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Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941)

 

Greatest writer in modern Indian literature, Bengali poet, novelist, educator,

who won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1913. Tagore was awarded the

knighthood in 1915, but he surrendered it in 1919 as a protest against the

Massacre of Amritsar, where British troops killed some 400 Indian demonstrators

protesting colonial laws. Tagore's reputation in the West as a mystic has

perhaps mislead his Western readers to ignore his role as a reformer and critic

of colonialism.

"When one knows thee, then alien there is none, then no door is shut. Oh, grant

me my prayer that I may never lose touch of the one in the play of the many."

(from Gitanjali)

Rabindranath Tagore was born in Calcutta in a wealthy and prominent Brahman

family. His father was Maharishi Debendranath Tagore, a religious reformer and

scholar. His mother Sarada Devi, died when he was very young - her body carried

through a gate to a place where it was burned and it was the moment when he

realized that she will never come back. Tagore's grandfather had established a

huge financial empire for himself, and financed public projects, such as

Calcutta Medical College. The Tagores were pioneers of Bengal Renaissance and

tried to combine traditional Indian culture with and Western ideas. However, in

My Reminiscenes Tagore mentions that it was not until the age of ten when he

started to use socks and shoes. Servants beat the children regularly. All the

children contributed significantly to Bengali literature and culture. Tagore,

the youngest, started to compose poems at the age of eight. He received his

early education first from tutors and then at a variety of schools. Among them

were Bengal Academy where he studied Bengali history and culture, and

University College, London, where he studied law but left after a year without

completing his studies. Tagore did not like the weather. Once he gave a beggar

a cold coin - it was more than the beggar had expected and he returned it. In

England Tagore started to compose the poem 'Bhagna Hridaj' (a broken heart).

In 1883 Tagore married Mrinalini Devi Raichaudhuri, with whom he had two sons

and three daughters. He moved 1890 to East Bengal in 1890. His first book, a

collection of poems, appeared when he was 17; it was published by Tagore's

friend who wanted to surprise him. In East Bengal (now Bangladesh) he collected

loca legends and folklore and wrote seven volumes of poetry between 1893 and

1900, including SONAR TARI (The Golden Boat), 1894 and KHANIKA, 1900. This was

highly productive period in Tagore's life, and earned him the rather misleading

epitaph 'The Bengali Shelley.' More important was that Tagore wrote in the

common language of the people and abandoned the ancient for of the Indian

language. This also was something that was hard to accept among his critics and

scholars.

Tagore's early major prose works include CHOCHER BALI (1903, Eyesore) and

NASHTANIR (1901, The Broken Nest), published first serially. Between 1891 and

1895 he published forty-four short stories in Bengali periodical, most of them

in the monthly journal Sadhana. In 'Punishment' Tagore set the story in a rural

village and described the oppression of women through the tragedy of the

low-caste Rui family. Chandara is a proud, beautiful woman, "buxom,

well-rounded, compact and sturdy," her husband, Chidam, is a farm-laborer, who

works in the fields with his brother Dukhiram. One day when they return home

after whole day of toil and humiliation, Dukhiram kills in anger his sloppy and

slovenly wife because his food was not ready. Chidam's tells to police, to help

his brother, that his wife struck her sister-in-law with the farm-knife.

Chandara takes the blame on to herself. 'In her thoughts, Chandara was saying

to her husband, "I shall give my youth to the gallows instead of you. My final

ties in this life will be with them."' Afterwards both Chidam and Dukhiram try

to confess that they were quilty but Chandara is convicted. Just before the

hanging, the doctor tells that her husband wants to see her. "To hell with

him," says Chandara.

In 1901 Tagore founded a school outside Calcutta, Visva-Bharati, which was

dedicated to emerging Western and Indian philosophy and education. It become a

university in 1921. He produced poems, novels, stories, a history of India,

textbooks, and treatises on pedagogy. His wife died in 1902, followed in 1903

by the death of one of his daughters and in 1907 his younger son.

