Comprehensive critique of ‘Gitanjali'

Hans India

11-05-2025

Rabindranath Tagore needs no introduction. A multifaceted creative personality, he is one of the greatest stalwarts of both Bengali and English literature.
He ushered in a Renaissance in India, where people were awakened by the great corpus of creative work produced during the country's struggle for freedom from the British.
He produced masterpieces in literature and later translated them into English. 'Gitanjali', his masterpiece collection of poems, with a foreword by W B Yeats, is renowned for its rhythmic, optimistic, and lyrical nature.
It won Tagore the Nobel Prize for Literature—the first awarded to an Asian writer—and a knighthood. In this landmark study, Indian scholar P V Laxmiprasad offers the most comprehensive critique of Tagore's 'Gitanjali' from a philosophical perspective.
The book under review, Rabindranath Tagore as a Philosophical Voyager – A Critical Study of 'Gitanjali', is published by Academica Press, Washington–London.
According to Tagore's philosophy, God has created this world for the enjoyment of man, and our duty is to enjoy the manifold pleasures that God has provided in abundance.
He believed that a religious man does nothing that is dull, and always acts with a singing soul. In another dimension, Tagore writes that the world is a great festival of God.
P V Laxmiprasad, the author of this critical book on Tagore's 'Gitanjali', offers a landmark and comprehensive study from a philosophical standpoint. 'Gitanjali' is one of the most lyrical texts ever written in the history of Indian English poetry, replete with multiple themes.
Laxmiprasad delves into Tagore's philosophy through his reading of 'Gitanjali' in this critical book published in Washington, USA.
Tagore's philosophy in 'Gitanjali', or 'Song Offerings,' revolves around mysticism and devotion, emphasising the union of the human soul with the divine. Through these poems, Tagore explores the nature of God, the journey of the soul, and the importance of love, service, and surrender in achieving spiritual enlightenment. He portrays God as omnipresent, immanent, and the ultimate source of joy and meaning in life.
The predominant theme in 'Gitanjali' is mysticism, which also gives rise to a number of other ideas. According to Indian philosophy, mysticism is the highest stage, where the human soul is in direct contact with God. A mystic believes that the world we perceive through our senses is not the real world, and that there is a truer reality beyond it—one that can only be understood spiritually, not sensually. The mystic seeks to connect with the inner, ultimate reality in a direct and intuitive manner.
In some ways, realism and common sense are at odds with mysticism. Mysticism cannot be explained logically. Tagore was influenced by many mystic writers, such as Walt Whitman, Kahlil Gibran, and, to some extent, Sri Aurobindo. Still, Laxmiprasad observes that truths—both visible and invisible—appear simultaneously abstract and concrete.
However, abstract things often go unnoticed in the journey of life. The abstract is invisible, while the concrete is visible. Between the two, the abstract often escapes our attention and concentration. The mysteries of the universe are always fascinating.
Tagore successfully pursued these mysteries and presented the eternal beauties surrounding human life. The uniformity of thoughts and ideas makes 'Gitanjali' supremely unique in the world. Laxmiprasad concludes that 'Gitanjali' has acquired a distinctive status among all of Tagore's works. It is a revelation of universal truths on the philosophy of existence.It becomes an introspective search for an inward journey. Thus, Laxmiprasad concludes that 'Gitanjali' is replete with the philosophies of the Upanishads, Bhagavad Gita, Brahmo Samaj, and Baul traditions.Tagore, Gitanjali, Mysticism, Indian Philosophy, Spiritual Poetry, P V Laxmiprasad