09MysticisminTagore.docx

09MysticisminTagore.docx

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09MysticisminTagore

LoveofCreationandMysticisminTagore’sGitanjaliand

StrayBirds

PaulaHayes

StrayerUniversity,USA

Abstract

ThispaperisconcernedwithexaminingtwoofTagore’scollectionsofpoems,GitanjaliandStray

Birds,fromtheperspectiveofthepoet’sloveofnatureandofGod.Thepaperseekstofinda

religiousexplanationforTagore’sperpetualpraiseofthenaturalworld,apraisethathewasable

toconnectdynamicallytohisloveofGod.TheexplanationgivenisthatTagore’srepetitionof

naturemotifsandhisabilitytolinkthesemotifstoaharmoniouspursuitofthedivineisrootedin

anappreciationforcosmogonyoftheRigVeda.Thepaperendsbyaddressingbrieflyhow

Tagore’snaturalism,rootedinatraditionextendingbacktosacredtext,leadsthepoettoa

mysticalexpressionofpersonalitythroughhispoems.

[Keywords:

NaturalisminPoetry;Theism;RigVeda;Mysticism]

CosmogonyastheCoreofTagore’sReligiousExpressioninPoetry

Oftenwhenapoetislabeledasanaturalistwriter,thepoet’sconcernsare

thoughttobesimilartothetenetsofRomanticism.PoetssuchasWordsworth,

Whitman,andYeats,tonameonlythree,wroteofnatureasameansof

expressingsymbolicallytheinnerworkingsoftheself—naturemotifsinRomantic

poetsareemblemsoflargerrealities,subjectiverealities.WhileTagore’s

preoccupationwithnaturethroughouthispoemsdoessharecertain

characteristicswiththeRomanticpoets,suchasthedesiretoexpresssubjective

realities,itistheclaimhere,bythisauthor,thatweshouldreadTagore’sloveof

andconcernwithnatureaspartofagreatertraditionofIndianliteraturethat

beginswiththecosmogonyoftheRigVeda.i

ItappearsthatattheheartofTagore’spoetrythereisadeepseated

respectfortheRigVeda’screationmyths.Tagore’sfather,Debendranath,even

inspiredaBengalitranslationoftheRigVeda.TheRigVedaassacredtextis

onlyoneoffourmainbookscomprisingtheVedas,comprisedofoveramere

1,000ormorehymns.Wemaythinkoftheseliturgicalpoems,extendingbackto

circa800-600B.C.E,asreflectingthetransitionsandfluxinherenttoanoral

culture.OneoftheprimaryreasonsforrecognizingthenaturalismoftheRig

VedaistohelpwesternreadersofTagoreunderstandthatwhenTagorewritesof

natureii—ofbirds,trees,asingularbladeofgrass,asunset,sunrise,aboatride,

afadingviewofthewater—whilebecausealloftheseexternalobjectsbelonging

tothenaturalworldmaymakeTagoreappearmuchlikewesternRomantic

poets,suchasWordsworthorYeats,Tagore’smissionisactuallyquitedifferent.

InTagore,whatisexpressedisathoughtfulrelationshipofpoettosacredtext,of

poettothemythicalorcosmologicaloriginsoftheworld.Itisdoubtfulthatthe

RupkathaJournalonInterdisciplinaryStudiesinHumanities（ISSN0975-2935）,Vol2,No4,2010

SpecialIssueonRabindranathTagore,editedbyAmritSen

URLoftheIssue:

URLofthearticle:

©

482

RupkathaJournalVol2No4

samefunctioncanbefoundinthemoresecularizednaturalismoftheRomantic

causeofwesternpoets.

InTagore,loveofnatureequatesatoneleveltoloveofGod;for,in

recognizingtheworthofthenaturalworld,oneisgivingassenttothefactthat

thereisaGodwhocreatedit.Forinstance,TagorewritesinStrayBirdsin

stanza311,thefollowing,“Thesmellofthewetearthintherainriseslikea

greatchangeofpraisefromthevoicelessmultitudeofinsignificant.”iiiOnlyapoet

inlovewithnaturecouldwritetheselines;for,thelinesrecallthehymnsandthe

recitations,andtheincantationsofsacredtext.Orconsideraswell,stanza309in

StrayBirds,whereTagorewrites,“To-nightthereisastiramongthepalmleaves,

aswellinthesea,FullMoon,liketheheartthroboftheworld.Fromwhat

unknownskyhastthoucarriedinthysilencetheachingsecretoflove?

”ivThe

linesechotheconceptfromthecreationhymnswhereinthesacredtextposits

thatnooneknowshowcreationcametobebecausenoonewitnesseditexcept

forthecreatorGoditself,andwhocantrulyknowthisGodbuttoseekhim?

Asif

thiswerenotenough,alsoinStrayBirds,wereadTagore’sdevelopmentofthis

conceptashewrites,“Godcomestomeintheduskofmyeveningwiththe

flowersfrommypastkeptfreshinhisbasket”（stanza314）.vThisisthemindofa

religiouspoetatwork,notaRomanticpoet.

