Page:Heroes of the hour- Mahatma Gandhi, Tilak Maharaj, Sir Subramanya Iyer.djvu/142

 new bricks and the new mortar that the moment may yield. To harmonise the past and the present and to formulate the future on the basis of such harmony is certainly not a blunder, not a sin. In doing it, it is possible that Mr. Tilak on account of his strong nature made stronger still by keen opposition did lay at one time greater emphasis upon national lines of reform than was necessary. His practice however has proved him the opposite of a fanatic orthodox. He has educated his daughters and postponed their marriage till the Shastras, as at present understood by the orthodox, have been violated. He has definitely declared that caste-distinction was merely based on Division of Labour and does not signify superiority or inferiority by birth. He has also set at nought the authority of all accepted commentaries on the Bhagavad Gita and stood forth boldly as the champion of a new school of thought of action as against the old school of secluded contemplation. He is to-day thinking of crossing the seas to work for Mother India. In this wise Mr. Tilak has vindicated himself. It is therefore idle to be bemoaning the incident that occured in 1895 his resignation of the Secretaryship of