Shankara the
monk and philosopher and Tilak the freedom fighter and scholar of India have
their say on Gita and Karma theories of Krishna; let us have a look into it.
Shankara can be described as supra moralist in some ways. A moralist is action
– oriented: he says do this and don’t do that. Shankara says every action is
illusionary; whether we practice asceticism or indulge in immoral activities
does not make any difference. In sleep, either we dream to be robbers or saints,
it does not make any difference in our wakeful state. On waking, we say that both
robber and saint are dream stuff, they are meaningless. Just like this and for
the same reason, nothing is moral or immoral for Shankara. There is no way to
choose between morality and immorality, just as there is no way to choose
between two dreams. Choice is possible only between two realities, because the
world is an illusion for Shankara. Shankara’s vision is supra- moralistic; it
transcends morality. The principle of inaction is bound to go beyond morality.
When
Shankara’s commentaries on Indian philosophy were translated into western
languages, they were thought to be supporting immorality. Certainly Shankara’s
thinking is not immoralistic, because immorality is a choice against morality.
Shankara stands for choicelessness and for this reason he is
supra-moralistic. He does not ask us to
become anything. He is for being what we are. In fact, he is for non being.
This is really a trans-moral vision.
Tilak (Bal
Gangadhar Tilak- Freedom fighter and scholar), on the other hand, was a
moralist. He believed that there is choice between a good action and a bad one,
between what one should do and what one should not. According to him, religion
tells us ‘should and should not’. He really was for action. For this reason he
did not call the world unreal. In the midst of this reality we have to decide
the right and wrong. And religion simply means that choice of right, virtuous,
good. It is true that Tilak holds a wholly contrary view point to that of
Shankara on Gita and Karma.
We ask
whether it will make the thing complete if we combine Shankara’s supra-moralism
with the activism of Tilak. No, it will not be complete that way, and there are
reasons for the same. (More comparative and analysis comes forth)
Wishing you all good health
and happiness,
Dr. Dwarakanath, Director,
Mitran foundation- the stress management people
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