chapter – ii - shodhganga : a reservoir of indian theses...
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CHAPTER – II
Myriad - minded Genius: Rabindranath Tagore
The epithet, “Myriad–minded” which Coleridge applied to Shakespeare
seems to be more eminently applicable to Rabindranath Tagore (1861-
1941) whose long life of eighty years was marked by ceaseless and
torrential flow of creativity manifested in the richness and variety of all
kinds of literary forms, dance, drama, music, painting and original
organizational activities. Whatever he touched turned into gold. 1
Rabindranath was born on 7th May 1861, in Calcutta into the wealthy and
cultured Tagore family of Jorasanko. Rabindranath was the fourteenth child of
Debendranath Tagore, who was popularly known as Maharshi or the Great Saint.
Rabindranath’s father possessed a sense of deep piety. He practised severe adherence
to moral principles in conduct and believed stoutly in the worship of the Invisible
God. The poet’s grandfather was Dwarkanath Tagore, who was known as prince
Dwarkanath for his splendid and luxurious living. He was a friend of Ram Mohan
Roy, the founder of Brahmo Samaj. The Tagores were Vaishnawas in their religious
outlook. The age in which Rabindranath Tagore lived is, indeed, a significant one, as
the country during this time was stirred deeply by three movements:
1. Ray , M.K. Preface Studies on Rabindranath Tagore ed. Vol. I Atlantic
Publishers and Distributors, New Delhi,2004, p.V.
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The first, which was religious, carried on a ceaseless war against
superstitions. The second was literary. Under Bankimchandra it helped
to free Bengali language and literature from the rigidity of effete rules
and forms. The third movement, coming in the wake of the Sepoy
upheaval, was largely political. It meant the awakening of the
nationalist sentiment, which later on received powerful support from
Rabindranath, and culminated, after decades of striving and struggle, in
the attainment of independence, which, however, the poet did not live
to see.2
In the poet’s Reminiscences, one sees a child watching the strange pageant of
older folk and their solemn difficult ways. His father, the Maharshi, was usually
absent from home who used to wander abroad. The poet, after the death of his mother
was left to the care of servants. Of these servants he has given us a humorous picture
which was touched with malice. He says “In the history of India, the regime of the
Slave Dynasty was not a happy one.”3 Every possible comfort and amenity was
provided to him by his father. He did not feel much interested in the schools to which
he was sent; nor did he pay much attention to the private tutors who were engaged to
educate him. His real education came to him from the circumstances of his life and
from his environment.
2. Sen Gupta, S.C. Rabindranath Tagore’s Sacrifice Macmillan India Ltd.
Madras, 1966, Introduction p.1.
3. Tagore , Rabindranath. My Reminiscences, Rupa, Calcutta, 1922, p.24.
49
In his house, he could witness the bustling activities of the common people
around him. His brothers were brilliant boys and he himself was encouraged to write
verse almost as soon as he could walk. His house was always reverberated with the
echoes of the sounds of songs of people who were artists, poets and philosophers who
were busy singing songs, writing verses, or discussing the logical, philosophical and
literary problems. The atmosphere that prevailed here was one of culture, refinement
and art. This atmosphere left a deep impact on Rabi, so that he could emerge in his
future life as a myriad– minded Rabindranath Tagore.
Rabindranath was, from the very early years of his life fond of nature and in
his confinement in the house always watched by the servants he longed for the outer
world of nature and man lying beyond him. He was submitted to the rigours of servo -
cracy because of his boundless curiosity in his surroundings which invested even the
most trivial object with interest. Krishna Kripalani remarks:
The child’s curiosity and longing for the big and mysterious world of
men and nature beyond the confines of home and the school became for
him symbolical of the soul’s yearning for the great beyond. In his play
Dark Ghar which he wrote in 1911 he dramatized this longing in the
character of the little boy Amal. 4
Dwarkanath Tagore was an inveterate traveller, and he generally took the boy,
Rabi with him on his journeys. The boy stayed for some time in Bolpur in 1873. Then
he spent a month or so in Amritsar from where he traveled to the Himalayas which
4. Kripalani ,Krishna. Tagore: A Life, National Book Trust, New Delhi, 1971,
pp.15-16.
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had a rare fascination for his father. But the mountains meant very little to the boy
who was attracted more by the rivers, especially by the Ganges which flows through
the city of Calcutta. Tagore is essentially a river poet so far as his love for Nature is
concerned. In this respect, he differed not only from his father but also from his
master Kalidasa who is a poet of the mountains. Tagore proved to be a very
precocious child. He was just fifteen, when he wrote his first long poem The Poet’s
Story, which was published in his brother’s Bengali magazine called “The Bharati”.
At the age of seventeen he was sent to London and there he studied for a while
in the University of London under Professor Henry Morley. Although, he received
education at schools in Calcutta and London, he was more or less self-instructed from
the day his first spelling exercises began. The first nursery rhyme he learnt sent a
thrill of joy through his being. It was a single in Bengali meaning The rain patters, the
leaf quivers, but to the child it was the first revelation of the magic of poetry – the
first poem of the Arch poet, as he described it latter:
Whenever the joy of that day comes back to me even now, I realize
why rhyme is so needful in poetry. Because of it the words come to an
end, and yet do not end; the utterance is over, but not its ring; and the
ear and the mind can go on and on with their game of tossing the rhyme
to each other. Thus did the rain patter and the leaves quiver again and
again, the livelong day in my consciousness. 5
The poet who latter on was struck with the message of harmony and unity in
5. Kripalani, Krishna. Tagore : A Life, p. 16.
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his poetry had in the episode of his childhood described above a sort of a presentment
of what was to come latter in his life. The elementary lesson in the language thus
became a sort of a gateway through which the poet realized one of the deepest truths
of life.
Hemendranath Tagore, his elder brother, who was formally made in charge of
the education of Rabindranath made elaborate arrangements for the instruction and
training of Rabindranath. He was made to study science, literature, music and
painting without taking into consideration the fact whether he was interested in them
or not. Hemendranath was not in favour of teaching advanced courses in History,
Geography, Mathematics and Science through the medium of English, but he strongly
advocated for their teaching in Bengali. This proved of considerable help to
Rabindranath Tagore to be well versed in Bengali. It may be noted that because of the
emphasis laid on Bengali in his childhood that Rabindranath Tagore could become the
great poet.
In 1878, Rabindranath set sail to England. His stay there did not prove to be a
very happy experience; and he latter recounted some of his unpleasant experiences in
My Reminiscences. He developed a strong prejudice against England, against English
things, and against the people of England. This prejudice was certainly weakened,
though only for a short period, following the success of the English version of his
Geetanjali in England in 1912; but basically the prejudice remained. His stay in
England on the occasion of his first visit was brief one, and it had its pleasing side
too. For example, he humorously writes about Brighton cleanliness, “Their idea of
cleanliness is, however, different from ours. While we would not mind having a
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spittoon in the room, here where people seem to suffer much more from cold and
cough, they prefer to spit in their handkerchiefs which they put back in their
pockets.”6 He could not, however, stay long in Brighton. His elder brother realized
that if Rabindra was to derive any benefit from his education abroad, he should be
made to live alone on his own. So he was brought to London and put in a lodging
house facing the Regent’s Park.
He again went to England in 1881 to study law but he changed his plan and
returned. No attempt was made after this to educate him further, but he had in the
mean time showed a great promise as a writer. There was hardly any break in his
literary activity during the early period of his life. Even before going to England, he
had written a novel, Karuna (Pity); and after returning from there, he wrote in 1881 a
blank verse tragedy under the heading of Rudrachanda. “The only thing he brought
with himself was the unfinished manuscript of a long lyrical drama he had begun in
London, with the significant title, Bhanga Hridaya (The Broken Heart)”, 7 says
Krishna Kripalani.
