THE CONTEXT Interna onal, Peer Reviewed & Indexed Journal of Arts & Humani es UGC Approved Journal: S. No. 42344 Volume 4 Issue 1, July 2017 ResearcherID: K-3783-2017 Guest Editor: Dr. Vinita Basantani Chief Editor: Mr. Kumar Wani Parbhani 431 401. MS India.
THE CONTEXT Quarterly journal of Arts & Humanities UGC Approved Journal: S. No. 42344 Publication details and instructions for authors: http://www.magnuspublishing.com This is an Open Access Journal distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License: CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 Humanism and Tagore with Particular Reference to Where the mind is without fear Dr. Ruchi Malaviya Assistant Professor, Department of English S.S.Khanna Girls Degree College, Allahabad. Published online: 01 July 2017 Article Number: TCissn.2349-4948/4.1a114 2017 Author(s); licensee Magnus Publishing. The Electronic Archived Version (EAV) and permanent URL of this article is: http://www.magnuspublishing.com/thecontext/2349-4948-114.pdf Abstract The noble laureate Rabindranath Tagore occupies a significant place in the sphere of Indian English Literature. He was a man of multi-faceted genius.he enriched the world of literature with his vision of life that was based on liberal humanism. Tagore was fortunate to have a good family background that helped him a lot to move towards the path of true humanism.he was also influenced by Raja Ram Mohan Roy who was a great socialist of the time. In this paper I shall discuss various sources of Tagore s humanism and particularly analyse his well-known poem Where the Mind is without Fear from this point view. Keywords: Rabindranath Tagore, liberal humanism, Raja Ram Mohan Roy, Where the Mind is without Fear Page 19
Humanism and Tagore with Particular Reference to Where the mind is without fear Dr. Ruchi Malaviya Rabindranath was more than a writer of verses; he, too was a politician and patriot. His efforts to further the well-being of his countrymen sprang from his overwhelming desire to help them to perfect world citizenship, and his support of the nationalist movement lay more in its promise of social reform than its political freedom. An extensive and tireless traveller, his personal and burning sincerity did much to enlist the sympathy of the world for the cause of India s self -government. (Unknown p.255) The divine soul Rabindranath Tagore occupies a significant place in the realm of Indian English literature. Graced with the title Gurudev Rabindranath enlightened the whole world with his versatile genius as a poet, philosopher, educationist, mystic, singer, painter and patriot. Undoubtedly, it is true that, in the course of his long life of eighty-one years he wrote magnificent verse, songs, novels and other works in prose, yet the real impression that his life and works give of him, is not that of a poet but of a prophet, a searching but serene spirit in a tumultuous world and a real humanitarian. He travelled extensively, visited many lands and peoples, studied deeply their different principles of philosophy and life, enriched his experiences with life long contemplation, and gave out to the world the wealth of his wisdom. Tagore s final vision of life was based on liberal humanism which was associated with the ideals like joy of life, freedom of the individual and importance of truth, love and sacrifice. The object of this paper is to throw light on Tagore s humanistic approach in his wellknown poem Where the Mind is Without Fear. But before discussing the issue it is mandatory to be aware of this term. So far as the term humanism is concerned it was coined by the theologian Friedrich Niethammer at the beginning of the nineteenth century and it refers to a perspective that affirms some notion of human freedom and progress. Humanism flourished in various countries in different eras but the basic concept behind this philosophical thought always remained the same. The beautiful concept of humanism is well defined in the Oxford English Dictionary like this: Humanism is a system of thought concerned with human rather than divine or supernatural matters or an outlook emphasizing common human needs and concerned with human kind as responsible and progressive intellectual beings. (p.397) Humanism and its ideals came to pervade the art, literature, learning, law and civic life first in Italy and then in all Europe. The meaning of this term has fluctuated according to the successive intellectual movements which were identified with it. In 1808 Bavarian educational commissioner Friedrich Immanuel Niethammer used this Page 20
term to describe the new classical curriculum he planned to offer in German secondary schools. German historian and philologist George Voigt used humanism to describe Renaissance humanism that flourished in the Italian Renaissance to revive classical learning. Eighteenth and Nineteenth century societies were also dedicated to human betterment. In modern times, humanist movements are typically aligned with secularism and today humanism refers to a non-theistic life stance centered on human agency and looking to science rather than revelation from a supernatural source to understand the world. So far as humanism in Indian context is concerned, it is not new. However, it has been influenced by the western mode of humanism. Indian humanism has been rooted in Upanishadic, Vaishnavite and the Buddhist tradition but the significance of the Western thought in terms of