Lokmanya Tilak- the First National Leader

by Gayatri Pagdi

  N. R. Inamdar, in his book Political Thought and Leadership of Lokmanya Tilak said, “Tilak was a Vedantist in his metaphysical views. His conception of freedom as a divine instinct in man and of swarajya as inner self-realisation indicate his Vedantic views. His belief in human fellowship also followed from his Vedantism. In a way, he pleaded for the reconciliation between the ideal of nationalism and the Vedantic concept of human unity.” In a speech Tilak once said, “If the Vedantic ideal is higher it necessarily includes the national ideal which is lower. The two are not irreconcilable if you know how to reconcile them. The two are not opposed to each other. One includes the other as much in the same way as a thousand includes five hundred. The two ideals are mutually consistent and both of them demand a kind of self-control. Both of them demand, in addition to self-control and self-sacrifice, a kind of higher altruistic feeling by which man is impelled to ignore selfish considerations and to work for persons and for objects, which do not in the least savour of any egoistic aim. The feeling is one of love for humanity, for the equality of man before God, and it is the spirit of that feeling that governs the two ideals, Vedantic and national.” 66

  The Geeta Rahasya made a deep impact on the minds of future intellectuals one of whom was (Gurudev) R. D. Ranade. Kelkar has described in his book how once Tilak asked the young Ranade what the most important portion of Geeta Rahasya was. Said Ranade in a reply that satisfied Tilak completely, “The typical selective references to the stories in Mahabharata and their moral import communicated in Geeta Rahasya is the most important portion. Similarly, the utterances of political wisdom and statesmanship referred to in Geeta Rahasya from Mahabharat are important portions of the book, which could not have been written by anybody else.” Tilak was astonished and felt that the young man should be drawn to politics. Said Ranade with utmost humility, “I have an inherent liking for religion and spirituality and not for politics. According to you a person must be a ‘Sthitapradnya’ before he enters politics. So, one must see whether one really possesses these qualities.” Tilak smiled broadly and remarked, “You are a mystic like Arvind babu.”

  Tilak was impressed by Ranade and on another occasion asked him if he would translate the Geeta Rahasya into English. Ranade suggested that an adaptation of the book in English would be better. Tilak liked the suggestion. He posed another question to the young scholar: “Do I appear to be an atheist to you?” Ranade replied, “It would be audacious and foolhardy to call a person with so much implicit and profound faith in the philosophy of Bhagwad Geeta an atheist.”67

  Of course, Tilak wasn’t an atheist. But his religion was the expulsion of the foreign invader. He said, “I regard India as my motherland and my Goddess, the people in India my kith and kin, and loyal and steadfast work for their political and social emancipation my highest religion and duty.”68 Tilak believed that the religious consciousness of India, like the Great World Tree with its roots in heaven and its branches growing downwards, would spread throughout the world. India’s spirituality was rooted in the heaven of pure monism, while its trunk bifurcated into a vast network of beliefs. They reflected on the spiritual aspirations of human mind. Tilak, as a Hindu, always recognised that while Truth was one and infinite, human understanding of it, being finite, must necessarily take many forms, and that each person would, depending on his character and stage of spiritual development, assimilate one aspect of it rather than another, and that that would colour his conception of the whole. Within the sphere of pure monism arise various cults. Religion for Tilak was not about dogmas and rituals. It had to be considered in its political and cultural aspects in order to ensure that the “Hindus” in the broader sense of the term, were counted in the political process and governed their own fate.

  Chapter Nine

  LOKMANYA

  Tilak’s private life was a comfortable part of his political existence. His biographers refer to the fact that he lived his personal life in the full blaze of publicity and it would serve as a model for all those who consider self-introspection and self-elevation as the principle duty of life. Tilak made no real distinction between his friends and associates and the general public and the people outside. He was approachable and accessible to whoever wished to seek his opinion, advice, or blessings. His wife, Tapi aka Satyabhamabai, bore him six children, three sons and three daughters. All the daughters were married and Tilak’s sons-in-law shared an excellent relationship with him. Tilak lost his eldest son at a young age but all in all, he lived in a large family surrounded by his children and grandchildren, trusted and consulted by his large group of friends and associates and revered by millions of his countrymen. Tilak, always available in times of need, helped people in whichever way he could, whether it was looking after the families of friends who had passed away or helping out people in financial need.

