Page:The Life of Lokamanya Tilak.djvu/364

 was first introduced to this book during his father's last illness ; at that time Mr. Tilak was barely i6. In the stillness of evening, he would sit by the lamp-side and read out to his father the Gita and its Marathi commentary. The sublime melody of the Gita charmed him and since then he was a devoted student of the Lord's Song. But, almost from the time of his first perusal of the book, a doubt haunted his mind. The great Shankaracharya has pronounced the Gita to have preached Jnyana, unqualified by Karman. Can it be so ? If yes, how are we to reconcile the fact that Arjuna was moved, by the Lord's Message, to do that Karman, which had repelled him ? The commentators are silent. Indeed, most of them entirely neglect the first chapter and start their commentaries from the nth verse of chapter second. Wearied by the wrong lead given by the commentators, Mr. Tilak read the original repeatedly without the aid of any commentary, till at last, be found that the Gita, far from being a book of cold philosophy, was a guide for every day life, a master-piece on Karmayoga Shastra. The more did he discuss this subject with contemporary scholars, the more was he convinced of the strength of his contention, until at last he determined to give his researches out to the public. But that was not an easy matter. The anti-Partition agitation made Mr. Tilak the leader of All-India Party » and all his time was swallowed up by Politics- He had given up the attempt as hopeless and when in July 1908, he was sentenced to six years' transportation, even the last lingering chance was apparently lost, for no-body ever expected him to