Lokmanya Tilak. A Biography

Sholapur Conference On the 2nd April, Tilak attended the Provincial Conference at Sholapur. Coming events had already cast their shadows. Early in March when Tilak attended the Poona District Conference at Junnar the moderates combined with the non-Brahmins and tried to create a disturbance by insisting on having peasant representatives at the conference. At the Belgaum District Conference again the presentation of an address to Tilak was opposed by two non-Brahmins. In his speech, Tilak congratulated these gentlemen on their courage to come forward and voice their views. They should, he hoped, show the same independence and boldness in opposing the government. A joint opposition was very strongly organised by the moderates under Principal Paranjpye, and the non-Brahmins under Walchand Kothari. They were assured of the co-operation of Mrs. Besant, who was also present at the conference. The main resolution was proposed by Tiiak, which said in effect that as this conference was a part of the Indian National conference, the resolution on the reforms passed at Amritsar was accepted by the conference also; only those, therefore, who were in favour of the Amritsar resolution, would be elected to the Councils on behalf of the Congress. Mrs. Besant moved an amendment, supported by Principal Paranjpye. It was to the effect that only those, who were generally in favour of the Congress policy and who were ready to support the reforms and work them out, should be elected. Both, in his speech at the conference as also in his article in the Kesari, Tilak pointed out that the question was not a question of personalities or individuals. Mrs. Besant and the moderates had their own parties; there was no reason therefore as to why there should be no Congress party. “Mr. Baptista has pointed out that the easiest way of getting complete independence was to elect disciplined followers of the Amritsar Congress. Only, then, the people of England would be convinced that the policy of the Congress was accepted by the people of India and they were determined to get complete independence.” If, on the other hand they were not elected, Parliament and the government of India would never grant any rights to ‘Indians’. Mrs. Besant’s amendment was rejected and Tilak’s amendment resolution was

passed by an overwhelming majority. The Sholapur Conference was, however, marred by ugly incidents in which the followers of Walchand Kothari tried to break the meeting by violent demonstrations and it was watched on by moderates like Principal Paranjpye. In an indignant article written in the Kesari on the 13th April 1920, Tilak condemned the hooliganism organised by Kothari and countenanced by Paranjpye. Along with them he also blamed Mrs. Besant and applied to her the epithet ‘Putana’ (a demoness, sent to kill Krishna) used by Khaparde in England. Tilak and Mrs. Besant The differences between Mrs. Besant and Tilak became marked during the Home Rule League deputations in England. The followers of Tilak distrusted Mrs Besant from the beginning, as was seen at the time of the starting of the Home Rule League. Tilak had the foresight to notice that with Mrs. Besant, there would be a new force in Indian politics and accorded her every co-operation. He had brought his followers round to accept his point of view and during the best part of 1916 and 1917 both, through their Leagues, had inflamed the country with the idea of Home Rule. With the announcement of the reforms, however, the differences between them became more and more marked. Mrs. Besant, with the moderates, believed in working them. The differences, as Tilak pointed out, started at the time of the Delhi Congress when Mrs. Besant objected to the resolution on provincial autonomy. Mrs. Besant took therefore a separate deputation to England and it was through the repeated requests of Tilak that she agreed to work jointly and yet she showed a strong inclination to side with Mr. Montagu. Mrs. Besant started accusing Tilak of turning a moderate when he was in England; but, Tilak pointed out that in England, whereas he stood by the Congress resolutions, Mrs. Besant was lukewarm in her support and insisted on thanking Mr. Montagu.4 Tilak concluded by appealing to Mrs. Besant to drop her opposition to the Congress and to himself. “Even if the reforms appeared to her satisfactory,” he reminded, “that would not be enough. They must take whatever is given and agitate for more. The moderate party could not be the permanent dwelling place of Mrs. Besant; she must join the Congress. In it lay the happiness of herself, the Congress and India also.” Brahmins and Non - Brahmins

He also wrote an article on Brahmins and non-Brahmins and pointed out that there was no truth in saying that the Brahmins had exploited and ruined the non-Brahmins. The Vaishyas and the Kshatriyas had also done it. Once again, as on the earlier occasions, he mixed up ideas of class with caste and argued that since class was bad, caste could be defended! He had also to fall back on the Buddhist text in support of his argument that the castes were determined not by birth but by action. His position in this respect remained dubious throughout. He now saw, however, what Agarkar had seen much earlier, that caste as a principle of stability had to be replaced by a higher principle though for political expediency. “Today a stage has arisen when every caste was independent in its own profession and socially it was not ready to merge with any other. It might happen in future but that is not the present question. Hence even if caste distinctions do not go, caste-hatred must.” His plea was: all, irrespective of caste, must come together and strive for the scheme of national welfare as embodied by the Indian National Congress.

The Congress Democratic Party As decided by the Poona Conference of the Home Rule League he now started organising the Congress Democratic Party and issued a manifesto of the party. While Tilak was consolidating his party to give effect to the Amritsar resolutions, Gandhi was getting more and more disillusioned about the reforms. He had just accepted the presidentship of the All-India Home Rule League from which Mrs. Besant had seceded and published a statement regarding his policy, in which he stated that he was anxious to carry on the causes that were nearer his heart: “The causes referred to by me are Swadeshi, Hindu-Muslim unity with special reference to Khilafat, the acceptance of Hindustani as lingua franca, and a linguistic redistribution of provinces.” About the reforms and his attitude towards the Congress, he said: “I freely confess that reforms take a secondary place in any scheme of national reorganisation. For, I feel that the activities chosen by me, if they could but absorb national energy, would bring about all the reforms that the most ardent extremist can ever desire, and so far as the desirability of getting full self-government, it can be best accelerated by developing the activities that I have mentioned. I keep them in the forefront of the national programme. I shall not treat the All-India Home Rule League as a party organisation in any sense of the term. I belong to no party, and I wish to belong to none hereafter. I am aware that the constitution of the League requires it to help the Congress, but I do not consider the Congress as a party organisation, even as the British Parliament, though it contains all parties, and has one party or other dominating it from time to time, is not a party organisation. I shall venture to hope that all parties will cherish the Congress as a national organisation providing a platform for all parties to appeal to the nation, with a view to moulding its policy, and I would endeavour so to mould the policy of the League as to make the Congress retain its no-party national character.” He clarified his methods also: “This brings me to my methods. I believe that it is possible to introduce uncompromising truth and honesty in the political life of the country. Whilst I would not expect the League to follow me in my civil disobedience methods, I would strain every nerve to make truth and non- violence accepted in all our national activities. Then we shall cease to fear or distrust government and their measures. I do not wish, however, to develop the theme any further, but I would rather let time solve the many questions that

must arise from the bold statement I have here made. My purpose now is not to demonstrate the propriety of my action or the truth of the policy herein adumbrated but to take the members of the League into my confidence to invite their criticism of the programme therein set forth, and any suggestion they may wish to make for the advancement and the welfare of the League.” Tilak’s programme as stated in his manifesto was as follows: “The Congress-Democratic party, as the name denotes, is a party animated by feelings of unswerving loyalty to the Congress and faith in democracy. It believes in the potency of democratic doctrines for the solution of Indian problems, and regards the extension of education and political franchise as two of its best weapons. It advocates the removal of all civic, secular, or social disabilities based on caste or custom. It believes in religious toleration, the sacredness of one’s religion to oneself and the right and duty of the State to protect it against aggression. This party supports the claim of the Muslims for the solution of the Khilafat question according to Muslim dogmas and beliefs and the tenets of the Koran. “This party believes in the integration or federation of India in the British Commonwealth for the advancement of the cause of humanity and the brotherhood of mankind, but demands autonomy for India and equal status as a sister-state with every partner in the British Commonwealth, including Great Britain. It insists upon equal citizenship for Indians throughout the Commonwealth and effective retaliation whenever it is denied. It welcomes the League of Nations as an instrument for enforcing the peace of the world, the integrity of States, the freedom and honour of nations and nationalities, and for ending the exploitation of one country by another. “This party emphatically asserts the fitness of India for representative and responsible government and claims for the people of India, on the principle of self-determination, the exclusive right of fashioning the form of government and determining the most appropriate constitution for India. It regards the Montagu Reforms Act as ‘inadequate, unsatisfactory and disappointing’ and will strive to remedy the defect by introducing, with the aid of the members of the Labour Party and other sympathisers in the British Parliament, at the earliest opportunity, a new reform bill for establishing full responsible government in India, including full military control and full fiscal freedom, and an exhaustive Declaration of Rights with constitutional guarantees. To achieve this object, it contemplates and recommends a resolute and energetic campaign in India and

in the countries represented on the League of Nations. In this matter, the party’s watchword will be ‘Educate, Agitate and Organise.” “This party proposes to work the Montagu Reforms Act for all it is worth and for accelerating the grant of full responsible government, and, for this purpose, it will without hesitation offer co-operation or resort to constitutional opposition, whichever may be expedient and best calculated to give effect to the popular will.” About Tilak’s attitude towards non-co-operation Gandhi has stated: “About non-co-operation Tilak significantly repeated what he said to me before. ‘I like the programme well enough, but I have my doubts as to the country being with us in the self-denying ordinance which non-co-operation presents to the people. I will do nothing to hinder the progress of the movement. I wish you every success, and if you gain the popular ear you will find in me an enthusiastic supporter.’”

