Sambodhi 1989 Vol 16

Author(s): Ramesh S Betai, Yajneshwar S Shastri
Publisher: L D Indology Ahmedabad

Page 16

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Dr. Radhakrishnan says:
"He (the sanyasin) may be aloof from society; yet he has compassion for all. Mahadeva, the ideal ascetic, seated in the Himalayan snows, readily drinks poison for the saving of humanity". (Indian Philosophy, Vol. I, p. 580).
"Every scripture", says Dr. Radhakrishnan, "has two sides, one temporary and perishable, belonging to the ideas of the people of the period and the country in which it is produced, and imperishable, and applicable to all ages and countries". (Preface, Text ed, p. 5). The way the Gita touches and solves problems which confront man as an individual and as a member of the society of the world, makes it a valid text for humanity. Its direction towards spiritual religion, without obliterating the necessities of human life, makes it a scripture worthy of man's respect and reverence. Dr. Radhakrishnan is, therefore, inclined to look on the Gita mainly as a theistic scripture that attempts to integrate the two orders of reality and help man to find his place in the scheme of the universe and with the Supreme Spirit.
"For the Gia", Dr. Radhakrishnan says, "the world is the scene of an active struggle between good and evil in which God is deeply interested. He pours out his wealth of love in helping man to resist all that makes for error, ugliness and evil.. The Gita is interested in the process of redeeming the world", (Text ed., Intr. pp, 25, 26).
Apart from its metaphysical and ethical value, the Gita gives a religion to man. Dr. Radhakrishnan writes:
"The chief problem facing us today is the reconciliation of mankind. The Git is specially suited for the purpose, as it attempts to reconcile varied and apparently antithetical forms of the religious consciousness and emphasises the root conceptions of religion which are neither ancient nor modern but eternal and belong to the very flesh of humanity, past, present and future". (Preface, Text ed., p. 6)
Tradition recognises intellectual inquiry, strenuous self-sacrifice, fervent devotion, ceremonial observance and yogic exercises as means of access to the divine. Dr. Radhakrishnan points out that, "Man is a complex of reason, will, and emotion, and so seeks the true delight of his being through all these". (Indian Philosophy, Vol, I. p. 553). The beauty is that the Gitä recognises that different men are led to the spiritual vision by different approaches; it synthesises them therefore, and believes in the effectiveness of a combined attack". "The harmonising ideal which all