Rabindranath Tagore 1861-1941
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Rabindranath Tagore 1861–1941 Poet, essayist, playwright, musician, painter Author of Gitanjali, Sandhya Sangeet, “Sheshlekha,” Gora, Ghare-Baire, Nrityanatya Chitrangada, “Kalantar,” Arogya, Janamadine, “Nationalism,” “Personality,” “Religion of Man,” “Sadhana” M K Raina, National Council of Educational Research and Training, New Delhi, India ã 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. This article is reproduced from the previous edition, volume 2, pp. 617–623, ã 1999, Elsevier Inc. Described as a “world poet,” RABINDRANATH TAGORE is con- fourteenth child (of 15 children), eighth son of his parents. sidered a puzzling ecumenical figure, a paradigm of human possibil- The youngest child, however, died in early infancy, making ity, a mystery, and a complex challenge of creativity who exemplified Tagore both the youngest child and the youngest son of the total creativity, unique and rare. As “Rabindranath” he was an family. Neither of the parents established any personal inti- Indian writer, as “Tagore” he was an international figure. He is macy with him and early in life he lost his mother. There had known for his poetry, particularly “Gitanjali” (Song Offerings), never been that clinging affection between the mother and the which made him suddenly famous and brought him the Nobel son that would leave a void behind. But the thirst for mother’s Prize for literature in 1913, the second writer in English to be thus affection, never quenched in childhood, was to survive in the awarded after Kipling. One of the greatest literary figures in history, son as a constant longing for feminine affection and care. Tagore was a master of several literary forms. He experimented with However, his father, known for contemplative inwardness, many forms of art and sought an outlet first in music, then in drama, had the most abiding influence over the son. The influence opera, and ballet and toward the end of his life in painting. Tagore had obvious manifestations later. was a consummate histrionic artist, a playwright and producer of Tagore grew in a lonely and somewhat isolated family plays. He also inspired and directed the revival and full development where literature, music, and painting were prized. The family of the art of dance in modern India. Tagore is remarkable for his was notable for the extraordinary concatenation of a variety of versatility, extraordinary range, and complexity of creative perspec- talents in its members. The house where he spent his child- tive. As a high priest of internationalism and the author of the hood as a lonely outcast, a shy and quiet child, was to him national anthems of two countries, his spirited protests against the tranquil and secluded. The family provided the right environ- inequities and cruelties of British and other forms of imperialism and ment for Tagore to discover two of the major motives of his repression have a permanent place in history. creative life: joy and mystery. The sense of wonder and mystery that for him pervaded the world of nature and men–the yearning for that mysterious world, the instinctive delight in the smallest and most common place things experienced in childhood–became for him a lifelong spiritual treasure. Though he attended several schools, Tagore was allergic to formal schooling, which distressed him. His education remained desultory and ultimately he became a dropout. The education that he received at home was quite thorough. More valuable than what he was taught, was what he breathed in, as it were, from the atmosphere of the house, where Vedic chants could be heard along with readings from Shakespeare and Marlowe; where Indian classical music, vocal and instrumental, was seriously practiced while European music was also studied, where the family had its own drama group and compositions and collections of costumes; where a lively intellectual and spiritual endeavor was pursued with easy grace. Therefore, it is no surprise that this solitary and sensitive truant proved a Rabindranath Tagore. recalcitrant boy who became a rebellious youth without the modicum of respect for tradition that normal systematic schooling imposes on an average adult. Background Tagore admitted “the torn and the incomplete” in his makeup. He had a spate of bereavements and private and Rabindranath Tagore, the product of history and of the social public disappointments, which could not stigmatize his environment, was fortunate that at the time of his birth work. Creative in crisis, the magic of his creativity hides the currents of three movements had met in the life of the country. fact that it came out of a matrix not unaware of the tragic and He was born in Calcutta on May 6, 1861, and was the the terrible. e80 Rabindranath Tagore 1861–1941 e81 The Complexity of Tagorean Creativity The Creative Purpose When Tagore