual guru like Shri Meher Baba talked about when he said, “Let mankind act in accordance with its message (of the Geeta) and Universal brotherhood will surely be automatically brought about.”

  Justice B. Tyabji was delighted at the Geeta Rahasya being translated into English from Marathi. He said,

  A work giving a really spiritual interpretation of this inspiring work, (the Geeta) must supply an urgent need of the young men and women of
today. The danger of being cut off from what is considered religion requires particular attention in these days. The danger is the more serious, as our young men are apt to fear that their spiritual needs cannot be met from texts that are foundations of religion. The great religions, it is true, have had their foundations in the East. But, it is thought that their interpretation, so as to adopt them to the needs of today, must be sought from the West. To turn therefore to the most spiritual expressions of our own religious teachers as interpreted by the modern teachers in the East, is an extremely necessary part of the educational experiences through which we should all pass. To men of ripe experience, it must be a peculiar satisfaction to have such a work available.

  While speaking in Benares a little after Tilak’s demise, Mahatma Gandhi said,

  The Geeta enabled the late Lokmanya Tilak out of his encyclopaedic learning and study, to produce a monumental commentary. For him it was a storehouse of profound truths to exercise his intellect upon. I believe his commentary on the Geeta will be a more lasting monument to his memory. It will survive even the successful termination of the struggle for swarajya. Even then his memory will remain as fresh as ever on account of his spotless purity of life and his great commentary on the Geeta. No one in his lifetime, nor even now, could claim deeper and vaster knowledge of the shastras than he possessed. His masterwork commentary on the Geeta is unsurpassed and will remain so for a long time to come. Nobody has yet carried on more elaborate research in the questions arising from the Geeta and the Vedas.