The Philosophy of Rabindranath Tagore
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The Philosophy of Rabindranath Tagore (Ashgate World Philosophies Series) (Ashgate World Philosophies Series) by Kalyan Sen Gupta (z-lib.org)
Religion of Man. The future President of India, Radhakrishnan, who was then
in Oxford as the first Spalding Professor of Eastern Religions and Ethics, attended his lectures. After his concluding lecture at Manchester College, L.P. Jack, the Principal of the College, observed: ‘We shall never forget in Oxford the gift you have given us and the inspiration you have brought to us’. In the same year, on 14 July, there took place Tagore’s famous conversation with Albert Einstein, which centred around the issue of whether truth, beauty and religious value are independent of the human mind or not. Over such issues, they respectfully begged to differ. 4 The Philosophy of Rabindranath Tagore In 1931, Tagore visited Moscow at the invitation of the Soviet government, and was impressed, as we know from his Letters from Russia, by his experience of both the Soviet education system and the cooperatives. Tagore, then was an indefatigable traveller to foreign countries, in which he attempted, with considerable success, to serve as a mediator between Western and Eastern cultures. Partly as a result of such efforts, Oxford University conferred on him the degree of DLitt in 1940 at a special Convocation in Shantiniketan, where Maurice Gwyar, Chief Justice of India, and Radhakrishnan served as the University’s representatives. By this time, however, Tagore was preoccupied and deeply distressed by the outbreak of the war in Europe, one which conjured up for him ‘the vision of a huge demon which had no shape, no meaning, yet had two arms that could strike, and break and tear, a gaping mouth that could devour, and bulging brains that could conspire and plan’. 8 Tagore’s distress was compounded by the worsening Hindu–Muslim discord in his own country. Despite his depression, however, in Crisis in Civilization, written only a few days before his death, he expressed his unwavering faith in man, in the opening of a new chapter in history after ‘the cataclysm is over and the atmosphere rendered clean with the spirit of service and sacrifice’. Rabindranath Tagore died on 7 August, 1941, at the age of eighty. Few have questioned Rabindranath’s greatness as a poet or the versatility of his genius. There is scarcely a genre of literature – poetry, short story, novel, drama – which he did not enrich. He was also the composer of genuinely original music. The words of his songs have depth, while the tunes to which he set them are alternately exciting, sweet and soulful. Much of his music is an interesting blend of Indian and Western traditions. Certainly his compositions, huge in number and in variety, constitute an impressive and rich repertoire for his people. Tagore was, moreover, a highly accomplished painter, even though he never attended a school of art or took lessons from a teacher of art. His paintings are as original as his musical compositions, innovatory in their use of both line and colour. In addition to these artistic productions, Tagore wrote an extremely large number of essays and books. In these works, he manifests his deep socio-political, as well as spiritual, convictions, and in effect presents us with a whole philosophy and vision of life and the world. The following tribute paid to Tagore by Haraprasad Shastri gives one a sense of the range of his literary achievement: He has tried all phases of literature – couplets, stanzas, short poems, longer pieces, short stories, fables, novels, and prose romances, dramas, farces, comedies and tragedies, songs, operas, … and last but not least, lyric poems. He has succeeded in every phase of literature he has touched … His essays are illuminating, his sarcasms biting, his satires piercing. His estimate of old poets is deeply appreciative, and his grammatical and lexicographical speculations go further inward than those of most of us. 9 Rabindranath Tagore: His Life and Thought 5 Tagore, however, was more than a writer and artist. As the brief sketch of his life suggests, he responded equally to the call of action, to the summons occasionally to escape ‘the intoxicating embrace of the Muse’ and to engage at a very practical level with the situation of his fellow human beings. Hence his direct involvement in social reconstruction and educational experiment. Although he mainly avoided the turmoil of political life, he was no less concerned than Gandhi with social issues and the question of how Indian society should be most effectively moulded. It is perhaps in the realm of educational innovation that Tagore’s practical energies and commitments had their most lasting impact. Painful memories of his own brief experience at school, together with his sympathy for the victims of a traditional, mechanical system of education, inspired him to translate his pedagogic idea of a truly creative education into practice. It was for this reason that he established Visva Bharati at Shantiniketan, an institution that was modelled on the forest hermitages of ancient India, but which had the further purpose of serving as a channel of communication between the East and the West. As Tagore himself puts it: No one nation today can progress, if the others are left outside its boundaries. Let us try to win the heart of the West with all that is best and not base in us, and think of her and deal with her, not in revenge or contempt, but with good will and understanding, in a spirit of mutual respect. Our institution of Visva-Bharati represents this ideal of cooperation, of the spiritual unity of man. 10 By any standards, Rabindranath Tagore’s was a remarkably full and accom- plished life. We now turn our attention to one area of that accomplishment, his philosophical contribution. Download 467.3 Kb. Do'stlaringiz bilan baham: |
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