  He was caring and kind-hearted but seemed stern and emotionally restrained when it came to expressing his personal feelings. However, no one could have accused him of being cold. Despite his hectic political and social life he was very involved with his family. From the Mandalay prison, Tilak wrote a letter every month to his nephew, Dhondopant Vidwans. The letters were reassuring in their tone for the sake of his wife and children.

  Tilak may have been reticent in his writings, but his intense love for his family found expression through those letters. When he was in Mandalay, his two sons, Rambhau and Bapu, were young high-school students. Tilak was anxious about them and keen to know if they studied well. In one of his letters to his nephew, whom he trusted implicitly, he said, “I looked into the progress books of Bapu and Rambhau. They are not very satisfactory.” He was also concerned about their fitness and asked for a report of their height and weight. He wrote, “Give them the necessary instruments for gymnastics. Appoint an instructor for the purpose, if needed.”

  Tilak’s references to his wife were touching and showed his extreme anxiety about her health. He wrote: “My wife’s health causes anxiety. Write to me about her. Give her the treatment advised by Vaidya Pade for diabetes.” In yet another letter he wrote: “There is a possibility that my wife may not keep well in the hot season. Ask her to go with the children to Sinhgad. She would not like to have the comfort of the cool climate but tell her she should go to Sinhgad for, my sake . . . Ask her to take milk along with barley, as I do over here.” His wife, who had all along neglected her health, became very weak due to severe diabetes and passed away in June 1912. Tilak never spoke of his grief. But it shook him up. Writes his nephew, Vidwans, in his reminiscences: “After Dada (Tilak) came back from Mandalay, a painter made a life-size oil painting of my maternal aunt and brought it to us. I took a look at it and exclaimed, ‘What a fine painting!’ Dada immediately said, ‘But it is not perfect’. At this I remarked, ‘But it perfectly resembles Mami.’ Dada smiled a little and in a moving tone said, ‘Do you know her better than I do?’ Dada hardly spoke to Mami in our presence, and never in this strain. Therefore, when I heard these touching words from him when Mami was no more, my eyes filled with tears!”69

  Tilak’s personality was a harmonious blend of apparently contradictory qualities: daring but cautious, simple but astute, fiery but also quiet. He was an extremely social man and yet he was equally comfortable in solitude. An idealist by nature, he also trained himself to come to terms with his limitations. He was known to be “kalaha-priya” (the one who delighted in conflicts) but he was by nature averse to them. He might have seemed implacable but he was always willing to compromise for the national good. His speech was plain and blunt at the same time he was extraordinarily refined and sophisticated in his thinking.

  Tilak appreciated poetry and made Kalidas enjoyable to his students while teaching them Sanskrit, but he was not at all a romantic. He never pursued arts and looked at visits to the theatre as a waste of time, but he was shrewd enough to know the reach and the impact of it and encouraged it as an effective tool. He never played music or sang, but encouraged it during the Ganesh festivities. He dete
sted playing cards and never held a bat in his life despite Kesari covering cricket enthusiastically. His writings were stern, straight, and logical and yet Tilak as a conversationalist was a delight, interspersing his private conversations with humour and charm devoid of any sting, once his political armour was laid aside. He would unwind by moving from one subject of study to another or simply pick up the Mahabharata yet again. An ideological opponent, engaged in a fierce battle of words with Agarkar and Gokhale, Tilak was known to have wept in their memories after their deaths. Jealousy was alien to his nature and as candidly as he pointed out their discrepancies, he appreciated them for what he thought were their right actions. He was a man who was virtuous not by effort but by instinct.70

  Tilak was a soldier who fought for his people. He was also a literary giant, a philosopher, a metaphysician, and a pragmatic revolutionary leader. In the same way as he accepted the ancient Vedic precept that there was “one truth but the wise called it by many names” (ekam sat, viprah bahudha vadanti), he believed in unity of purpose but plurality of means (sadhananam anekata) to reach his goals of uniting his people to fight for themselves.

  A man of the people, Lokmanya Tilak, throughout his life, lived for the people and, as importantly, in their hearts. His life, a source of inspiration for centuries to come, reminds one of a phrase from his favourite Mahabharata:

  Jayo nameitihasoyum shrotavyo vijigishuna

  (Those who wish to win should listen to this history of triumph).