In 1882, Tagore published Sandhya Sangeet (Evening Songs) which showed
that a new and genuine poet had emerged in Bengal. On the occasion of the marriage
of Ramesh Chandra Dutt’s eldest daughter,he was greeted by Bankim Chandra as
rising sun in the literary firmament. His brother Jyotirindrantath and his wife
6. Kripalani, Krishna. Tagore : A Life, pp. 38-39.
7. Ibid. p. 42.
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exercised the most powerful influence on him at this time. He made him feel easy
and comfortable in his company and encouraged him to think and feel in the way he
liked. His brother, Jyotirindranath unreservedly let him go his own way in self-
knowledge. He was of an unconventional bent of mind.
Jyotirindranath’s wife’s influence on him was deeper than that of his brother
who was most valued friend for him. She was something of a mother to him after the
death of his mother. She was his playmate and when Tagore started writing verses,
she was his companion and first discerning critic. She herself was a great lover of
literature and taught Rabindranath that poetry of Viharilal Chakravarti was original.
She would check and put to a close scrutiny whatever he wrote and rescued him from
the common fault of budding writer’s vanity and lack of self- criticism.
She died in 1884 and in her death the poet came to make his first acquaintance
with death, which produced a deep effect on his mind. His brother’s wife reappears in
some of his best poems and stories. So great was the influence of Jyotirindranath and
his wife upon him that once when they had gone on a long journey, the poet felt that
he could write now as he wished and this gave him an opportunity to compose verses
in a style which was free from the restraints they had imposed upon him. This shows
that the deepest influence in the making of a poet is his own self.
Of the other influences, particularly, mention must be made of Viharilal
Chakravarti. He impressed him in his metrical experiences and helped him in forming
the concept of Jiban–Debata. Another influence on him was of the Vaishnawa lyrical
poetry, which gave to the poet an impetus to be bold and strike a new path for him in
the field of art and poetry.
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Sandhya Sangeet was followed by another volume of poems called Prabhat
Sangeet (Morning Song). Kripalani says, “These lyrics mark a considerable advance
over his (Tagore’s) previous work, not only in the healthiness of the poet’s mood and
outlook, but in the mastery of language and metre”.8 According to Asit
Bandyopadhaya “Nirjharer Svapnabhanga (The Awakening of the stream) of
Prabhatsangeet may be regarded as the fitting symbol of the entire poetry and the
mood of the poet.”9 Prabhat Sangeet shows that the poet no longer wanted to lead a
lonely, desolate, sequestered life in the languor of the evening but to embrace the
world with love and joy. The thought and the style of Prabhat Sangeet is not free
from romantic abstraction. It is found that the poet has discovered his identity here. In
Prabhat Sangeet, love and joy are for the first time touched by the poet.
Then Rabindranath Tagore spent some time at Karwar, on the Western coast
of India, in 1883 steeping his mind in the vast landscapes so loved by him. But the
most important event of this period of his life was his marriage to Mrinalini Devi in
December, 1883.
According to Edward Thompson, “Tagore’s dramatic work is the vehicle of
8. Kripalani, Krishna. Tagore : A Life, p. 51.
9. Bandyopadhyaya, Asit. “Rabindranath Tagore: Poet and Dramatist” , M.K.
Ray, Studies on Rabindranath Tagore , ed. Vol. I Atlantic Publishers and
Distributors, New Delhi, 2004, p.8.
55
his ideas, rather than the expression of action”. 10 His Sanyasi (Nature’s Revenge),
the most important work of this period, shows the joy of attaining the Infinite in the
finite. The poet would no longer waste his time and energy in search of the Infinite in
the vague dreaming of his own soul. The defeat of the Sanyasi embodies the final
emergence of the poet into the open world of rain and sunshine, human joys and
cares. Regarding the play Rabindranath Tagore remarks, “Nature’s Revenge may be
looked upon as an introduction to the whole of my future literary work; or rather has
been the subject on which all my writings have dwelt the joy of attaining the Infinite
within the finite.” 11
Other works of Tagore in the years which followed were Pictures and Songs;
Mayar Khela (The Play of Illusion); Rajarshi (The Saint King); Bisarjan (Sacrifice)
and Kari O Komal (Sharps and Flats). Pictures and Songs (Chhabi O Gan) is a
remarkable document of Tagore’s state of mind at this period. Tagore calls Pictures
and Songs…
… a sort of bridge from Morning Songs to Sharps and Flats. I was getting
more concrete in my subject. Before, I was hazy and emotional and my subject
uncertain. I was living in Circular Road a very nice house. I began to observe
for the first time. I used to sit at the window, and watch the bustis across our
lawn and all their activities used to delight me very much. I was no longer con-
10. Thompson ,Edward. Rabindranath Tagore: Poet and Dramatist,Surjeet
Publications, New Delhi, 1998, p.47.
11. Tagore ,Rabindranath. My Reminiscences, Rupa, Calcutta, 1922, p.238.
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fined to my own feelings, but the outside world began to attract me. 12
The Love of Rahu is the outstanding poem of the book, which is half –
symbolic, half metaphysical and an allegory of the turbulence in the dark depths of
his own mind. In the same period he was editing a magazine called “Balak”. For this
magazine Rabindranath wrote a short novel The Crown, which he latter on dramatized
for the Santiniketan younger boys. About the same time he wrote a light musical play
Mayar Khela (The Play of Illusion). The play is a series of songs, which are charming
and popular. About the play Krishna Kripalani remarks, “The theme, structure and
mood of this play are so dominated by feeling rather than action or thought that as
soon as one tries to analyze them they melt into air, into thin air.”13
His novel Rajarshi is about the family of Tripura. Here is blending of history
and imagination. The novel is a powerful indictment of the traditional Hindu ritual of
offering animal sacrifice to please goddess Kali. The same plot was used by
Rabindranath for his blank verse drama. Visarjan (Sacrifice). The sacrifice of animals
before the image of Kali, the goddess of power and destruction, forms the main theme
of the play, which ends with the throwing away of the image by Raghupati, the
fanatical worshipper of the deity. The plot has one sub-plot. Tagore dedicates it “to
12. Thompson ,Edward. Rabindranath Tagore: Poet and Dramatist, Surjeet
Publications, New Delhi, 1998, p.52.
13. Kripalani ,Krishna. Tagore: A Life, National Book Trust, New Delhi,1971
p.64.
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those heroes who bravely stood for the goddess of war”. 14
Tagore’s Kari O Komal (Sharps and Flats) is a book of poems. These poems
have a wide variety of themes and moods–poems for children, religious songs,
patriotic admonitions, love poems and amatory poems which throb with sensuous
delight. There are several translations form Mrs. Browning, Shelley, Victor Hugo,
Christina Rossetti, Swinburne, etc. Most of the poems of the book are in sonnet form.
He travelled next to Ghazipur where he lived a life of poetic isolation and
where he wrote most of the volume entitled Manasi. It is a volume, which clearly
showed that he had become mature in his writing. The poems in Manasi (The Mind’s
Embodiment) show Tagore’s progress both in his capacity for thinking and his
capacity for rhythmic expression. By now Tagore had also begun to feel interested in
external life and in the activities of his countrymen. Some of the poems in Manasi
contain a bitter satire on the people of Bengal, while others are an angry indictment of
the bigotry and narrow–mindedness of those people. Regarding Manasi,Asit
Bandyopadhyaya remarks:
In Manasi the poet at last becomes liberated from the earth bound
desires, and is carried away in the over-flowing stream of romantic love
welling up from the core of heart from time immemorial. The poet has
bid farewell to the conflict ridden world with the words:
I create the imaginary idol with hope,
14. Tagore ,Rabindranath. Sacrifice , Wasani, Madras, 1994, p.12.
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language and love.15
In 1891, Tagore published his short stories for the first time. These short
stories are fine works of art which are immensely valuable for the pictures of rural
and urban Bengal. But their appeal is universal. There are some love stories Ekratri,
Durasa, Seser Ratri, and Madhyabartini in which love, imagination and beauty
mingle into an aesthetic wonder. Some stories which are concerned with the daily life
are really fine literary pieces. Post Master, Kabuilwala, Rasmanir Chele, Chuti, Didi,
Thakurda depict love and affection that enliven our life in a touching manner. His
Nastanid is a brilliant example of analytical short story.