Presentation of Purse On the 22nd May in a huge meeting in Poona, Tilak was presented with a purse of Rs. 3,00,000 collected mainly through the efforts of N. C. Kelkar and helped by everyone in the country. In his speech Tilak, obviously overwhelmed with emotion, announced that “the people had literally bought him.” He went on elaborating his programme of using the reforms in the best manner possible. “Whether to use reforms or not was not the question. We have to use them for the attainment of complete independence.” About the principle of selecting candidates for the Councils, he said “that it was not a question of caste or religion nor a question whether every member knew English. He must know where to vote.” Continuing, he said, that even though the reforms were inadequate it was a part of the programme of the party to enter the Councils . At the same time all the energies of a party need not be devoted to the programme of council entry. He referred lastly to the need of foreign propaganda and said that though the League of Nations might be a sham it must be approached and our case presented before it. He added that in London he had not deviated even an inch from what the Congress stood for. He referred lastly to the suggestion made by Gangadharrao Deshpande that he should stand for elections and said: “When, in my old age, my powers are waning, I do not know whether I should take a new responsibility on me. Please leave this to me.” On the 27th May, he started for the All-India Congress Committee meeting at Benares. He delivered two lectures at Benares and on his return visited Jabalpur. At the A.I.C.C. meeting Gandhi gave the clarion call for non-co-operation. The Hunter Committee report was just out and those who had hopes of any co- operation from the government were disillusioned. With regard to Khilafat, Tilak said: “My idea is that the Muslims themselves should take the initiative in the matter. After full discussion they must come to a definite decision and it is for the Hindus to support them in whatever decision they would arrive at.” He told Shoukat Ali that some Mussalmans had been to him. He said. “I refused and told them it would be wrong— besides I trust the Ali brothers and can accept only such a programme as will satisfy all the Mussalmans.” He also told him, “inform Gandhi of this” and said that he would see Mahatma Gandhi when he came to Bombay next. In the second week of July he drafted a statement on behalf of Jagannath

Maharaj the adopted son of Baba Maharaj on an application bv Bala Maharaj and Chhatrapati Shahu Maharaj of Kolhapur. The decision was given in favour of Jagannath Maharaj, thus giving Tilak his final legal victory. Sixty-fourth Birthday On the 23rd July, his sixty-fourth birthday was celebrated. Messages of congratulations poured in from all over the country. There was every reason now for Tilak to look back proudly on his achievements of the past 40 years of public life. He was now the greatest survivor of his generation in Maharashtra, a generation to which he had shown a new way of public service. Dedication for a cause, educational or political, was an idea of which he had been a pioneer. He was largely instrumental in bringing politics from the scholar’s sutdy from government circles and from platform oratory of the stilted Victorian kind to the hearths and homes of the people. In the Congress, his was a voice •which commanded respect and obedience, which transcended narrow bounds of communal or religious feelings. He was truly looked upon by the Hindus and the Muslims as capable of leading them. His English tour had made him see India’s struggle for freedom in its wider perspective and he had striven to put it before the bar of world opinion. Nor was his personal life devoid of its glories. In journalism he had inaugurated an epoch of a clear, direct, forceful style. In the field of Indology and antiquarian research his work had received world-wide fame. His Gita-Rahasya, with its philosophy of action, was to stand as a guiding light not merely to his generation but to the generations to come. His family life was happy and with the lessening of the financial burden was now serene. He was the father and the head of a family of sons and daughters, children and grandchildren. Two sons had now grown up and were getting their education, three of his daughters were married and though he would look back with profound sorrow at the departure of his life’s companion, there was nothing now that would darken his life when the evening shadows were lengthening. In person he was of middle height with a massive head and a rather stern countenance, on which determination and suffering were writ large. His tawny eyes flashed and emitted a sparkle that was their chief attraction. He had not grown stale, senile, or cynical. Essentially a sociable person, his greatness and popularity sat easily on him. The great and the small could look up to him as a

guide, friend and philosopher. Though weakened by disease — the diabetes had kept him company now for more than a decade, he had kept it under control by strict diet and with temperate habits. He was free from all Vices’, even the minor ones like tobacco had no fascination for him. He had the homely habit of eating a lot of betel-nut and he loved his cup of tea. As yet there was no prospect that he would retire to his hill-resort at Sinhgad and pass his time quietly in the company of the ‘mighty minds of old.’ A subject nation or a backward nation is always in a period of crisis and the happy few, who take upon themselves the burden of serving their fellow-countrymen, cannot put down their yoke. Fortunately for India, a new personality had already emerged capable of carrying on the torch lit by the Lokmanya, with new weapons and new philosophy to suit the changing and changed times.

Meeting with Gandhi Tilak stayed at the Sardar Griha in Bombay, where he was visited by Gandhi, Shoukat Ali and others. He had an attack of malarial fever while in Poona and once again he was ailing. In their talk, Tilak advocated the view that non-co- operation to be effective, it should be practised by the elected members rather than by the voters themselves. Gandhi voiced the riew that non-co-operation was constitutional: to which Tilak said, “I consider even armed revolution as constitutional. If I am assured that armed revolution would have fifty per cent chances of success, I shall make an armed revolution, trusting God for the rest. Today, however, there is no preparation for even one-tenth nor is anyone confident.” Shoukat Ali, who sat between Gandhi and Tilak, said, taking their hands in his, “I want you both. I shall be a link between you.” At 6 o’clock in the evening of the 20th July, Diwan Chamanlal received a phone call message asking him to go to see Tilak at Sardar Griha. When he arrived at the hotel, it was drizzling. He met Tilak on the steps and warned him not to expose himself, but Tilak insisted on a long drive and for over two hours he discussed with Chamanlal the question of non-co-operation. In the course of their discussion he stated: “Who will not believe in non-co-operation? The point is what should be the method of non-co-operation. I believe that we should be a step ahead of the people but not too far ahead. If the leader is a little ahead of the followers, he can take them with him. If the people have their heart in any programme we can bring in non-co-operation or even Sinn Fein. The moderates will not be with us. If we all refuse to go to the Councils they will claim that they are the true representatives of the nation. It is no use mouthing high ideals when there is no unity. It is all right for you to say in England that unless the Punjab wrong is righted you would totally non-co-operate. We must see if all the soldiers of democracy are ready to fight together.”

Last Illness There was an exposure during the walk and Tilak was down with fever. It soon developed into pneumonia. After 28th July, he became unconscious. Just before that when his daughters came to see him he said in his usual jocular manner: “So you have all gathered again. You are too much in the habit of coming to your parents’ house.” On the 28th July he refused to take medicine and said, “Give it to Dr. Sathe now. He is my secretary.” A second injection was given on the 28th July at 11 in the night. To Dr. Deshmukh said, “You will kill me today, instead of tomorrow by giving me injections.” He began talking in delirium. On the 28th July he said: “This happened in 1818 and the other day it was 1918.... A hundred years’ history5.... We are reduced to this position.” “What are you going to do in the Punjab matter? Have you wired to Patel? We are going to hold a Special Congress.” On the 29th July he said as if he was addressing a meeting: “I am quite sure and you may also believe in me that India will not prosper unless she gets Swaraj.” At 2 o’clock the same night he said: “I am thankful for what you and the people have done.” From the 30th, speech became indistinct. At 12-40 in the night of Sunday, 1st August, he breathed his last. Gandhi and Nehru were there for the funeral which was attended by thousands and thousands of people. The pal-bearers were Mahatma Gandhi, Shoukat Ali and Dr. Kitchlew and other leaders by turn. By special permission, the body was burnt at Chowpatty. The thousands who watched their beloved leader in his last rites must have asked with Shelley: And is this death? the pyre has disappeared, The pestilence, the tyrant, and the throng; The flames grow silent. Slowly there is heard, The music of a breath-suspending song. That song of course was Swaraj for which he had lived and died. The greatest

among the mourners, Mahatma Gandhi, wrote in the Young India: “Lokmanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak is no more. It is difficult to believe of him as dead. He was so much part of the people. No man of our times had the hold on the masses that Mr. Tilak had. The devotion that he commanded from thousands of his countrymen was extraordinary. He was unquestionably the idol of his people. His word was law among thousands. A giant among men has fallen. The voice of the lion is hushed. ‘What was the reason for his hold upon his countrymen? I think the answer is simple. His patriotism was a passion with him. He knew no religion but love of his country. He was a born democrat. He believed in the rule of majority with an intensity that fairly frightened me. But that gave him his hold. He had an iron will which he used for his country. His life was an open book. His tastes were simple. His private life was spotlessly clean. He had dedicated his wonderful talents to his country. No man preached the gospel of the Swaraj with the consistency and the insistence of Lokmanya. His countrymen, therefore, implicitly believed him. His courage never failed him. His optimism was irrepressible. Lokmanya had hoped to see Swaraj fully established during his lifetime. If he failed, it was not his fault. He certainly brought it nearer by many a year. It is for us, who remain behind, to put forth redoubled effort to make it a reality in the shortest possible time. “Lokmanya was an implacable foe of the bureaucracy, but this is not to say that he was a hater of Englishmen or English rule. I warn Englishmen against making the mistake of thinking that he was their enemy. “I had the privilege of listening to an impromptu, learned discourse by him, at the time of the last Calcutta Congress on Hindi being the national language. He had just returned from the Congress pandal. It was a treat to listen to his calm discourse on Hindi. In the course of his address he paid a glowing tribute to the English for their care of the vernaculars. His visit to England, in spite of his sad experience of English juries, made him a staunch believer in British democracy and he seriously made the amazing suggestion mat India should instruct it on the Punjab through the cinematograph. I relate this incident, not because I share his belief for I do not, but in order to show that he entertained no hatred for Englishmen. But he could not and would not put up with an inferior status of India in the Empire. He wanted immediate equality which he believed was his country’s birth-right. And in his struggle for India’s freedom he did not spare the

government. In the battle for freedom he gave no quarter and asked for none. I hope that Englishmen will recognise the worth of the man whom India has adored. “For us, he will go down to the generations yet unborn as a maker of modern India. They will revere his memory as of a man who lived for them and died for them. It is blasphemy to talk of such a man as dead. The permanent essence of him abides with us for ever. Let us erect for the only Lokmanya of India an imperishable monument by weaving into our own lives his bravery, his simplicity, his wonderful industry and his love of his country. “May God grant his soul peace.” 1 2 3 4 Dr. Pattabhi Sitaramayya says about the meeting at the Albert Hall in London held under Lansbury’s Chairmanship “Mrs. Besant, nevertheless, in her speech supported Mr. Montagu’s bill in unmistakable terms and Vithalbhai J. Patel had to contradict her. Finally, in connection with these recriminations, Mr. G. S. Khaparde with his pungent humour described Mrs. Besant as ‘Putana’ to which she-seriously objected, but which description was in detail justified by Vithalbhai. At this distance of time, and knowing as we do Mrs. Besant’s great services to the nation, we cannot help saying that the description was unfortunate and undeserved, in spite of Mrs. Besant’s unconcealed antipathy to the Congress and its activities in London in 1919. It is to be feared that there was something worse which should account for this irrepressible anxiety on Mrs. Besant’s part to support Mr. Montagu in spirit and in letter. Gandhi always treated her with reverence and was always in the habit of rising from his seat to receive her, such was the regard shown towards her by Gandhi and the Congress, but she treated them contemptuously (refer to the events of 1930). Even at that, one should say that Mr. Khaparde’s description of her was not only in bad form, but in bad taste and worse spirit. Let us take this opportunity to state this much.” 5 These words he uttered in English

