Dec 18, 2006 07:05 PM
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Leave this chanting and singing and telling of beads! Whom dost thou worship in this lonely dark corner of a temple with doors all shut? Open thine eyes and see thy God is not before thee!
He is there where the tiller is tilling the hard ground and where the pathmaker is breaking stones. He is with them in sun and in shower, and his garment is covered with dust. Put off thy holy mantle and even like him come down on the dusty soil!
Deliverance? Where is this deliverance to be found? Our master himself has joyfully taken upon him the bonds of creation; he is bound with us all forever.
Come out of thy meditations and leave aside thy flowers and incense! What harm is there if thy clothes become tattered and stained? Meet him and stand by him in toil and sweat of thy brow.
He whom I enclose with my name is weeping in this dungeon. I am ever busy building this wall around; and as this wall goes up into the sky day by day I lose sight of my true being in its dark shadow.
I take pride in this great wall, and I plaster it with dust and sand lest a least --- should be left in this name; and for all the care I take I lose sight of my true being.
On many an idle day have I grieved over lost time. But it is never lost, my lord. Thou hast taken every moment of my life in thine own hands.
Hidden in the heart of things thou art nourishing seeds into sprouts, buds into blossoms, and ripening flowers into fruitfulness.
I was tired and sleeping on my idle bed and imagined all work has ceased. In the morning I woke up and found my garden full with wonders of flowers.
Colossal. Pragmatic. Deep. Profound. Absorbing. A riveting thought for every aspect of human life; religion, humanity, patriotism, relationships….. Epithets can hardly describe the opulence of Rabindranath Tagore’s GITANJALI.
We have all learnt by rote the poem “Where the mind is without fear” in our school days, which features in the same collection. It is really sad that this magnificent literary booty is not part of English Literature curriculum for undergraduate/post-graduate courses in most universities.
What a shame!