Rabindranath’s earlier and greater dramas also belong to the same period. The
lyrical volume entitled Sonar Tari (The Boat of God) proved to be an important book,
which showed his mysticism because the prevailing theme here is the immanence of
the Divine Spirit and the poems here are haunted by a sense of the transitoriness of
life. Citra, another volume of lyrics, contained half a dozen poems of the most
exquisite loveliness, the greatest among them being Urvasi based on a Hindu myth.
Citra is the product of Rabindranath’s most mature mind. It has his theories of Ideal
Beauty and Jibandebata reconciled into a perfect whole. In Citra “the external and the
internal, the limited and the limitless, the unity and variety are all integrated into the
15. Bandyopadhyaya , Asit, “Rabindranath Tagore: Poet and Dramatist,”
M.K. Ray Studies on Rabindranath Tagore, ed. Vol. I, Atlantic
Publishers and Distributors, New Delhi, 2004, pp.11-12.
59
fabric of a unified vision.” 16
Chaitali (Final Harvest) marks the end of the period. The intense joy of life
lived in fullness, desire to weave the temporal and the fragmentary into a timeless and
complete texture; imaginary excursions into the ancient India are clearly reflected in
the tightly structured sonnets.
During the period known as Shelidah period, Tagore wrote innumerable verses
and works of prose and became the virtual editor of “Sadhana”, the most celebrated
monthly literary magazine of Bengali. During this period he came into contact with
the people inhabited the villages. He came in touch with the real life of the people,
which he described in tales and parables. His reputation as a poet, story–teller,
dramatist and essayist was more than established. The subject matter of many of his
poems and short stories was drawn from what he saw and experienced.
Chitrangada (Chitra) is the superb romantic play of the period which was
written in 1891. It may be regarded as Tagore’s version of Kalidasa’s famous Sanskrit
drama, Sakuntala. The speeches in the play burn with passion, and light up the way
from truth to illusion, and again from illusion to truth. Arjuna not knowing the truth
of the matter does have a vague glimmering of it and says in a confused manner:
I never seem to know you right… Illusion is the first appearance of Truth. She
advances towards her lover in disguise. But a time comes when she throws off
her ornaments and veils and stands clothed in naked dignity. I grope for that
ultimate you, that fare simplicity of truth.17
16. Bandopadhyaya, Asit. Studies on Rabindranath Tagore, p. 13.
17. Tagore ,Rabindranath. Collected Poems and Plays Rupa, New Delhi, 2005,p.171.
60
The truth is that Chitra is no goddess to be worshipped, nor yet the object of
common pity to be brushed like a moth with difference. She is a woman and a mother,
and Arjuna is content; he says simply, “Beloved, my life is full!”. 18 Tagore incarnated
in Chitra the evolution of human love from the physical to the spiritual. S.K.Desai
observes: “In Chitra, we have the well known Mahabharata story of Arjuna and
Chitrangada, which Tagore transforms into a symbol of human love and, in sense, of
human life itself.”19
In the same year Rabindranath wrote and published his first social comedy in
prose called as Goray Galad (Error at the Outset). It is a comedy of errors
interspersed with social satire. It has a polished and sophisticated wit matching Oscar
Wilde’s. It deals with romantic effusions and matrimonial predicaments of three
young intellectuals and their ladies. The plot is simple and straight.
Tagore made experiments in the field of education. The poet would
occasionally go for quiet meditation to Bolpur in the district of Birbhaum, where his
father had purchased a vast tract of land, which he named as ‘Shantiniketan’ (‘Abode
of Peace’). Here he established Bolpur Brahamacharya Ashram, which latter on grew
into Visva Bharati. Tagore aimed at removing torture from education, which the
schools of his times practised. He was against a mechanical system of teaching based
on “cram and exam”. He directed the classes to be held in the open air and he made
singing, drawing and acting as part of the school curriculum. He wrote textbooks,
18. Tagore, Rabindranath. Collected Poems and Plays, p.173.
19. Iyengar, K.R.Srinivasa. Indian Writing in English, Sterling Publishers Private
Limited, New Delhi, 1985, p.138.
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which were different from the cram–books and were works of art. Many of the
teachers employed by him were artists. Concerning the aim of education in Shiksha
aur Sanskriti Rabindranath wrote:
The aim of education ought to be to work out the path to reach that goal
(the development of the inner life), to practise it and to accept that it is
the greatest aim of education. It is only within that framework that the
teaching of various subjects should be placed. It is because the human
status depends only on the combination of practicality and social
goodness.20
The aim of the educational philosophy of Rabindranath was to maintain
harmony with social and natural atmosphere so that everybody would be able to
develop all creative capabilities from the very beginning of his or her life. His plan
was to make education a means by which the child’s mind and body should be able to
keep in harmony with the rhythm of nature. According to Devi Prasad, “True
education, according to Rabindranath, teaches to live in fullness”. 21
About the same period, Tagore wrote a lyrical drama in one act , Viday –
abhisap (Kacha and Devyani). It is a dramatic dialogue. Here Devyani, whose
love has been spurned by young Kacha, curses him when he leaves her father’s
house, where he has been living during his training. This was followed by a
20. Prasad ,Devi. Rabindranath Tagore: Philosophy of Education and Painting
National Book Trust, New Delhi, 2000, p.4.
21. Ibid. p. 31.
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full drama, also in verse, Malini.
In Malini, Tagore deals with the conflict between an old ethic and a new one.
Malini is a princess with strong Buddhist views. Because of her leanings towards
Buddhism, Princess Malini becomes the target of attack by the Orthodox people, who
demand her banishment from the country. But at the appearance of Malini they get
converted to Malini’s opinions. They hail her as goddess and mother. However, two
persons Supriya and Kemankar stand apart from them. Latter on Supriya drawn
towards Malini reveals Kemankar’s secret to the king. In the course of events
Kemankar murders Supriya because of his unfaithfulness to him. But Malini seeks
pardon for Kemankar.
Why Malini pleads on behalf of Kemankar is not made clear. There are
sequences in the play, which puzzle the audience. How could the storm, raised by
conservatives so suddenly, come to an end just at the mere appearance of Malini
before them? How could she become a goddess to them all of a sudden and turn most
of them to her faith? However, much we study the character of Malini, the impression
persists that the playwright has drawn the lines of her figure so tenuously that her
thoughts and actions are seen as if moving through a mist of dreams. Thompson
Edward says, “The poet has given us no means of judging, but has left Malini a
beautiful but faintly drawn outline.”22
Rabindranath’s major light humorous comedies of the period are Baikunther
22. Thompson, Edward. Rabindranath Tagore: Poet and Dramatist, Surjeet
Publications, Delhi, 1998, p. 129.
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Katha and Chira Kumar Sabha. Baikunther Katha deals with a kindly old bore who
insists on reading out his manuscript to whoever comes his way and Chira Kumar
Sabha deals with the discomfiture of those who imagine they can do without women,
are still popular on the Bengali stage. Perhaps the most brilliant achievement of
Tagore’s prose is Pancha Bhuter Dayari (Diary of the Five Elements). The elements –
air, earth, water, Fire, and Ether are dramatically characterized. Fire and Water are
feminine, inquisitive and emotional, the other three masculine, earth solid and
opportunist, air an idealist, and ether vague. There is wit and wisdom, logic and
frivolity in it.
Two major volumes of the period, Katha (Ballads) and Kahini (Tales) are
masterpieces of narrative verse and dramatic dialogue. They are a storehouse of
legends and historical anecdotes culled from India’s ancient past, from the Buddhist
lore and sacrifice in the annals of the Rajputs, the Marathas and the Sikhs.
