Chapter III

Ecology as Delineated in Tagore’s Poetry

Among the men of letters Rabindranath Tagore was blessed with a golden touch.

All that he touched turned into gold and they glittered. Being a versatile genius it was

possible for him to choose the appropriate mode to deliver his message. However, of all

genres, the outstanding one that towers from the rest is poetry. The felicity with which he

handles his poetic thoughts, the similes and metaphors employed, the diction that

resonates both in the ears and minds of the readers at once are to be specified and

glorified too. His ideas and the style of language strongly indicate an intimate

relationship with his oikos. Each and every expression of the great poet exemplifies the

inter-relatedness of things around him and its vital influence upon his mind and emotion.

Tagore’s love for nature was not something from the blue or as a poet it was not a

ritual to glorify nature. Right from his childhood days he found peace and joy in the

company of nature. Even as a boy, after seeing the rain drops touching a leaf that shook

by the mere force made him deliver “It rains, the leaves tremble”. (RM.81). Tagore has

touched, in fact, hugged nature in every aspect of his literary creation. On the subjects

of love, worship and human relationships, the poet was so comfortable with parallels

in nature and hence tellingly realizes his thoughts into words. In the words of the poet

himself,

I have been overwhelmed by another feeling- the one inseparable link

between me and the universe, nature- this everlasting unity of soul has

drawn me intensely. How often, sitting on a boat, I have emptied forth my

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soul over the land, the water, and the skies radiant with the sun’s light.

I have not then considered earth quite apart from me; the water with its

flow had passed within my heart raising its outburst of joy

Whenever the poet happens to describe the niceties of nature he evinces his extra

ordinary skill in observing the subtle qualities of things he speculates on. There is an

uncontrolled delight and liberty as honey bee amidst a garden of flowers; with its varied

hues, forms and perfumes nature seems to captivate-nay liberate Tagore. And that is why

he says he has been ‘overwhelmed’ by the ‘one inseparable link between me and the

universe, nature…’

Tagore is honest and sincere to the core of his heart. He never considers himself

as an admirer of nature as though his duty as a poet is to appreciate the enticing natural

environment in which he is placed by the grace of God. In other words, the poet does not

think himself an on looker or spectator of an attractive show nor feels himself an

audience to a natural drama.

‘The one inseparable link’ that Tagore talks of has many ramifications and hence

it has greater significance. Land and its features play a pre dominant role in the culture of

people inhabiting it. According to Everett

“The very contours of land set up the type of society which will be preserved

there. The very places are hooks on which to hang the hats of social

memory… land is not merely a neutral space, it is a place (Everett 48)

To Tagore Mountains are not merely the swellings of, earth but breasts that feed

the millions of living beings. In his poem ‘Breasts’ he sees the peaks of Sumeru-a range
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of mountains-as high breasts of this loving motherland. From the tips of those unpolluted

peaks there flows the nectar of life incessantly.

‘A nectar-flow from love’s perennial source wets the thirsty lips of the

universe’.

The world has a peaceful deep sleep only because of the continuous flow of the

sustenance ensured by god, who is father of all. Mountains are supposed to be the

suppliers of ‘sustenance without end’ and “Man, the child of god, has a mother land

which is on this very earth…”

“Tagore’s poetry”, according to Ketaki Kushari Dyson (an eminent translator of

Tagore) “has an impressive wholeness, a magnificent loving warmth, a compassionate

humanity, a delicate sensuousness and intense sense of kinship with nature and a burning

awareness of man’s place in the universe”. From this telling quote on Gurudev’s literary

output, the last two phrases are focused and proofs for the same are intensely investigated

in the collection of English translation of songs by the author of the quotation (ie. Ketaki

Kushari Dyson) from the original Bengali songs of Tagore. The songs which have been

translated, by and large, are unfamiliar to the non- native readers of Tagore.

Since place plays a vital role in the artistic renderings of a writer one has to read a

work of art from the ecological perspective too. No one in this cosmos is said to lead a

secluded life in totality, for the existence of one being it has to depend on another.

Togetherness is life and togetherness is joy. The joy of living can be ensured in

comprehending the inter-dependence of each and every being. Tagore, being a poet of

far-reaching perception looks into each and every creation of nature and finds bliss in the

complementary aspect of cosmos. To him the earth itself is a mother “who clings to all
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her offspring, saying ‘I won’t let you’ go even to the tiniest blade of grass that springs

from her womb, but she is powerless to prevent the decay and death of her children”

(IWLYG 48).

Man and Nature are both inseparable embodiment of single unity. As a rational

being he has a responsibility to glorify and maintain the everlasting bond between them.

All sensible poets do this great work wonderfully. Tagore does it so commendably that

one who reads him with passion falls in love with his diction, imagery, style and the very

musicality of his composition. To him “The earth, by definition, is no remote, abstract

goddess in heaven. She is the here and the now, the cradle where we are all necessarily

rocked, and is as vulnerable as a human mother” (IWLYG 48).

Nature has a meaning and a message. Many a saint and sage of our ancient land,

who can look beyond this alluring fauna and flora termed them as ephemeral and not

everlasting. This does not mean that they have no relevance to human existence.

“This cosmic concourse, fairground of millions, billions of living things” is not

‘maya’ or a child play. It has a deeper sense but the so called wise think,

this earth, this universe planets and stars, in the firmament are fakes Birds

and bests, creatures of many species bereft of fear, breathed here for ages,

To them this created world is a mother’s lap but you, old dotard, have faith

nothing” (IWLYG 94)

Thus he chides the half baked brains vehemently. A parallel can be drawn here

with Subramanya Bharathi of Tamil literature who too questions this in his poem “False?

Or True?
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Those who stand, walk and fly Are you but were dreams or appearance

deceptive? Ye sky, tender shine and groves of trees Are appearances

untrue? attributes untrue? (Bharathi 232) ( Tr. Researcher)

And the poet goes on to declare that all that we see is truth and nothing but

truth.

Rabindranath Tagore, a poet of far-reaching perception, brings out the essence of

human existence in many a poem. To him “Relationship is the fundamental truth of this world

of appearance”. The song Mediatrix exhibits a unique relationship between human being and

animal. In this song a “A soft haired goat-kid was grazing nearby, gently nibbling the grass of

the river-bank”; a naked boy was sitting on the ground and his sister was scrubbing a pot at the

edge of river. Looking at the boy’s face the goat-kid gave a few bleats. The boy was trembled

and burst into tears. She left the pot and came running to the boy and the kid.

She consoled both, giving them equal attention Sister to both children, animal

and human Mediatrix, she Knit them in mutual Knowledge (IWLYG 104-5)

Again, in yet another instant he was surprised by the loving command of a man’s

voice ‘Puturani! Come’. Closing his book he looked out only to find.

A huge buffalo, covered in mud

Tender-eyed was standing on the bank

A young man was in the water calling her

To give her a bath: ‘Puturani! Come’

When I saw the young man and his puturani

Gentle tears mingled with my smiles. (IWLYG 105-6)

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The joy and essence of human existence lies in appreciating the ‘oikos’ and

relating to them in each and every walk of life and not in the renunciation of worldly

pleasures. To Tagore even an old tamarind tree that stood near his house appears to be his

‘great grandfather’ and like a ‘guardian god’. He even ridicules at the idea of going to

forest after the age of fifty, leaving behind all desires and shackles that deter one from finding

the eternal truth of life. This is what our scriptures say. But, on the contrary, our poet

advocates that a “forest retreat is better in the youthful days”. Forest is a place where,

Bokuls flowering in their plenty Koels killing themselves with singing

Nature’s arbours, leaves and creepers, The merrier for hiding, seeking

Moonlight falling on Champak branches For whom was such a sight

created? Those who appreciate such beauties Are definitely your under

fifties (IWLYG 122-3)

He then goes on to say that ‘Manu’s code need amending’ and ‘let oldmen stay at

home/pile their rupees and pices!’

‘Hide and seek’ is a song wherein the boy Khoka plays tricks with his mother as

Shakespeare’s Ariel of ‘The Tempest’. The boy asks whether she could find out him if he

became a flower among the cluster of Champa on a Champa tree.

You (mother) would call, ‘Khoka where are you?’

I would just smile quietly’.(IWLYG 130)

He says then that he would transform into the sweet smell of Champa which too

she would not recognize. Again he became the shadow of the Champa tree that swayed

before the mother. Even now it was impossible for her to recognize her own son.
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This is not a hide and seek that every child mischievously likes to play with their

mother. It has greater, deeper and stronger message that the playful creator has for the

Mother Earth. One wants to know whether death is a play of hide and seek.

Nobody wants to die. Only very few cherish the idea of killing themselves in times of

trouble. Death is the most tragic end of every living creature. If blessed with immortality

every one of us is ready to enjoy this life. Our poet too is no exception. He says,

…. When I think I have to bid adieu to this world my eyes moisten and

with both arms I try to hang on to life calling it mine (IWLYG 126).

But very optimistically he thinks that death may the beginning of a new life, just

like a mother who feeds her baby,

Removed from one breast, a child cries in alarm

but given the other breast, is immediately calmed (IWLYG 126).

Deliverance for man is in hugging life and not in despising and deserting it.

Man has to comprehend the command of God who provides each one with a context to

learn from. Instead, he prefers to run away from life and he successfully covers his hatred

for life with a blanket of love for god! “Said a man fed up with the world in the depth of

night/ I’ll leave home to night for the sake of the god I adore”. Man feels that he is

trapped in this world of prison and he wants to get released and march towards his god.