THE SCHOLAR AND THE 18 ‘SADHAKA’ The word ‘scholarship’ is vague and is often used loosely to connote many different things. The patient and careful collection of data and their presentation in a systematised and logical form is an important aspect of scholarship. But there is another aspect which, though rare, is more fundamental and valuable. It may be termed interpretativescholarship in which an attempt is made to interpret ideas, establish values and enunciate principles from known and available material. Very often these ideas originate as sudden flashes in the mind of the research worker, illuminating, lightning-like, certain parts which were obscure, unknown or neglected. Such a scholar, in the words of the biologist Nicolle, “at once jumps into the unexplorated domain and by this sole act he conquers it. By a streak of lightning, the hitherto obscure problem, which no ordinary feeble lamp would have revealed, is at once flooded with light. It is like a creation.” Tilak’s scholarship was of this type. His domain was Vedic research and Hindu philosophy. In it he formed a few brilliant theories and gave certain illuminating interpretations of the Vedic texts and Vedic chronology. It was no mere textual interpretation of the traditional eastern commentator but the utilisation of original textual interpretation for the formulation of theories in accordance with the established methods of western scholarship. This aspect of scholarship requires much more than patient industry. It is a work of the imagination as much as the work of the poet, the painter, the composer or the scientist. It may or may not have a connection with the world of practice. In the words of Bertrand Russell: “I should not wish the poet, the painter, the composer, or the mathematician to be preoccupied with some remote effect of his activities in the world of practice. He should be occupied rather, in the pursuit of a vision, in capturing and giving permanence to something which he has first seen dimly for a moment, which he has loved with such ardour that the joys of this world have grown pale by comparison. All great art and all great science springs from the passionate desire to embody what was at first an unsubstantial phantom, a beckoning beauty luring men away from safety and ease to a glorious torment.” Many of Tilak’s theories also came to him in a flash.

The Orion Tilak was a very keen student of Vedic literature and certain references gave a stimulus to his imaginative, mind. In the preface to The Orion he wrote: “About four years ago as I was reading the Bhagavad-Gita, it occurred to me that we might derive important conclusions from the statement that ‘he was the Margashirsha of the months.’ This led me to inquire into the primitive Vedic calendar and the result of four years’ labour is now placed before the conference.” The essay, as Tilak modestly calls these important researches into the antiquity of the Vedas, was originally written for the Ninth Oriental Congress held in London in 1892. But owing to its length it could not be inserted into the proceedings and therefore its summary was included therein. Tilak published the essay in October 1893. The problem of fixing the period of Vedic civilis atìon had aroused the interest of a number of oriental scholars. It was acknowledged that the Veda ‘took us to the beginning of the Aryan civilisation’ and as Max Müller put it, “that for a study of man, or if you like, for a study of Aryan humanity, there is nothing in the world equal in importance with it.” Prof. Max Müller followed the literary or linguistic method for ascertaining the age of the Vedas, divided the Vedic literature into four periods the Chhandas, Mantra, Brahmana and Sutra, each presupposing the preceding period. He maintained that the last, i.e., Sutra, was prior “if not to the origin, at least to the spreading and political ascendancy of Buddhism,” i.e., 4th century B.C. and by assigning two hundred years for each period, he arrived at the conclusion that the Vedic hymns were composed at the latest at about 1200 B.C. Dr. Hang followed the method of Prof. Max Müller, but as he assigned five hundred years to each period, on the analogy of similar periods in Chinese literature, he fixed the commencement of Vedic literature between 2400-2000 B.C. While considering the validity of these conclusions it must first be remembered that there were differences among scholars about the division of Vedic literature and moreover it was extremely difficult to assign even the minimum chronological limits to the different periods. Tilak therefore argued that this linguistic method of calculation could at the most be accepted as corroborative evidence but in itself it was vague and uncertain. He decided to pursue a different method of research. Instead of basing his conclusions on mythological and philological coincidences, he studied carefully the numerous

allusions and astronomical references in the Vedas, ‘the Brahmanas and the Sutras, in order to ascertain the age of the Veda, the oldest literary relic of the Aryan race.’ The astronomical method was so far looked upon with suspicion by many oriental scholars. The reason was that except for the Vedanga Jyotisha there were no astronomical works in Sanskrit belonging to the period of the Vedas. Moreover, in the absence of any definite statement as to the character of the year and the cycle mentioned in the Vedic work, the task of deducing a consistent theory out of the references in the Vedic literature to astronomical facts, was regarded as almost next to impossible. Granting the difficulties of the method, Tilak maintained that the scholars were only overcautious in condemning the method as inaccurate and conjectural. He pointed out that the flow in the work of earlier scholars who pursued this method was that the main point got mixed up with irrelevant matter and led to confusion. Tilak, however, acknowledged the significance of ‘Bentley’s speculations which were... ingenious and suggestive,’ of ‘Prof. Webber’s Essay, which as a collection of astronomical allusions and references, was extremely valuable,’ and also of Prof. Whitney’s contributions on the subject. He also made a pointed reference to the remark made by Prof. Max Müller, in the Preface to Rigveda, Vol. IV, that “if the astronomical data on which conclusions as to the age of the Veda have been built implied all that they were represented to imply, the earliest periods of Vedic poetry will have to be rearranged.” Tilak based his theory on the astronomical references in the early Vedic works, the Samhitas, and the Brahmanas, and especially in the earliest of these, the Rigveda. He urged that his theory should be judged in the light of the evidence offered as a whole and remarked that he had mentioned ‘certain facts.not as convincing as the others... which in themselves were interesting but which might be admitted... as there was ample evidence to prove the main point.’ Tilak has claimed that his method of investigation was the same as that adopted by Bentley and Colebrooke and that he was carrying ‘it a step ahead of his predecessors. He was, however, conscious of the fact that the evidence he had advanced in support of his theory would have validity only if the Sanskrit scholars accepted his interpretation of the texts as correct. In the preface he remarked: “Though I have used the astronomical method, yet a comparison with Bentley’s work will show that the present essay is more literary than astronomical in character. In other words, it is the Sanskrit scholars who have first of all to decide if my interpretations of certain texts are correct, and when this judgment is once given it is not at all difficult to astronomically calculate the exact period of the tradition in the Rigveda. I do not mean to say that no

knowledge of astronomy is necessary to discuss the subject, but on the whole it would be readily seen that the question is one more for Sanskrit scholars than for astronomers to decide.”

The Conclusions The conclusions which we may draw from a consideration of all these facts is that the oldest periods of the Aryan civilization must be rearranged as under: (i) Pre -Orion Period, 6000-4000 B.C. The primitive calendar was first framed at this time, and a sacrificial system based upon it. The vernal equinox was in Punarvasu. (ii) The Orion Period 4000-2500 B.C.That is from the time when the vernal equinox was near the right shoulder of the Orion (Ardra) to the time when the equinox was in the Krittikas. (iii) The Krittika Period 2500-1400 B.C. When the Taittiriya Samhita and several Brahmanas were compiled. (iv) The Pre-Buddhistic Period 1400-500 B.C.This is the period of Sutras. “Such are the conclusions which can be fairly and reasonably deduced from the astronomical facts, references and allusions contained in the Vedic works, and the linguistic evidence does not conflict with them. For we must place a considerable period between the Rigveda hymns and the time of the Brahmanas, when those hymns had become intelligible. The linguistic method does not, however, give us any specific point of time, while the astronomical references and observations supply us with definite facts indicating definite time. Taking these points as the starting points of the different periods, we have to see if the durations assigned to them are or are not probable on the linguistic grounds. Thus used the two methods will be found to harmonise.”

Comments Prof. Jacobi Prof. Herman Georg Jacobi, an eminent scholar of Sanskrit, wrote in the 23rd Volume of the Indian Antiquary, published in June 1894, an article, ‘On the Date of the Rig-Veda’1 In the course of this article, Prof. Jacobi discussed the astronomical evidence in the Vedic texts and arrived at the following conclusion: “This period of civilisation extended accordingly from about 4500 to 2500 B.C. and we shall not perhaps be far wrong, if we put the collection of hymns which has come down to us in the second half of this period.” He has worked out a table of the longitudes of the principal stars of the Nakshatras at various times. In the concluding note, Prof. Jacobi wrote: “The previous investigation had been finished... when I got information of the work of Prof. Bal Gangadhar Tilak.... Nevertheless I have determined to publish my arguments, as in spite of our agreement in the main result, our methods are different.” Dr. Bloomfield Dr. Bloomfield of John Hopkins’ Institute speaking of The Orion in an anniversary address paid the following glowing attribute: “But a literary event of even greater importance has happened within the last two or three months — an event which is certain to stir the world of science and culture far more than beatific reminiscences. Some ten weeks ago I received from India a small duodecimo volume in the clumsy get-up and faulty typography of the native Anglo-Indian press. It came with the regards of the author, a person totally unknown to fame.... The title is The Orion or Researches into the Antiquity of the Vedas! It will be understood that the entry of the little volume upon my horizon was not such as to prejudice me in its favour and secondly I placed it where it might reach without too much effort in the drowsy after-dinner hours, to be disposed of along with much second class matter, such as reaches a scholar, through the channels of a Postal Union. Nor was the preface at all encouraging. The author blandly informs us that the age of the Rigveda cannot be less than 4,000 year before Christ. Having in mind the boundless fancy of the Hindu through the ages and his fatal facility for taking his mouthfuls when it comes to a

question of numbers, I proposed to myself to continue to turn the leaves of the book with the amused smile of orthodoxy befitting the occasion. But soon the amused smile gave way to an uneasy sense that something unusual had happened. I was first impressed with something Iconic in the way in which the author controlled the Vedic literature and the occidental works on the same; my superficial reading was soon replaced by observed study and finally having been prepared to scoff wildly, I confess that the author had convinced me in all essential points. The book is unquestionably the literary sensation of the year just before us. History the Re-adjuster shall have her hands uncommonly full to assimilate the results of Mr. Tilak’s discovery and arrange her paraphernalia in the new perspective.” G. Thibaut G. Thibaut in a paper published in Volume IV of The Indian Antiquary (published in March 1895) has tried to refute the thesis in The Orion. He has also contradicted the arguments of Prof. Jacobi who support ed Tilak’s point of view. Thibaut has considered a passage, from the Kaushitaki Brahmana, not discussed by Tilak, and has arrived at the conclusion that ‘Kaushitaki Brahmana belongs to the period when the winter-solstice was supposed to be in Sravishthas.’ G. Thibaut has also quoted Taittiriya and Tandya passages to substantiate his argument. At the end of his article he has remarked: “But I must adhere to my contention, that with the possible exception of Krittikas heading the old list of the nakshatras, no astronomical datum has, so far, been pointed out in Vedic literature which leads back further than the period when the winter-solstice was in the Sravishthas.” Dr. Dandekar Dr. R. N. Dandekar, the eminent orientalist, has been working on the problem of the fixation of the Vedic period. His research in the field has received the recognition of the most eminent of Indologists and it is therefore necessary to consider his views in the matter, which are an indirect commentary on Tilak’s researches in the field. Dr. Dandekar, in his presidential remarks at the first section — Ancient Period — of the tenth session of the All-India History Congress observed: “I am... inclined to think that, generally speaking the Vedic period has been studied, up till now, more or less as an isolated period. Efforts

