Dr Jyotsna Bhattacharjee
Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore needs no introduction. He has been revered all over the world as a great poet. But some people may not be aware of the fact that he was also a great philosopher. Philosophy uses logic and arguments to derive conclusion on any subject. But as a poet-philosopher Rabindranath was not interested in logic and analytic arguments, and was a visionary. Truths were revealed to him directly through his poetic images and he established philosophy on a kind of intuitive realization.
In India, philosophy is called darsana, which means “vision of the real” — a kind of direct realization of the Absolute Reality. Rabindranath followed this definition literally and laid great emphasis on “personal realization of the Reality”. In Religion of Man, he says, “I have already made confession that my religion is a poet’s religion. All that I feel about it is from vision and not from knowledge. Frankly, I cannot satisfactorily answer any question about evil or about what happens after death. Nevertheless, I am sure that there have come moments in my experience when my soul has touched the Infinite and has become infinitely conscious of it through the illumination of joy.”
Rabindranath’s philosophy was greatly influenced by the ancient Indian thoughts as expressed by the Upanishads and Vedanta. But he was disinclined to accept the abstract interpretation of Reality as was found in the sacred scriptures. Hence he came under the influence of Vaishnavism and the teachers of the Bhaktimarga, at the same time retaining his faith on the Upanishads and Vedanta. His philosophy can be interpreted as a peculiar synthesis of Abstract Monism and a particular type of Theism. For him Reality is one and he identifies this reality with a personal God. Rabindranath can be justifiably called an “idealist” or a “spiritualist”. He can also be described as a “monist” and a “theist”. Some commentators remark that Rabindranath oscillates between Sankaracharya’s Vedanta and Vaishnavism.
Initially he was a member of Brahmo Samaj, but later on he developed a religion which combined some elements of Brahmo Samaj with some elements of orthodox Hinduism. He believed that religion could not be confined to a particular group, or a sect, or a tribe, or a nation. Actually a true religion transcends all these particular forms and limitations. The aim of true religion is the realization of man’s kinship with everything. A truly religious man eagerly tries to reach his eternal home.
Religion then is not an escape for Rabindranath, it is life and existence. But he says that a true religion must not be confused with what is called “institutional religion”. A person may be a Hindu or a Christian; it is purely a matter of accident. In fact, the forms and ways practised by these religions mislead the followers. He says, “It should be remembered that religions or churches or religious organizations are not the same. They are to one another as the fire is to the ashes when the religions have to make way for religious organizations, it is like river being dominated and its aspect becomes desert like.”
Rabindranath says that religious organizations almost debauch religion. They take away the life-spirit from religion and instead emphasize only the superficialities of religion. True religion preaches freedom, while religious organizations make religion a slave of their institutions. Ritualism and rigid customs have overshadowed the principle of religion. Rabindranath declares, “God does not appreciate this prostitution of his most famous gift.”
According to him, institutional religions are dogmatic and false. Distinguishing true religion from false ones, he says that a true religion must have the qualities of spontaneity and naturality in it. There cannot be any compulsion about it, there are no limits set around it. It is free and He is the “God of Humanity”. The Supreme Personality. It follows that the innermost essence of man is the presence of divinity in him.
According to Rabindranath, it is difficult to distinguish between religion and philosophy, as both aim to realize the same end. Philosophy is the “vision of the real” and the aim of religion to realize man’s “unity with the Divine”. Both mean one and the same thing. Perhaps that is why Rabindranath calls his religion the “Religion of Man”. It can also be described as universal religion as it opens its gate to every individual.
Certain expressions like “realization of one’s true nature” or “unity of the self with the Divine” tend to make religion abstract and impractical. To remove such misunderstanding, Rabindranath recommends the “rule of love” in religion. It is not so very easy to realize the Infinite. So the individual should begin with love and only love would help him in realizing his ideal. Rabindranath feels that to realize the universal Absolute God, man must give up his narrow egoistic tendencies. Only through love would he realize the unity, which pervades through man and nature. A religious life consists of love, sacrifice, sincerity and innocence, and love has a great power to unite everything in the entire world. True religion is lost in the worthless performance of institutional religion. Offering an analogical example, Rabindranath says, “From the solemn gloom of the temple, children run out to sit in the dust, but God watches them play and forgets the priest.”
Rabindranath’s account of religion suggests what is the ultimate human destiny. It is the realization of unity, the realization of divinity in man. It is comprehended in an act of supreme love, comprising nature and everything else. Love is the essential factor in religion, according to Rabindranath, which unites humanity and everything else all over the world.