But it is ridiculous to think that he has been imprisoned here against the wish of god. Looking

at his sleeping wife and child he asks “who are you all, maya’s masks?” To which god replies

“they are myself !” Even then the man deserts his wife and walks out. Then with a sigh god

says “Alas… where is my devotee going, leaving me?.” (IWLYG 102)

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When a man fails to find out the significance of his own family how then it is

possible for him to comprehend his surroundings and context. Every life form has

intrinsic values and every being is interrelated.

Across the river of life every human being cross and recross; ‘some go home,

some go away from home’. The unending journey continues to take place from times

unknown. The opposite banks are staring at each other. It is right here that histories are

made and unmade; Crowns of gold glitter but burst out like bubbles on water.

Civilization, according to Tagore, instead of making a newer world has marred by

throwing so many toxins into the river. This idea is powerfully conveyed in the small

poem ‘The Ferry’ which was written by the poet as early as 1896.

In the name of civilization what man has done to earth is not commendable but

mostly detrimental and unless he changes his ways, we know, that things will take a

negative course from which there won’t be any safe return.

We may not sound so pessimistic since, as human beings, we are blessed with a

milieu that can delight us in million ways:

Scents, touches, sounds snatches of songs

brush us, pass us, give us delightful shocks Then peradventure there’s a flash

of lightning: whomever I see that instant I fall in love with (IWLYG 105)

It is quite interesting and revealing to note that Ketaki Kushari Dyson, in her

elaborate critical preface to the poems which she translated from the original Bengali

under the title, ‘I won’t let you go’, is of the opinion,

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If it is true that a part of the function of poetry is to remind us magically

what our relationship to the earth is then Tagore’s poetry fulfills that role

most admirably. Directly and indirectly he reminds us constantly of our

bond with the earth and nature is for him both a direct and proper subject

and a perennial fountain head of imagery. (IWLYG 48)

One such telling example that reminds our ‘bond with the earth’ is Tagore’s

‘Tamarind flower’ in which a tree is considered one of his family members and a

guardian- god:

In our town house there is an aged tamarind tree I have known since

childhood standing in the North West corner like a guardian god or an old

family servant as ancient as great grandfather. Through the many chapters

of our families births and deaths quietly it has stood. (IWLYG 201)

In Ramayana, Rama’s love brings in birds and animals as his kith and kin.

But Tagore’s love floods into every direction and he considers even a tamarind tree as

his family member. That a tree can be considered as a “greet- grandfather” may not be

palatable to someone brought up in the western culture and Christian belief system.

But to an Indian “The earth, by definition, is no remote, abstract goddess in heaven.

She is the here and the now…” (IWLG 48).

In the poem Empathy, an innocent boy asks his mother whether she would chase

away him if he were a puppy dog instead of a boy. He was curious to know if his mum

would allow him to eat from her dinner plate! Further, he asks if he were a pet parrot,

would her mother chain him,

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If I wasn’t your little boy, but just a puppy- dog would you tell me off, lest I tried

to taste rice from your dinner plate? ….

If I wasn’t your little boy, but just a parrot, your pet, would

you chain me Mum, lest I should fly away? (IWLYG 128)

It is very surprising to note that as a boy how he identifies himself with a puppy and a

parrot. He even vows not to eat from his mother if she drives the dog away. He asserts:

I don’t want to stay on your lap I’d rather go off to the

forest (IWLYG 128)

In the poem ‘Empathy’ Rabindranath made an imaginary attempt to transform

himself into a puppy-dog and a parrot. The result was a beautiful poem. In ‘Hide and seek’ he

surpassed himself. When he poetically converts Khoka, a small boy, into formless forms!

He (Khoka) plays tricks with his mother by playfully imagining himself as the leaves and

their shadows; the flowers and their fragrance of a Champa tree. The boy seems to enjoy

his mother’s inability to recognize him, though he makes his presence felt in some unique

way:

At noontime, when everyone had their lunch, you would sit down, the

Mahabharat in your hands,

Through the windows the tree’s shade would fall on your back, on your lap.

I’d bring my little shadow close to you and sway it softly on your book

you wouldn’t know that it was your Khoka’s shadow moving before your

eyes. (IWLYG 130)

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Beyond the poetic beauty Tagore’s love of nature is so overflowing that he considers

himself as a devotee of trees, leaves, fruits and flowers. He believes that at the heart of

his heart he is a worshipper of trees as one worships a sage. One has to read ‘Message of

Forest’ (Banabani) to realize Rabindranath’s reverence for and his relationship with

nature. Poems under this title can be analyzed and classified into four kinds. The first one

relates to poems on trees, creepers and birds, the second one on different seasons of our

nation, the third one is the songs of glory to the Rains and finally the fourth one is those

sweet songs on Spring. To him spring is ‘nabeen’ i.e. ‘ever new’.

In one of the poems of Balaka, the poet is captivated by the beauty of the ‘mighty

river’ that runs like a ‘mendicant sister’ with a music and without a destination.

Does the infinite distance respond to you all the time.

His love is all destroying and so you are homeless!

As you go on that frenzied tryst,

Your necklace swings and sways on your breasts and the starry gems

scatter in space.

The poet’s peculiar love for the river could be traced in any of his passionate

descriptions of Nature and its wonders.

The poet had composed more than four hundred songs in glory of Nature.

In all these songs, the description of Nature has been so vividly perfect,

the personification so accurate and masterly that the reader would be

simply charmed by their magic spell. Plants, spring, autumn, winter, summer,

flowers all converse with us.

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‘The festival of plantation’ (Briska Ropan Utsav) is a regular feature in Santniketen.

Tagore did believe in the bottom of his heart the sayings of the ‘Agni Purana’. “one should

worship trees as one worships a sage who is devoid of envy, for the tree provides shade, fruits

and flowers even to the enemy, to the man who wants to cut it down”.

To Tagore, Nature is friend, philosopher and guide. Both in joy and in sorrow he

prefers the company of Nature to share his thoughts and emotion. The poet seems to

enjoy the serene beauty of Nature and the fury of Nature on equal terms, for he is a man

who has understood the philosophy of human existence. The philosophy of life implies

that one must undergo sorrow and suffering as gold is purified by the fierceness of fire.

Every ordinary poet is greatly moved by the fauna and flora that they encounter.

Tagore breaks out and walks beyond these narrow boundaries with a royal gait. Since a

king is a king even to the poorest of the poor, he showers his love and consideration even

on a tiny being -nay-to a non-being like a speck of dust. ‘There is love in each speck of

earth and joy in the spread of the sky. I care not if I become dust, for the dust is touched

by his feet’.

Even the dust of this earth is loved and respected by the poet. He thought that he

was “blessed and blessed in this earth of dear dust”.

Tagore immersed himself into a life ‘that shoots in joy through the dust of the

earth in numberless blades of grass and breaks into tumultuous waves of leaves and

flowers’. In Gitanjali he writes,

The same stream of life that runs through my veins night and day runs

through the world and dances in rhythmic measures.

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It is the same life that shoots in joy through the dust of the earth in

numberless blades tumultuous waves of leaves and flowers.

It is the same life that is rocked in ocean cradle of birth and of death in

ebb and in flow.

I feel my links are made glorious by the touch of this world of life. And

my pride from the life-throb of ages dancing in my blood, this moment.

(GJ- 69)

It is this oneness with Nature, an intimate interrelation that the poet enjoys every

moment made him reflect the very essence of Indian philosophy of life in every thought

and word he utters.

Being a Universalist basically Tagore found oneness among every living creature.

This identification with nature is the key note to all his poetic works. The poet himself

says emphatically ‘the language of harmony in nature is the mother tongue of our own

soul’. This declaration could not be a mere theoretical motto but a strong statement born

out of conviction and realization. It was the results of his long disciplined life as a poet

and also the result of his deep meditation in quest of truth. One could find Tagore not

as a mere poet but a prophet guiding the destiny of humanity in harmony with the

natural environment

Recalling his experiences and emotions in his memoirs Rabindranath writes,

The terraced hill sides, as we went up in a ‘Jhampan’, were all aflame with

a beauty of the flowing crops. Every morning we would make a start after

our bread and milk, and before sunset take shelter for the night in the next
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staging bungalow. My eyes had no rest the livelong day, so great was my

fear, lest anything should escape them … whenever, at a turn of the road

into a gorge, the great forest trees were clustering closer, and from

underneath their shade a water fall trickling out, like a little daughter of

the hermitage playing at the feat of hoary sages wrapt in meditation,

babbling its way over the black moss-covered rocks, there the Jhampan

bearers would put down their burden and take rest.

Tagore’s love for nature was so great that he did not like to leave the scenic

splendors introduced to him by his father Maharishi Devendranath Tagore. Even long

after they left the Himalayas the poet’s thirsty heart kept on asking him why it was not

possible for him to stay on there forever. And this is the longing that persuaded him to

establish an abode of education under the green wood trees namely Santiniketan.

A creative genius, like Rabindranath Tagore, is naturally influenced by the

beauties and varieties of surrounding nature. Besides he is greatly influenced by the

epics and scriptures of his own land too. By way of explaining the great Indian epics,

the Ramayana and the Mahabharata he states,

The scenery which appears to bring back to us the past of India is the

forest; it is this which inspires our classical literature, which still haunts

our minds. The legends of our great epic poets have grown in the shadow

of the Indian forests and two of our great classical dramas of which the

theme is love-love which separates and love which reunites- have for their

stage the sylvan hermitage.

