Jun 19, 2009 11:51 PM
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(Updated Jun 20, 2009 12:04 AM)
Songs of Solitude!! Songs of Hope!! Songs of Empowerment!! Songs of Prayer!! Geetanjali is ‘songs of soul’ while traveling with God, not knowing and knowing him.
From my LP class days, I have heard of Tagore. The loud speaker from the local church used to play songs took from this great book in the early morning. I used to tell the story of ‘golden grain of corn’. Recently, I was reading Kahlil Gibran and saw that his books are ‘inspired’ by Tagore. I thought, ‘enough is enough…here I am determined to read ‘Gitanjali’ first, before reading its further ‘inspirations’. And the travel was beautiful!
Tagore was born in a very Rich family but he was a child without freedom. A prisoner in his own house, “The child who is decked with prince’s robes and who have jeweled chains round his neck loses all pleasure in his play; his dress hampers him at every step” Gitanjali VIII (VIII). “O fool, to try to carry thyself upon thy own shoulders! O beggar, to come to beg at thy own door!” (IX) Such a childhood Tagore had to live and no wonder, he found his happiness and god’s presence with light and flowers “The light of thy music illuminates the world. The life breath of thy music runs from sky to sky” (III) “Pluck this little flower and take it. Delay not! I fear lest it droop and drop into the dust…….Though its colour be not deep and its smell be faint, use this flower in thy service and pluck it while there is TIME”. (VI) “Light, oh, where is the light? Kindle it with the burning fire of desire!..” (XXVII).
The burning desire in Tagore prayed for strength. The basis of prayer is hope. “…Give me the strength lightly to bear my joys and sorrows; ….to make my love fruitful in service….never to disown the poor or bend my knees before insolent might…..to raise my mind high above daily trifles. And give me the strength to surrender my strength to thy will with love.” (XXXVI) “That I want thee, only thee – let my heart repeat without end.”(XXXVIII)“When desire blinds the mind with delusion and dust, O thou holy one, thou wakeful, come with thy light and thy thunder”. (XXXIX) “Life of my life, I shall ever try to keep my body pure, knowing that thy living touch is upon my limbs….thou art that truth which has kindled the light of reason in my mind….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. And it shall be my endeavour to reveal thee in my actions knowing it is thy power gives me strength to act.” (IV). “Has not the WORD come to you that the flower is reigning in splendour among thorns? Wake, oh, awaken! Let not the time pass in vein! At the end of the stony path, in the country of virgin SOLITUDE, my friend is sitting all alone. Deceive him not. Wake, oh, awaken!” (LV)
The condition of the poor villagers who work in his farm land evoked Sympathy in him, at the same time he envisioned an India where the poor is empowered with light of knowledge. “Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high; Where knowledge is free; Where the world has not been broken up into fragments by narrow domestic WALLS; Where the words come out from the depth of truth; Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection; where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way into the dreary desert sand of dead habit; Where the mind is led forward by thee into ever widening thought and action – Into that heaven of freedom, my father, let my country awake.”
The God concept of Tagore is the basis of his philosophy. God in our self and our self in God. Our life is only a passage a boat journey with God. Throughout the songs the author is present and the presence of God too. For Tagore, his existence and strength is closely related to the presence of god. The last judgement toWaiting Virgins with lamps to ‘Maya’ to Vishnu with Sword - Tagore do not counter any existing religious believes but find correct meaning for it and free the God from the WALLS of temples and churches. “He it is, the innermost one, who awakens my being with his deep hidden touches” (LXXII) He visualized God as a loving father, “When I bring to you coloured toys my child, why there is such a play of colours on clouds, on water, and why flowers are painted in tints” (LXII), “The sleep that flits on baby’s eyes – does anybody know from where it comes?” (LXI) “Thy eyes look down on my eyes, and my heart has touched thy feet.” (LIX), “on the seashore of endless worlds is the great meeting children” (LX)
The mystery of death always haunted Tagore. When he was young, his brother’s wife who was his first inspiration to start writing is dead. His mother, his lonely symbol of love and freedom too left him in his childhood. This forced Tagore to find the truth that “Life and Death as twin brothers”. He absorbed the pain in his life, “…shall I bear in my heart this honour of the burden of pain, this gift of thine” (LII) “It quivers like the one last response of life in extacy of PAIN at the final stroke of DEATH”. (LIII) The reason the ‘Mahabhagawata’ was written, why not to worry to die, Tagore visualize death as only a change of foam. “I dive into the depth of the ocean of foams, hoping to gain the perfect pearl of formless. No more sailing from harbour to harbour with this my weather-beaten boat…. I am eager to die into the deathless” (C)
Tagore is said to be taken inspiration from Kabir Das in his poems. I can see the life of Jesusbeen there with him as well as the style from psalms. A bit of Shakespeare is visible (to my limited knowledge of Shakespeare) as well. Great works like ‘THE PROPHET’, KAHLIL GIBRAN is highly inspired by GEETANJALI. And I can undoubtedly say that this is the best book which filled my heart, mind and soul with thoughts and the presence of God. A MUST NOT MISS BOOK.
“Thy love which is greater than theirs, and thou keepest me free” (XXXII). The choice is ours.