IntheRigVedathereismuchattentiongiventothefollowingprimeval

forces,outofwhichexistencecomesintobeing,andthroughwhichtheunknown

Godofcreationworks.Theseprimevalforcesare—non-entity,non-being,the

absenceofthephysicalsky,nothingness,thedepthofnothingness,theabsence

ofdeathandlifeascorollaries,theabsenceofthedistinctionbetweenseasons

ortimesofday,theabsenceofthecorollariesofnightandday.Theseprimeval

voidswhichareatonceforcesthatmustbeacteduponbyacreatorGodare

thentransformedbyGod’spowerintomaterialsubstances.TheRigVeda

recountshowgloriousthefeatisofthecreatorGod’spowerfulabilitytomovethe

primevalvoidstomaterialforms,bringingamaterialexistenceandphysicalworld

intobeingoutofwhatwasbeforeanabsenceofnon-being,bringingeventhe

constructoftimeintoexistence.vi

InGitanjali,Tagoreuseslanguagethatconjuresremembranceof

creation’sgiftoftime.Inthepoem,“EndlessTime,”Tagoreremindsusthattime

isnotourown.Themetaphysicsoftimedoesnotbelongtohumanitysolely,but

ratherhasbeenentrustedtohumanitybythecreatorGod.Tagorewrites,“Time

isendlessinthyhands,mylord./Thereisnontocountthyminutes”（lines1-2）.vii

Inthesamepoem,Tagoregoesontosay,“Daysandnightspassandages

bloomandfadelike/flowers./Thouknowesthowtowait”（lines3-5）.viiiThepoet’s

pointisobvious—thecomparisonoftimetothefragilityandachingbeautyofa

flowerisaremindertohisreadersthattimeisjustasfragile.Humanityknows

timeonlyinpart—throughfiniteperceptionsofwaiting,whileGodknowstime

throughitswhole,througheternity.Neithertimenorflowers,notthehoursorthe

days,areentirelymanandwoman’stohave;rather,theyareGod’stohave.We

483

LoveofCreationandMysticisminTagore’sGitanjaliandStrayBirds

arenottowastetime,though,buttorecognizethesuccessionofthecreationof

worlds,themovementofthetransientandthefinitethroughthestagesofhistory

andthecyclesofgenerations—“Thycenturiesfolloweachotherperfectinga

smallwildflower./Wehavenotimetolose,/andhavingnotimewemustscramble

forachance./Wearetoopoortobelate”（lines6-10）.ix

Tagore’slovefortheRigVedaispartofthefoundationfromwhichhewas

abletocreatethefeaturesofsensualityandjoyoftheisticbelief.Religiously,the

RigVedarepresentsapointoforiginforthedevelopmentofHinduism,butitis

alsoaremarkablyfleshy,carnaltext,fullofdesiretoknowandparticipateinthe

naturalworld.Suchadepictionisnotdesultory;itmerelypointsoutthattheRig

Vedaisconcernedwithmanipulationofthenaturalworld（ofnatureitself）.xThe

textisconsumedwithlargerthanlifefigures;godsareduplicitous,strongwilled,

attimesuncontrollablebeings.Thenatureofthegodscanbedifficulttoaccess;

ontheonehand,thegodsstandapartfromnature,partiallyoftranscendent

form,whileontheotherhandtheyaremorphedbeingswhocanmergetheir

identitieswithnature.xi

TheRigVedateachesavastappreciationforthephysicallife,torevere

andstandinaweoftheabundanceandvarietyofnaturalforms,aswellas

accept（withaformofresignationthatisnotpessimist）theforcesofnature.One

ofthebroaderlessonsoftheRigVedaistoseekone’splacewithintheorderof

naturalphenomenaasopposedtostrugglingtoovercomeandtranscendthis

order;noteventhegodsarepermittedtofullytranscendthephenomenalworld

ofnature,soitiscertainlynotexpectedthathumanswillbeabletodoso.Andfor

somethismayevenbeconsideredavastrelief;for,onewayofinterpretingthis

lessonthattheRigVedateachesisthatitmeansthereligiousseeker’sconcern

shouldbewithimprovingtheworldthatformsthehere-and-now,ratherthan

focusingallhopesuponotherworldliness.xiiArguably,Tagoreinterprets

generouslyVedicliteratureasleadingtowardanappreciation（notdenial,

rejection,oreventranscendence）ofphenomenalexistence.Theguideforthis

appreciationiswisdomandreasonwhicharedivinelygiven.

InGitanjali,oneofthepoemsthatmostexpressesthegiftofwisdomis

“BrinkofEternity.”Init,Tagoredrawsacomparisonbetweenamaterialhouse

thatistinyandcramped,withthatofaspiritualhouse,amansionbelongingto

GodHimself.Butthroughoutthisextendedcomparison,Tagoreweavesintothe

imagerygentleremindersofthecreatorGod’sabilitytomakeforus,humanity,a

homeoutoftheskyandthenaturalworld.IntheRigVeda,eventheskydidnot

existpriortoGodfashioningandformingit.xiiiTagorewrites,“IndesperatehopeI

goandseekforher/inallthecornersofmyroom;/Ifindhernot”（lines1-3）.xiv

The“her”Tagorereferencesiseternityitself.Hegoesontowrite,“Myhouseis

small/andwhatwasoncehasgonefromitcanneverberegained”（lines4-5）.xv

Inotherwords,thebodyofthepoetislikeasmallhouse,incapableofhousing

eternity.Onlythespiritualhouse,thespiritualrealmofGodcanhouseeternity.

Tagoremakesthisclearwhenhesays,“Butinfiniteisthymansion,mylord,/and

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