Tagore’s philosophy expressed in the selected songs of
Gitanjali:
“Scepticism and agnosticism have
become attractive to the modern mind. In the struggle between the skeptics and agnostics who doubt
whether there is anything behind the universe, and the spiritual positivists
who affirm that the most vital reality is behind the universe, Rabindranath is
with the latter”
(Dr.Radhakrishnan)
Truly in a world of growing materialism, spiritual chaos and
atheism, Tagore’s philosophy and songs offer panacea where modern man may
soothe his tormented soul. His songs reflect his personal thoughts and
philosophy which transcend all sorts of skepticism and nihilism and affirm the
existence of a Supreme Being. This Supreme Spirit manifests itself in each
living being. Man is unable to see Him because he is bound by the chain of his
material desires. His personal ego prevents him from his union with the Supreme
Being. But if a man sacrifices his desires and ego and lead a humble life, God
makes himself accessible to him. Then he can realize that his own soul is a
part of the eternal spirit that pervades the universe. But an unhesitant
expression of such philosophy in art may appear absurd and discordant with the
modern notion for the modernists believe that the appearances in human idealism
are deceptive and the underlying mud is real. They tend to strip life of its
glory and idealistic pretension and present man as isolated and alienated on
the naked platform of harsh reality. But to these modernists, Tagore’s reply
is:
“This defiant distrust and
denigration of reality too is only a subjective reaction and a passing
perversion of the spirit…If you ask me what true modernism is, I will say it is
to look at the world with a detached objective vision and not with personal
bias and prejudice. Only such a vision is luminous and pure and results in pure
spiritual bliss.”
The poems collected in Gitanjali
(1910) for which Tagore won Noble Prize are the supreme expression of Gitanjali. It aptly captures the vein of Tagore’s poetry. It has its
roots in –
“A tradition, where poetry and
religion are the same thing, has passed through the centuries, gathering from
learned and unlearned metaphor and emotion, and carried back again to the
multitude, the thought of the scholar and of the noble”(W.B.
Yeats: Introduction to Gitanjali). This religious poetry tradition in India was divided in two groups
with regard to the treatment of God. Whereas sage Ramprasad, folk-poet Bijoy
Sarkar, Rasik Sarkar offered their songs to an invisible, distant celestial
being, Tagore and Chaitanyadev sought
for union with Almighty in this human world in human form. In Vaishnav
tradition God is considered to be Lord Krishna and all human beings are his
beloved women. Their sole aim is the union with this supreme Lord. The western
people can hardly nourish such feelings and so Yeats says: “We had not known
that we loved God, hardly it may be that we believed in Him.”
Thus
humanization of the divine is one of the significant aspects of Tagore’s
poetry. In his poetry, God is presented as existing among the simple, poor and
humble people. So to ignore them is to ignore God. In Song No. X, Tagore says:
“Here is thy foot stool and there
rest
thy feet
where live the poorest, and
lowliest
and lost” (X)
Though
Rabindranath imagines God in the tangible human form, he does not forget the
immortality of God and human soul which is also a part of Him. He says in Song
No. I:
“Thou hast made me endless, such is
thy
pleasure. This frail vessel thou
emptiest again
and again, and fillest it ever with
fresh
life.” (I)
Here the metaphor of “frail vessel” is used to signify
transitoriness of human existence as contrasted to immortality of the soul.
Vastness of
this eternal spirit is emphasised in human being’s limitation to catch hold of
it. The poet repeatedly confesses his own limitation to harmonise himself with
this grand spirit. In Song No. I, he says that he is incapable of receiving the
infinite gifts showered by Gods:
“Thy infinite gifts come to me only
on these
very small hands of mine. Ages
pass, and
still thou pourest, and still there
is room to fill” (I)
God is presented as a profound singer whose engrosses the
poet as he says:
“I know not
how thou singest, my master! I ever listen in silent amazement.” (III)
But in the same song he says that he cannot take part in
God’s singing:
“My heart
longs to join in thy song, but vainly for a voice.” (III)
Material
desires and ego are the main barriers in the path towards God. Man is chained
by the shackles of desire and ego. Until and unless he sacrifices his desires,
he cannot have a glimpse of God. In Song No. IX, the poet says:
“Thy desire
at once puts out the light
from the lamp it touches with its breath.”
(IX)
In Song No. X, he says:
“Pride can
never approach where
Thou walkest in the clothes of the
Humble among the poorest, and
lowliest and lost.” (X)
In Song No. VIII, he uses the symbol of a child clothed in a
highly decorated garment to reveal the truth that material wealth is a
hindrance to spiritual progress:
“The child
who is decked with prince’s
robes…loses
pleasure in play…it
is of no
gain…if it keep one shut
off from
the healthful dust of the
earth, if it
rob one of the right of entrance
to the
great fair of common human life.” (VIII)
That is why he feels the need to keep his mind sacred and
away from all kinds of evil as he knows that human mind is the temple of God :
“I shall
ever try to drive all evils away
from my heart and keep my love in
flower
knowing that thou hast thy seat in
the inmost shrine of my heart.” (IV)
Though the
poet cannot reach God due to his limitation, it is his work of art – his songs
can touch the feet of God. His songs are simple. Non-ornamental and devoid of
meretricious embellishment as the poet says:
“My song
has put off her adornments. She
Has no
pride of dress and decoration.
Ornnaments
would mar our union; they
Would come
between thee and me; their
Jingling
would drown thy whisper.” (VII)
During this union his poetic pride also dies and he
completely sacrifices himself at the feet of God. He calls God a “master poet”
and pleads for simple and humble life so that he may be instrument of God’s
melody.
Ecstasy of
his union with God is so intense that he forgets all earthly sorrows, pains and
harsh elements:
“All that
is harsh and dissonant in my
Life melts
into one sweet harmony.” (II)
“Drunk with
the joy of singing I forget
myself and
call the friend who art
my lord.”
(II)
Thus the
infinite makes himself accessible to the finite human being and the poems
collected in Gitanjali captures the
entire gamut of emotions felt by the
poet during his ecstasy of union.
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