Page:Heroes of the hour- Mahatma Gandhi, Tilak Maharaj, Sir Subramanya Iyer.djvu/185

 will always be and scholars belonging to diverse schools will always wrangle. It is best to note that Mr.Tilak by his interpretation of the Gita has made it a book of hourly application to life. It is no longer a book for meritorious reading alone. It is no longer a book to be bound in silk, worshipped and put aside. It is no longer a book for the C. I. D. officers to suspect a revolutionary in its possessor. It is a book for all men, women and children to read and digest. It is a book for all mankind to look upon as a gospel for daily existence in the ordinary world. It is a book most harmless in its message that no individual born in this world has a right to lead an idle life even in the name of spirituality. Let Mr. Tilak himself give in his own words the gist of Gitarahasya. He says:

"The conclusion I have come to is that the Gita advocates the performance of action in this world even after the actor has achieved the highest union with the supreme Deity by Jnana (knowledge) or Bhakti (devotion). This action must be done to keep the world going by the right path of evolution which the Creator has destined the world to follow. In order that the action may not bind the actor