Kalpana (Dreams) is the volume of Tagore’s poems. There are some beautiful
poems on nature, particularly the magnificent ode to the Year’s End. Some are written
in a lighter vein and in a spirit of almost boyish gaiety. There are some melancholic
reflections in the poems. Kshanika, which means what is momentary and fleeting, is
the important book. Here Tagore’s use of the language and style is significant. He
took the liberty of using freely the colloquial language with its abbreviated sounds.
Then Tagore composed Naivedya, a collection of songs and poems in which
he glorified the ideals of ancient times against the background of the evil of Western
Nationalism, which he condemned as the climax of greed. He waged a ceaseless war
against the evils of cast, which dehumanizes man and nationality in the West, which
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makes a brute of man. Edward Thompson remarks, “Naivedya has power to heal and
help, from its richness of personal experience”.23 Several of the poems of Naivedya
were included latter in the English Gitanjali.
Naivedya may be regarded as the bridge between his secular and his religious
poetry. It is a cluster of about one hundred hymns. Several hymns of Naivedya were
translated by the poet himself. Like Gitanjali, Naivedya is an exposition of chastened
devotion. The devotee is over burdened with a deep sense of his duty to God and to
man. The spirit of man is very humble only in the proximity of God and expresses
itself in total simplicity. Man has realized his utter helplessness and has decided to
seek light and guidance only from God. Tagore is sure that death has its terror and
sorrow its pain only when away from God.
The foundation of the realistic and psychological novel in Indian literature was
laid by Tagore’s two novels–Nashta Nid (The Broken Heart) and Chokher Bali (The
Eyesore). The Broken Nest is the domestic tragedy of the busy editor of a daily paper
who has little time to spare for his very young and romantic wife. The bored wife
seeks solace and stimulus in the company of her husband’s young cousin. They
inspire each other to write and both turn out to be budding writers. The inevitable
complications arise and the happy nest is broken. The story of Chokher Bali revolves
round the dilemma of human relationship and describes what takes place behind the
staid façade of a well-to-do, middle class Bengali home of the period where a
widowed mother lives with her only son on whom she dotes.
On 23rd November 1902, unfortunately his wife, Mrinalini died leaving him
23. Thompson, Edward. Rabindranath Tagore: Poet and Dramatist, p.181.
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disconsolate with five children. For twenty years this lady, self effacing and gracious,
had looked after him with unstinted devotion. She dressed very simple and wore
almost no jewellery and had cheerfully adapted herself to her husband’s ideals. She
soon acquired proficiency in English and Sanskrit. At her husband’s persuasion she
translated into Bengali an abridged version of The Ramayana from the original
Sanskrit. She also acted on the stage in his play Raja O Rani and gave an excellent
interpretation of the role she was assigned. Mrinalini’s death was a severe jolt to
Rabindranath and as usual his feelings found expression in his poems.
A series of touching lyrics in memory of his wife were composed by him and
he called them Smaran (Remembrance). Smaran is a sequence of twenty-seven poems
in memoriam of his wife. It’s an elegy. In it the poet rediscovers the benign lady, his
household goddess and partner of life. Tagore also composed a number of poems to
soothe and entertain his youngest child and second son, Samendra, and named them
Sisu (The Child). For his children’s sake he had to hide his anxiety and grief. Sisu is a
collection of poems about children, which is unique in the literature of the world.
Edward Thompson remarks, “The father’s loneliness, with the recent memory of his
wife’s death, and the other shadows darkening his ways found solace in these
poems.”24 Many of these poems were later included in The Crescent Moon. His wife’s
death was soon followed by the death of his daughter, Renuka. He seemed to have
entered into peace with death, which the poet accepted as part of the rhythm of life.
He gave no expression to the grief about the death of his daughter and buried himself
in his work and continued to fill the pages of his literary journal “Bangdarshan.” This
24 Thompson, Edward. Rabindranath Tagore: Poet and Dramatist, p. 196.
66
he wrote merely for the sake of entertaining the reader. Nauka Dubi (The Wreck) is a
novel without any kind of sophistication, and not ending on a tragic note. It is a story
based on the dilemma of mistaken identity resulting in an exchange of wives
delightfully told and interspersed with descriptions of nature of extraordinary
loveliness.
In 1905, Tagore actively participated in the national freedom movement. It
was the period of Swadeshi Movement. He was at the forefront of the movement.
Tagore lectured in meetings, organized processions and composed a large number of
songs, which were sung all over Bengal. He considered that Swaraj was not a boon to
be begged, it was a right to be obtained. He urged upon his countrymen to pay
exclusive attention to the nation–building work. At this time he wrote the most
significant works of his life like Kheya, Gitanjali, The Gardner, Fruit Gathering, and
The King of the Dark Chamber.
The title Kheya is symbolic of the poet’s mood of wistful expectancy, of
waiting for the ferry to cross over to the other bank. Most of the poems of the volume
are dreamy and symbolic. Many poems were latter included in his English Gitanjali,
and a few others in The Gardener, Fruit Gathering and Lover’s Gift.
Then a tragedy happened in Tagore’s personal life, he lost his son, when he
was just thirteen. He tried to find his son in all the boys of Santiniketan. For these
boys he wrote a play named Saradotsav (Autumn Festival). The play is interspersed
with songs. The translation of Saradotsav was prepared by Tagore in illness in 1912-
1913. It introduces a chorus of boys.
67
As Thompson Edward points out, “its stage is as simple as Chitrangada’s,
being just the open air where wind and sunlight are almost actors”.25 Autumn Festival
is a pastoral drama, which expresses Tagore’s joy of life. It emphasizes his idea that
life in this world is meaningful and worth living. The play is one long riot of innocent
delight, a hymn to the joy of living.
Prayaschitta (Atonement) is the next drama by Rabindranath Tagore. It is also
a play in prose interspersed with songs. The play is a dramatization of his first and
very early novel, Bou–Thakuranir Hat. But the play has the addition of a remarkable
character that is the prototype of Mahatma Gandhi. The play is considered to be
Tagore’s reply to his compatriots who had accused him of deserting the political
battle field. Krishna Kripalani says, “It was not desertion; it was renunciation, the
spirit of which is most movingly portrayed in the last scene of the play”. 26
Raja, The King of the Dark Chamber appeared in 1910. It shows
Rabindranath’s symbolism full grown. The king in the play is a complex figure. The
play has traces of the Vaishnawa ideology. The unseen king is God who, like a
husband, woes the human soul represented by Queen Sudarshana. Their place of
meeting is a dark Chamber which may stand for the inner consciousness where man
may become one with God. The Queen is united to her king at the end of the drama,
which signifies that the human soul at last has realized God within itself.
The Post Office is perhaps the most popular of all Tagore’s plays. It has in it
25. Thompson, Edward. Rabindranath Tagore: Poet and Dramatist, pp. 206-207.
26. Kripalani, Krishna. Tagore: A Life, National Book Trust, New Delhi, 1971,
p.116.
68
ingredients of a tense human drama, a moving fairy tale, and deeply suggestive
spiritual symbol. Amal is a sick boy who is under the protection of Madhab, who has
adopted him. The physician thinks that the outer wind, the autumn Sun and damp will
prove harmful to the health of Amal. So he is confined in a small room. Through the
window of the room only Amal communicates with the outside world. He discovers
the inner romance in the daily activities of life. The imagination of the poet and the
inquisitiveness of Amal is shown in the play. The Post Office exercises much
influence on Amal which causes many questions in the mind of Amal. Whatever
Amal speaks is simple and is perfectly within the range of a child’s psychology.
The end of the play raises many queries and doubts. Regarding the end of the
play K.R. Srinivasa Iyengar comments:
When Sudha asks, “When will he (Amal) awake?”, the Physician
answers: “Directly the king comes and calls him”. Does it mean that
Amal dies, and the king comes only to take him away? Is the king’s
Physician only the bringer of death? Or does it rather mean that the
king would henceforth dwell in Amal’s heart always…and Amal would
be (as he wanted to be) the king’s postman wandering “far and wide,
delivering his message from door to door”? 27
The above queries needed answers which, are not provided by Rabindranath Tagore.