the secular emphasis of humanism, its detachment from religion and unconcern with spiritual values as such (Krishna p.76) cannot be denied. Particularly if we talk about Tagore, apart from these traditional and western influences, there were many social, political and familial forces which were at work in leading him towards the path of humanism. In order to study those forces we have to go through the journey of his life in a nut-shell. The poet was born on May 6, 1861, in Bengal, a province which was at that time, the most progressive in India. During this period, the most influential figure was Raja Ram Mohan Roy who himself was a native of Bengal and a man of great vision and versatility. Ram Mohan Roy directed his energy towards the reformation of religion. The new faith which he propounded was called Brahoism and was based on liberal ideas which he gleaned from Christianity, Islam and the ancient Hindu religio-philosophic literature. His zeal in the field of politics, literature and social reform was also remarkable. Ram Mohan Roy laid the foundation of modern Indian thought and ideals and directed the conscious of intellectual and artistic men towards the development of new Indian culture, of which Rabindranath Tagore was a disciple. Rabindranath s family was closely associated with Ram Mohan Roy and after his death his task was taken by the poet s grandfather Dwarikanath Tagore. However, it was Devendranath Tagore the poet s father, who was responsible for bringing Ram Mohan s religious reformation into maturity. There is no doubt that from his own family Rabindranath got the inspiration to inherit the ideas of Raja Ram Mohan Roy. To what extent Tagore was influenced by him could be found in his tribute to the Raja on his death centenary on 18 Feb 1933. He said: Ram Mohan Roy inaugurated the modern age in India In this dark gloom of India s degeneration, Ram Mohan rose up, a luminous star in the firmament of India s history with prophetic purity of vision and unconquerable vision of soul He is the great path maker of this century who has removed ponderous obstacle that embedded our progress at every step and initiated us into the present era of worldwide cooperation of humanity. (Tagore) Regarding the influence of Raja Ram Mohan Roy on Tagore Romain Rolland has truly said: Page 21
This man of gigantic personality whose name to our shame is not inscribed in the pantheon of Europe as well as of Asia,sank his plough shear in the soul of India and sixty years of labour left her transformed And out of the earth of Bengal has come forth the harvest A harvest of work and men. And from his inspiration sprang Tagore s. (p. 108) This then was the family and cultural background of Rabindranath, youngest son of Devendranath. The boy, in his childhood used to spend much of his time in a quiet garden adjoining the house. The natural beauty of the garden was a source of joy to him. Private lessons were imparted to him at home, and as the Tagore family was one of the progressive and cultural families of society in Bengal, it attracted enlightened people from all parts of the country. Rabindranath was brought up in this cultured atmosphere and came into contact with many learned people.once his father took him in his journey to the Himalayas and the close company of his father helped him to learn and understand the ancient wisdom of India.The early impression of the Upanishad, which he received under the tutelage of his father, influenced him a lot. Tagore himself said that he had been brought up in a family where the texts of the Upanishads are used in daily worship. (p. VII) Here it would be good to mention that, though Tagore was influenced by Upanishads but he only drew good inspiration from them. He did not copy them blindly. Not only this the elder brothers of Tagore were also men of great talent, and so were women of the household. They encouraged him a lot in developing his personality. Rabindranath also read the Vaishnav poets of India.These along with some of the contemporary lyricists of Bengal, considerably influenced him a lot in his boyhood. In the year1877, Tagore sailed for England for the first time, with the intention of studying law, but the profession did not appeal to him and he returned to India after a stay of only one year. Bengal at this time was an awakened province and was animated with new ideas and a new spirit in standards. The clarity of his writing and the simplicity of thought of his earlier poems fascinated the younger generation and Tagore became a prominent name in Bengali circle. In fact the closing years of the nineteenth century saw the poet in full vigour and ebullience of youth creating wonderful literature by identifying his soul with the natural and beautiful. Bengal at this time was bubbling with new life. In addition to the new religious and literary awakening, the province was also showing signs of organized nationalist upheaval as the result of the growing political consciousness. Rabindranath himself could not remain aloof from such condition of society and he started expressing his nationalist aspirations in his writings. Here, a few lines from a speech which he delivered on the occasion of Hindu festival, are noteworthy: In this meeting there is no sweetness alone, there is the heat of the blazing flame. It is not the satisfaction alone, it gives strength. Whether the people of England listen to our piteous cries or do not listen, our country is our country eternally, the land of our fathers and our sons and our descendants the giver of life to us, the giver of strength, the giver of good. (Unknown p. 258) Page 22