  Footnotes

  1. Overview

  1 Source: Lokmanya by N. R. Phatak, Mauj Prakashan, 1972.

  2 Source: Agarkar to Bhagwat, Agarkar Papers (8 September 1888), SIS, Poona.

  3 B. G. Tilak, Statement of reasons for his resignation from the Deccan Education Society.

  4 Source: Lokmanya Tilak by G. P. Pradhan, National Book Trust, 1994.

  5 Source: Lokmanya by N. R. Phatak, Mauj Prakashan, 1972.

  6 Quoted in Lokmanya Tilak by G. P. Pradhan, National Book Trust, 1994.

  7 Source: Lokmanya Tilak by G. P. Pradhan, National Book Trust, 1994.

  8 Source: Lokmanya by N. R. Phatak, Mauj Prakashan, 1972.

  9 Source: Bal Shikshanmala, Special issue on Tilak, 1916.

  10 Source: A. C. Mazumdar, The Indian National Evolution, Michiko & Panjathan, New Delhi, 1974.

  11 Source: Introduction to Bal Gangadhar Tilak: His Writings and Speeches, by Aurobindo Ghosh, Ganesh & Co. Madras, 1918.

  12 Source: Lokmanya by N. R. Phatak, Mauj Prakashan, 1972.

  13 Source: Full and Authentic Report of the Tilak Trial by N. C. Kelkar, 1908, Mahratta /Indu Prakash Steam Press.

  14 Source: Lokmanya by N. R. Phatak, Mauj Prakashan, 1972.

  15 Source: From J. D. File No. 1223 of 1912. Extract from a letter of July 1909, addressed to the Government of Burma by Mr. B. S. Carey, C.I.E., Officiating Commisioner, Mandalay Division.

  16 Source: Bombay Governor Rejects the Petition (From J. D. File No. 1223 of 1912. No 4133, dated the 31st May 1912.

  17 Source: Tilak’s Health In Mandalay Prison (From J. D. File No. 1223 of 1912.) Letter No. 1-T, the 8th May 1912).

  18 Source: Lokmanya by N. R. Phatak, Mauj Prakashan, 1972.

  19 Source: Lokmanya Tilak by G. P. Pradhan, National Book Trust, 1994.

  2. Teachers and Students

  20 Source: Lokmanya by N. R. Phatak, Mauj Prakashan, 1972.

  21 Source: ‘National Education’, speech delivered at Barshi, 27 February 1908, from Bal Gangadhar Tilak: His Writings and Speeches, Ganesh & Co. Madras, 1918.

  3. Social and Political Contemporaries

  22 Source: Kesari, 5 August 1884. Quoted in Gordon Johnson’s Provincial Politics and Indian Nationalism: Bombay and the Indian National Congress.

  23 Source: The Encyclopaedia Of Indian Literature Volume 1 by Amaresh Datta, Sahitya Akademi Publications, 1988.

  24 Source: Tilak and Gokhale: A Comparative Study, Mohammad Shabbir Khan, Ashish Publishing House, Delhi, 1992.

  25 Source: Lokmanya Tilak by G. P. Pradhan, National Book Trust, 1994.

  26 Source: Lokmanya Tilak by G. P. Pradhan, National Book Trust, 1994.

  27 Source: Lokmanya Tilak by G. P. Pradhan, National Book Trust, 1994.

  28 Source: From Bal Gangadhar Tilak: His Writings and Speeches, Ganesh & Co. Madras, 1918.

  29 Source: Political Thought and Leadership of Lokmanya Tilak by N. R. Inamdar, Concept Publishing, 1983.

  30 Source: Role of Press in India’s Struggle for Freedom, Jagdish Prasad Chaturvedi/www.congress.org.in/new/role-of-press.php)

  4. International Connections

  31 Source: M.V.S. Koteswara Rao, Communist Parties and United Front - Experience in Kerala and West Bengal, Hyderabad: Prajasakti Book House, 2003.

  32 Source: J. V. Naik, Russia’s policy towards India: From Stalin to Yeltsin, M D Publications, 1995.

  33 Source: http://www.ignca.nic.in/ks_40034.htm

  34 Source: Manmathanath Gupta, History of the Indian Revolutionary Movement, Somaiya Publications Pvt. Ltd., Bombay, 1972.

  35 Source: Indiadivine.org

  5. Armed Revolutionaries

  36 Source: As quoted in Lokmanya Tilak ani Krantikarak by Y. D. Phadke, Shrividya Prakashan, 1975.

  37 Source: As quoted in Lokmanya Tilak ani Krantikarak by Y. D. Phadke, Shrividya Prakashan, 1975.

  38 Source: As quoted in Lokmanya Tilak ani Krantikarak by Y. D. Phadke, Shrividya Prakashan, 1975.

  39 Source: How Russia Shaped the Modern World: From Art to Anti-Semitism, Ballet to Bolshevism by Steven G. Marks, Princeton University Press, 2004.