Rabindranath’s Gora is an epoch – making novel of modern Indian literature.
27. Iyengar, K.R. Srinivasa, Indian Writing in English, Sterling Publishers Private
Limited, New Delhi,1985, p.142.
69
About the novel, Asit Bandopadhyaya says, “Gora has an epic dimension, it contains,
in essence, the crisis of the whole nation. The events are also full of variety”. 28 In this
novel Tagore has dealt with great theme. He has shown in it that sectarian bigotry is
not patriotism and religious observances do not necessarily result in purity in our
lives. One gets in this novel a living picture of the ideal of Indian Nationalism,
irrespective of caste, creed and colour. There is a bold delineation of the religion of
humanity which is a possession of all. Gora gives us a realistic picture of the
conflicting ideologies in the social life of Bengal during the closing decades of the
19th Century.
During his next visit to England, Tagore showed his translations to
Rothenstein, the greatest painter of England. Rothenstein was fascinated by those and
passed them on to W.B.Yeats and many others. What Yeats felt about these poems he
has himself recorded in the Introduction he wrote of Gitanjali:
I have carried the manuscript of these translations about with me for
days, reading it in railway trains, or on the top of omnibuses and in
restaurants, and I have often had to close it lest some stranger would
see how much it moved me. 29
His translations were full of praise for their freshness and charm. They got admiration
28. Bandyopadhyaya , Asit. ‘Rabindranath Tagore: Novelist, short story writer and
Essayist,’ in Ray’s , M.K. Studies on Rabindranath Tagore ed. Vol.I Atlantic
Publishers and Distributors, New Delhi, 2004, p.53.
29. Kripalani , Krishna. Tagore: A Life, National Book Trust, New Delhi,1971,
p.125.
70
from A.C.Bradley, the greatest critic of England, The Times Literary Supplement, the
greatest English journal and others. Tagore met C.F.Andrews at the house of
Rothenstein, who was invited to join Santiniketan and became a life long friend of
Tagore.
The publication of Gitanjali in English took the English reading public by
storm and they got enamoured as much by the nobility of its thought as by the beauty
of the language. M.K.Naik remarks, “The central theme of Gitanjali, Tagore’s finest
achievement in English verse, is devotion and its motto is “I am here to sing thee
songs”.30 About Gitanjali Hariom Prasad in his article “Rabindranath Tagore’s Poetic
Perspective: A Critical Query” remarks:
The remarkable features of this anthology are its Indianness, its open-
air atmosphere, its simplicity and its freshness. In it poetry
approximates the sphere of prophecy. It owes its inspiration to the
doctrine of the Upanishad according to which the entire creation has
sprung out of joy, resides in joy and will go back to joy. The
imminence of God is its important feature. 31
In November 1913 Tagore bagged Nobel Prize for literature for his Gitanjali.
It was for the first time that the Nobel Prize had gone to anyone who was not white.
30. Naik , M.K. A History of Indian English Literature, Sahitya Akademi, Delhi,
1982, p.60.
31. Prasad Hariom. ‘Rabindranath Tagore’s Poetic Perspective: A Critical Query’
in M.K.Ray’s Studies on Rabindranath Tagore ed. Vol. I ,Atlantic
Publishers and Distributors, New Delhi, 2004, p.77.
71
Gitanjali is a collection of one hundred and three poems. Simplicity and sublimity
characterize the prose style of Tagore in Gitanjali. In it, lofty ideas and noble
sentiments are woven with a rich variety of images with such an extraordinary ease
that the entire pattern of rhythmic prose reveals an unparallel command of English.
These poems owe their inspiration to the Upanishadic doctrine which envisages the
world and entire creation as having been born out of joy, residing in joy, and
returning to joy at last. God is present everywhere in the universe. If man aspires after
the love of God, God also aspires after the love of man. Tagore affirms that the
Infinite is always manifesting itself through the finite.The relation between God and
man is one of unity. Through these poems he also tries to show that the path of
realization of God lies through the performance of the ordinary duties of life. God is
to be met in the company of the tiller and the path maker and that the material
enjoyment is the be-all and end-all of life. The doors of the senses are not to be shut,
which implies that he would enjoy the delightful presence of God in the material
objects of life which can be perceived, heard and touched. Gitanjali also illustrates
the spirit of humanism in Tagore. T.R.Sharma, an eminent Critic, rightly examines
Gitanjali :
It is a great document of intuitive faith and reads like The Bhagavad
Gita on the one hand, and the Psalms of the Old Testament, on the
other. It can be called a synthesis of all that is best in the Indian and the
Western traditions.32
32. Sharma , T.R. Perspectives on Rabindranath Tagore, Vimal Prakashan,
Ghaziabad, 1998, p.32.
72
During the course of his visit to America, in 1913, to deliver some addresses
there he made the acquaintance of Rudolf Eucken, the famous German philosopher,
who was also charmed on reading Gitanjali. The lectures which he delivered in
America were published as Sadhana by Macmillan, along with The Gardner, The
Crescent Moon and Chitra. The Gardner proves Tagore to be a love poet. Tagore was
perhaps influenced by Browning to compose The Gardner. Tagore exhibits a
Browningesque variety and complexity in his love poetry. Tagore depicts the views of
both the sexes on love.
It is seen that most writers are nostalgic about their childhood and get
romantically involved in it. Tagore is no exception. He views the childhood in general
with matured view with affection. He observes the activities of children minutely and
takes a note of it in poetic manner which are reflected in the poems like On the
Seashore.
In the same period, Tagore wrote several songs, which were published in 1914
in two volumes – Gitimalya and Gitali which continued the religious strain of
Gitanjali with a different mood. Gitimalya is perhaps his greatest book of songs. The
book is one of his most joyful with the songs of service, of trust in God and of the
thankfulness for the beauty of the world. The joy of these songs is equally shared by
the literate and the illiterate, by the young and the old. Through these songs, Tagore
expressed an endless variety of moods and feelings. The words, rhythms and symbols
used are simple and spontaneous. They are the intimate outpourings of his soul.
Gitali is also a collection of songs. There is another variety of spiritualism. It
is neither theory nor spiritual practice. The dearest of the poet, his presiding deity,
73
appears as his lover. There is an emotional bond between them which binds them. The
poems were written for music and the words are of subordinate importance.
Balaka is a book of verse, which has around forty three poems. The form of
Balaka is extraordinary free. About the form of Balaka Edward Thompson remarks:
The form of Balaka is extraordinary free. He can do what he likes with
meter and rhythm, and he no longer cares for any rules except those
that justify themselves by resultant beauty or force. Sometimes his
meters stream and scatter over the pages, like fountains making their
way down a Himalayan height. 33
This volume was dedicated to his young English friend Pearson. Before
starting to write these poems Tagore had gone abroad on a tour of Europe and
America. On his return to India, he felt that he, as a poet belonged not only to India,
but to the whole of the world. Many of the poems bear the impress of the first Great
War. In poem No.2 of Balaka he states that the Destroyer brings with him a blood of
tears, storm and thunder. In some other poems a similar idea of the conquest of death
and destruction and of marching ahead in life is expressed. In some of the poems of
Balaka the indomitable faith in the future of humanity amidst sufferings is forcefully
expressed. From the poems in Balaka it is evident that Tagore is primarily a poet of
man, who believes in the progress of humanity, which can take place where there is
peace and friendship among the nations of the world.
The Cycle of Spring is a symbolist drama of the period. There are two planes
33. Thompson , Edward. Rabindranath Tagore: Poet and Dramatist, Surjeet
Paublication, Delhi,1998, p.231-232.