Tagore's reputation as a writer was established in the United States and in

England after the publication of GITANJALI: SONG OFFERINGS, in which Tagore

tried to find inner calm and explored the themes of divine and human love. The

poems were translated into English by Tagore himself. His cosmic visions owed

much to the lyric tradition of Vaishnava Hinduism and its concepts about the

relationship between man and God. The poems appeared in 1912 with an

introduction by William Butler Yates, who wrote "These lyrics - which are in

the original, my Indians tell me, full of subtlety of rhythm, of untranslatable

delicacies of colour, of metrical invention - display in their thought a world I

have dreamed of all my life long." His poems were praised by Ezra Pound, and

drew the attention of the Nobel Prize committee. "There is in him the stillness

of nature. The poems do not seem to have been produced by storm or by ignition,

but seem to show the normal habit of his mind. He is at on with nature, and

finds no contradictions. And this is in sharp contrast with the Western mode,

where man must be shown attempting to master nature of we are to have "great

drama." (Ezra Pound in Fortnightly Review, 1 March 1913) However, Tagore also

experimented with poetic forms and these works have lost much in translations

into other languages.

Much of Tagore's ideology come from the teaching of the Upahishads and from his

own beliefs that God can be found through personal purity and service to

others. He stressed the need for new world order based on transnational values

and ideas, the "unity consciousness.The soil, in return for her service,

keeps the tree tied to her; the sky asks nothing and leaves it free."

Politically active in India, Tagore was a supporter of Gandhi, but warned of

the dangers of nationalistic thought. Unable to gain ideological support to his

views, he retired into relative solitude. Between the years 1916 and 1934 he

travelled widely, attempting to spread the ideal of uniting East and West. Only

hours before he died on August 7, in 1941, Tagore dictated his last poem.

Especially Tagore's short stories influenced deeply Indian Literature, and he

was the first Indian to bring an element of psychological realism to his

novels. Tagore wrote his most important works in Bengali, but he translated his

poems into English, forming new collections. Many of his poems are actually

songs, and inseparable from their music. His written production, still not

completely collected, fill 26 substantial volumes. At the age of 70 Tagore took

up painting. He was also a composer, settings hundreds of poems to music.

Tagore's song "Our Golden Bengal" became the national anathema of Bangladesh.

He was an early advocate of Independence for India and his influence over

Gandhi and the founders of modern India was enormous. Tagore remained a

well-known and popular author in the West until the end of the 1920s, but

nowadays he is not so much read.

For further reading: Rabindranath Tagore by Krishna Kripalani (1962);

Rabindranath Tagore by H. Banerjee (1971); Rabindranath Tagore by B.C.

Chakravorty (1971); An Introduction to Rabindranath Tagore by V.S. Naravene

(1977); The Humanism of Rabindranath Tagore by M.R. Anand (1979); Rabindranath

Tagore by S. Ghose (1986); The Unversal Man by S. Chattopadhyay (1987); Sir

Rabindranath Tagore by K.S. Ramaswami Sastri (1988); Gandhi and Tagore by D.W.

Atkinson (1989); Rabindranath Tagore by K. Basak (1991); Rabindranath Tagore by

E.J. Thompson (1991) - Suom.: Tagorelta on myös suomennettu draamat Pimeän

kammion kuningas ja muita dramoja, novellivalikoima Ahnaat paadet sekä teos

Puutarhuri Eino Leinon käännöksenä 1913.

Selected works:

KABIKAHINI, 1878 - A Poet's Tale SADHYA SANGEET, 1882 - Evening Songs PRABHAT

SANGEET, 1883 - Morning Songs BAU-THAKURANIR HAT, 1883 RAJASHI, 1887 RAJA O

RANI, 1889 - The King and the Queen / Devouring Love VISARGAN, 1890 - Sacrifice

MANASI, 1890 IUROPE-JATRIR DIARI, 1891, 1893 VALMIKI PRATIBHA, 1893 SONAR TARI,

1894 - The Golden Boat KHANIKA, 1900 - Moments KATHA, 1900 KALPANA, 1900

NAIVEDYA, 1901 NASHTANIR, 1901 - The Broken Nest SHARAN, 1902 BINODINI, 1902

CHOCHER BALI, 1903 - Eyesore NAUKADUBI, 1905 - Haaksirikko KHEYA, 1906

NAUKADUBI, 1906 - The Wreck GORA, 1907-09 - suom. SARADOTSAVA, 1908 - Autumn

Festival GALPAGUCCHA, 1912 - A Bunch of Stories CHINNAPATRA, 1912

VIDAY-ABHISAP, 1912 - The Curse at Farewell GITANJALI, 1912 - Song Offerings

(new translation in 2000 by Joen Winter, publ. Anvil Press) - Uhrilauluja JIBAN

SMRTI, 1912 - My Reminiscenes - Elämäni muistoja , trans. by J. Hollo DAKGHAR,

1912 - Post Office The Crescent Moon, 1913 Glimpses of Bengal Life, 1913 The

Hungry Stones and Other Stories, 1913 CHITRA, 1914 - transl. GHITIMALAYA, 1914

The King of the Dark Chamber, 1914 The Post Office, 1914 Sadhana, 1914

GHARE-BAIRE, 1916 - The Home and the World - Koti ja maailma BALAK, 1916 - A

Flight of Swans CHATURANGA, 1916 - transl. Fruit Gathering, 1916 The Hungry

Stones, 1916 Stray Birds, 1916 PERSONALITY, 1917 - Persoonallisuus The Cycle of

Spring, 1917 Sacrifice, and Other Plays, 1917 My Reminiscene, 1917 Nationalism,

1917 Mashi and Other Stories, 1918 Stories from Tagore, 1918 PALATAKA, 1918

JAPAN-JATRI, 1919 - A Visit to Japan Greater India, 1921 The Fugitive, 1921

Creative Unity, 1921 LIPIKA, 1922 MUKTADHARA, 1922 - transl. Poems, 1923 Gora,

1924 Letters from Abroad, 1924 Red Oleander, 1924 GRIHAPRABESH, 1925 Broken

Ties and Other Stories, 1925 Rabindranath Tagore: Twenty-Two Poems, 1925

RAKTA-KARABI, 1925 - Red Oleanders SADHANA, 1926 - suom. NATIR PUJA, 1926 -

transl. Letters to a Friend, 1928 SESHER KAVITA, 1929 - Farewell, My Friend

MAHUA, 1929 - The Herald of Spring JATRI, 1929 YAGAYOG, 1929 The Religion of

Man, 1930 The Child, 1931 RASHIAR CHITHI, 1931 - Letters from Russia PATRAPUT,

1932 PUNASCHA, 1932 Mahatmahi and the Depressed Humanity, 1932 The Golden Boat,

1932 Sheaves, Poems and Songs, 1932 DUI BON, 1933 - Two Sisters CHANDALIKA, 1933

- transl. MALANCHA, 1934 - The Garden CHAR ADHYAYA, 1934 - Four Chapters

BITHIKA, 1935 SHESH SAPTAK, 1935 PATRAPUT, 1936 SYAMALI, 1936 - transl.

Collected Poems and Plays, 1936 KHAPCHARA, 1937 SEMJUTI, 1938 PRANTIK, 1938

PRAHASINI, 1939 PATHER SANCAY, 1939 AKASPRADIP, 1939 SYAMA, 1939 NABAJATAK,

1940 SHANAI, 1940 CHELEBELA, 1940 - My Boyhood Days ROGSHAJYAY, 1940 AROGYA,

1941 JANMADINE, 1941 GALPASALPA, 1941 Last Poems, 1941 The Parrots Training,

1944 Rolland and Tagore, 1945 Three Plays, 1950 Crisis in Civilization, 1950

Sheaves, 1951 More Stories from Tagore, 1951 A Tagore's Testament, 1955 Our

Universe, 1958 The Runaway and Other Stories, 1959 Wings of Death, 1960

GITABITAN, 1960 A Tagore Reader, 1961 (ed. by Amiya Chakravarty) Towards

Universal Man, 1961 On Art and Aesthetics, 1961 BICITRA, 1961 GALPAGUCCHA,

1960-62 (4 vols.) Boundless Sky, 1964 The Housewarming, 1964

RABINDRA-RACANABALI, 1964-1966 (27 vols.) Patraput, 1969 Imperfect Encounter,

1972 Later Poems, 1974 The Housewarming, 1977 Rabindranath Tagore: Selected

Poems, 1985 Rabindranath Tagore: Selected Short Stories, 1991 (trans. by

William Radice)

 

© 2000

 

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