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Leaving the scepter and crown Rama goes to forest with his wife Sita and his

brother Lakshmana. Right amidst the sylvan surroundings Rama says to his wife

“when I look upon the beauties of this hill, the loss of my kingdom troubles me no

longer, nor does the separation from my friends cause me any pang”.

There are ever so many places in India which are considered sacred and

destinations of pilgrimage for numberless people down the ages. These spots may be

adored and worshiped as holy but in essence they have no attraction or fitness for

cultivation or settlement. Hence, every believer prefers to look upon these places not as a

source to quench his physical needs of food and water but as a liberator of human

bondage and ushered to the realization of soul beyond himself. The Himalayes of India

are sacred and so are the rivers of Ganges and Cauvery. India has saturated with her love

and worship the great nature with which her children are surrounded.

To Tagore, Nature is not only friend, philosopher and guide but redeemer and

liberator. In the spirit of this Indian context only the poet wants us to approach nature.

This intimate relation with nature is peculiar to Indian mind. In the Religion of forest

Tagore recalls a scene from Kalidasa’s Shakutala, “the hermitage which dominates the

play, overshadowing the king’s palace, has the same idea running through it the

recognition of the kinship of man with conscious and unconscious creation alike”.

Tolerance and universal love has been the essence of Indian philosophy.

And these noble thoughts were the results of the constant direct communication

of the ancient sages with nature. Tagore writes.

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The ideal patrimony of ancient India was not the field of battle where the

spirit is in perpetual war with the flesh, a monastery seeking to come to

terms with the social order. What it wanted was to establish harmony

between our various energies and the eternal reality. That is why the

Hindus are in intimate harmony with animals, birds and trees that may

appear strange to the people of other countries… our poets have told us

that the tapovana is shantaraspadam, that the characteristic sentiment

which emanates from the retreat of the forest is peace, that peace which on

the emotional plane, is the reflection of perfection

If ‘perfection’ be the ultimate aim of creation then the life of human being is a

process of series of changes to attain that noble destination. Hence Tagore is of the

opinion that,

Just as the mixture of the colors of the spectrum produces white light, so

also when the faculties of our mind instead of being dispersed, concentrate

to form a unique current in harmony with universal order, then it results in

peace, the peace which reigned in the retreat of the forests of India, where

man was not separated from his surroundings nor ever at war with himself.

Tagore published Manasi-a collection of poems-in 1891. This collection reveals

his intimacy with his natural surroundings and eco-systems. Prakritir Prati (ode to Nature),

Nisthur Sristi (Thee Cruel Creation), Barsar Dinay (on a Rainy Day), Ekal O Sekal

(This Age and That Age), Akankha (Desires) Meghdut (The cloud Messenger), Sindhu

Taranga (Sea Waves) and Kuhudvani (The Call of The Hawk- Cuckoo) are some of the
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poems where in the poet’s abundant love and admiration can be seen. It’s his love that

walks him to Nature and makes him an absolute observer.

In the poem Ahalya Prati (To Ahalya) Tagore paints a picture of Nature over the

petrified Ahalya

In the night when the tired children of dust came back to the dust, their

rhythmic breath touched with the large and placid motherliness of the earth.

Wild weeds twined round you their bonds of flowering intimacy

You were lapped by the sea of life whose ripples are leaves flutter, bees

flight, grasshoppers’ dance and tremor of moths’ wings.

It is said that Tagore penned more than four hundred songs in praise of Nature.

The poet made Briksha Ropan Utsav (The Festival of Tree Ptantation) a regular activity

of his ‘ashram’ in Santiniketan.

In the poem Banabani (Message of Forest) Tagore sinks himself in Nature.

Banabani could be analyzed under four Categories: the first relates to poems on forest,

trees, creepers birds and so on; the second in glory to the creator of the great universe

with all its sparkling beauty; the third on Barsha Mangal or the songs in Glory to the

rains, Briksha Ropan Utsav and finally those sweet songs on spring. To Tagore spring is

Nabeen (Ever New) in one word.

In his personal life Tagore withstood firmly against the sorrows and sufferings

equally well as he shared his joy and happiness with all his friends and disciples.

Similarly he enjoyed not only the serene beauty of Nature with beautiful multi coloured

floral garments, with the dancing ripples of the river with sweet moonlit night of spring,
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with the dew studded autumn morning, and with the hide and seek game of the August

cloud beyond the mountain ranges. The philosophy of life implied that one must undergo

sorrow and suffering as gold is purified by the fierceness of fire. Tagore loves Nature

both in its tranquility and in turbulence as well.

To Tagore, “there is love in each speck of earth and joy in the spread of the sky.

I care not if I become dust, for the dust is touched by his feet”.

To a great poet to whom even a ‘speak of earth’ is a source of love and joy, the fellow

beings are naturally a cause for his concern and consideration. In this opinion only a poet

who shares the joys and sorrows of people can identify himself with their lives,

Linking heart to heart Is a delicate art Which makes this mask to cease

My art, I confess Could not gain access To every heart with graceful ease.

In Oikatan, Tagore puts forward a view that he alone can be a poet of the people,

who will be “their Kin thro thick and thin” and would ever stand by them, “in weal and

woe, among friend and foe”.

Tagore, through his innumerable poems, folk songs, essays speeches and plays,

expresses the Sentiments of his countrymen at large. Tagore gave the first glimpse of his

deep love for humanity in Kadi O Kamal where he reveals his wish ‘not to leave the

beautiful world’. Instead of attaining spiritual salvation he wants to be among the

ordinary men and women. This idea is profound in the poems ‘Mukti’ and ‘Nibedya’.

‘Sonar Tari’(The Golden Boat). Published in 1894, contained some poems

wherein he conveys the consummation that he longs for:

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My heart doth weep to mingle with the heart of Humanity’s deep

Chitra, published in 1896, was a poem of novel musicality and a declaration to

identify himself with the struggling humanity which was steeped in poverty and

ignorance. In a poem Tagore says,

The cry of our land is the cry for bread, for life for

Light and freedom, for strength and health and Joyousness and open

hearted courage

Amidst this gloom, of our misery and distress

Bring unto us, O heavenly Muse, the touch of faith

And confidence

Katha O kahini was published in 1900. A spontaneous overflow of sympathy for

the oppressed and the exploited is seen in many of the poems here. The evils of caste

system are highlighted in a number of poems; the poet wants to impress that a man

should be judged not by the caste he belongs to but by his personal achievement. In the

poem, Nagarluxmi the poet depicts a woman who bravely fights a period of famine.

Here Tagore makes it clear that an attitudinal change is warranted of an affluent humanity

rather than money. When the rich abandon the fight against odds the beggar maid braves it

successfully with the cooperation of the people around her. Her mission is exemplary.

Gitanjali too has many a poem wherein Tagore decries the oppression of the down

trodden by their own fellow men. ‘Durbaga Desh’ is oft- quoted one wherein the poet warns

Indians not to look down upon anyone as inferior. The poem describes how a section of the

people has been deprived of its rights and how they have been degraded and humiliated.
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Those whom you deprived of their human rights Those whom you made

stand before you

Yet accorded no seat yonder

Will drag you down

And will force you to stoop so low.

In Atma Shakti the poet denounces the problem of casteism. In Swadeshi Samaj

he stresses the need for village reconstruction. He pleads for Panchayat Raj long before

the political emancipation of our mother nation.

In every individual there is a ‘universal man’. Realization of the ‘superman’ in

every individual through knowledge or intuition is the essence of a religion. It is this

feeling which manifests itself in a symphony of the finite and the infinite:

Thou hast made me endless, such is thy pleasure. This frail vessel thou

emptiest again and again, and fillest with fresh life…

At the immortal touch of thy hands my little heart loses its limits in joy

and gives birth to utterance ineffable. (GJ--1)

Tagore’s spiritualism is something unique. Running away from life and its

mundane duties in search and service of God is the usual way for Hindus to attain

everlasting peace and freedom from shackles of human existence. Tagore is different,

for he wants to ‘embrace freedom in a thousand bonds of delight’.

Deliverance is not for me in renunciation. I feel the

embrace of freedom in a thousand bonds of delight.

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The spiritual personality of a man must naturally manifest itself in worldly affairs

in a way which bridges the gulf between man and society The Indian approach to ecology

has been tellingly expressed in the Yoga-Vasistha (circa 500AD)

Upala api milrani bandhavo vana-padapah

Vana madhye sthita api Svajana mrya-potakah

It states “pieces of rocks even turn out to be your friends and forest trees become

your near relations despite being situated deep in forest vastness . The wild animals also-

along with their young ones- become your own kith and kin”, therefore we cannot

endanger them at any cost. Hence it is obvious that in framing the Indian codes of moral

behavior, this basic Vedic approach of non- violence towards all elements of nature plays

a vital part.

The close affinity between human life and nature is one of the fundamental

concepts of Tagore. He had conceived of conquering the deserts by trees. He could see

the ill-effects of deforestation and soil erosion causing great damage to the environment.

In the poem ‘Tree worship’ he speaks of the need for trees in preventing soil erosion.

Further he notes that soil erosion causes destruction of trees and subsequently the forest in

total which, in turn, affects the animal kingdom i.e. the biotic components of the ecosystem.

The modern concept of ecology places emphasis on ruralization. The adverse

effect of urban living has been forcefully brought home by Tagore in the poem

‘The wife’, in which he narrates how a newly married girl from a village finds no room

for love and play in an urban house made of bricks. Nature casts its benign influence on

man, provided man does nothing against it. This is a recurrent theme in Tagore’s poetry.
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During a period of convalescence at Santiniketen the poet feels better by looking

at the open sky, by inhaling the smell of flowers and by exposing himself to the warming

sun of morning.