must now be made to fix up that period into the whole scheme of the history of India, which, in turn, must be properly linked up with the history of the world.... The astronomical evidence, produced to prove the hoary antiquity of the Veda, has always appeared to me to be of doubtful validity. We observe that there are as many dates fixed on the basis of that evidence as there are astronomical scholars! Moreover such a high antiquity for the Veda is not likely to fit in well with the scheme of the later course of Indian history. The Indus civilization, may have, in that case, to be regarded as just an aspect of Vedic civilization, against overwhelming archaeological evidence to the contrary.” It can thus be seen that many of Tilak’s conclusions about the Antiquity of the Vedas are no more accepted by orientalists today. This, however, in no way lessens the importance of the research done by Tilak. What Dr. Dandekar said in justification of his own conclusions may be said about Tilak’s hypothesis also: “Such hypothesis put forth in the field of ancient Indian history are but ‘pins set up to be bowl’d down again.’ It is, however, my belief that, in the interest of historical progress, it is necessary and desirable that such ‘pins’ are set up if only to be bowl’d down and replaced by stronger and firmer pins.”

Arctic Home in the Vedas At the end of the preface to The Orion, Tilak wrote: “It is not likely that my other engagements will permit me to devote much time to this subject in future.” His imprisonment in 1898, however, came as a blessing in disguise as it enabled him to dive deep in to the subject of his choice. Prof. Max Müller, sent him a copy of the Rigveda he had edited. While Tilak was deeply absorbed in the study of it, the idea about the original home of the Aryans, dawned on his mind as in a flash. The event can best be described in the words of Poincare: “Most striking at first is this appearance of sudden illumination a manifest sign of long, unconscious prior work.” The hymn (Many days passed before the Sun-rise) strengthened his belief in his theory. V. G. Ketkar in the Reminiscences of Tilak wrote: “After his release from prison, as he was once talking to a learned friend, he remarked: ‘I was very happy on the night when I could explain correctly the hymn, The friend naturally said, ‘How can there be any happiness in prison?’ At this Tilak said, ‘You won’t understand it unless you go to prison.” This was, however, only the beginning of a brilliant idea. Tilak had the scientific attitude necessary for carrying on research and would have discarded his theory if he had not come across the corroborative evidence. After his release he devoted his spare time to the pursuit of this inquiry and in particular studied geology. He wrote The Arctic Home in the Vedas in the summer of 1902. During this period he was staying at his bungalow on. Singhad Gopal Raoji Gogte, who was Tilak’s writer during the period, in the Reminiscences stated: “Tilak dictated to me hectically for fourteen to fifteen hours a day. Sometimes he was so much absorbed in some new idea that I had to wait for hours before he resumed the work of dictation.... He hardly spoke to anyone in the house.... The work continued almost to the last moment of our leaving Sinhgad.... He was happy when the book was completed.” The Arctic Home in the Vedas was published in 1903. In The Orion Tilak had pursued the astronomical method. In The Arctic Home in the Vedas, he has based his theory on the latest researches in geology and archaeology bearing on the primitive history of man. Tilak in the preface to The Arctic Home remarked that after pursuing this line of research for a long time, “the conclusion that the

ancestors of the Vedic Rishis lived in an Arctic home in inter-glacial times was forced on me by the slowly accumulating mass of Vedic and Avestic evidence.” Tilak, alter his release from prison, wrote to Prof. Max Müller thanking him for his disinterested kindness. He also sent to Prof. Max Müller, a brief summary of his new theory regarding the primitive Aryan home as disclosed by Vedic evidence, Prof. Max Müller, wrote in reply that though it was a probable interpretation of Vedic passages, yet the theory ‘appeared to be in conflict with the established geological facts.’ Tilak informed him of his research from that point of view and intended to place before him the evidence he had collected in support of his theory. Prof. Max Müller, however, died soon alter this and Tilak had no opportunity of knowing his reaction to his new research. Tilak was always conscious of the disadvantages under which he was working and made an appropriate reference to the remarks of Prof. Max Müller, who pointed out how different branches of knowledge were closely linked with each other and how a research scholar in one subject had to take the counsel and help of recognised authorities on other subjects. Tilak wrote: “But alas! it is not given to us to move in an atmosphere like this in which there was a scientific give and take.” The Arctic Home begins with the remark: “If we trace the history of any nation backwards into the past, we come at last to a period of myths and traditions which eventually fade away into impenetrable darkness.” Tilak then referred to the attempts made by mythologists in order to throw light on the pre-historic period and pointed out that they assumed that the physical and geographical surroundings of ancient man were not different from those of present day. He pointed out how owing to this wrong assumption efforts were made to explain every Vedic myth in the light of the storm or the dawn theory, and it was found that the Vedas could only be imperfectly understood. Tilak then pointed out how owing to recent discoveries in archaeology, geology and palaentology, the conclusions of the philologists and mythologists had to be revised and the theory of successive migrations into Europe from a common home of the Aryan race in Central Asia had to be given up. After stating that the question of the primeval home of the Aryan race still remained unsolved, Tilak concluded the first chapter with the remarks: “The North Pole is already considered by several eminent scientific men as the most likely place where plant and animal life first originated; and I believe it can be satisfactorily shown that there is enough positive evidence in the most ancient books of the Aryan race, the Vedas and

Avesta to prove that the oldest home of the Aryan people was somewhere in regions roundabout the North Pole,” In the concluding chapter, ‘Primitive Aryan Culture and Religion,’ the proofs of the theory of the Arctic Home are summed up, the ancient Vedic chronology and calendar are examined and the current views regarding primitive Aryan culture and religion are discussed. The theological views regarding the origin and character of the Vedas is further summarised. Tilak then reiterated his claim that many points in Vedic interpretation and Vedic mythology were rationally explained by the theory of the Arctic home in inter-glacial times. In conclusion, Tilak remarked: “In these days of progress when the question of the primitive human culture and civilisation is approached and investigated from so many different sides, the science of Vedic interpretation cannot stand isolated or depend exclusively on linguistic or grammatical analysis; and we have simply followed the spirit of the time in seeking to bring about the co-ordination of the latest scientific results with the traditions contained in the oldest books of the Aryan racebooks which have been deservedly held in the highest esteem and preserved by our ancestors, amidst insurmountable difficulties, with religious enthusiasm ever since the beginning of the present age.”

Comments Dr. F. W. Warren Of The Arctic Home in the Vedas, Dr. F. W. Warren, the President of Boston University and author of Paradise Found, thus speaks in the Open Court magazine, Chicago (September 1905): “Within the limits of this article no summary of the author’s argument can be given. Suffice it here to say that in the judgment of the present writer the array of the evidences set forth is far more conclusive than any ever attempted by an Indo-Iranian scholar in the interest of the earlier hypothesis. Absolute candour and respect for the strictest methods of historical and scientific investigation characterise the disquisition throughout. This results in part no doubt from the fact that the author’s own attitude of mind was at the outset highly sceptical.” He says: “I did not start with any preconceived notion in favour of the Arctic theory; nay, I regarded it as highly improbable at first, but the accumulating evidence in its support eventually forced me to accept it.” It is now to be seen how any other candid minds can master the proof produced without being mastered by it in turn. Twenty years ago in preparing my work on the broader problems of the cradle-land of the humane race, I went through all the Vedic and Arctic texts so far as existing translations would then permit; reaching at the end the same conclusion that Mr. Tilak has now reached. Incidentally in my arguments a new light was thrown upon various points in the mythical geography and cosmography of ancient Iranians — light which the foremost Iranist of his time, Prof. Spiegal, generously acknowledged. Incidentally I also arrived at a new interpretation of the Vedic myth of captive waters and of other Vedic myths. Especially gratifying, therefore, is it to me to find in Mr. Tilak a man in no degree dependent on translations, yet arriving not only at my main conclusion, but also at a number of minor ones of which I had never made public mention. I desire to publicly thank this far-off fellow-worker for the generosity of his frequent references to my work in the common field and for the solidity and charm of his own, in certain respects, more authoritative contribution. Whoever will master this new work and that of the late Mr. John O’Neille on The Night of the Gods will not be likely ever again to ask, where was the earliest home of the Aryans?”

Critics of the Arctic Theory Among the critics of The Arctic Home was Narayanrao Bhavanrao Pavgi, a close friend of Tilak. In the Reminiscences of Tilak he wrote: “Lokmanya showed to me the important part of his manuscript of The Arctic Home, but I was left unconvinced.” Pavgi also delivered, on 19th May 1906, a lecture, over which Tilak presided. In the course of his speech, he unequivocally stated his points of difference with Tilak. In 1915 he wrote the book Aryawartic Home and its Arctic Colony in which he tried to refute Tilak’s thesis. Tilak who had a scholar’s conscience, always wanted to improve on his work. Dr. S. K. Belvalkar, the renowned Sanskrit scholar, in the Reminiscences wrote: “While discussing the Arctic theory Tilak said: ‘I very much want to publish the second edition of The Arctic Home in the Vedas but before that, it is necessary to study some recently published works on Scandinavian mythology. ... If you come to Sinhgad for a month, we shall discuss the subject and make the necessary modifications in the second edition....’ Tilak had also ‘agreed to give in the second edition a chronological history of Vedic and post-Vedic literature.” Today many of the Sanskrit scholars interpret the Vedic hymns in a manner different from that to Tilak. Dr. R. N. Dandekar has also expressed a point of view very different from that of Tilak. He observed: “Linguistic, archaeological, anthropological and cultural-historical evidence entitles us to assume that the North Kirghis Steppes between the Urals and the Altai, was the home of the Indo-European.... This was the primary Urheimat. From this region the first major migration started in south-eastern direction — the immigrants ultimately settling in the Balkh region, before their further migrations.... We know that Aryan speech and religion had already been assuming noble forms, ever since the Proto-Aryans migrated to and settled in the region around Balkh. After the stray secondary migrations of some of the Proto-Aryan tribes... the remaining stock of the Proto-Aryans continued to live in that region for some centuries, and developed their unique culture and civilisation. This was the Proto-Indo-Iranian period. The Vedic ‘Mantras’ in their primary form, came to be composed, and the distinctive Soma-ritual was evolved.... Indians gradually moved eastward into the land of seven rivers, conquering... the tribes of the Dasas. Ultimately by about 1900 B.C. these Vedic Aryans advanced where they came across what was perhaps the last phase of Harappa civilisation.”