74
of meaning in it which fit into each other, but which do not intersect. The conception
of the drama is simple, but not thin, because it is worked through the extraordinary
varied activities of Nature. The human drama is not so good as the lyrical interludes.
The presentation of death is lop-sided. The view expressed is that the terrors of Death,
the gaping mouth and the head without a body of the dragon are nothing, but
illusions. It is a symbolist drama which is predominantly allegorical. According to
Iyengar, “The main play has a few symbolic characters, including the Blind minstrel –
physically blind, and therefore “he sees with his whole body and mind and soul.”34
The meeting of Rabindranath Tagore and M.K.Gandhi, the father of the
nation, took place for the first time in March 1915, when the students and staff of the
Phoenix School started by M.K.Gandhi came to visit Santiniketan. Tagore gave the
title of the “Mahatma” or the great souled to M.K.Gandhi and the poet himself
became a knight in 1915.
Tagore’s major novel of the period Ghare Baire (The Home and the World)
was published about the same time. It was written in the background of the Anti–
Partition Movement in Bengal. It was the movement which created an atmosphere of
heat, patriotism and indiscreet actions as well as unbashed greed that finally frustrated
the movement. At one time Rabindranath was closely associated with the movement
but when the entire movement degenerated into a secret conspiracy, he kept himself
aloof from it.
As a political–social novel it makes a sharp distinction between two rival
34. Iyengar , K.R.Srinivasa. Indian Writing in English, Sterling, New Delhi, 1990,
p. 132-133.
75
impulses, the pure passion for constructive work and the greed and destructive
energy. The real theme of the novel relates to the responsibilities, trials and
adjustments which Nikhil makes in his desire to find his relationship with his wife on
truth. The psychological study of relationship between a husband and his wife is the
subject–matter of the novel. Regarding the novelistic equilibrium of Tagore
Santisudha Mukhopadhyaya observes:
In Ghare-Baire the novelistic equilibrium has been adversely affected
by the author’s admiration for Nikhil and his detestation for Sandip.
The fundamental weakness of the novel also lies here. But Bimala
emerges as a living individual of flesh and blood; she remains above
the author’s love or hatred. 35
Tagore toured Japan in 1916 with C.F.Andrews and delivered lectures at the
Imperial University, Tokyo. While going to Japan, on the way he composed Stray
Birds. They are by no means literature of any high quality, though many of them are
interesting in themselves. He was welcomed by Japanese. But the lectures which he
delivered there were on anti-nationalism, so he was criticized there because Japan at
this time was imbued with the spirit of Nationalism. Afterwards, in September 1916,
Tagore sailed for Seattle. The lectures delivered during this second visit to the
United States were published in two volumes, “Nationalism” and “Personality”. The
lectures in “Personality” were his reflections on art, education, philosophy and the
35. Mukhopadhyaya, Santisudha. ‘Tagore’s ‘Ghare-Baire’: The conflict of politics
and Ethics,’ in Ray’s , M.K. Studies on Rabindranath Tagore ed. Vol. I. ,
Atlantic Publishers and Distributors, New Delhi, 2004, p.40.
76
divine potential in the human personality.
Palataka (The Fugitive) is a verse narrative by Rabindranath Tagore. It
consists of fifteen pieces nearly all stories, which show his narrative genius. The style
of Palataka is simple and extremely colloquial. There is admixture of brooding
moralization and reflection. The verse is free and flexible. The stories are little sad
episodes from everyday life, mostly dealing with the circumscribed life of a woman in
a Hindu household, her frustrations and her nobility and strength of suffering. They
bear “Tagore’s personal sorrow because they were written in the same year in which
he saw his eldest daughter suffer and die.” 36
In July 1921, he delivered remarkable address on the confluence of Eastern
and Western cultures and on 22nd December 1921 ‘The Visvabharati’ was formally
inaugurated. Tagore dedicated the last twenty years of his life to ‘ The Visvabharati’.
It is an international seat of learning. The seed of ‘The Visvabharati’ may be traced to
the idea of meeting place for various peoples and cultures haunting the mind of the
poet for a long time. Tagore desired that all branches of scholarship, ancient and
modern to be represented in this new center of learning started by him. Krishna
Kripalani’s observation is pertinent in this respect. He remarks:
The University, like its predecessor the school, was no doubt the
product of a poet’s dream but like many dreams when it materialized it
turned out to be a pointer to the future. Tagore had always believed that
36. Kripalani Krishna. Tagore: A Life , National Book Trust, New Delhi,1971,
p.155.
77
On each race is laid the duty to keep alight
its own lamp of mind as its part in the illumination of the world. To
break the lamp of any people is to deprive it of its rightful place in the
world festival. 37
Tagore praised the West for its progress in the march of life. The West had
much to learn from the East, but it had also much to teach. He although was opposed
to mechanization of life, was not an enemy of machines. The motto of ‘The
Visvabharati’ was “Where the whole world becomes a single nest”. 38 It represents the
whole of India with all her wealth of mind.
A month after founding of ‘The Visvabharati’, Tagore inaugurated the Rural
Reconstruction Dept. at Surul and gave it the name of Sriniketan. In the Hindu
mythology, Sri is the goddess of wealth and plenty. Sriniketan has done marvelous
work. It enabled the poet to fulfill his dream of complete education which should not
be isolated from the pursuits of life. In Tagore’s opinion, “The right kind of education
is that which provides opportunity to children for gaining knowledge through their
love of life.” 39
In 1922, Tagore’s series of beautiful child poems called as Sisu Bholanath was
published. It is a lyrical interpretation of the child–mind. The very first poem in the
book is an ode to divine Sisu, the eternal child in Bholanath and to the eternal
37. Kripalani, Krishna. Tagore : A Life, p. 158.
38. Ibid. p. 158
39. Prasad, Devi. Rabindranath Tagore: Philosophy of Education and painting,
National Book Trust, New Delhi,2000, p. 19.
78
Bholanath in every child.
Tagore’s political convictions are revealed in Mukta–Dhara (The Waterfall). It
is regarded as his greatest play by some readers and critics. In it, the playwright
condemns a technology divorced from religion and humanity. The king of Uttarakut
plans to control the economic prosperity of the people of Shiv-Tarai by building a
dam across the mountain-spring Mukta-dhara. He does not pay a little attention to the
cries of the poor and the religious. Prince Abhijit makes an open protest in favour of
the helpless people and, sacrifices his life by breaking the dam at a weak point. Here
is a conflict which modern technology has to encounter if it tries to overpower
humanitarian and religious ethics. The machine erected over the peak consecrated to
God Shiva with his Trident (Trishul) symbolizes the tyrant–technologist’s challenge
to religion. Further, the name Mukta–Dhara is also significant as it is nature’s open
gift to farmers; and the current of the spring imprisoned against nature, should get
liberated (mukta) again. K.R. Kripalani remarks, “The socio – political motif of the
play, such there is, seems to dissolve at the end, is undefined sense of mystic
exaltation.” 40
The next play by Tagore is Rakta Karabi (Red Oleanders), which shows
Tagore’s increasing concern with the basic problems of modern civilization. There
are several characters in the play including the King, Nandini , the Governor, the
Doctor, the Professor, Kishor, Bishu, etc. The King is frequently referred to but not
seen: there is the Invisible voice which is heard but the speaker is not seen – till the
king appears at last and we know the voice to be his. The mysterious Ranjan is also
40. Kripalani , K.R. Tagore: A Life , National Book Trust, New Delhi,1977, p.176.
79
frequently referred to as if he were the darling of romance and revolution but not
seen, and when seen he is already dead. However, the action of the play is very
confused and, therefore, very irritating. The only idea that emerges clearly from the
play is that this world is a prison, with its governors, deputies and assistants; and that
the people always try to storm the prison, and the king is sometimes brave enough to
break his own self-built prison and pull down the flag which is the symbol of his own
tyranny.
The play ends with Bishu’s song of autumn and fruitfulness:
Hark’tis Autumn calling, -
Come, O come away!