Throw open the windows.

Let the bare blue sky

And the eager smell of flowers

Enter my room, and

The first rays of the sun bathe…

That I am alive—

Let me listen to the messages of welcome in the murmurs of leaves.

Nothing in the world is useless. Every aspect of nature is useful in one way or

another one may refute by saying that there are things in the world that may seem

beautiful and pleasant but have no utilitarian value. They may appear to be of no use but

the very fact that they look beautiful to our eyes and pleasant to think about indicates that

they do have some value and significance. The same forest which is the source of one’s

livelihood can open a different vista which is not connected with any question of

pragmatic concern or interest. The scent of herbals, the sway of leaves, the play of colors

on flowers and the gentle wind that embraces us, begin to kindle and sensitize our hearts.

When imaginatively explored our aesthetic sensibility does not bother to look for any

other concrete benefit other than the mental satisfaction

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Greatly influenced by the advocations of the Upanishads Tagore status that

When I love any one, I cannot think of seeing my beloved in the light of

any usefulness. On the contrary, I find in my beloved an extension of my

own being which gives me the feeling of real freedom. It is this relation of

love or of heart that we have with nature in our aesthetic experience of it.

Hence this relation must be ‘superfluous’ i.e. beyond the bounds of any

interest or satisfaction of practical purpose there is an element of the

superfluous in our heart’s relation with the world. (CU 1995)

As it has been substantiated by example after example Tagore believed that

human beings were part of the wider cosmos. Man and nature are interrelated and

interdependent. Since they are complementary in nature it was a case of symbiosis.

Man and nature basically need one another and the endless forms present in the

ecosystem are essential for a happy coexistence. Tagore’s central idea of unity in

diversity has great relevance

The exploitation of nature was very much triggered by the industrialized

civilization of nineteenth century and this was not a palatable trend for Tagore. Though

he was not against civilization he was against the growing materialistic hunger that

devoured every form of nature. In his frequent travel abroad, especially to the western

world, the poet never failed to observe this downturn in his captivating speeches to the

public who gathered in large numbers to listen to him. Tagore was very much concerned

with uncontrolled consumerism which was a direct outcome of unbridled greed.

The disappearance of trees and greeneries on the two banks of the Ganges and

installation of jute mills in their place irked the poet very greatly. The natural landscapes
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were mutilated and the clean sky was covered with black smoke emitted by the industrial

chimneys. ‘The result was a high degree of pollution of air water and land! Tagore wrote

in his Reminiscences.

The broad leisure stretching from the horizon and from the green earth to

the blue sky; all these have been vitiated by the smoke emitting chimneys

of the river side jute mills. The result was a high degree of pollution of air,

water and land. The natural landscape was disfigured and so were its

beauty, grace and appeal.

‘Flying man’, translated version of a poem by the poet, captures the fears and

forebodings of Tagore on aviation industry.

Commercial flights were introduced in the Indian skies in the 1920s and 30s.

This had impacted a very great disturbance in the mind of Tagore. He believed strongly

that it would lead to noise pollution and air pollution. This could be seen in the poem

Nava-Jatak written immediately after his air travel to Iran. William Radice, the English

translator of the poem, comments, what could be more expressive than this of our deep-

seated fears about the effect of our modern technological civilization on the natural

world. The new invention could be found in the phrases like ‘satanic machine’ “brutal

roaring of an aero-plane” destruction of atmosphere, and ‘its din adds new blasphemous

grating laughter to man’s catalogue of sin’. Hence, the poet prays for a future that “In the

green woods, O may the birds sing supreme again”.

To live in harmony with nature, according to Tagore, man should try plain living

and lofty thinking. This is the best way to guarantee a balance in the eco system.

Banabani a book of poems by Tagore, is wholly devoted to nature effecting a transition

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from chaos to cosmos. Being a worshipper of nature he vehemently indicted modern

civilization. This love for nature in Tagore was the outcome of a deep sense of

togetherness and a feeling of a creational bond between man and his environment.

Gitanjali can be read as a text that supports the project of eco criticism that

rejects the anthropomorphic constructivism of literary theory and validates nature

as an entity whose caring or destruction is determined by man’s symbiotic or predatory

relationship with it. It anticipates contemporary society’s growing awareness of the

importance of redirecting human consciousness to a full consideration of its place in a

natural world which he (Man) has turned upside down. Like all great poetry, Gitanjali

too makes some assertions in the face of man’s growing disconnection and destruction

and they are, Connection and Creation. Unmindful of these sustaining factors if man

continues his devastating dance on this globe then the resultant terror would be loss of

humanity and bewilderment.

Tagore’s philosophy on ecosystem is based on the belief that nature is an entity

invested with visible beauty and meaning. The poet was keenly aware of the dangers

lurking in a capitalist agenda and the awareness is effectively conveyed in Gitanjali,

through images of voluntary imprisonment. Sealed off climate and aborted energies that

reflect man’s egoistic aloofness from the broader life-force embedded in nature.

I thought I could out do everybody in the world in

wealth and power, and

I amassed in my own treasure house the money due to my king.

When sleep overcame me I lay upon the bed that was

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for my lord, and on waking up I found I was a prisoner in

my own treasure house ( GJ- 24)

Peter Barry views the outdoor environment as a “series of adjoining and overlapping

areas which move gradually from nature to culture” (255) and are mutually transformable

and sustainable. Repudiating the notion of nature as an anthropomorphic construct, he

identifies these areas progressively as “‘the wilderness’, ‘the scenic sublime’, ‘the

country side’ and ‘the domestic picturesque’ that correspond roughly to the broad

categories of large uninhabited areas, forests, cataracts and mountains; hills, fields and

woods; parks, gardens and lanes” (255) these spaces, he argues, perform a function that is

vital to our physical and spiritual well being. Tagore’s quest for communion with a

transcendental power takes him too into a wilderness:

… the most distant course that comes nearest to thyself and the training is

the most intricate which leads to the utter simplicity of a tune….

The traveler has to knock at every alien door to come to his own and one

has to wonder through all the outer worlds to reach the innermost shrine at

the end (8-9)

There is a remarkable shift in focus from ‘inner’ to ‘outer’, so to say from self to

environment. Spirituality sustaining biosphere is fast fading and this anxiety is shared by

many eco-critics. The poet’s search for such a support system ends in vain. This very

fact, then, draws our attention to the neglect of territory overtaken by anthropocentric

problems.
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Another important point of eco criticism is that ‘the inner’ does not have any edge

over ‘the outer.’ It’s strategy is to bring in setting from the ‘critical margins to the critical

center, so that natural phenomena are not perceived as metaphors for the human mind and

condition but recognized as tangible environmental processes. The controlling element in

Gitanjali is not human action but the setting where that action takes place.

To read the earth closely and pay attention to its rhythms and music, patterns and

designs one is to know that there exists a background, vital and vivid and this matters

more than the people who walk on it. A sense of the grandeur and power of such an

ecosystem capable of sustaining if cared for, and punishing if ill treated pervades Gitanjali

My hopes rose high and me thought my evil days were at an end and I

stood waiting for alms to be given unasked for and for wealth suffered on

all sides in the dust (Gj-37)

Thus Gitanjali displays a deeper perception of a vital inter connectivity between

man and his universe. In between the two there is a symbiotic relationship of giving and

receiving. Besides, the poets anxiety over an ecosphere marred by human inventions and

interventions

Ornaments would mar our union; they would come between thee and me;

their jingling would drown thy whispers…

The child who is decked with prince’s robes and who has jeweled chains

round his neck loses all pleasure in his play; his dress hampers him (Gj-5)

Man’s unbridled desires and anthropocentric arrogant attitudes led him into a state

of primacy that has not only upset the ecological balance, but has also cost him his sense
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of unity with nature. Comprehending the deteriorating condition Tagore submissively

surrenders to the nameless and formless creator with veneration.

In one salutation, my God, let all my senses spread out and touch this

world at thy feet.

Like a rain-cloud of July hung low with its burden of unshed showers…

Like a flock of homesick cranes flying night and day back to their

mountain its voyage to its eternal home in one salutation to thee (Gj-83)

Significantly, all moments of revelations and enlightenments take place in the

external world of nature. “on the chariot of the first of light”, when in the morning air the

golden harp is tuned”, “on the faraway gloom of the sky”, “on the day when the lotus

bloomed”, “in the silence of gathering night”, “I have roamed from country to country”,

“like golden canopy of thine evening” at the shore of the “sea surging with laughter”, in

the fields with “the tiller” and “among rustling leaves in rainy darkness” and on the

pathways of woods and lonely kills, which radiate vital, animating energies. Away from

the four walls of home the poet always feel at home, with the sun and stars and beside

brooks and rocks. Tagore, therefore, believes and practices harmony in something beyond

any logical reasoning.

Tagore has a strong conviction that natural forces are timeless and inexhaustible.

He who strongly believes that nature surrounds us is immortal and incomprehensible.

He is aware of the human morality play that is being enacted in the middle of it.

This keen awareness is not subordinated to human projections but accepted for its own

sake and thus, strongly upholds the eco-centric values.