Dr. Dandekar, however, observed in a personal interview: “In spite of certain limitations, The Arctic Home of Lokmanya Tilak contains many brilliant hints and suggestions and could certainly be called an inspired piece of research. It is to be appreciated for its rich possibilities rather than for its actual conclusions.”

The Mahabharata Chintaman Vinayak Vaidya, an eminent scholar and a friend of Tilak, wrote in 1905 a monumental book, The Mahabharata—a Criticism. Tilak wrote seven articles in the Kesari, reviewing the book a nd discussing various problems a bout the Mahabharata. Tilak and Vaidya agreed that the date of the Mahabharata was between 300-250 B.C.; but they differed about the date of the Bharatiya Yuddha (The war between Pandavas and Kauravas). Whereas Vaidya maintained that the war took place about 3000 B.C., Tilak was of opinion that it took place about 1400 B.C. Vaidya had mainly based his argument on the times of the Satapatha Brahmanas as decided by the astronomer S. B. Dikshit who had made the calculations in the light of the statement that the Krittikas appeared directly in the east. Tilak did not accept this as convincing and remarked to Vaidya, “I think that the statement about the appearance of Krittikas was made in a traditional way and was not based on astronomical observations.” Tilak referred to the Shulva Sutra wherein it was remarked that Krittikas appeared a few degrees to the north. This was one of the many instances which was a testimony to Tilak’s scholarship.

Vedanga Jyotisha Tilak had a rare keen interest in the astronomy of the Vedic period. He believed that in the Vedic period, astronomy was an advanced science and while talking to K. L. Daphtari, a great scholar and a writer on astronomy, referred to a passage from Ancient Calendars and Constellation by Plunket in which he acknowledged the fact that the Greeks learnt much from Indian astronomers. In his exhaustive essay on Vedanga Jyotisha, Tilak first acknowledged the importance of the work done by eminent scholars like Jervis, Webber and Dr. Thibaut. The late Shankar Balkrishna Dikshit who had done valuable research in astronomy, had in his Bharatiya Jyotishshastra (Indian Astronomy) explained 14 stanzas in Vedanga Jyotisha. 23 had been explained already. Pandit Sudhakar Dwivedi of Benares made further advances and threw light on eight more stanzas. In the course of his essay, Tilak discussed the interpretations offered before him and explained 2 or 3 more stanzas. His interpretations have been practically accepted by Shamashastri of Madras who in the light of his study of the works by Jain authors, has explained all the 49 stanzas in Vedanga Jyotisha. Tilak, before arriving at his conclusions, got the different manuscripts collated. In the second part of his essay on Vedanga Jyotisha, he has given information about the Vedic calendar in an interesting manner.

The Chaldean and Indian Vedas On 6th December 1904, in a meeting held in Bombay under the auspices of the Graduates’ Association, Tilak delivered a lecture on Chaldean and Indian Vedas. K, R. Cama, the great Parsi scholar, in his presidential remarks, paid tributes to Tilak’s original approach to the problem. Tilak had little time to write out his opinions. But in 1917, he contributed an article on the subject to The Bhandarkar Commemoration Volume, published by the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute, Poona. Tilak mentioned at the outset that the discovery of Chaldean literature, of the record of their religious beliefs and culture in the form of brick-inscriptions was one of the most important events of the latter half of the 19th century. These inscriptions were aptly described by M. Lenormant as the Chaldean Veda. He then made a reference to his theory in The Orion and remarked: “This makes the Vedic and Chaldean civilizations almost contemporaneous, and it is not unnatural to expect some intercourse either by land or sea between the Chaldean and the Vedic races even in those ancient times.” Tilak then stated that in the course of this essay he would confine himself to the words and ideas which he had found common to the Chaldean and the Indian Vedas, and would also state the work done by previous scholars. Tilak summed up the essay with a clear statement of his object in writing it. “My object was simply to draw the attention of Vedic scholars to the importance of the comparative study of Indian and Chaldean Vedas by pointing out some words which, in my opinion, are common to both and which fairly establish the case of mutual, and not merely one-sided, indebtedness between the almost contemporaneous Aryan and Turanian people. What effect it may have on the current theories on the inter-relation between the two ancient cultures must be left for the scholars to decide.”

A Missing Verse Restored Another highly imaginative piece of research was the missing verse in the Sankhya Karika restored by Tilak. According to the concluding verse of the Sankhya Karika of Ishwarkrishna, it (Karika) contained 70 verses; only 69 verses are, however, available and even authoritative scholars like Colebrooke and Wilson could not make any conjecture. Tilak while reading the commentary of Gaudapada on the 61st verse of the book, noticed that the commentary did not just explain the said verse but appeared to explain something which was not contained in the verse. He felt that the additional part in the commentary might refer to the missing verse. He pursued the subject, and particularly with the help of the French translation made by Dr. Takayusu from the original Chinese commentary, reconstructed the verse as follows: ‘The Cause is God,’ say some. Time or Nature,’ say others. But how can something, which possesses no quality, be the cause of anything? And as to Time or Nature both of them are determinate, And cannot be the cause of indeterminate Prakriti. This creative piece of Tilak’s research has met with approval of the most fastidious of critics. Tilak’s interest in astronomy was that of a scholar and yet it was not of a scholar who was interested only in research of advanced kind. He never lost sight of the relation of knowledge to everyday life. He therefore made great efforts to induce many of the astronomers to carry out reforms in the calendar used by Hindus and to give it a scientific basis. He also appreciated the splendid work done by scholars like Vyankatesh Bapuji Ketkar and others. Presiding over the conference of astronomers held in Poona on 20th October 1917, Tilak exhorted the astronomers to carry on research work and also to satisfy the popular demand for the removal of confusion in the Hindu calendar. Many persons, writing the reminiscences of Tilak, have written about his scholarship and superb memory. Sakharambhat Bhave of Pen, who was himself a great scholar, wrote: “While discussing certain Vedic subjects I asked Tilak whether one stanza I found both in the Nirukta of

Yaska and in the Bhagavad-Gita, was borrowed by Yaska from the Gita or by Vyasa from Yaska. Tilak promptly answered: ‘Neither borrowed it from the other. Both of them have taken it from an Upanishad.’ He immediately showed me the necessary reference from an encyclopaedia.” Tilak had little time to devote to mathematics, but his inventive mind was absorbed in certain topics. Prof. M. L. Chandratreya, a professor of mathematics and a devoted scholar, said in a personal interview: “I met Tilak at the Sardar Griha by appointment sometime in 1919. He talked to me about differential calculus and I found that he had arrived at the ‘Method of Indivisibles’ independently. He had not the time to pursue the latest research work in the subject and therefore did not know that the method was established before him. I was, however, very much impressed by his insight in the subject.” Shrimad Bhagavadgita-Rahasya The Gita-Rahasya is one of the great masterpieces written in jail. The enforced separation from the world brought out the long suppressed facet of Tilak’s personality and afforded him the leisure to present to the world his interpretation of the Bhagavadgita. In fact it was no mere interpretation but an account of the realisation of a ‘Sadhaka.’ Though the Gita-Rahasya has been considered along with other scholarly writings of Tilak, in its relation to Tilak’s life, it stands in a class by itself. The Orion, The Arctic Home in the Vedas and of Tilak’s mind with a subject of his liking. His research work in the field was proof of his penetrating intellect and one certainly feels that if circumstances had been different he would have achieved a rare distinction as an orientalist. The list of the books he proposed to write shows his confidence in the brilliant ideas which he wanted to propound. The fact that Tilak could not get leisure to write these books is indeed a great loss to the world of letters. But they were all voluntary endeavours which he proposed to undertake. The Gita-Rahasya is altogether different in the sense that it has an inevitability in Tilak’s life and is an indivisible part of his personality. Great artists, speaking about their own works of art, have stated that they felt an irrepressible urge from within to create something beautiful and they would not have been able to live if these works of art had not been created. To them the impulse to create is not a conscious, voluntary activity with a purpose. Croce has aptly described the process when he says, “We... open our mouths and will to

open them, to speak, or our throats to sing, and declare in a loud voice and with extended throat what we have completely said or sung to ourselves.” What is true of artists can also be true of thinkers if their preoccupation with ideas is not a mere intellectual activity but is prompted by a desire ‘to realise’ the nature of the Universe. There have been thinkers and philosophers whose ideas strike us as brilliant and yet make us feel that these were not arrived at in the process of realisation of the self and of the Universe. There are others, however, whose life is a ‘Sadhana,’ a search after knowledge and whose writings, embodying their ideas, are an expression of the yearnings of their mind and the final realisation which has dawned on it. The Gita-Rabasya can justly be termed as ‘a life-blood of a master spirit.’ The Gita was not merely one of the influences on Tilak’s life. It was Tilak’s inspiration, the main-spring of his action. Nor was it merely the work of an erudite scholar or of an interpreter , ‘ Mimamsaka.’ It was the quintessence of the experiences and thinking of a Sadhaka, whose whole life was lived in a spirit of dedication, and who wanted to communicate to the groping humanity a message of ‘The Lord’s Song’ and ‘to lift the aspirant from the lower levels of renunciation, to the loftier heights where desires are dead, and where the Yogi dwells in calm and ceaseless contemplation while his body and mind are actively employed in discharging the duties that are necessary for promoting the good of society.’ The central idea of the Gita-Rahasya was first expressed by Tilak in his speech at Nagpur in 1902. Madhav Shrihari alias Bapuji Aney and a few other students of Nagpur met Tilak at Nagpur station, as he was proceeding to Calcutta to attend the Congress Session in 1902, and requested him to deliver a lecture to the students of Nagpur. On making inquiries of the young enthusiastic students, Tilak learnt that there were many students of philosophy in the Morris College. He therefore agreed to halt at Nagpur during his return journey, and said that he would speak on a subject related to their studies. When he came to Nagpur, an address was presented to him by students of the Morris College and in the speech made in reply, Tilak stated the message of the Gita, which was later on developed in the Gita-Rahasya. He observed: “I shall not deal with the different accepted interpretations of the Gita, such as it teaches Vedanta or it shows the way for salvation. To me it appears that the Gita shows the way of action when the mind is torn in doubts and cannot decide the course of action. Such was the state of Arjuna’s mind at the beginning of the Bharatiya Yuddha and after listening to the Gita, his doubts were removed, his mind became calm and he acted according to the advice of Shri Krishna.” Tilak pointed out the significance of the