The Earth’s mantle of dust is filled with ripe corn!
O the joy! 41
But some queries emerge from the play which are to be answered:
What is the action of the play? What is the net that separates the king
from his people? Who are these officers? What is Ranjan’s crime that
he is forbidden to enter, except on pain of death, the Yaksha Town?
Does Ranjan love Nandini even as she loves him? 42
Rabindranath published in 1925, collection of poems under the significant title
Purabi. The volume was dedicated to Vijaya (the Sanskrit parallel of Victoria) by
which name Tagore used to address his hostess.Tapobhanga(disruption of meditation)
41. Tagore, Rabindranath. Red Oleanders, Rupa and Co. New Delhi, 2002, p. 122
42. Iyengar ,K.R.S. Indian Writing in English, Sterling, New Delhi,1985, p.134.
80
of Purabi is certainly one of the finest poems. In this poem, “the poet uses the
breaking of Maheshwara’s (Lord Shiva) penance as the symbol of the manifestation
of complete beauty of his poetic career and the triumph of his youth.”43
Tagore’s play Natir Puja depicts a conflict between a temporal power of king
and the spiritual power of Lord Buddha. The theme revolves around Srimati, the
palace dancer, an obscure person in herself. Near the end of the play, she dances
before the Stupa in a Crescendo of ecstasy. The guard strikes her dead at the king’s
command. She is triumphant even in her death because now Queen Lokesvari and the
elder princess Ratnavali, fall under the spell of the court–dancer’s self sacrifice and
touch the dead Srimati’s feet in token of their respect to Buddhism. It is a deeply
moving play by Rabindranath, depicting a rare act of religious martyrdom by a person
who was least expected to rise to such great heights of self sacrifice. At last touching
martyred Srimati’s feet, Ratnavali mutters:
“I take refuge in the Buddha!
I take refuge in the Dhamma!
I take refuge in the Sangha!”44
The play testifies Tagore’s attraction to Buddhism as an ethic and the Buddha as
spiritual power and personality.
43. Bandyopadhyaya , Asit. “Rabindranath Tagore: Poet and Dramstist”, Ray
M.K. Studies on Rabindranath Tagore, ed. Vol. I , Atlantic Publishers and
Distributors, New Delhi, 2004, p.20.
44. Sykes, Marjorie. Trans. Three Plays: Chandalika, Muktadhara, Natir Puja,
Oxford UP, New Delhi, 1975, p.140.
81
Yogayog (Cross Currents), a novel was published around 1928. In Yogayog it
is the rise of a new economic class that results in an inevitable conflict between
values nurtured in an old family of landed aristocrats which has lost its wealth but not
its pride. The next novel to be published after Yogayog is Sesher Kavita (Last Poem).
This novel is almost half poetry and was very popular among Bengali readers.
According to Asit Bandyopadhyaya, “Abundant poetic qualities, fine lyrical passage
and romantic exuberance frequently transform it (Sesher Kavita) into a prose
poem”.45
Mahua is a volume of verses, in which the poems are mostly love poems.
Tagore wrote these poems after the strong scented Indian flower of spring which
yields a native heady wine. The title Mahua is appropriate for these poems because
some of them were induced by an artificial stimulus like intoxication. Restoring the
force of love from the trivialities of routine and the cesspool of sloth he makes it meet
the challenge of great and scared duties. In it, the romantic splendour of love was
charged with vigour. It is really astonishing that the old man, at seventy had still so
much vigour in him. The period from Purabi to Mahua covers the main period of his
poetic activity. Accepting the worth of Tagore’s poetry of post-Gitanjali period, Sisir
Kumar Ghose rightly evaluates:
45. Bandyopadhyaya , Asit. “Rabindranath Tagore: Novelist , Short Story Writer
and Essayist” Ray, M.K. Studies on Rabindranath Tagore, ed. Vol. I
Atlantic Publishers and Distributors, New Delhi,2004, p.56.
82
May be his early works are better but the latter are greater. Tagore
could be creative even in his negation, be these social or existential.
Few poets have made such successful use of ‘failures’. Perhaps the
time for a new, different and total Tagore has come.46
Then Tagore showed himself in an altogether new role. He was acknowledged
as a singer and a literary artist so far, now he appeared as a painter. He inaugurated an
exhibition of his pictures in Paris in May 1932, followed by his exhibition of
paintings at Copenhagen, Moscow and other places. His pictures were admired for
their dreaminess and atmosphere of mystery they evoke as well as for the technical
excellence, which they display. Devi Prasad remarks:
Rabindranath’s art is primitive because, unlike his poetry and
philosophy, it came out spontaneously from his instinctual responses to
the world of forms, which he had become familiar on account of his
lifelong interest in nature. He had not to make a conscious effort to
grasp the abstract from the appearance. 47
In 1930, in Oxford, Tagore delivered lectures, which were published under the
title The Religion of Man. These lectures are certainly a manifestation of the poet’s
simple direct vision of truth and are the most significant contribution to the
proclamation of the dignity of man. In it, he clearly states that his main subject is the
46. Ghose , Sisir Kumar. Rabindranath Tagore, Sahitya Akademi, New Delhi,
1998, p.32.
47. Prasad , Devi. Rabindranath Tagore: Philosophy of Education and Painting
National Book Trust, New Delhi, 2000, p.74.
83
idea of humanity of our God, or the divinity of man, the Eternal. He remarks:
This thought of God has not grown in my mind through any process of
philosophical reasoning. On the contrary, it has followed the current of
my temperament from early days until it suddenly flashed into my
consciousness with a direct vision. 48
Tagore came to realize that all religions of the world owe their origin to some
persons who represented in their lives a great truth which was hardly cosmic or
unmoral, but was human and good and was aimed at general human welfare. It
appears that Tagore has found in man a creative power, a regenerative force, which
has been journeying to reach perfection an ideal, eternal being. He has called this
ideal being the Mahamanab, the Superman or the Eternal Man. This Mahamanab is
the embodiment of that spiritual entity which wants to attain perfection in the form of
a human being. He has spoken of him as part of the divinity that is man himself.
Speaking of religion in Atmaparichay Tagore says:
What is his religion? It is the religion that lies concealed in his mind to
create himself. It is the inherent life–force that creates the living beings
of the animal kingdom. The animals need not know anything about this
life-force. But man has another entity, which is bigger than his sentient
being – his humanism. This creative force within his life is his
48. Tagore, Rabindranath. The Religion of Man, Unwin Books, London, 1931,
p. 74.
84
religion. 49
Tagore also delivered “Kamala Lectures” on The Religion of Man at the
University of Calcutta. The Calcutta University had already conferred on him the
Doctorate of Literature honoris causa and he had delivered a series of lectures on
poetics there. His very first production after his long foreign tour was a music-and-
dance sequence called Navin (The New). During the four years from 1932 to 1936
were published Punasca (Postscript), Sesh Saptak (Last Melodies), Patraput (Plate of
Leaves), and Syamali (The Dark Green One). The resources of versification are
explored and exploited to the extreme. Punasca begins to practise prose poems, and
from Punasca to Syamali prose rhythm remains the main vehicle of the poet’s
expression. In these poems the poet is seen to be attracted towards the broken images
of daily life. Arriving at the end of his journey, he looked back dispassionately on the
old familiar environment.
A few light humorous poetical compositions Khapchada, Chada O Chabi,
Prahasini published after the Punasca group of poems show the old poet’s continuing
sense of humour and fun. Special mention should be made of the last poetical works
of the final period: Prantik, Sejuti, Akaspradip, Nabajatak, Sanai, Rogsayaya,
Arogya, Janmdine. Remarkable combination of wisdom and realistic outlook makes
these poems strikingly fresh.