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I know that the day will come when my sight of this earth shall be lost,

and life will take its leave in silence, drawing the best curtains over my

eyes

Yet the stars will watch the night, and morning rise as before, and hours

heave like sea waves casting up pleasures and pains (Gj-72)

The above lines clearly indicate how sensitive the poet is in capturing the inter-

connection between the natural and human world. Beyond the sensitivity and

interconnection there is also a textual evidence that stands a testimony to the intuition or

‘gnana’ of the greet poet that lends itself to the scrutiny of ecological implications of non-

anthropocentric ideology and nature- human relationship.

When I think of this end of my moments, the barrier of the moments breaks

and I see by the light of death thy world with its careless treasures (Gj-73)

Thus, Gitaujali, can be read as a literary work of Tagore that promotes eco criticism.

Besides, it anticipates the growing significance of focusing human consciousness to a full

consideration of its place in a natural world which he has tilted very much. “Tagore’s

Gitanjali makes a couple of strong affirmations: connection and creation. Both of them

are made due to man’s increasing disconnection and destruction. The result is that

humanity is at a loss and he seems to run aground in the absence of a life sustaining

principle.”(Singh 29).

Reiterating the above idea Tagore is in full appreciation of nature in Tapovana.

Here the poet says, “A tapovana gave to our thoughts their truth, to our sentiments their

healthy orientation, to our action their dynamic force”. Not being complacent in his
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statement he translated this idea into practices in his vision for a proper education for

youth. He emphasizes,” we see clearly through the words of our poets that teaching of the

forest did not lead to passive inertia but to true heroism and victory.

The appeal for peace and harmony pervades every piece of literary creation by

our poet. And it is nothing but an echo voiced strongly by the sages and saints of our

ancient land who were always in touch with nature. Tolerance and universal love are the

symbols of the substance of Indian philosophy and those noble thoughts were the

outcome of the interdependent relationship that the hermits had with the ecosystem

around them.

According to our national poet “The ideal patrimony of ancient India was not the

field of battle where the spirit is in perpetual war with the flesh, a monastery seeking to

come to terms with the social order. What it wanted was to establish harmony between

our various energies and the eternal reality. That is why the Hindus are in such intimate

harmony with animals, birds and trees that they may appear strange to the people of other

countries”.

The ultimate prayer of a Hindu devotee is peace and peace is the ‘perfection’

of humanity. “Just as the mixture of colours”, in the words of Tagore, “of the spectrum

produces white light, so also when the faculties of our mind instead of being dispersed,

concentrate to form a unique current in harmony with the universal order, then it results

in peace, the peace that reigned the forests of India where man was not separated from

his surroundings nor ever at war with himself”.

As the forest and its serenity help a hermit to lead a life of seclusion in his

passionate search for the ultimate truth, the old age of any thirsty soul does the same.
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The growing loneliness of old age of any human being ushers him toward greater truths

of earthly life. Hence age too plays an important role eco-critically speaking. Some- nay-

many of the poems written by Rabindranath Tagore in the last phase of his life, prior to

the death in August 1941 reveal this telling truth.

Prantik, a small volume of eighteen poems, was written mostly in the two to three

months following his September 1937 illness. Literally, Prantik means ‘Borderland’.

Herein the poet’s struggle with himself is dramatized. Looking into the very face of

Death, the poet has intensely realized the thrill of being alive. The poems move between

the polarities of darkness and light of life and death. A break with the withered past is a

must and we should hope for a new beginning. The real freedom lies not in the denial of self

but the celebration of self. Only when you are part and parcel of this world you are free.

The evening bells die out.

Along the banks where shadows fall.

From house to house the doors close

hiding the evening lamps;

The boats ply no more

And the night thickens—

silent is the forest—

with the hushed song of the bird

The Universe offers itself in self-dedication

At the feet of the greet silence.

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‘Great silence’ is the one to which we all offer ourselves at length. The world is a

sparkling mystery and no logical reasoning can explain it. The veil of ignorance can be

removed only through revelation.

As a young poet the falling drops of rain and the shivering of leaves kindled

thoughts and imagination which were so creative and poetic. That was the external

influence which inspired his receptive mind. But now the messenger brings him to the

courtyard of Death and it is all dark before him.

Lord of Destruction

Your messenger of Death came suddenly

And brought me to the courtyard of your great hall,

Before me all was dark,

I could not see the invisible light

Hidden in the heart of darkness-

The light that is the splendor of the universe.

My own shadow had obstructed my sight.

A fascination with the silence can be seen in the poems of his dying years. Among the

untrodden paths of ‘Aloneness’ and in the remote regions of starry heavens the mind of

Tagore dwelt very much. It does not mean that he has forgotten the ignorance and

poverty that are eating into his society; it does not mean that he has turned a deaf ear to

the political reality of his poor nation. He was not an escapist; he belonged to this earth

and was painfully aware of the harsh realities of life, its many hungers, its violence and

exploitations. However, it is not unbecoming of a genius like Tagore to delve deep into
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the dark corridors of his inquisitive mind to find answers for those mysterious questions

that baffle him.

An answer can be seen in the last poem of Prantik

Every where

The serpents exhale their poisonous breath;

To speak of gentle peace sounds like mockery.

Let me therefore, before I depart,

Send my last greetings to those

Who everywhere are making ready

To give battle to the Monster of Evil

What interpretation can we after to the line ‘The serpents exhale their poisonous

breath’? Can we take it literally or in a limited sense? Is it not a subtle reference to

factories and chimneys?-the serpentine smoke that wrap around and crush the earth?

It may be every- where the air is getting polluted and we should fight against it with the

greetings and blessings of the global poet, Tagore.

Essentially a poet, Tagore was much more than a poet as understand in the

western sense of the turn, as Gandhi was more than politician or patriot.

He was a poet in the traditional Indian sense of the world, Kavi, a seer, an

intermediary between the human and the divine. His genius enriched

whatever it touched. Like the sun after which he was named (Rabi-ravi-sun)

he shed light and warmth on his age, vita- liked the mental and moral soil

of his land, revealed unknown horizons of thought and spanned that that

divides the East from the West. (Kripalani 2-3)

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No doubt, man’s personality finds powerful expression in art and poetry. Poetry

enables man to fight against the mean and the inert and to transform the entire humanity.

Poetry leads as to higher and healt`hier ways than those of the world and provides the

message of Nature and the mystery of God and of divine bliss. Tagore’s mind itself is a

kingdom where diverse stream crossed, flowed and merged into the many, he interpret poetry

as an embodiment of truth which is colored by emotion and passion. He finds that science has

some different approach to treat the truth. So here he is akin to Wordsworth’s views,

The man of science seeks truth as a remote and unknown benefactor, he

cherishes and loves it in his own solitude; the poet singing a song in which

all human beings join with him rejoices of truth as our visible friend and

hourly companion. Poetry is the breath and finer spirit of all Knowledge.

(Wordsworth 125)

Poetry begins where science ends. Science is incapable of revealing the mystery

of existence, of evolving union with eternal. Art and poetry “touch on ultimate truth- the

truth of relationship, the truth of harmony in the universe, the fundamental principle of

creation”. The poet’s soul wakes up by renouncing the reckless, delirious passion to the

beauty and joy of the universe. The poem is not merely frenzied discovery of the

nebulous self in a flood of spiritual light. It is also the discovery of that light in the

beauty and joy of the world.

After ‘Gitenjali’, ‘Gardener’ is considered to be the richest of the collection that

have appeared in English. It is also a love poem containing a divine slant. It has ‘Paradisal in

its purity and intensity and even in sensuality’ (Iyengar 116) It is however suggested that
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Tagore’s English translations or trans- creations do not have the musical beauty and

evocation power of the original.

Tagore is, indeed, one of the great lyric poets of the world. His lyrics are

noted for their simplicity and directness of expression. The poet’s sincerity

of imagery combine with rhythmic flow of words and give the reader or

the hearer the impression that the poet’s mystic yearning is harmoniously

fused with deep human passion and significance (Iyengar 50)

The poet’s spiritual message does not, however, suggest us to run away from the

fret and fever of life and seek shelter in a hermitage, but insists on our full participation

in the joys and sorrows of life. Reality consists not in facts but in the harmony of facts.

To him poetry is a revelation of truth and religion. Religion stands for unity and harmony

and aims to creating concord in discord. In ‘Creative Unity’ he defines reality in art and

poetry lucidly.

Poetry and the arts cherish in them the profound faith of man in the unity

of his being with all existence, the final truth of which is the truth of

personality (C.U 14)

Tagore’s poetry in its integrity is a vast philosophical poem-a poem of ‘felt-

thoughts’ communing with eternal realities emotionally intensified and made accessible

to sensibility. In Divine comedy Dante was uttering in grim earnest this truth that was in

him- ‘the poetry with a gospel and a vision’. In the poems of Tagore too we discover a

similar kind of poetry- poetry with a gospel and vision.

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Fruit Gathering contains eighty-six poems with ‘widely diverse themes, moods

and structures’. Among the eighty six more than fifty are of religious temper and the rest

of the poems are verses celebrating the courage, sacrifice and dedication of men and

women from Indian history. Opulence of imagery, metrical innovations and breath of

vision can also be found in some of them. These three varying styles merge into one

mystic voice and that is Tagore’s Fruit Gathering.

In both theme and style Fruit Gathering is so rich. It is, in theme, highly suffered

with the spiritual note of relationship between man and God, the rough and the sublime,

the atom and the cosmos. In technique and style, it is replete with some apt and

appropriate images and symbols, words and phrases in which there is a fine

correspondence between the major and minor terms. Tagore weaves the evergreen

philosophical thoughts with the colorful threads of proper images and symbols. The blurb

of the book, Fruit Gathering, rightly says:

Widely diverse in themes, moods and structures they have common

characteristics of being intensely lyrical and rich in color and music. Like the

poems of Gitanjali, these poems also have a haunting melody and belong to a

world of experience where the sensuous merges with the spiritual.