ethical principles propounded in the Bhagavadgita and showed how they were different from the teachings of Utilitarianism, of moral intuitionism and of Hedonism. Tilak emphasised his view that it was the desire for fruit and not action which bound the individual. He observed that the renunciation of life by fearing the results of action is the escapist way of salvation. He emphasised the significance of and concluded by saying that the Gita awakened the sense of duty in an individual and taught him to act in a disinterested manner. Throughout his speech Tilak put forth that the idea of action and not renunciation was the message of the Gita and drew special attention to (Follow me and fight). The Gita-Rahasya was written in the Mandalay jail and Tilak got the pencil- written manuscript a few months after he was released. With the help of friends, a fair copy was made and the first Marathi edition was published in June 1915. The first edition of 6,000 copies was almost sold out within a week of its publication,. It has since been translated in Hindi, Gujarati, Bengali, Kannada, Telugu and Tamil almost all the important Indian languages. In Hindi there have been seven editions and in Marathi the sixth edition was published in 1950. The Gita-Rabasya was translated in English in 1935 and the first edition of 10,000 copies has been sold out. The preface to the Gta-Rahasya, besides stating in brief the main thesis, throws unexpected light on Tilak’s mind. It begins with the famous lines of Saint Tukaram: (“Humble that I am, I only speak what the saints have already spoken.)” This clearly indicates the modesty of a scholar who realises that nothing in the realm of knowledge is new. It is then stated how in 1872, when he was only 16, he read out to his ailing father the Bhasha-Vivritti, a commentary on the Bhagavadgita. “Though it was not possible to understand the import of the Gita at such an early age, the impressions absorbed at an early age are always lasting and a liking for the Gita was created in my mind.” Tilak then writes, how he read the Gita and the different commentaries written on it in Sanskrit, Marathi and English, how he had his growing doubts as to why he should accept the interpretation that Gita showed the way of salvation, how after setting aside all commentaries and reading the Gita several times, he arrived at the conclusion that Karma-Yoga was the message of the Gita, and how after studying the Mahabharata, other Vedic

literature and different works in English, his theory was confirmed in his mind. A reference is next made to his intimate friend the late Shripatibuva Bhingarkar, with whom he discussed the Gita several times. “It is very unfortunate that Buva is not alive to see this book published.” Admitting that it was not possible to deal adequately with the discussion of the ideas about the Gita advanced before him, Tilak writes: “As the poet Moropant said, ‘Old age, which is the spotless white banner carried by the army of attendants of death, is already in sight; my body is exhausted in the struggle with diseases, which are the advance-guard of that army.’ The companions in my life have passed on. I am writing this to communicate to people the information I gathered and the thoughts that have occurred to me, so that someone sharing my purpose in life, might pick up the thread and complete the work.” These words have a deep human significance. A touching reference has been to the partings in life caused by the death of those who were nearest to him. There is, however, no grieving over it. The attitude of Tilak as revealed in these words is one of resigned acceptance. The words also express the faith of an individual who knows that the torch of knowledge is handed over from generation to generation. In conclusion Tilak writes: “The preface ends. It pains me to realise that the subject whose contemplation was ever a source of happiness, is now put forth in the form of a book and thus is parting from me. But these thoughts have occurred to me to be communicated to the next generation and hence I am offering this philosopher’s stone to my readers with the words in Kathopanishad (“Arise, awake and accept these blessings of God.”) The epilogue of the Gita-Rahasya sums up the arguments advanced earlier, leading to its ultimate message of disinterested action. The chapter opens with the quotation and it is shown how the Gita enunciated the fundamental principles of action and discussed the metaphysical idea and the ethical basis of action. “The chief object of the Gita is to explain which is the most excellent state of man from the metaphysical point of view and to decide the fundamental principles of ethics with reference to different actions of life.” It is further pointed out how in deciding the ethical problem Kant, in his Theory of Ethics, and Green, in Prolegomena to Ethics, thought it necessary to consider pure reason rather than action. A reference is made to the fact that the message of the Gita was interpreted differently by different schools, some advocating renunciation, others laying all stress on bhakti, etc. Saint Ramdas, however, emphasised the way of action as advocated in

the Gita. The discussion is summed up with the remark: “The religion of the Gita, which is a blend of spiritual knowledge, devotion and action, which is fearless and comprehensive... which does not maintain any distinction between classes, castes and countries, but gives ‘release’ to everyone in the same measure and, at the same time, shows proper forbearance towards other religions, is the sweetest immortal fruit of the tree of Vedic religion. The disinterested action which removed the conflict between knowledge and action and converted the entire life into a sacrifice, was the quintessence of all the ethical teachings of the Vedic Dharma.” In the appendix the Gita has been examined ‘externally’ with reference to the following seven topics: (1) The Gita and the Mahabharata, (2) The Gita and the Upa nishads, (3) The Gita and the Brahmasutras, (4) The Bhagavat Dharma and the Gita, (5) The date of composition of the Gita in its present form, (6) The Gita and the Buddhistic books, (7) The Gita and the Bible. The problems are discussed in an exhaustive manner. The conclusion arrived at is that the Gita in its present form was an integral and appropriate part of the Mahabharata and not an interpolation. The distinctive features of the Gita are brought out by comparing it with the Upanishads and the Brahmasutras. It is pointed out that originally, i.e., probably about 1400 B.C., the Bhagavata Dharma regarded unattached action as superior to renunciation and only later it changed its aspect and devotion became its main feature. In deciding the date of the Gita, different kinds of evidence are considered and after refuting the arguments of Professor Garbe it is said, “All these evidences cumulatively lead to the conclusion that the Mahabharata and consequently the Gita was in existence about 500 years before the Shaka era.” It is maintained that the Mahayana sect in Buddhism was partly due to the Gita. This evidence led to the conclusion that the Gita existed at least 300 years before Christ. Tilak refutes the theory of Dr. Lorinser that the Gita was influenced by the Bible and observed in conclusion: “There is a great probability, and almost a certainty that the principles of Self-identification , renunciation, non-enmity and devotion to be found in the New Testament of the Bible, must have been taken into the Christian religion from Buddhism, and therefore indirectly from the Vedic religion.”

Dignity of Style The Gita-Rahasya has been written in Tilak’s usual direct and forceful Marathi. Though the subject is highly abstract, there is a wonderful clarity of expression, and the familiar illustrations bring home to the reader the implications even of abstruse ideas. There is an appropriate dignity maintained throughout the discussion and in spite of innumerable allusions, there is no touch of pedantry about it. Prof. V. M. Joshi, a well-known Marathi author and an associate of Tilak, wrote: “Mr. Tilak spares no pains to make himself not only understood, but interesting and instructive. Indeed the present writer was once told by him that he had to spend hours and even days in some cases before he could fix upon any new Marathi word or expression as an equivalent for the corresponding English word or expression... There is no instance in the whole book of 850 pages of that interspersion of English or Anglicised Marathi words which owing to the verbal poverty of some writers disfigure their writings.... Tilak has displayed marvellous power which Marathi possesses of familiarly, smoothly and even elegantly expressing philosophical, ethical or metaphysical ideas, however much their complexity or abstruseness.” Joshi has, however, also pointed out that Tilak’s method, of emphasising the main thesis of the Gita-Rahasya too often, at times appears jarring. Gita-Rabasya, an Expression of Tilak’s Faith In the earlier phase of his life, Tilak felt a fascination for the goal of spiritual life as enunciated in the Upanishads, viz. the realisation that the individual soul (Jiva) is, in the ultimate analysis, identical with the universal soul (Brahman). He then came under the influence of western philosophers like Mill and Spencer and began to feel the inadequacy of the ideal of individual emancipation. With a deeper study of the Bhagavadgita, he realised that he need not look up to the west for an emphasis on social duties. The Gita preached the ideal of action for ‘Lokasangraha,’ i.e., for promoting the stability and solidarity of society. The Gita had unequivocally pointed out the social content of the spiritual ideal, and taught the gospel of Karmayoga and not of Sanyasa. Tilak did not believe in the fulfilment of an individual’s destiny apart from society and knew the significance of Mazzini’s saying “We improve with the world.” The Hindu religion at one time gave due consideration to both the aspects of life — the individual as well as

the social — as could be seen from the concept of four Ashramas and the system of four Varnas. A growing emphasis was, however, laid on the ideal of individual emancipation and it was only in the Gita that there was a new orientation in the light of social ethics. Tilak, who was brought up in the orthodox tradition, did not brush aside rituals as unnecessary. But he was aware that as they were mostly to be performed by Brahmins and in some cases by the Kshatriyas, salvation (Moksha) would be possible only for a limited number of people and a bond of spiritual brotherhood could not be created. In the Gita, however, he found that the cult of sacrifice was replaced by the cult of Bhakti, which promised salvation to all irrespective of the differences of caste, sex or age. Tilak had realised that the strength of Christianity lay in the spiritual equality but he also felt that the way of Bhakti as advocated in the Gita also established spiritual equality. Moreover, ritual was not altogether discarded but had significance as a social duty. Tilak felt convinced that the superiority of the Hindu religion over other religions lay in its tolerance and non-dogmatic attitude. The Brahmanic teachers, however, were dogmatic in their speculations both with regard to ritualism and spiritualism. In the Bhagavadgita, there was a departure from this point of view, and different ways were tolerated so long as the ultimate ideal was the realisation of the supreme reality. Tilak thus found in the Gita a philosophic synthesis transcending the individual and based on the universality of experience. With his study of the western philosophers Tilak had realised the significance of social ethics, but he felt that the materialistic basis of this ethics would lead to a society of which self-interest — at the most, — enlightened self-interest would be the motive force. He maintained that ethics could not be separated from metaphysics and pointed out that those who thought that the universe could be explained in terms of natural and physical sciences advocated materialistic ethics in which self-interest was the end of man’s efforts; those who took an agnostic position in metaphysics, agreed that there were degrees of happiness and that mental happiness was superior to physical happiness. The metaphysics of the Gita was spiritual and consequently its ethics too were spiritual though its content was social. The action advocated in the Gita was altogether different from self-aggrandisement, and because it was performed in a disinterested manner it created no bonds. The action thus performed in the interest of society implied self-effacement. Tilak, thus, accepted the metaphysical position of Shankaracharya though he differed from him in ethical matters —