(The writer is a former HoD, Philosophy, Cotton College, Guwahati) THE SENTINEL
Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore needs no introduction. He has been revered all over the world as a great poet. But some people may not be aware of the fact that he was also a great philosopher. Philosophy uses logic and arguments to derive conclusion on any subject. But as a poet-philosopher Rabindranath was not interested in logic and analytic arguments, and was a visionary. Truths were revealed to him directly through his poetic images and he established philosophy on a kind of intuitive realization.
In India, philosophy is called darsana, which means “vision of the real” — a kind of direct realization of the Absolute Reality. Rabindranath followed this definition literally and laid great emphasis on “personal realization of the Reality”. In Religion of Man, he says, “I have already made confession that my religion is a poet’s religion. All that I feel about it is from vision and not from knowledge. Frankly, I cannot satisfactorily answer any question about evil or about what happens after death. Nevertheless, I am sure that there have come moments in my experience when my soul has touched the Infinite and has become infinitely conscious of it through the illumination of joy.”
Rabindranath’s philosophy was greatly influenced by the ancient Indian thoughts as expressed by the Upanishads and Vedanta. But he was disinclined to accept the abstract interpretation of Reality as was found in the sacred scriptures. Hence he came under the influence of Vaishnavism and the teachers of the Bhaktimarga, at the same time retaining his faith on the Upanishads and Vedanta. His philosophy can be interpreted as a peculiar synthesis of Abstract Monism and a particular type of Theism. For him Reality is one and he identifies this reality with a personal God. Rabindranath can be justifiably called an “idealist” or a “spiritualist”. He can also be described as a “monist” and a “theist”. Some commentators remark that Rabindranath oscillates between Sankaracharya’s Vedanta and Vaishnavism.
Initially he was a member of Brahmo Samaj, but later on he developed a religion which combined some elements of Brahmo Samaj with some elements of orthodox Hinduism. He believed that religion could not be confined to a particular group, or a sect, or a tribe, or a nation. Actually a true religion transcends all these particular forms and limitations. The aim of true religion is the realization of man’s kinship with everything. A truly religious man eagerly tries to reach his eternal home.
Religion then is not an escape for Rabindranath, it is life and existence. But he says that a true religion must not be confused with what is called “institutional religion”. A person may be a Hindu or a Christian; it is purely a matter of accident. In fact, the forms and ways practised by these religions mislead the followers. He says, “It should be remembered that religions or churches or religious organizations are not the same. They are to one another as the fire is to the ashes when the religions have to make way for religious organizations, it is like river being dominated and its aspect becomes desert like.”
Rabindranath says that religious organizations almost debauch religion. They take away the life-spirit from religion and instead emphasize only the superficialities of religion. True religion preaches freedom, while religious organizations make religion a slave of their institutions. Ritualism and rigid customs have overshadowed the principle of religion. Rabindranath declares, “God does not appreciate this prostitution of his most famous gift.”
According to him, institutional religions are dogmatic and false. Distinguishing true religion from false ones, he says that a true religion must have the qualities of spontaneity and naturality in it. There cannot be any compulsion about it, there are no limits set around it. It is free and He is the “God of Humanity”. The Supreme Personality. It follows that the innermost essence of man is the presence of divinity in him.
According to Rabindranath, it is difficult to distinguish between religion and philosophy, as both aim to realize the same end. Philosophy is the “vision of the real” and the aim of religion to realize man’s “unity with the Divine”. Both mean one and the same thing. Perhaps that is why Rabindranath calls his religion the “Religion of Man”. It can also be described as universal religion as it opens its gate to every individual.
Certain expressions like “realization of one’s true nature” or “unity of the self with the Divine” tend to make religion abstract and impractical. To remove such misunderstanding, Rabindranath recommends the “rule of love” in religion. It is not so very easy to realize the Infinite. So the individual should begin with love and only love would help him in realizing his ideal. Rabindranath feels that to realize the universal Absolute God, man must give up his narrow egoistic tendencies. Only through love would he realize the unity, which pervades through man and nature. A religious life consists of love, sacrifice, sincerity and innocence, and love has a great power to unite everything in the entire world. True religion is lost in the worthless performance of institutional religion. Offering an analogical example, Rabindranath says, “From the solemn gloom of the temple, children run out to sit in the dust, but God watches them play and forgets the priest.”
Rabindranath’s account of religion suggests what is the ultimate human destiny. It is the realization of unity, the realization of divinity in man. It is comprehended in an act of supreme love, comprising nature and everything else. Love is the essential factor in religion, according to Rabindranath, which unites humanity and everything else all over the world.
(The writer is a former HoD, Philosophy, Cotton College, Guwahati) THE SENTINEL
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