Symbolism plays a very great role in any great work of art. A poet is great not

because of his great philosophical thoughts for slaking the thirst of both mind and soul,

but because of his aesthetic touch of art and beauty which he creates by dint of his

imaginative skill. However rich and profound a great thought may be, it has a very little

meaning in the world of art and literature unless it is woven into the fabric of images and

symbols or some other tools of poetic craftsmanship. Aristotle, in his poetics, lays a very
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significant place of symbolism in any great work of art. He says ‘ only that poet is a great

poet who has a great command over metaphor and symbols’. Judged on this critical

observation, Fruit Gathering seems to fulfill almost all the demands of a great literature.

Most of the symbols employed in this book are very simple, lucid and straight forward.

This shows the simple poetic style of Tagore who is unaware of the deliberate strategies

with which he can contrive and construct his poetic thoughts. But there are some symbols

which are very rich and profound and they call for our metaphysical and spiritual

knowledge of life and death, light and darkness.

No great poet in India can go uninfluenced by the great heritage of Vedantic and

Yogic knowledge of our ancient land. If a reader is unknown to the Vedantic philosophy

where the darkness becomes light and vice versa, he cannot grasp the full purport of the

paradoxical sentences of great poets like Aurobindo, Tagore and Sarojini Naidu.

The leit motif of this literary investigation of Fruit Gathering is not merely

appreciating the apt usage of powerful symbols kindling the authentic sensibilities of

readers. But very relevantly those symbols and images are suitably employed to bring out

the relationship of Man with god. In ‘I won’t Let You Go’ almost all the poems speak

greatly of the relationship between man and man and with his environment (living and

non-living). The relationship between man and God is very unique. No one in this world

should exist without a relationship with God. One may ask that there are atheists and

what about them! Even those who do not approve of the existence of God, are related to

God, of course, negatively. In fact, they are the people who think about God more

frequently than the so-called believers.

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Fruit Gathering of Tagore, who is a staunch believer of the Almighty, categorically

observes and exquisitely expresses the eternal relationship of man with God. Ecology does

not stop with physical phenomena that surround and relate to everyone and everything here

but also the spiritual inter-relatedness with God everywhere.

The image of the fruit and flower and other associated terms like ripening,

blooming, pruning etc. forms the core of the book and also denotes the title. The book

begins with this very image of fruits.

Bid me and I shall gather my fruits, to bring them in full baskets into your

courtyard, though some are lost some not ripe (FG-1)

Fruits and flowers are supposed to be very valuable gifts of Nature. When we go

to meet an eminent personality we go with fruits that they reveal our intimacy, relation

and reverence. God is the ultimate power and the last refuge. Therefore, the image of the

fruit and flower are very apt and suggestive. Tagore wishes to gather fruits in full baskets

so that he may offer them piously to God. The metaphor of fruits are very connotative

that they refer to all the spiritual and moral values of the poet that he has obtained after a

great penance of love and devotion of God and his creation. ‘Though some are lost and some

not ripe’ denotes the great humanity of Tagore to God; Tagore is aware that man can never

be all perfect. He is bound to make mistakes. Man knows that God will forgive him.

The poet brings in the similes of flower and fruit to youth and old age respectively:

My life when young was like a flower- a flower that loosens a petal or two

from her abundance and never feels the loss when the spring breeze comes

to beg at her (FG-2)

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However, when he becomes old, he imagines himself as a fruit,

Having nothing to spare and waiting to offer herself completely with her

full burden of sweetness (FG-2)

Here the comparison between the childhood and old age through the images of

flower and fruit is not only apt but indicative of many layers of meaning and message.

For any flower the loss of petals are quite common and a thing of insignificance.

But Tagore observes this natural, ordinary regular activity and comes out with a deeper

interpretation; from the petals that droop and drop a sweet fruit is born. Unless and until

there is pain and loss there cannot be gain. It is very painful to lose the colorful and

beautiful petals. When they fade and bid farewell to its own parental plant. Nevertheless,

if a flower wants to become a matured fruit it must be ready to go through the painful

process of loosening its petals. In the same manner, if a man wants to attain perfection

and fruition so that he may offer himself to the creator, he should not be afraid to shed

some of the vital attraction of youth so that he attains the stage of sweet fruition to be

ready to be awarded to God.

Our great Vedas and Scriptures say repeatedly that the love of God cannot be

attained by wealth and possession, fake rites and rituals; it can only be gained and

enjoyed by child like simplicity and innocence. If we are pure of our heart and soul, free

from the various temptations of mind we may unconsciously reach the doorstep of God.

The ‘door’ suggests the door of soul that opens when a man acquires the ultimate joy

(paramananda) after mastering the wavering minds by dint of penance of self- sacrifice.
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He who throws his doors open and steps

onward receives your greeting (FG-68)

The poet, therefore, is well aware of the fact that one cannot reach the destination

of God or Truth by opening only the Worldly door; but inner door which symbolizes here

the door of the immortal soul. It must be opened with great devotion to attain the supreme

bliss of love and knowledge.

Then open the inner door of the shrine, light the candle and let as meet

there in silence before our God (FG-68)

It is interesting to note here that the concept of silence and darkness is the core of

all our mystic Vedantic Knowledge. When a great seer is able to reach the great silence

or darkness or sunya where there is no difference between sweet and bitter, nectar and

poison life and death, he begins to listen to the unheard melody. Tagore also finds ‘the

unbidden joy’ when he opens the ‘door’ of his inner soul.

I sat alone in a corner of my house thinking it too narrow for any guest,

but now when it’s is flung open by an unbidden joy I find there is room for

thee and for all the world (FG-104)

The relationship that exists between two familiar persons is quite common and

normal. When they are not known to each other, when one is real and the other is only a

belief, when a Yogi is able to master his mind and focus entirely on the voice of

consciousness, he succeeds in attaining a perennial source of divine bliss. At that stage,

he merges entirely to divinity, spirituality and enlightening elements of the soul. It is here

he begins to listen to the unheard melody; where he little finds any difference between
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the song and the singer, the dance and the dancer the art and the artist. In Tagore’s

Fruit Gathering and Gitanjali, several images and symbols are found that denote the

concept of Unheard Melody. The idea that gets embedded in the prefix ‘Un’ is so

tellingly handled by Tagore that we see a number of expressions in the same line as in

‘unheard letter’, ‘unseen way’, ‘unknown name’, ‘unburdened freedom’, unbidden joy’

and so on.

I cannot find what I seek; I cannot understand what I would learn; but this

unread letter had lightened my burdens and turned my thoughts into songs

(FG-5)

The poet has also an ardent wish for listening to the sighs and sobs of the poor

and the deserted. These wails and cries, sobs and moans are commonly unheard. But

Tagore longs for paying attention to these unheard cries

Make me thy poet, O, Night, Veiled Night; there are some who have sat

speechless for ages in thy shadow; Let me utter their songs. (FG-25)

For the proper growth of the plant of life, a fertile land alone cannot supply all its

needs, but there is a great deal of ‘unseen sap’, it requires to be lively and evergreen.

Send me the love that world soak down into the centre of being, and from

there would spread like the unseen sap though the branching tree of life,

giving birth of fruits and flowers (FG-87)

which are the assets of the soul. His door of life is seldom opened of the poor and

the deserted, the homeless and the marginalized. But when he goes near the directions of the

soul, the other form of the Almighty God, his heart is brimming up with ‘unbidden joy’.
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I sat alone in a corner of my house thinking it too narrow for any guest but

now when its door is flung open by an unbidden joy I find there is room

for thee and for all the world (FG-104)

No man can gain the supreme bliss as long as he is a slave to the pulls and

temptations of the ‘dull brain’. In order to reach that inaccessible and unfathomable

region of ‘unbidden joy’ or ‘unheard melody’, one should have an ‘unburdened freedom’.

Only then he may be able to float freely ‘on the wings of poesy’.

You made your winds light and they are fleet in their service. You

burdened my hands that I myself may lighten them and at last gain

unburdened freedom for your service (FG-100)

It is highly interesting to note here that this is the ‘unburdened freedom’ and

‘unbidden joy’ which Wordsworth wants to attain by dint of the innocence and ignorance

of a child; this is the way that makes him over brimmed with joy when he beholds a

rainbow in the sky; this is the trait that makes him say,

And then my heart with pleasure fills

And dance with the daffodils

In yet another instant, when the boat of a man is surrounded with the tumult of

death or ‘the firefloods’ and ‘poisonous’ clouds, the great captain asks the man at the

steer to turn the boat to an ‘unnamed shore’ the boatman has to do nothing but to handle

the steering wheel to the voice of consciousness and he is saved from the coming

dangers.
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Do you hear the tumult of death afar. The call amidst the firefloods and

poisonous clouds-

The captain’s call to the steer man to turn the ship to the unnamed shore

(FG-115)

Like the one cited above, the images of sailor, traveller and pilgrim are abound in

the mystic poems of our global Guru, that speak widely and deeply of the relationship of

man with God. To the ‘tent of God’ or ‘the shady city of palm trees’ man is a pilgrim.

When the pilgrim reaches the abode of God all his doubts are vanished and he feels

himself quite safe and secured.