Shankaracharya considered ethics from the point of view of individual emancipation and hence advocated Sanyasa, whereas Tilak thought of ethics in terms of social duties and hence advocated Karmayoga. Incidentally it may be mentioned that though Shri Aurobindo also regarded Karmayoga as the message of the Gita, he differed from Tilak in that he discarded the metaphysics (Mayavad ) of Shankaracharya. He has pointed out that one cannot think of social duties unless one regards the world as a reality. Tilak accepted the Mayavad with the qualification that Brahman was not without attribute but had many attributes . Though this is not the place for philosophic discussion, we think that the position of Aurobindo was more consistent than that of Tilak. Thus in his quest for realisation, Tilak saw in the three aspects of the message of the Bhagavadgita — Karmayoga, Lokasangraha and Bhakti — a higher synthesis of different philosophies. Tilak’s own life was full of activity; the world knew him as a practical politician; and yet he was, to quote the words of Mrs. Sarojini Naidu about Gokhale, “a born idealist perpetually seeking some unchanging reality in a world full of shifting disillusion and despair.” The Bhagavadgita perpetually illumined his path, provided him with an incentive to work. In his life, private and public, Tilak must have experienced doubts, agonies, even despair, but with the help of the Bhagavadgita he could emancipate himself from the bondage of his actions and attain a philosophic calm in his life. Giia-Rahasya was, therefore, not a commentary or an interpretation; it was an expression of Tilak’s faith and a quintessence of his experience.

Comments The Gita-Rahasya evoked different responses from different people. Some of the Shastris criticised Tilak for his departure from the views of Shankaracharya. To them an attempt to interpret the Gita in an original manner was almost a sacrilege if not blasphemy. Another type of criticism was that there was nothing new in the thesis propounded by Tilak. The former criticism has been answered by Tilak himself. So far as the latter criticism was concerned, Prof. V. M. Joshi has given a highly appropriate answer: “The answer is that there is nothing new in the book if ‘new’ means something which never was dreamt of in any philosophy or by any poet or writer. But if these critics are willing to allow any merit to a man for a systematic, thorough and detailed interpretation of the Gita, done in a severely scientific spirit, expressed in an attractive style, embodying all that was valuable in previous commentaries, ancient as well as modern, sifting all arguments and above all exhibiting the doctrine of the book as an organic and artistic whole with its several parts placed in their proper position-then surely Mr. Tilak has great claims upon the gratitude of those who take interest in the subject.” It is interesting to place side by side the views of two other great ‘Sadhakas,’ Aurobindo and Gandhi, on the Gita-Rahasya. Shri Aurobindo remarked: “His (Tilak’s) work on the Gita, no mere commentary, but an original criticism and presentation of ethical truths, is a monumental work, the first prose writing of the front rank in weight and importance in the Marathi language, and likely to become a classic. This one book sufficiently proves that had he devoted his energies in this direction, he might easily have filled a large place in the history of Marathi literature and in the history of ethical thought, so subtle and comprehensive is its thinking, so great the perfection and satisfying force of its style. But it was psychologically impossible for Mr. Tilak to devote his energies in great degree to another action than the one life-mission for which the Master of his works had chosen him. His powerful literary gift has been given up to a journalistic work, ephemeral as even the best journalistic work must be, but consistently brilliant, vigorous, politically educative through decades, to an extent seldom matched and certainly never surpassed. His scholastic labour has been done almost by way of recreation. Nor can anything be more significant than the fact that the works which have

brought him a fame other than that of the politician and patriot, were done in periods of compulsory cessation from his life work — planned and partly, if not wholly, executed during the imprisonments which could alone enforce leisure upon this unresting worker for his country. Even these by products of his genius have some reference to the one passion of his life, the renewal, if not the surpassing, of the past greatness of the nation by the greatness of its future. His Vedic researches seek to fix its pre-historic point of departure; the Gita-Rahasya takes the scripture which is perhaps the strongest and most comprehensive production of Indian spirituality and justifies to that spirituality by its own authoritative ancient message the sense of the importance of life, of action, of human existence, of man’s labour for mankind which is indispensable to the idealism of the modern spirit.” Gandhiji observed: “The Gita enabled the late Lokmanya Tilak out of his encyclopaedic learning and study, to produce a monumental commentary. For him it was a store-house of profound truths to exercise his intellect upon. I believe his commentary on the Gita will be a more lasting monument to his memory. It will survive even the successful termination of the struggle for Swarajya. Even then his memory will remain as fresh as ever on account of his spotless purity of life and his great commentary on the Gita. No one in his lifetime, nor even now, could claim deeper and vaster knowledge of the Shastras than he possessed. His masterwork commentary on the Gita is unsurpassed and will remain so for a long time to come. Nobody has yet carried on more elaborate research in the questions arising from the Gita and the Vedas.” 1 Translated from German by Dr. J. Morison

A SUMMING UP 19

PART I Lives of great men are like music, the tunes of which linger in our ears long after they are heard no more. Death snatches an individual from this earth, time draws its veil over him and he becomes a part of the past which grows dim as days roll on. In the case of great men, however, the past creeps into the present and becomes a part of the future. We remember them because we feel their presence in our midst. Their words and their deeds are not converted into the shadows of the past, but find a place in the hearts of millions, and become an indivisible part of the personality of the nation — and in some cases even of humanity. An attempt, therefore, to know the perennial significance of the work of a noble individual is in fact an attempt to know that part of our life which is his. An attempt to interpret the life of a great man is prompted by a sort of an intellectual curiosity. History is a fascinating subject and it is all the more fascinating to study how a great individual influenced the course of history and to place him in the scheme of things. Lokmanya Tilak is a part of India’s personality — a part of which Indians should justly be proud. To evaluate his life correctly is a task which only a mastermind can accomplish. The personality of an individual is a complex of the stable and the ever - changing . The former aspect consists of temperamental characteristics formed during the impressionable age of the individual. This determines the nature of the individual’s reactions to any situation. The latter is the change in the standpoint or the opinions of the individual. In the case of most people, this change is generally impulsive and is determined by the momentary events. There are, however, some individuals whose life is a perpetual search after truth, whose mind is enriched by experience and knowledge and the changes in whose attitude reveal the development of their intellectual and moral stature. Lokmanya Tilak belonged to the latter category and showed a dynamic attitude in his public life. The peculiar complexity of his life was that the main qualities promoted in him during the impressionable period of his life were conformity and acceptance, while the development of his personality led him more and more on to defiance. Fortunately the dynamic aspect of his character was far more dominant than the conservative traits in his nature and even his severest critics

will have, therefore, to admit that he was one of the main architects of the progress of our nation. The urge for salvation created during his early years and the teachings of Mill, Spencer and Comte, inculcated in him during his college days, led Tilak to the decision of dedicating his life to the cause of his country. The method of translating this decision into action had also to be determined. The stimulating ideas of Dadabhai, the exciting fervour of Chiplunkar, the pioneering social work of Ranade, and the heated discussions with Agarkar, helped Tilak find this way, and he started the arduous journey of public work through the noble profession of teaching. After some time, the sphere of teaching was extended and Tilak became the educator of public opinion. Differences with colleagues compelled him to leave the former sphere, but this enabled him to throw himself headlong into the latter and to devote his inexhaustible energies to the task of influencing public opinion in the light of the ideas crystallised in his mind after a long process of thought, feeling and action. The ideas did not remain with Tilak as abstractions, but were given a concrete shape through programmes which touched the hearts of people and made them active participants, rather than passive onlookers. Tilak’s greatness lay in the execution of an idea, which in the beginning might not appear original or profound. He had a rare judgment about the environment as well as individuals and discovered the ways through which the idea enfolded itself in a manner which captivated the imagination of the people, provided them with an incentive and made them conscious of their own strength as participants in a new movement. The domination of the British was not just the supremacy of a superior military power but the domination of a scientifically advanced nation. The people of India, therefore, suffered from a terrible sense of inferiority which made them feel that meek submission was the only course left open to them. The last vestige of self-confidence and self-respect were throttled by the Imperialist frame. Ranade created new social institutions, which, he hoped, would enable people to assimilate the spirit of the modern times and to express their urges within the given framework. The Indian National Congress was a platform for giving expression to the political aspirations of the people. The institutions, in their initial phases, were confined to the elite and though many noble ideas were expressed from their platforms, action in which people had a part to play was not even contemplated. Moreover, these institutions had not sprung up from people’s lives but were an outcome of the efforts of transplanting western ideas in

our soil. They, therefore, aroused a response from the educated section brought up on western ideas, but were ineffective as a stimulus to the mind of the masses. The movement which grew out of these institutions was therefore not instrumental in bringing about the psychological change which was a condition precedent to a people’s movement. Tilak’s political ideas were not different from those of other Congress leaders. But he was the first to realise the limitations of the social and political institutions which were mostly imitative in character. He realised the need of securing a wider basis for the political ideals and he felt that a participation of the people in the newly started movements was possible after creating in them a feeling of confidence and after making the pattern of the new movements conform to the traditional ways, so as to make people feel perfectly at home in them. Tilak thought that the new ideals must be grafted — and not transplanted — on the life of the people. It was on account of this that he took to the revivalist method in his political work. Through the Ganapati festival and the Shivaji celebrations, he was making the new ideas familiar to the people and also creating in them a pride in the glorious past, which was an assurance of the glorious future in spite of the dismal present. In this work, Tilak picked up promising young men and built up a network of workers who came from the people and who therefore were potent instruments of influencing people’s minds. In his anxiety to influence public opinion for political action, Tilak decided not to disturb their traditionalist ways in social life. In spite of their popular form, these movements would have grown stale and fizzled out, but Tilak knew that service, and not advice, was the right medium for getting access to people’s mind. The qualities of a leader are tested in times of crisis and Tilak’s superb abilities as a leader were testified to by the work he did during the famine and the plague. In the famine, he made a humanitarian appeal to the wealthy merchants, did splendid relief work such as organising a weaver’s guild, taught people how to express their grievances to the government, to get them redressed even within the framework of existing laws and created a new confidence — almost verging on defiance — among the people by making the workers of the Sarvajanik Sabha face boldly the wrath of bureaucracy. The fact that the trials of these social workers were attended by thousands of people was the first demonstration of public sanction for the work done through social institutions. During the calamity of plague too, Tilak extended all possible aid to the people, helped the government wherever necessary and boldly criticised the