The political movement reached a critical stage following the proposal and execution of plan to partition Bengal in 1905, and Rabindranath rushed headlong into the fray. As a result of that his writing at this period was saturated with politics. Here it is important to note that though Tagore was against the western imperialism but he had words of praise for the western ideals of law, order and freedom. As he said: Europe has been teaching us the higher obligations of public good above those of the family and clan, and the sacredness of law, which makes society independent of caprice, securing for it, continuity of progress and guarantees justice to all men in all positions of life. (Tagore p.2) Apart from all this some other events which happened in Tagore s life also prove that he thought for humanity. From this point of view the year 1901 was very important. It saw the foundation of his school, Shantiniketan at Bolpur. The intention behind the establishment of this school was to form the nucleus of a cultural organization based on the model of the ancient Indian forest schools which, through the imparting of education would gradually become a centre of international culture.here in such a school, was evolved his conception of the perfect world citizen. There is no doubt that different events of his own life s journey shaped his humanistic ideals and the most famous literary work that exhibited his mind to the whole world, was Gitanjali appeared in 1910. Originally it was a collection of 157 poems written in Bengali. The English Gitanjali or Song Offerings is a collection of 103 English poems of Tagore s own translations of his Bengali poems first published in November 1912 by the India Society of London. Gitanjali was published with an Introduction by W.B. Yeats. What Yeats, himself a poet of great sensibility, perception and imagination wrote in the Introduction is a witness to the value and quality of Gitanjali: I have carried the manuscript of this translation about with me for days, reading it in railway trains,or on the tops of omni buses, and in restaurants, and I have often had to close it lest some stranger would see me how much it moved me. (Unknown p.259) Rabindranath was awarded the Noble prize for literature in 1913 for his beautiful creation the Gitanjali. His well-known poem, Where the Mind is Without Fear appeared as song 35 in Gitanjali. The poem was written at the time when India was under British rule and people were eagerly waiting to get freedom from British rule. In this poem the poet has prayed to god to let his country awake to a blissful heaven of freedom. The poem expresses Tagore s vision which demands his country s redemption from all sort of vices. The humanist in Tagore was unhappy with the social and political scenario of the time therefore, in this famous lyric he says: Where the mind is without fear And the head is held high And where the knowledge is free. Where the world has not been broken into Fragments by narrow domestic walls. (Tagore) Page 23
The poem suggests that free India should provide intellectual freedom to the people of the nation. In fact through this poem Tagore conveys the idea that his countrymen would achieve freedom at all levels- religious, spiritual, moral and intellectual. Thus, this poem which is in the form of a prayer definitely carries within itself Tagore s deepest humanistic impulses. This poem also gives rise to an idea that Tagore s humanism is connected with his spiritualism. But the point is, his spiritualism does not make him reluctant of the world and man but bring him nearest to the man and God too. As Tagore remarked: The revilement of the infinite is not seen in its perfection in the starry heavens but in the soul of man. (Tagore p.41) To conclude it can be said that Rabindranath Tagore benefitted the whole world with the real spirit of humanism but it would not be wrong to say that his humanism is quite distinct from other humanists of our country because his humanism is in tune with the renaissance humanism, the central focus of which is quite simply human beings. He has rightly been hailed as the Leonardo-Da-Vinci of the Indian Renaissance. (Ray p.164) Works cited Rabindranath Tagore. One Hundred Great Lives, London, Odhams Press L T D Long Acre, 1948. Illustrated Oxford Dictionary, Dorling Kindersley and Oxford University Press, 2008. Krishna, Kirubalini. Modern Indian Literature, Bombay, Nirmala Sathanantha Publishers, 1968. Tagore, Rabindranath. Rammohan Roy, An Essay read by the poet on 18th February1933 in Rabindra Rachanavali, Vol.XI, W.B. Government Publication, Baisakh, 25, 1368 B.S. Rolland, Romain. The Life of Ramkrishan, Kolkata, Advita Ashram, 1986. Tagore, Rabindranath. Sadhana, London, Macmillan and Company, 1979. Rabindranath Tagore.One Hundred Great Lives, London, Odhams Press L T D Long Acre, 1948. Tagore, Rabindranath. The Spirit of Japan, A Lecture delivered at the Keio Gujaka University in 1916. Rabindranath Tagore. One Hundred Great Lives, London, Odhams Press LTD Long Acre, 1948. Tagore, Rabindranath. Gitanjali 35. Poetry Foundation www.poetryfoundation.org Tagore, Rabindranath. Sadhana, London, Macmillan, 1954. Ray, Niharranjan. Three Novels of Tagore in Indian Literature, Vol.4, Sahitya Akademy, 1961. Page 24