All doubts shall vanish when the boat man comes to the shore (FG-58)

In the path of the boatman it is true that there may be several unwanted

hindrances like Violent winds, dashing of the waves and whirlpools etc. but a brave

boatman who has an unflinching faith in God, never minds these hurdles but goes on and

on without taking ant rest.

The boatman is out crossing the wild sea at night.

The mask is aching because of its full sails filled with violent wind.

Stung with a night’s fang the sky falls upon the sea poisoned with back

fear.

The waves dash their heads against the dark unseen.

And the boatman is out crossing the wild sea. (FG-56)

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Not for gaining pearls and diamonds that the brave boatman goes out into the sea

of life but with devotion and dedication to meet the feet of God. ‘with a white rose in his

hand and a song in his lips’ he steers along. Through this powerful image Tagore wants

to declare that God expects from us not any so-called valuable objects of the mundane

world but simple things of love like ‘a white rose and a song’. Tagore effectively conveys

that the unbidden joy of the lap of God can never be gained by wealth and possession but

through love and innocence.

Like a ripe pod let the tempest break his heart into pieces, scattering

thunders stop –

You bluster of dispraise and of self praise and with a calm of silent prayer

on your forehead sail to that unnamed shore (FG-117)

We know that ‘lamp’ is a universal symbol of life and knowledge and it indicates

virtue, dispels ignorance, blesses with brightness and clarity and sacrifices its life in the

service of enlightening others. And light swallows darkness and no trace of it can be seen

in its presence.

I brought out my earthen lamp from my house and cried ‘come children

I’ll light your path. The night was still dark when I returned leaving the

road to its silence crying, Light me O fire! For my earthen lamp lies

broken in the dust (FG-20)

Here human body is considered as earthen lamp that is preserving the light of life.

When the container is broken then what would be the consequence and how to continue
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the journey in utter darkness. The immortal soul has been compared to the burning lamp

but where would the light go when it is put out.

In Tagore’s poetry love also takes ‘light’ as its metaphor. The lamp of love,

according to Tagore, must be kept in the heart, not above the head.

When you hold your lamp in the sky, it throws its light on my face and its

shadow falls over you.

When I hold the lamp of love in my heart its light falls on you and I am

left standing behind in the shadow (FG- 97)

The evils of the world want to put out this burning lamp, but even amidst various

upheavals the lamp is still burning:

The night draws her veil over her face, and hides the one lamp burning in

my chamber (FG-64)

Like these, there are many more homely and comprehensible symbols and

imageries in Tagore’s Fruit Gathering. They are simple but powerful. Most of these

symbols here diffuse the aroma of age old tradition of Indian myths and culture. They are

not complex and remote. They mirror the subtle yet strong relationship that exists

between man and god.

The relationship that exists between man and God is so unique that it always falls

short of explanation, for this sort of spiritual relationship can only be experienced rather

than explained. Ecology speaks only of physical and factual elements to which living

beings are inter-related. Eco-criticism includes the spiritual relationship that relates Man
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to God. For those with elephantine hunger for spirituality, a rich dinner with variety of

delicacies available both in Gitanjali and in Fruit Gathering as well.

Man is the fruit and God is the fruit-gatherer. The soul runs away from God

without realizing that its right place is in God’s Kingdom. God chases him till he feels the

weariness of the road. The soul learns that there is no joy in the jeweled anklets, in car of

triumph, a gem-studded fan and a Golden bedstead and finally cries, when will my

beloved come whom I know not and be known to me ever (FG-57) .

The communion of man with God, a new understanding of man’s relation to all

the world and the subtle perception with which the poet is able to look into things are all

conveyed to us in simple but dynamic style by Tagore in his Gitanjali. His religious

poetry as found in Gitanjali breaths a noble devotion. In the poem that begins with ‘leave

this chanting and singing and telling of beads’ he points out that God is to be found in the

hard toil of daily life and not away from the haunts of man.

Gitanjali is a confluence of romanticism, mysticism, humanism and pantheism.

The deep subjective note characterizing romantic poetry sounds through his songs and

poem giving them the necessary emotional content without which religious poetry fails to

make an impact. Tagore’s sympathy for all forms of life is real and rich. According to

him, God and religion get betrothed to each other long before he becomes aware of His

existence in himself.

The human body is considered as the temple and the soul is God who resides in it.

God is indeed man’s friend, lover and protector; Dr.Iyengar an eminent critic of Tagore

feels that Gitanjali is verily recordation of the vicissitudes in the drama of the human soul

in its progress to the Infinite. And the progress is necessarily conceived as a battle, as a
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journey and as a continuing sacrifice, culminating in total offering of all; through this

complete self-surrender one may seen to lose everything; but to gain everything, losing

everything is the best way .

Dr K. Chellappan in a paper on Tagore’s Gitanjali and Tamil Bhakti poetry recalls

Periyalvar’s portrayal of Lord Kannan as a child which in turn inspired Mahakavi

Bharathi, a contemporary of Tagore in South India, to write Kannan Pattu (Kannan

Song) that reveals the soul-God relationship in various ‘Bhavas’ (moods and roles).

“In Kannan Song,Bharathi makes Kannan take several roles, that of a Child, a Guru, a

Sweetheart, a Lover, a King and even a Servant who comes to the poet seeking his love,

and says ‘money does not matter, love of the heart does’. Here is a total democratization

of the divine principle”

As an ant cannot see an elephant in complete shape, no man can see God in total.

Through the human senses he can analyze, understand and experience God. Man’s

relationship with God can only be in terms of the powers available within his personality.

Tagore and Bharathi are very great poets with intuitive and extraordinary perceptions:

Both Bharathi and Tagore speak of Man-God relationship mainly as one

of love. Here again both are in the Bhakti tradition of Alwars, but in the

case of Bharathi he sees God not only as Kannan but also as Kannamma

and in both the relationship, the spiritual love is brought out in passionate

physical terms.
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Have I not seen you when you were a damsel

And did I not kiss you making your cheeks go red?

What is the use of speaking so many words?

One who removed the clothes will I hesitate to pluck (it)

Gitanjali’s affirmation of human life and celebration of human equality can have

more clarity and depth in the Tamil Bhakti poetry and the modern parallel in Bharathi.

Tagore speaks of God’s love for the common and the lowely,

…where the tiller is tilling the hard ground and where the path maker is

breaking stone. (Gj-7)

In Bharathi Kannan becomes the servant of man who promises to do all kinds of

household work expecting nothing but love from his master. On the other hand, Tagore is

aware that he owes life to the creator and hence resolves to keep his heart and body pure

to be worthy of his magnanimity.

God is the truth which has illumined the mind with the light of reason and so he

will try his best to remove all falsehood from his thoughts and ideas. God is purity and

the poet resolves to keep his mind pure free of all evil thoughts.

Tagore says that man cannot truly serve God if he keeps away from the service of

man; service to humanity is service to God. When God says ‘love your neighbor’ Man

very conveniently misunderstands and takes his human neighbor is the only meaning that

the word ‘neighbor’ denotes. God can never be as narrow- minded as Man. There is no

second opinion that everyman should serve his fellow men. Nevertheless, his love should

embrace all animate and even inanimate things.

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For Tagore Nature-all ecosystems- is not just a backdrop for the human drama,

but an active agent offering creative participation in man’s pursuit of order and harmony.

He believes that since Man is dependent on Nature for his survival, a reverential attitude

and a moral principle should regulate man’s attitude to Nature. in his essay, ‘Relation of

the Individual to the Universe’ Tagore glorifies the forest life of the sages of ancient

India, who by their constant contact with the living growth of Nature and her untold

secrets, realized the great harmony between man’s spirit and the spirit of the world.

These ‘… poet-prophets stood under the lavish sunshine of an Indian sky and greeted the

world with the glad recognition of kindred. It was not anthropomorphic hallucination… it

meant crossing the limiting barriers of the individual to become more than a man, to

become one with the all’ (Sadhana 4)

Tagore feels intuitively Man’s kinship with Nature. Nature has a vital meaning

and therefore Man should indulge in ‘an active wooing of the earth’ (CU 109) and

establish a conscious relationship with Nature, not merely impelled by a scientific

curiosity. The external spirit that creates life flows through ‘these great living cathedrals

of Nature’ (Sadhana 12) and thus ministers beauty, calm and inspiration to those who

seek them. Nature’s ‘infinite Gifts’ (Gj 1) are scattered in ‘endless cascades’ (GJ-70) and

she gives herself profusely and selflessly to man. This intimacy between man and nature

is something fundamental and primeval.

Poets sing in praise of Nature; if one does not sing in praise of Nature, then he

or she cannot call themselves as poets. Tagore is not simply an admirer of Nature but

something deeper. He is able to look into every phenomenon of Nature and is capable

of linking everything with everything else. He knows very well that things are deeply
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related. This inter-relatedness is the very essence of this worldly life. Hence Tagore looks

at this life with awe and reverence which sometimes embodies itself as a naïve vision and

at other times expresses itself as an intoxicated thrill at Nature’s ministry through

paradisal visions. The poet’s declaration rings through A Tagore Testament:

Whether it is the soul or the universe, I see no end to its miracle… It is a

wonder that I have opened my eyes in this world of land and water, of

trees Shrubberies, of birds and beasts, of days and nights of the sun and

moon, and I am moving . This world is miraculous in all its atoms and

molecules, in its every particle of dust. This world is miraculous in all its

atoms and molecules, in its every particle of dust (15)

Tagore, in Sadhana, declares that creation is a world song. In moments of

rapturous amazement the poet beholds the harmony of natural law and he realizes his

nothingness before the immensity of Nature. The great order that repeats itself tirelessly

in all planes of material reality, from the atom to the galaxy reveals the harmony of parts

within a whole. Hence the ‘song’ cannot be separated from the Singer.