On the persuasion of the University of Calcutta Tagore delivered a series of
lectures. He also organized a project, under his direct personal supervision, for
49. Tagore , Rabindranath. Atmaparichay, Visva- Bharti, Calcutta, 1943, p.10.
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compiling a glossary of technical and scientific terms in Bengali. In the midst of
many public activities which included several important lectures, he wrote two new
plays, Tasher Desh (The Kingdom of Cards) and Chandalika (The Untouchable Girl).
Tasher Desh (The Kingdom of Cards) is a delightful satire by Tagore.
In Chandalika , the protagonist is Prakriti , the untouchable girl. She falls
desperately in love with a Buddhist Bhikshu, Ananda, Buddha’s youngest and best
loved disciple. Ananda is under a vow of celibacy, and is therefore absolutely
indifferent to women. But Prakriti is feeling so obsessed by her passion for Ananda
that she compels her mother, who knows the art of black magic, to work a spell by
means of which Ananda can be brought to her door and seek her love. The spell drags
Ananda to her hut. But the passion of love has robbed his spiritual radiance, and his
face now looks most repulsive and abhorrent. She cannot bear the sight of this
agonized face. Her final victory is also her supreme defeat for it is not the face she has
longed for, that face of beauty and holiness! Prakriti appeals to her mother to undo the
spell in the following words…
Mother, Mother, stop! Undo the spell now – at once – undo it! What
have you done? What have you done? O wicked, wicked deed! Better
have died. What a sight to see! Where is the light and radiance, the
shining purity, the heavenly glow? How worn, how faded, has he come
to my door! Bearing his self’s defeat as a heavy burden, he comes with
drooping head…50
50. Sykes, Marjorie. Trans. Three Plays: Chandalika, Muktadhara, Natir Puja
Oxford University Press, New Delhi, 1975, p.165.
86
The mother does undo the spell and dies because of her devilry. Ananda goes
back as a redeemed man. The conflict between the desires of the flesh and the
aspirations of the soul has most effectively been conveyed to us through this play.
Then Tagore delivered a lecture on ‘Chhanda’ (Prosody) at the Calcutta
University. He also delivered some lectures at the Andhra University under the title
‘Man’. In the same year his two novels, Dui Bon (Two Sisters), Malancha (The
Garden) were published followed by a drama in prose Bansari. Dui Bon is a short
novel, dealing with the usual triangle, in this case two sisters are in love with the same
man. In it, the author has tried to face boldly the psychological dilemma caused by a
conflict of loyalties, loyalty to married love and to love, free and unfettered – without
sentimentalizing and without moralizing.
Malancha is shorter in length but more dramatic in situation. The theme is
similar to Dui Bon, the usual triangle, but the rival in this case being not the wife’s
sister, but the husband’s cousin. The psychological interest of this novel is, however,
of a different nature. Bansari is a witty play, sparkling with brilliant dialogues. It
depicts the sophistication of high society in Calcutta, their high-brow pretensions and
snobberies. The capacity for love is dissipated in intellectual flirtations resulting in a
tragedy presented as a comedy.
Tagore then toured to Bombay and Ceylon, a charming Island. It was during
his stay in Ceylon that Tagore completed what was to be his last novel, Char Adhyay
(Four Chapters). It develops the theme of violent nationalism and terrorism. It
describes how men and women lose their individual identities when they fall prey to
violent nationalism. The four chapters of this novel describe the frustration of Atindra
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and Ela on account of political crisis. They sacrifice their humanism in the name of
the so–called patriotism and this terrorist movement only ruins their personal life. In
stories and novels and even in his essays Rabindranath unambiguously rejects the
terrorist movement and violent patriotism.
Then, Rabindranath wrote a new dance-drama Syama based on an earlier
poem, Parisodh. The theme is the tragedy of love’s blind egoism which does not
scruple to sacrifice every other happiness to its own, only to find that it has thereby
lost its right to happiness.
In February 1937, Tagore delivered the convocation address of the Calcutta
University. It was for the first time in the eighty years of its history when a private
citizen was offered this privilege, which was so far reserved for British Viceroys and
Governors. It was also for the first occasion that the address was delivered in Bengali
and not in English. Tagore perhaps used the occasion for a magnificent plea for the
use of the mother tongue as the medium of education.
Rabindranath Tagore wrote Visvaparichaya, an introduction to modern
science for Bengali readers. Then he composed and directed the production of
Varsha-Mangal, a song and dance sequel celebrating the rainy season. He loved
nature in all its moods, and every season of the year but he loved most of all the rains.
Navajatak (The New Born) is next volume of poems by Rabindranath in which the
mood is very different in which the poet is concerned with what was happening
around him in the contemporary world. These poems are less subjective in mood.
Dacca, Benaras and Hyderabad Universities had already conferred on him the
Doctorate Degrees. Tagore continued unabated with his literary activity, but his
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physical health was on decline. On 7th August 1940, the University of Oxford held a
special convocation at Santiniketan to confer on him an honorary Doctorate of
Literature. Sir Maurice Gwyer, the then Chief Justice of India, Dr. Radhakrishnan and
Mr. Justice Hendersen of the Calcutta High Court represented the Oxford University.
Sir Maurice Gwyer said, “The University whose representative I am , has, in
honouring you, done honour to itself”.51 It was for the first time that the Oxford
University had travelled to confer a degree.
Tagore’s last contribution to the form of short story was published in the same
year under the title Teen Sangi (The Trio). It is a collection of three short stories –
Ravivar (Sunday), Sesh Katha (Last Word), and Laboretori (The Laboratory). These
short stories “may mark the culmination of the new trend of thought”.52 Laboratory is
the most interesting among all the three, and faithfully and realistically portrays
contemporary life. Regarding the narrative skill of Tagore’s short-stories Lila
Majumdar remarks: “He (Tagore) never unfolded his tales with lengthy preambles
like a garrulous grandfather, but plunged right into the plot and gripped the attention
with the first sentence which is how all stories should be told.” 53
51. Kripalani, Krishna. Tagore: A Life, National Book Trust, New Delhi, 1971,
p.242.
52. Prasad , Hariom. “Tagore’s Short Stories: A Critical Study,” Ray, M.K.
Studies on Rabindranath Tagore, ed. Vol. 2 Atlantic Publishers and
Distributors, New Delhi, 2004, p.217.
53. Majumdar , Lila. “Tagore as a writer for Children”, Rabindranath Tagore: A
Centenary Volume, 1861-1961, ed. Radhakrishnan , S. Sahitya Akademi,
New Delhi,1961, p. 176.
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Rabindranath invented his own pattern as a short –story writer instead of following
anybody.
Chhelebela, a delightful reminiscences of Tagore’s childhood days published
in the same year is written in a simple and lively style. In it one finds the memory of
old and discarded palanquin which had belonged to his grandmother. There was a
secrete fellow feeling and comradeship between the discarded palanquin and the
neglected child.
Rabindranath Tagore passed away on 7th August 1941 because of illness. He
breathed his last in the same old Jorasanko House where he had first opened his eyes.
It was the day of the full moon of Sravana, the month of rains so often celebrated in
his songs, and verse. Earlier he had written a song, which he had desired should be
sung at his death. It was and it is still sung at each anniversary of the day:
In front lies the Ocean of peace,
Launch the boat, Helmsman,
you will be the comrade ever…54
And so the poet set sail on his last voyage, with his Beloved at the helm, towards the
great unknown he had always sought in the known. Krishna Kripalani authentically
remarks:
With him, it seemed, passed away an age, an epoch, which despite the
fact that India was in subjection to a foreign rule, will nevertheless be
54. Kripalani , Krishna. Tagore: A Life, National Book Trust, New Delhi,1971,
p.264.
90
remembered as a golden age in Indian history, for it laid the foundation
of India’s unity and freedom on which the present and futurgenerations
are free to raise a superstructure of their choice. It also gave to her two
of her greatest sons of all time. One of them did not live to see his
ountry free, the other was shot to death by ungrateful country men. But
do they die who leave behind a deathless legacy?55
55. Kripalani, Krishna. Tagore : A Life, p. 265.