British soldiers for transgressing the limits of their authority. His constructive effort and his severe indictment of the bureaucracy, made him the accredited leader of the people. When, after Rand’s murder, the hand of the government came on the people with all its might, Tilak continued his stringent criticism of the government’s repressive measures through the Kesari and this fearless attitude restored some confidence to the people, who during the plague had suffered at the hands of soldiers and who were demoralised by the naked display of imperial power in the form of puritive police. The prosecution of Tilak was almost a foregone conclusion and the courage with which he accepted the long and harsh term of imprisonment has been described by Aurobindo as “the second seal of the divine hand upon his work, for there can be no diviner seal than suffering for a cause.” The resumption of his political work after the term of imprisonment, further demonstrated his indomitable will and brought home to the people the truth that a struggle for a cause could not be suppressed by force but emerged stronger out of ordeals. Tilak’s unyielding attitude, his absolute confidence in facing the government’s displeasure, the total disregard of his self seen in all his activities and the ever-growing content of the movements he sponsored, captivated the imagination of the people. He spoke to them the language of their life, aroused their potential qualities and elicited from them the response he desired. The autocratic rule of Curzon was a challenge to the leaders of India and Tilak took it up readily. He felt that the more ruthless the rule, the greater was the responsibility of leaders, and by his uninterrupted endeavours to create the national sentiment in all sections of the people, Tilak showed that the flame of patriotism could not be extinguished. He grew more and more impatient of the method of petitions and requests and when the hopes aroused by Morley were belied, he started advocating the need of discarding it. The partition of Bengal gave a fillip to the nationalist upsurge and Tilak saw in the agitation in Bengal, an opportunity for teaching direct action. He knew that agitation had its significance in creating an atmosphere of defiance and in stirring the passions of the people. But he would not be satisfied with mammoth demonstrations, if they did not lead to further action. He therefore laid all stress on boycott, Swadeshi and national education, the three pillars for sustaining the movement for Swaraj. He directed all his energies for bringing home to the people the significance of this programme and convinced them that the movement for Swaraj was not confined to the chosen few, either the elite or the

revolutionaries, but had a place for every patriotic person who was prepared to extend his or her support, however humble it may be. Through the boycott of British goods, people could express their rage against the rulers and also bring some pressure on them. The Swadeshi movement had a more positive aspect and inculcated in people a new spirit of self-reliance. National education was, according to Tilak, a programme for imparting to the younger generation instruction in the new way of life i.e., of dedication. The indefatigable advocacy of this programme by Tilak showed that he had clearly perceived the way of creating in the people the will to be free. The clarion call of Swaraj thus reached the hearths and homes of the people and gave a new vitality to the body politic. As Aurobindo picturesquely put it: “The four resolutions were, for him, the first step towards shaking the Congress out of its torpid tortoise-like gait and turning it into a living and acting body.” Tilak’s impatience with the go-slow policy of the moderates was due to his growing conviction that the British would not part with power, unless compelled by circumstances and that nothing less than Swaraj would satisfy the natural aspirations of the people. During this period he was closely associated with Aurobindo and regarded the revolutionary activities as a necessary complement to the civil revolt for which he was creating a favourable ground. In spite of his differences with the Congress, he wanted to keep up a united front in the Congress because he wanted the nation to speak with one voice against the British. He believed that if the aspirations of India were expressed by the Congress in an unanimous manner, the British would have to give substantial rights to India in the proposed reforms. He, however, wanted the Congress to state the ideal of Swaraj in an unequivocal manner and accept the programme of boycott, Swadeshi and national education as was conceived by him. He made an effort to secure the majority in the Congress for his point of view and as the moderates interpreted the effort as an attempt to thrust the extremist programme on them, a split became inevitable. Aurobindo, who along with Tilak led the extremist section, has made the following significant comment: “Many, after Surat, spoke of him as the deliberate breaker of the Congress, but to no one was the catastrophe so great a blow as to Mr. Tilak. He did not love the do- nothingness of that assembly, but he valued it both as a great national fact and for its unrealised possibilities and hoped to make of it a central organisation for practical work. To destroy an existing and useful institution was alien to his way of seeing and would not have entered into his ideas or his wishes.”

Though Tilak did not succeed in making the Congress accept his programme, he was undeterred in his effort of persuading the people to accept it and therefore he became the de facto spokesman of the people and the Congress leaders only remained the de jure spokesmen. Tilak was a democratic leader who trusted the judgment of the people and the opposition of the official group in the Congress did not therefore come in his way of creating a popular sanction for the demand for Swaraj. He did not, however, court the favours of the masses or appeal to their irrational sentiments. His approach was intellectual, his methods were open, plain and direct, he talked to people as to his equals, and, as a result of all these, he succeeded in making the fourfold programme representative of the will of the people. He was emerging as the most popular leader of Indians and the British Government who realised the extent of his hold on people, was only waiting for an opportunity for removing him from amidst the people. Then came the famous sedition case of 1908, when he became the symbol of national honour and though the British Government sent him to Mandalay, no power on earth could dethrone him from the hearts of the people. Many felt that Tilak would not survive his long term of imprisonment, but he came out of the ordeal unscathed and started with renewed zest his work of awakening the national spirit. His resumption of the duties, soon after the devouring imprisonment, reassured people of the strength of the national spirit and developed in them a new enthusiasm. His quiet acceptance of the sufferings as a natural sequel to his actions, taught people the lesson of sacrifice in the most effective manner and heralded the beginning of an era, in which the prison had no terrors for even the average volunteer of our freedom movement. Tilak was, however, conscious of the fact that the sacrifice of one individual, however great, had only symbolic significance and had little meaning when pitted against the might of the empire. He therefore decided to strive for creating mass sanction for the political movement in India and after his long experience of public life he had come to realise that internal antagonisms in society had to be tided over before mass sanctions were created. After his entry in the Congress, he pursued the method of consolidation of political forces through compromise and was one of those who took the initiative in bringing about the historic Lucknow pact for achieving Hindu Muslim unity in India. In his fervent advocacy of the pact, he convinced the people how it was necessary to avoid a triangular fight in India and how it was necessary to mobilise all forces in India, for strengthening the Home Rule movement. In Hindu society, too, he accepted

the idea of social mobility and expressed views lending support to the claim made by the backward classes for equal social rights. It was in the Lucknow Congress that Tilak uttered the memorable words: “Home Rule is my brith-right and I shall have it.” These moving words electrified the whole nation. It became a slogan which cast a spell on Indian people — a slogan which after twenty-six years was to culminate into another soul-stirring slogan “Quit India.” Tilak then carried on a whirlwind propaganda for Home Rule and appealed to the people ‘to awake, arise and not to move away from the path of duty to the nation.’ When the British Government, enraged at the rising tide of nationalism, started repression and arrested Mrs. Besant, Tilak wanted the Congress to accept the challenge and advocated direct action in the form of passive resistance. The outbreak of the World War in 1914 had created an unexpected situation. Tilak made it clear that like the Irish nationalists he too felt that “England’s difficulties were India’s opportunities.” But as a practical statesman, he judged the nature of the opportunity. Unlike certain revolutionaries, he thought that it would not be possible to overthrow the British Government by revolutionary methods and he therefore declared his policy of co-operation with the war-effort in India. Tilak was a realist and felt that the opportunity created by war could be exploited only through pressure politics. His support to the war-effort was, in fact, a plank in pressure politics. All along, Tilak was preaching the gospel of Swaraj and brought home to the people its exact content. While welcoming the Montagu declaration for its acceptance of the idea of responsible government in India and while agreeing to the declaration that such a government would be established through stages, Tilak demanded that the stages ‘should be determined by us’ and that the time for the final stage should be fixed immediately. While explaining the content of Home Rule, Tilak upheld the democratic form and insisted on the following four constituents of it: (1) power at the Centre, (2) complete autonomy to the federal units, (3) linguistic provinces, and (4) the election of the head of the province by the people. In all these ‘great Home Rule speeches,’ Tilak foresaw the political events and drew for the people a picture of a free India. In doing this, he was not putting an optimistic construction on different forces, but he judged the political forces in India in relation to the world situation and with rare political foresight saw the shape of things to come. He, however, always exhorted the people to play their destined role in the movement for Home Rule and wanted the Congress to give a correct lead for utilising every

opportunity that presented itself. Tilak after 1914 had reached the height of his popularity and his position in public life can justly be described as that of the ‘uncrowned king of India.’ People, from cities as well as from villages, came in thousands to see him and to listen to his inspiring words, honoured him by presenting addresses and purses and he taught them ‘Karma-Yoga,’ and appealed to them to accept the challenge of their times. While infusing a new zeal in India’s political life, Tilak knew the importance of political propaganda in England and led one of the Home Rule deputations to England. He also went to England in connection with the Chirol case. It was Tilak’s intense desire to make the truth about India’s political movement known to the world (and Gandhiji called it ‘a kind of a Satyagraha’) that prompted him to file the libel suit. He lost the suit — materially it was a great loss — but his moral stand was vindicated when Chirol, in the second edition of his book, omitted almost all the grave charges against Tilak and thus gave a lie to his earlier accusation that Tilak was a seditionist. While in England, Tilak spared no pains in popularising India’s cause and in educating British public opinion about India’s political demands. With characteristic foresight he developed closer contacts with the Labour Party and made a gesture expressing India’s solidarity with the representatives of ‘have- nots’ in England. He published the famous pamphlet of ‘Self-determination’ a marvellous statement of India’s case, and distributed thousands of the copies among the British. His awareness of the importance of world forces could be seen from the fact that he sent a copy of it to the Peace Conference at Paris. He also delivered a number of speeches, met a number of important people, and as a member of the Congress deputation, gave evidence before the Joint Parliamentary Committee. Tilak, on his return to India, sensed the rise of the new forces as revealed through the Khilafat movement and the Rowlatt Satyagraha. As a progressive leader he welcomed them and he recognised that Gandhi was the rising star on the political horizon. Tilak had expressed his disappointment when the draft of the Montford reforms was published. The Congress had now to decide its attitude to the proposed reforms. C. R. Das said that it should berejected and Gandhiji said that they should be worked in such a way as to attain Swaraj and Tilak as a practical statesman suggested the golden mean which was ultimately accepted through the compromise formula moved by C. R. Das. When Tilak was in England, he was impressed with the Sinn Feiners’ way of winning elections,