Dr.
C. R. REDDY
YEARS
ago I happened to be a guest at a dinner given by some university men in
About
the year 1908, the chief vogue of Tagore in the Andhra Desa
was as the stirring laureate of Indian nationalism.
The country can never forget the way in which he inspired and roused us to
active patriotism. But the call of the universal was to his sensitive soul a
living command; he has since then progressed from Nationalism to Humanity,
subordinating all particularisms to the higher
Absolute Values, without however impugning their relative and temporary
validity. This phase marks his highest reach as poet and seer and has revolutionised the spirit and tone of the best modern
Andhra Poetry.
Tagore’s powerful condemnation
of State as a soulless machine and the patriotism that grounds itself on ‘My country
right or wrong’ to the negation of moral ideals, has stirred the conscience of
the world, horrified at its own terrible doings in the Great War. His call to
regulate life on the principle of humanity has been taken up by Romain Rolland and other Western thinkers. But the subject
nations of the East have not found much consolation in that doctrine, since
obviously it is only the imperialist nations that could take the initiative and
illustrate the new direction.
But
have not the Imperialist Powers made a hopeful response to this ideal of human
federation? I think they have. The
It
does not mean that he is not a patriot, or that he is one of those artistic or
scientific exquisites who profess to be above patriotism chiefly for pleasing
the Government, or that he condemns nationalism and the state as evils per
se to be destroyed, root and branch. The noble heart that flung his
knighthood in contempt back into the hands that gave it to him because they had
become blood-stained at Jallianwallah Bagh, the generous soul that more recently emerged from its
ecstatic retirement to bemoan the Chittagong
happenings and the recent Hijli shootings, cannot for
a moment be thought to be a less ardent patriot than Das, Nehru, or Ansari. What he condemns is the claim (alas! widely
conceded) of the State to be an end in itself and a law unto itself, in brutal
disregard of ethical standards, reducing itself to a non-moral animal impulse.
Just as the family has in course of evolution been subordinated to society, and
is no longer an interest overriding all other considerations, so must the State
be subordinated to humanity. A nation should be just one member in the larger
society of the family of nations and the Fatherhood of God must be implemented
by the brotherhood of
Is
Gandhian Nationalism any different from this in
essence and spirit? It seems to me that the Tagorean
mirror contains a faithful reflection of the Gandhian
universe, or, to put it differently, in its insistence on Truth and
Non-violent, and the subordination of political ends and methods to moral laws,
Gandhism may almost be said to be an organised form of Tagorism. India
must be free, not that she may thereupon roam about like a beast of prey, but
that she may the better subserve human brotherhood
and culture. And she must achieve her freedom by means of Truth and
Non-violence, historically speaking novelties never before tried; by invoking
and never by inflicting suffering; by converting the enemy and getting him to
be your friend instead of exterminating him; and melting his heart in the fire
of world’s pity and righteousness. And it follows as day the night that freedom
thus won is bound to be used for spreading a regime of light and love, and not
for perpetuating dark deeds of exploitation. Nor is it only blood that may not
be shed. Un-compensated sweat too may not be, and the capitalism that has
thriven on the ill-paid sweat of the labouring masses
must melt into co-operative effort. In fact even tears are forbidden; for you
must undergo your sufferings with a quiet, bravely and cheerfully, like
martyrs; then only will its transfigurative efforts
be forthcoming.
I
wonder if Soviet Russia is not in many of its aspects a true answer to Gandhian prayers, the organised
and institutionalised form of his social and moral
ideals. It is ready to disarm completely; clan is its regulative category, not
country; it has abolished the exploitation of the masses; it is a knight-errant
ready to march against the many-headed Hydra of imperialism; it is no respecter
of race and colour; its patriotism is subordinate to the world-proletariat; and
it is universalistic in idea and intention. Only it is not prepared to lose its
life by meekly practising non-violence against its
enemies, a human weakness which may be forgiven.
But
Gandhi is for the ascetic life, the life of minimum needs and requirements,
since these could be more easily shared equally by all than the life rich in
manifold pleasure and satisfactions. The perfect life is the ideal of Tagore,
the primitive of Mahatma Gandhi. Community in fasting is more easily secured
than community in feasting, and how could a man of heart feast in the midst of
so much starvation? Such cultural and aesthetic (in the best sense of the term)
life as the world has enjoyed so far has, it must be confessed, rested on the
exploitation of the many by the few. Artistic and philosophic Greece rested
on slavery, and indeed held that without slavery the best life would not be
possible. Religious and philosophic India turned exploitation
into its chief Dharma, and fashioned castes as well as outcastes for this
purpose. European civilisation has divided society
into capital and labour, into classes and masses.
Every man of God, unless he be worshipping the Devil under that
respectable pseudonym, must revolt against this iniquitous negation of human
brotherhood. Gandhi’s revolt, in despair at making all equally rich, would like
them to be equally poor in material goods and exalted in spirit. He would have
no machinery, no large industry, no palaces, but just neat little cottages and
the restless charkha. Tagore’s intuition is the truer and it may yet be realised consistently with the demands of our conscience.
Though as history has gone so far the ideal of the full life has not been
consistent with the moral ideal of equalitarean
co-operation, the great Russian experiment has shown that material prosperity
and human equality could go together and that asceticism is not the
indispensable basis of socialism. Its new social and economic order, its marvellous powers in education and the broadcasting of the
amenities of civilisation, and its five-year plan,
demonstrate the possibility of the community’s achievement of the perfect life,
where light, love and joy will in widest commonalty be spread. Meanwhile until
this divine consummation is reached by the world, Mahatma Gandhi as the great
man of action, the reviver and inspirer of our jaded national will, and the organiser of mass action on a scale almost miraculous, will
rightly hold the primacy in our affections as well as admiration. He is will;
he is action; he is life; and these are more than idea and imagination.
I
have had the honour of knowing Rabindranath Tagore in
person, and can never forget the impression he made during his visit to Mysore in 1918. After completing his tour in South India he
told me that nothing healthy could grow under the shadow of our temples. He
revealed to us the beauty that Kalidasa and other
ancient poets found in the forest where the hermits had their dwellings (tapovanas). South Indian music was an intellectual
exercise, barren of heart and soul. The music of Bengal penetrates the heart
and quickens the soul. I can confirm the truth of this contrast by personal
experience of both. If Bengal has a soul, fiery, reckless, and generous to a
fault, part of the explanation may be found in its stirring, emotional music.
And Tagore’s creation of the Visva
Bharati! What perfect insight does it not show into
the nature of university education, which should be research and creation and
the development of personality, and not, as the Government Universities are,
distributing channels for the scanty, muddy, slow, belated flow of western
knowledge and discoveries.
Tagore’s name will live as long
as humanity lasts. To have been the glory of India is indeed a great triumph;
but he is more, he is one of the lights of the world.
* From the Golden
Book of Tagore. (1941)