Essays

Lokmanya Balgangadhar Tilak was a freedom fighter whose conviction stemmed from a deep and intricate Understanding of Indian culture. He wrote a scholarly Commentary on the Bhagavad Gita in his epic publication, Gita- rahasya and he lived its message in every sphere Of his life.

As a child, Tilak was often told by some of his elders that commendable religious and philosophic life was Incompatible with the humdrum of everyday existence.  The only path to liberation, the highest attainable goal, was the renunciation of desires and material attachments, they said: "One could not serve two masters, the world and god.”

Tilak was curious as to how his religion could expect  Him to give  up the world in order to attain "the perfection  Of manhood,” because, he was also told that the Bhagavad  Gita was universally recognised as the  Fountainhead  head of Hindu philosophy and faith, and a source  Of inspiration  for seekers. Tilak, thus, started reading the Gita and subsequently propounded what he thought to be the real message of the divine epic.

Tilak believed that there is a fundamental unity underlying god, man and the world. It follows that if man seeks unity with the godhead, he must necessarily reconcile this with other common worldly interests. If he does not, the unity is not perfect, because as Tilak reasoned, there is a union of two elements—man and god, but the third element, the world, is left out.

Karma yoga, according to Tilak, is as significant as gyana yoga or knowledge and bhakti yoga or devotion.  The duty enjoined by one's station in life is of paramount Importantce. "If the Gita was preached to depress Arjunass to make him ready for the fight—for the action— how can it be said that the ultimate lesson of the great book is bhakti or gyana alone? In fact, there is a blending of all the yogas in the Gita."

Advaita Vedanta'ci.aims that the jivatman or personal atman and the supreme atman are fundamentally identical. But those who do not accept this non-dualistic doctrine claim that this power of the jivatman is not its own power, but is received by it from Parameswara.

In order to acquire this power, jivatman must make the necessary effort, as per the principle enunciated in the Rig Veda that "the gods do not help anyone except the man who makes effort, until he is tired."

When the Gita speaks of renunciation, it is therefore renunciation in action, of attachments, and not renunciation of action itself, he concluded. "Life dedicated to duty is life fulfilled."

Tilak started the annual Ganesh Puja and Sivaji Jayanti festivals in an effort to promote an appreciation of our spiritual and historical heritage and to consolidate a sense of national identity. He lived the relevance of his message, that religion can and does serve a useful social purpose. Gita was verily Tilak's spiritual anchor.

July 23 is Balgangadhar Tilak's birth anniversary.

Do You Know?

1.  Tilak was called 'Father of the Indian Unrest' by a British author-editor Sir Valentine Chiroll.

2. Tilak is also known as the 'Prince of Patriots'.

3. A clear and unambiguous demand of Swaraj was first raised by Tilak when he roared, "Swaraj is birthright and I shall have it".