began his career, he was, as he put it, ridiculously Tagore’s purpose in undertaking creative enterprises emerged young; in fact, he was the youngest of that band who had made out of his concern for celebration of spirit and the infinite. themselves articulate. He had neither the protective armor of He wrote that the desire we have to keep our uniqueness mature age, nor enough English to command respect. So in his intact is really the desire of the universe acting in us. It is our seclusion of contempt and qualified encouragement he had joy of the infinite in us that gives us our joy in ourselves. his freedom. Therefore, we must express ourselves strenuously in our life As he grew in years, he steadily cut his way through derision and work in “outward excursions.” The joy, which is without and occasional patronage to recognize that the proportion form, must create, must translate itself into forms. He, there- of praise to blame was very much like that of land to water fore, was sovereignly aware of the fact that “from joy are born on our earth. The Nobel Prize, which he was awarded in 1913, all created things etc.” Though multitudinously various, brought to him “an immense burden of loneliness.” This was Tagore gave a touch of completeness, an enormous unity, not only the recognition of his literary achievements but was like the unity of a lyric, to his life. His life, it has been also evidence of the impact of his personality on western con- noted, was in fact, Tagore’s greatest work. When his other temporaries. During the World War I and for more than a works are forgotten, his life will remain unforgettable because decade thereafter, Tagore was hailed by the West and the East it is a true and silent answer to the most inward question alike as a seer and a sage. Receiving the Nobel Prize was a of humankind: “How am I to live?” It has been noted that turning point of his life. everything Tagore did and wrote bore the mark of his obses- His career and creative enterprises were largely conditioned sion with the maturing of the body and soul, toward the by many influences and traditions, indigenous and foreign. His extension and intention, or renewal, of his own personality reason, personal will, and psyche only determined the form as a human being. He always aimed higher and higher, “The and character of this conditioning. Besides being influenced by song that I came to sing remains unsung to this day.” His long Upanishads, Tagore was influenced by Buddhism, classical San- life was densely packed with growth, activity, and self- skrit and English literature, Sufism, the Vaishnava poets, the renewal. He believed that in his creativity, one realized the submerged cultures of the rural agricultural folk and the Bauls, supreme person (Jivan–Devata) who has made the universe so the itinerant singers who observed no formalities and were personal to humankind. untouchables wandering from village to village, singing and dancing and taking delight in the ever-changing play of life. Tagore’s subconscious identification with the Baul credo was The Tagorean Peaks almost perfect. These influences, in addition to the Indian reality, “Thou who are the spirit of manifestation, manifest thyself moulded his worldview. Tagore’s life pattern was essentially in me.” This Upanishadic prayer was one of Tagore’s favorite melodic and his creative genius had many facets, permeated quotations. This prayer, in Tagore’s case, was answered with the idea of national liberation, of the struggle for the through diverse, multiple, continuous, and simultaneous liter- spiritual and political liberation from the yoke of colonialism ary enterprises. Poetry and the poetic consciousness was, of and feudal survivals. Tagore’s multiple creative dimensions, course, the animating principle in his extraordinary variety. issued from the same source and together formed an organic In 1893, Tagore wrote: whole. While not denying the usefulness of expressions like “Tagore the poet,” “the essayist,” or “the playwright,” we must The moment I begin to write poetry, I enter into my true self: true for recognize that they overlap and interpenetrate and refer fun- all time. I distinctly feel that there lies my true home. Poetry is the damentally to one unvariable reality. However, studying sole refuge of all deepest truths of my life. Tagore in a holistic framework involves risks and challenges not only of one man’s astonishing career but of a vast and In May 1892 he wrote that the joy of writing one poem far intricate network of intercultural relationships. To compress exceeds that of writing sheaves and sheaves of prose. “If I could Tagore’s versatility into a relatively brief account is to risk only write one poem a day.” He almost did that. Tagore, even leading the reader with diffuse impressions that do the subject before he was 20 years old, had published approximately less than full justice.