Tagore Speaks
to the Twenty-First Century
Christine Marsh
TagoreanWorld Publishing
TagoreanWorld Publishing, 9 Priory Park Road, Dawlish, Devon EX7 9LX
First published in Great Britain by TagoreanWorld Publishing, 2016
Copyright © Christine Marsh 2016
Christine Marsh has asserted her moral right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Right, 1988, to be identified as the author of this work.
All rights reserved. This book is copyright material and must not be copied, reproduced, transferred, distributed, leased, licensed or publicly performed or used in any way except as specifically permitted in writing by the publisher, as allowed under the terms and conditions under which it was purchased or as strictly permitted by applicable copyright law. Any unauthorized distribution or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the author’s and publisher’s rights, and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly.
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
Cover drawing by Eleanor Marsh
ISBN 978-1-5262-0254-3
Printed and bound by Short Run Press, Exeter
Preface
The intention of this book is to provide a new platform for the great Indian social reformer Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941) to communicate his ideas. Tagore lectured around the world during his lifetime, was listened to and admired by many, and criticised by some, but he was not understood. He published five books of lecture texts: Sadhana in 1913, Personality and Nationalism in 1917, Creative Unity in 1922, and The Religion of Man in 1931, and these provide the opportunity for Tagore to speak to us who are living in the Twenty-First Century.
Tagore had warned the world that it was headed along a dangerous and destructive path and we now know he was right. He spoke about an alternative course, and carried out such practical experiments as his resources allowed, in the hope that they would set an example which would be followed. We have seen the effects of a century of economic exploitation and conflict, and the only hope may lie in turning to Tagore’s path based on social cooperation, but people today do not face the future optimistically. Blind habits, coercion, denial and distraction, and despair, get in the way of positive change. Listening to Tagore could at least revive his faith in humanity and give us hope and courage.
Much of the material for this study of Tagore’s lecture texts derives from my doctoral research in the English Department at Exeter University from 2008 to 2012. I have added to and extensively reworked this material into a book for the general reader. I decided not to provide detailed referencing in the main text, but I have included a Notes section at the back, with Bibliography and Index.
Although the five books are long out of copyright, and are readily available in print and online, I decided to include substantial extracts: one entire essay from each book, in this work to provide an opportunity for readers to experience Tagore’s words directly, in the context provided by my study. I provide a few words of introduction to each extract but no detailed commentary, and I would encourage readers to approach these extracts with open curiosity, setting aside judgements on his ideas and the way he expresses them – and just listen.
Contents
| Preface |
|
| 1. Introduction |
1 |
| The Mercurial-Minded Poet |
5 |
| Tagore Speaks to the Twenty-First Century |
12 |
| 2. Sadhana (1913) |
16 |
| Ideas of East and West |
27 |
| Reformed and Traditional Hinduism |
32 |
| Tagore’s Method of Writing |
37 |
| The Three Sadhanas |
42 |
| Sadhana: a Prose Counterpart to Gitanjali |
48 |
| The Sadhana Essays |
52 |
| ‘The Problem of Evil’ from Sadhana |
58 |
| 3. Personality (1917) |
69 |
| A Perfect Encounter – Tagore and Rothenstein |
78 |
| Philosophy and Religion |
82 |
| The Poet’s Philosophy in ‘What Is Art?’ |
92 |
| ‘To C.F. Andrews’ |
98 |
| The Poet’s Religion in ‘The World of Personality’ |
108 |
| Conclusion: Tagore’s ‘Song of Myself’ |
116 |
| ‘The Second Birth’ from Personality |
120 |
| 4. Nationalism (1917) |
136 |
| Tagore’s History of Continuity and Change |
138 |
| ‘Rabindranath Tagore and the Consciousness of Nationality’ |
149 |
| Patterns of Failure; Faith in Renewal |
157 |
| Tagore’s Passionate Polemics |
167 |
| ‘What Then Must We Do?’ |
174 |
| ‘Nationalism in India’ from Nationalism |
177 |
| 5. Creative Unity (1922) |
194 |
| ‘An Eastern University’ |
197 |
| Tagore: ‘A Lone Voice’ |
201 |
| Hogan: Deconstructing the Nationalist Narrative |
207 |
| The Anarchist Thinking of Tagore and Gandhi |
210 |
| Nehru and Gandhi: Heroism and Sacrifice |
214 |
| Gandhi’s ‘Mistake’ |
218 |
| ‘The Great Mind of Man Is One’ |
223 |
| Sriniketan and ‘Creative Unity’ in Practice |
225 |
| ‘The Spirit of Freedom’ from Creative Unity |
233 |
| 6. The Religion of Man (1931) |
237 |
| The Hibbert Lectures |
239 |
| Tagore amongst Friends |
245 |
| Tagore’s ‘Proletarian Sympathies’ |
251 |
| Tagore’s Science and Creative Evolution |
255 |
| Tagore’s ‘Unclarities’ |
262 |
| ‘The Meeting’ from The Religion of Man |
264 |
| 7. Conclusion |
269 |
| Tagore’s Reception and Reputation |
270 |
| The Cognitive Spectrum |
275 |
| Affective Cognition |
278 |
| Tagore’s Vision of Unity though Education |
279 |
| Tagore’s Vision of Unity between East and West |
283 |
| The Performance Artist |
286 |
| The Fuller Unity of Realization |
288 |
| Tagorean World Change Today |
292 |
| Notes |
295 |
| Bibliography |
325 |
| Index |
348 |