Dualism in Rabindranath’s Poetry/ রবীন্দ্রনাথের কবিতায় দ্বৈতবাদ

Abstract

Acharya Madhvacharya was the main proponent of dualism. The poet Rabindranath Tagore was deeply influenced by dualism. But his dualism is distinct from the dualism of Madhvacharya. Rabindranath was a lilavadi. He wanted to perceive the form, taste, sound, smell, touch of this world with the five senses as divine bliss. Rabindranath did not abandon this world as false illusion. This world is to him exclusively true and the manifestation of God. So, he could not accept the Advaitism or Mayavada introduced by Shankaracharya. Because in pure Advaita, Lila (divine play) is distant, and no action is possible there. Thus, he was influenced by dualism. Rabindranath possessed both a strong intellect and a deep heart, along with a burning desire to serve God. He sought to attain God through the simultaneous engagement of mind, heart, and action. Rabindranath's desire was not satisfied in pure Advaita. Rabindranath’s desire would not have been fulfilled had he followed non-dualism. Even though Nirguna, formless Supreme Brahman is known by knowledge, but love and devotion cannot be established with him. So, Rabindranath is inevitably attracted to duality.

Rabindranath was drawn to dualism for personal and spiritual reasons. He realized that a profound joy operates at the root of the entire universe. From this supreme bliss all beings are born, within this bliss all beings live, and after death all beings return to this bliss. Therefore, the creator of the world should not be known merely through intellect but through a relationship of joyful love. Otherwise, the purpose of creation would be unfulfilled, realizing that the ultimate purpose of creation is the enjoyment of bliss. Rabindranath was influenced by this concept of bliss in the Upanishads. Rabindranath was influenced by dualism through this concept of rasa (aesthetic experience) and ananda (bliss). For the pure 'One' cannot experience rasa; a second entity is required. The union of these 'two' results in eternal bliss. Thus, Rabindranath recognized the importance of duality. Formless, tasteless, and unmanifest unity is antithetical to Rabindranath’s thinking. Although Rabindranath accepted dualism, but he did not reject non-dualism. Duality is necessary to fully realize non-duality. Thus, we see that Rabindranath's poetry begins with dualism but gradually merges into the ocean of non-dualism.

I have tried to show in this essay how Rabindranath's poetry is influenced by dualism.