Bharatheeyam : ( 08/11/2012. )

Bal Gangadhar Tilak Born: 23 July 1856 Passed Away: 1 August 1920 Contributions : Bal Gangadhar TilakBal Gangadhar Tilak was a social reformer and freedom fighter. He was one of the prime architects of modern India and strongest advocates of Swaraj (Self Rule). He was universally recognized as the "Father of Indian Movement". Tilak was a brilliant politician as well as a profound scholar who believed that independence is the foremost necessity for the well being of a nation.  Life: Bal Gangadhar Tilak was born on July 22, 1856 in a middle class family in Ratnagiri, a small coastal town in southwestern Maharashtra. Tilak's father, Gangadhar Shastri, was a noted Sanskrit scholar and school teacher at Ratnagiri. His mother's name was Paravti Bai Gangadhar. In 1886, following his father's transfer, the entire family shifted to Poona.  Tilak was a brilliant student and also very good in mathematics. Since his childhood, Tilak had an intoleran

WHAT PLACE has... instruction in sexual science in our educational system, or has it any place there at all? Sexual science is of two kinds-that which is used for controlling or overcoming the sexual passion, and that which is used to stimulate and feed it. Instruction in the former is as necessary a part of child's education as the latter is harmful and dangerous and fit therefore only to be shunned. All great religions have rightly regarded kama as the arch-enemy of man, anger or hatred coming only in the second place. According to the Gita, the latter is an offspring of the former. The Gita , of course, uses the word kama in its wider sense of desire. But the same holds good of the narrow sense in which it is used here. This , however, still leaves unanswered the question, i.e., whether it is desirable to impart to young pupils a knowledge about the use and function of generative organs. It seems to me that it is necessary to impart such knowledge to a certain extent.

Function of Generation : I think it is the height of ignorance to believe that the sexual act is an independent function, necessary like sleeping or eating. The world depends for its existence on the act of generation, and as the world is the playground of God and a reflection of His glory, the act of generation should be controlled for the growth of the world. He who realizes this will control his lust at any cost, equip himself with the knowledge necessary for the physical, mental and spiritual well-being of his progeny, and give the benefit of that knowledge to posterity. (A, p. 148) The union is meant not for pleasure, but for bringing forth progeny . and union is a crime when the desire for progeny is absent. (YI, 12-3-1925, p. 88) Once the idea that the only and grand function of the sexual organ is generation possesses man and woman , union for any other purpose they will hold as criminal waste of the vital fluid and the consequent excitement caused to man and w

THE ideal that marriage aims at is that of spiritual union through the physical. The human love that it incarnates is intended to serve as a stepping–stone to divine or universal love. (YI, 21-5-1931, p. 115) Absolute renunciation, absolute brahmacharya, is the ideal state. If you dare not think of it, marry by all means, but even then live a life of self-control. (H, 7-9-1935, p. 234) The idea of absolute brahmacharya or of married brahmacharya is for those who aspire to spiritual or higher life; it is the sine qua non of such life. (H, 5-6-1937, p. 134) Marriage is a natural thing in life, and to consider it derogatory in any sense is wholly wrong….. The ideal is to look upon marriage as a sacrament, and therefore, to lead a life of self-restraint in the married estate. (H, 22-3-1942, p. 38) Marriage for the satisfaction of sexual appetite is no marriage. It is uyabhichara-concupiscence.  (H, 24-4-1937, p. 82) Manu has described the first child as dharmaja-b

1. Self-restraint : Human society is a ceaseless growth, an unfoldment in terms of spirituality. If so, it must be based on ever-increasing restraint upon the demands of the flesh. Thus, marriage must be considered to be a sacrament imposing discipline upon the partners, restricting them to the physical union only among themselves and for the purpose only of procreation when both the partners desire and the prepared for it. What chiefly distinguishes man from the beast is that man from his age of discretion begins to practice a life of continual self-restraint. God has enabled man to distinguish between his sister, his, mother, his daughter and his wife. 2. Need for Brahmacharya : A large part of the miseries of today can be avoided if we look at the relations between the sexes in a healthy and pure light, and regard ourselves as trustees for the moral welfare of the future generations. Life without Brahmacharyaappears to me to be insipid and znimal-like. The brute

Civilization, in the real sense of the term, consists not in multiplication but in the deliberate and voluntary restriction of wants. This alone promotes real happiness and contentment, and increases the capacity for service. (SB, 39) A certain degree of physical harmony and comfort is necessary, but above that level, it becomes a hindrance instead of a help. Therefore the ideal of creating an unlimited number of wants and satisfying them seems to be a delusion and a snare. The satisfaction of one's physical needs, even the intellectual needs of one's narrow self, must meet at a point a dead stop before it degenerates into physical and intellectual voluptuousness. A man must arrange his physical and cultural circumstances so that they may not hinder him in his service of humanity, on which all his energies should be concentrated. (SB, 39) The relation between the body and the mind is so intimate that, if either of them got out of order, the whole system would s

Anasakti Yoga, or The Gospel of selfless action, an extract from Gandhi's Commentary on the Bhagvad Gita : Now about the message of the Gita : Even in 1988-9, when I first became acquainted with the Gita, I felt that it was not an historical work, but that, under the guise of physical warfare, it described the duel that perpetually went on in the hearts of mankind, and that physical warfare was brought in merely to make the description of the internal duel more alluring. This preliminary intuition became more confirmed on a closer study of religion and the Gita. A study of the Mahabharata gave it added confirmation. I do not regard the Mahabharata as an historical work in the accepted sense. The Adiparva contains powerful evidence in support of my opinion. By ascribing to the chief actors superhuman or subhuman origins, the great Vyasa made short work of the history of kings and their peoples. The persons therein described may be historical, but the author of the Mahabh

Women and India's Future : 790. I am firmly of opinion that India's salvation depends on the sacrifice and enlightenment of her women.-H,27-6-36,i53. 791. I had flattered myself that my contribution to the women's cause definitely began with the discovery of satyagraha. But the writer of the letter is of opinion that the fair sex requires treatment different from men. It is so, I do not think any man will find the correct solution. No matter how much he tries, he must fail because nature has made him different from woman. Only the toad under the harrow knows where it pinches him. Therefore ultimately woman will have to determine with authority what she needs. My own opinion is that, just as fundamentally man and woman are one, their problem must be one in essence. The soul in both is the same. The two live the same life, have the same feelings. Each is a complement of the other. The one cannot live without the other's active help. But somehow or oth