The Transcendental Tagore: Beyond Boundaries; Beyond Enlightenment, Swadesi and Brahmo Samaj

This paper discusses Rabindranath Tagore's affiliations to Western intellectual movements like Enlightenment and the American Transcendentalism reflected in the pre-independence era in two disparate Indian movements, namely Swadesi and Brahmo Samaj. Although Enlightenment emphasises on reason and science, Tagore does not relinquish the solace or sanctuary offered by faith in God. Similarly, Tagore is unconfined by Swadesi or Brahmo Samaj and shows the critical acumen to stay free from absolute subscription to anyone's line of thought. Enlightenment emphasis on reason, Transcendentalist emphasis on intuition and swadesi reverence for traditions, all find space in Tagore's philosophy and are all found in concert with one another in his writings. He integrates rather than analyses. For this reason, Tagore's philosophy transcends provincialism and his oeuvre forms a part of Weltliteratur. Tagore's philosophy finds a beautiful complement in the symbolism of Tagore's novel Gora. This paper demonstrates this by juxtaposing Tagore's essays in Sadhana, with his lyrics in Gitanjali and in his novel Gora.