  40 Source: Sri Aurobindo Or The Yogi Of The Life Divine — Sri Aurobindo’s Political Philosophy by Aju Mukhopadhyay, www.epicindia.com

  41 Source: Letter from Sir Harold Stuart, Secretary, Government of India, Home Department, to all local Governments and Administrations except Coorg, 18 Dec 1909, in Revision of the System of Compilation of the Weekly Secret Police Abstracts. HDB: Dec 1909, No. 77, IOLRIOR.POS.5946, quoted in Intelligence and Imperial Defence by Richard J. Popplewell, Frank Cass & Co. Ltd., 1995.

  6. Theatre Lovers

  42 Source: The Englishman, 15 March 1876, quoted in The Political Role of Theatre in India by Farley Richmond in Educational Theatre Journal, Vol 25, No.3, Oct. 1973.

  43 Source: K. D. Dixit, 100 years of Kesari.

  44 Source: Maharashtra: The Land and its People, Marathi Stage, By Dr. K. K. Chaudhari.

  7. Agricultural Labourers and Industrial Workers

  45 Secret Police Abstract of Intelligence, Vol. XXXIII.

  46 Source: V. I. Lenin, The National Liberation Movement in the East quoted in Imperial Power and Popular Politics: Class resistance and the state in India, 1850-1950, Rajnarayan Chandavarkar.

  47 Source: R. Palme Dutt, India Today, People’s Publishing House, 1963, quoted in Marxism, Revolution, and Peace, Society for the Philosophical Study of Dialectical Materialism, Howard L. Parsons, John Somerville.

  48 Source: Economic and Political Weekly, 1 May 1999.

  49 Source: The Mahratta, 1 May 1881.

  50 Source: Lokmanya Tilak and Amartya Sen, Milind Gadgil in Hindu Vivek Kendra on 3 December 1998 with reference to an article in the Marathi newspaper Tarun Bharat, 15 November 1998.

  51 Source: Kesari, 12 December 1919.

  8. Religion and Spirituality

  52 Source: J. S. Karandikar, Memories of Tilak Volume 1.

  53 Source: Khaparde’s Diaries.

  54 Source: Gita Rahasya, Adhyatma Prakaran, Page 247.

  55 Source: Footnotes of the Shloka 13, 14, Chapter 6, Anasakti Yoga, of Mahatma Gandhi.

  56 Source: Geeta Rahasya: Effect of Karma and Free Will.

  57 Source: Hindu Dharma, Discourses of Kanchi Paramacharya.

  58 Source: Kesari, 18 September 1894.

  59 Source: Hiltrud Rüstau, Here-Now4U, online magazine.

  60 Source: Tilak’s letters on religion.

  61 Source: “The Bharata Dharma
Mahamandala”, speech delivered at Varanasi on 3 January 1906, Bal Gangadhar Tilak: His Writings and Speeches.

  62 Source:D. P. Karmarkar, Bal Gangadhar Tilak: A Study, Popular Book Depot, Bombay, 1956.

  63 Source: “The Philosophy of Tilak: Karma and Jnana in the Geeta Rahasya”, D. Macenzie Brown, Journal of Asian Studies, Vol 17, No 3.

  64 Source: Bal Gangadhar Tilak: His Writings and Speeches.

  65 Source: The Poona Quarterly.

  66 Source: Speeches of Tilak, Indian Stores, Bellary – quoted in G. V. Ketkar’s Real Basis of Tilak’s Nationalism.

  67 Source: From the reminiscences of Lokmanya Tilak Vol-II.

  68 Source: Quoted in Modern Indian Interpreters of the Bhagvad Gita, Robert Neil Minor (ed.), essay by Robert W. Stevenson.

  9. Lokmanya

  69 Source: Lokmanya by G. P. Pradhan, National Book Trust, 1994.

  70 Source: The Life of Lokmanya Tilak by D. V. Athlye, A. Chiploonkar Publication, 1921.

  BIBLIOGRAPHY

  Agarkar to Bhagwat, Agarkar Papers (8 September 1888), SIS, Poona.

  Athlye, D. V., The Life of Lokmanya Tilak, A. Chiploonkar Publication, 1921.

  Chandavarkar, Rajnarayan, V. I. Lenin, The National Liberation Movement in the East quoted in Imperial Power and Popular Politics: Class resistance and the state in India, 1850-1950.

  Chaudhari, Dr. K. K., Maharashtra: The Land and its People, Marathi Stage.