Since Man and Nature, ‘Purusha’ and ‘Prakriti’ are two aspects of creation, it is

Tagore’s conviction that a journey into the inner sanctuary of Nature will awaken his

visionary powers. The poet understands the wisdom of setting aside the work that he has

in hand as

The summer comes to my window with its sighs and murmurs, and the

bees are playing their minstrelsy at the court of the flowering grove (Gj-4)
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The poet, therefore, finds ‘time to sit quiet, face to face with thee and sing

dedication of life in this silent and overflowing leisure’ (GJ- 4). Thus, Tagore’s Gitanjali

which is a hymn to life, a life that borders on the music of silence, attempts to reveal God

who is hidden in the silence of Nature. It is Tagore’s conviction that the dynamic silence

of Nature can ripen Man’s soul and therefore the fittest companion for Nature is the

solitary man.

Nature purifies; calms; ennobles and influences. Therefore the poet is lured into

seclusion as escape from the evil spell of civilization and mechanical routines.

In the days of Tagore villages were villages, for they did not enjoy any comforts

such as transportation, health and entertainment. Today things are so different and now

every village is greatly transformed that roads, healthcare centers and television networks

and a lot more have become so common that villages are no more villages nowadays.

If we look into things with this light we do understand how intensely Tagore was

attracted towards the natural scenic beauties and how he was tempted to glorify the life of

the rustics who seem to understand the fundamental unity of creation, by living in close

communion with Nature.

It is therefore not surprising that Tagore often celebrates ‘the noble savage’ in his

writing. The dumb girl Subha in Tagore’s short story- Subha- finds in Nature her best

friend who ‘made up for her want of speech and spoke for her (Tagore, Stories, 75)

The poet himself often retired far from madding crowds of the cities to the

seclusion of his family estates of Shelidah in north-east Bengal to seek consolation and

joy by the banks of his beloved river Padma, where he composed his masterpiece
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Gitanjali. The simple life of the peasants and tribes allured him and he never hesitated to

stop the boat and gaze at them hours together. Tagore’s craving for sylvan retreats away

from political upheavals account for the “distant wandering” “rural retirement” and

“fabulous flights” typical of the transcendental interpretation of Nature (Lee 72). Tagore,

being green to the core, always glorifies and admires every natural phenomenon in the

eco-system. His eulogy in every word and deed is the indication of his profound love to a

life of innocence and contentment. A private and protective world of spiritual peace and

fruitfulness has been created by him, which is proof against the instability and distraction

of the outside world.

In the second half the twentieth century only there was much din and bustle as to

the presentation of eco-systems cropped up in the western world. Having been very

greatly influenced by the Indian tradition with its Puranas, Scriptures, Vedas and

Upanishads Tagore was a pioneer in his ecological considerations.

Tagore’s eco-consciousness makes him deeply concerned about ecological

problems assuming unmanageable proportions. Science and technology, in the name of

progress turns the world inside-out, scrutinizes, destroys and transforms everything into a

thing of the past. This disturbs the poet to a great extent. In ‘An Eastern University’

Tagore, travelling down his memory lane, recalls his childhood hatred for school,

identifying himself to a young tree, lacked permanently. ‘My feelings are very much the

same as a tree might have, which was not allowed to live its full life, but was cut down to

be made into packing’ (CU 176)

Being a Champion of sustainable growth Tagore is always an advocate for Nature

and he vehemently condemns any act of ‘subduing’ it. If Man does any such detrimental
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act that would result in, ‘an artificial disassociation between himself and the universal

Nature within whose bosom he lies (CU 116). As against the many of the so-called

educated people Tagore warns us not to prevent children from playing in the dust.

No child, according to him, should be shut off from ‘the healthful dust of earth’ because

it ‘robs one of the right to the great fair of common human life. (Gj-7)

Tagore attributes civilized man’s ennui to his having moved away from the

original and primordial source in the name of development and innovation. Man who has

excelled in the art of living with nature now exchanged ‘the simple nest for a complex

cage’ (RM 104). This loss of the poetic life and the loss of the pastoral fragrance of

Nature find poignant echoes in almost all his literary creation. A physical separation

from Nature effects in spiritual death, because the eco-system is the sanctum-sanctorum

of Nature which is sacred in every dimension. The one who cuts away from the precious

and the inexhaustible life of the earth and her purifying touch is like a bee that strives to

create its honey within the cells of its live, not realizing that’ the perennial supply of his

life-food is outside their walls’ (CU 20). Man has cut away himself from the heart of

Nature by his utilitarian attitudes and activities. His simple economic greed has uprooted

him from his biotic community and transformed him into an ugly child of industrialization.

The net result is divine rhythm of life lost miserably.

Human avarice and arrogance has indirectly worked man into a position of

primacy that has not only upset the ecological balance but has also cost him his sense

of communion with cosmos. This hubristic subject positioning however, is effectively

reversed through Tagore’s veneration of an ‘inscrutable’, bountiful external agency

‘without name and form’, the formless God of Advaita, as giver and man as receiver.
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The Giver has created this world and creation is a work of art born out of joy. Is it

not logical and sensible to ask how it is possible that an offspring of joy is sorrow, how

ugliness be born of beauty and how slavery is delivered by freedom? God through his

creation is liberated and manifested himself. But at the same time to liberate oneself in

manifestation is to accept bondage also. But it is bondage of joy.

As creator is Satcidananda reality too has three phases, sat, cit, ananda – It is,

it is conscious and it is blissful. The things of the world may be finite but they exist.

It is common to all existing beings and by this, all are related. Secondly, the world is

conscious and the third is, it is by nature blissful, through the binding force of joy and

love all things are bound together. Therefore, world is Absolute in nature.

Tagore imagines that the creator is playing the flute for calling His finite play

mates. The world with its all beauties is the flute in the hands of the Absolute who plays

it with innumerous tunes to call us. Since the call is from the greatest Eternal Lover, we

must not ignore and disobey but have to join in the play with Nature.

Tagore uses the term Nature in different senses in different places. Sometimes he

uses the world to mean the created universe that includes man but not God; some other

times he means that which has life but not mind. But, on the whole, he has a synthetic

view of Nature. Nature is not the collection of inanimate objects but is spiritual in Nature.

Tagore says that the earth, water, light, fruit and flowers- were not merely physical

phenomena to be used and then left aside but India has cultivated a culture in such a way

that everything has a spiritual meaning. In fact, Tagore is of a strong belief that there is

no spiritual world outside this world. Many belief systems are prevalent in India and

invariably all of them speak of a better spiritual world existing above the present one.
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No Indian religious philosophy contradicts it. And almost the aim of all religions is to

realize and reach that heavenly abode after death. However, Tagore strongly believes that

our God is living in this world which is full of mystery of the Infinite. When we live in

this world we are living in God. The ineffable beauty of Nature cannot be only physical,

but it expresses the Great personality and therefore spiritual in nature.

The beauties of the world can give us sensational joy and we cannot neglect it.

Tagore never asks men to close the doors of senses. One may involve in arguments

whether the world is real or illusion, but for him to look at the world and to enjoy the

beauties of nature with all his senses is joy and useful. To Tagore, every manifestation of

nature, every dimension of its forms and every attribute of its quality is a source of joy

and veneration.

The reality of God depends on the conceptions of plurality of selves as real.

Thus, Tagore’s position is not monistic, but dualistic. According to him, the selves,

though united with God, never lose their existence: To him, ‘only death is monistic,

life is dualistic’ the spirit of death is one, the spirit of life is many.

Tagore is a practical idealist. To him “deliverance is there in bonds of delight”.

The form and function of every aspect of the ecosystem is a point of wonder and awe.

In almost all the poems translated by Ketaki Kushari Dyson and compiled under the title

‘I won’t let you go’ show the value of man’s relation with men, with flora and fauna

surrounded by, and even with places, seasons, moods and beliefs. In fact, no man can

exist all by himself; man is because there are ever so many factors are. In the absence

of them man is a non-entity.

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Poems in the collection I Won’t Let You Go contribute so much to man’s relation

with his oikos mainly. Eco criticism gives room for man’s spiritual relationship with God

and therefore Gitanjali and Fruit Gathering have also been taken up for critical

investigation and evaluation. On Gitanjali and Fruit Gathering much has been said on

spirituality, how God guides man with the light of love and how he accompanies the

‘lowliest of the low’ and so on. However, how this kind of spiritual relationship, an

inevitable factor along with his all other relationships with the world, is a must to study a

work of art through eco-critical prism. The present pursuit is such a venture undertaken in

this thesis.

Born and nurtured in the oriental tradition, soaked completely in the philosophies

and principles of generations of saints and sages, Tagore believes and quite convinced

that Man’s attitude to Nature should be one of consideration and not domination and

subjugation.

I Won’t Let You Go, Gitanjali and Fruit Gathering are three collections of

poetry which are scrutinized here ecologically. And Tagore’s approach reflects in a

crystal clear methodology that he is concerned with relation, inter dependence and

spirituality. His relationship with all eco- system is social, his dependence on them is

both physical and spiritual and for his spirituality his need is emotional, psychological

and even transcendental too.

Next chapter will display how Tagore depicts ecology in his plays to prove the

importance of inter-relation and inter-dependence between man and nature.