The Lokamanya B. G. Tilak wrote a commentary on the Bhagavadgita, which is called Srimadbhagavadgitarahasya athava Karmayogasastra but is popularly known as the Gitarahasya. In the Gitarahasya, Tilak often quotes three of the prominent saints of Maharastra, namely, Jnanesvar, Tukaram, and Ramadas. A few scholars have indicated that there might be some influence of the theology of the prominent Maratha saints on the Gitarahasya. But no one has studied their matter in detail and demonstrated the depth of their influence on the Gitarahasya. This thesis hopes to fill that gap in Tilak scholarship. In attempting to do that this thesis traces out how the religious, social, philosophical and ethical ideas of Jnanesvar, Tukaram and Ramadas influenced Tilak's religious, social, philosophical and ethical thought in the Gitarahasya. Tilak was a controversial leader in Maharastra. He opposed the 'Age of Consent Bill' introduced by Hindu social reformers and argued that social reform should be carried out within the frame of Hinduism. He opposed the Moderate party being allowed to hold its social reform from political reform. His opposition to the social reforms proposed by the social reformers was understood by many to mean that he was anti-reformist and pro-orthodox. How can a student of Tilak understand him? This thesis provides an answer to this problem saying that Tilak took a middle position on questions of social reform and orthodoxy between the strict orthodox, who were completely opposed to social change, and the Hindu social reformers, who wanted to reform Hindu society on the basis of western values and culture. This thesis demonstrates that Tilak's middle position on those issues is best understood as an attempt to continue the position taken by the Maratha saints on problems of social change and orthodoxy. Tilak, being a nationalist, defended Hindu values and institutions. He defended the final authority of the vedas. He defended the traditional Hindu social order, that is, the varna vyavstha, in terms of the guna-karma theory (i.e., position of an individual in Hindu society is determined by his qualities and functions). He did not, however, justify social hierarchy in terms of birth. He was fully aware of the defects of the message of the Bhagavadgita along these lines. Tilak argued that the Gita over the commentaries written by other acaryas. This might lead one to believe that Tilak's advaitic philosophy and Samkara's advaita Vedanta were identical. This thesis, however, argues that Tilak's advaitic philosophy differs from Samkara's system in that Tilak follows the advaitic theology of the Maratha saints rather than that of Samkara's system. Tilak's system is purna advaita (perfect or complete non-dualism) like that of the saints, rather than Samkara's kevala advaita (pure or abstract non-dualism). Tilak rejected all the bhasyas on the Gita because they proposed either jnanmarga or bhaktimarga as the way of liberation and exhorted a liberated person to renounce society and take samnyasa (renunciation of society). Tilak argued that the Karmayoga of the Gita is a synthesis of knowledge (jnana), devotion (bhakti), and action (Karma) and its liberated person (jnana or sthitaprajna) continues to act even after liberation. This is Tilak's unique position. This thesis argues that Tilak's distinctive position follows the activistic (pravrttipara) theology of the Maratha saints whose bhaktimarga was a synthesis of knowledge, action and devotion and who asked a liberated person to continue doing his soico-religious duties for the welfare of others in the spirit of dedication and selflessness. Tilak followed the saints of Maharastra very closely in this regard. In short, this thesis is an attempt to explain Tilak's religious, social, philosophical and ethical ideas in the light of the saintly tradition of Maharstra. It does not specifically deny that he was aware of western thought that he felt some loyalty to his Brahmanical heritage, or that he was responding creatively to the political and cultural pressures of his day. While each of these factors affected his thought, this thesis argues that he was determined to keep to the tradition of the Maratha saints and that in the Gitarahasya he largely succeeded in that endeavor. / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:mcmaster.ca/oai:macsphere.mcmaster.ca:11375/15852 |
| Date | 06 1900 |
| Creators | Rupwate, Daniel D. |
| Contributors | Younger, Dr. P., Religion |
| Source Sets | McMaster University |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
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