রবীন্দ্র নাট্যসাহিত্যে ‘ডাকঘর’ : মৃত্যুচেতনা ও অন্তর্নিহিত দর্শন/ Rabindranath Tagore’s Dramatic Literature ‘DAKGHAR’ : Death Consciousness and Embedded Philosophy

Abstract

In 1322 Bangabd Rabindranath Tagore told Shantidev Ghosh that his mind would often grow restless under the shadow of an indefinable sense of separation. One day, seated upon the terrace of his Santiniketan residence, the poet felt a call to depart. This summons did not disturb him; rather, this call of death inspired him to write the play Dakghar. To Rabindranath, death never appeared as a source of anguish; instead, it resonated as a journey to infinity. He believed that the deepest truth of life is hidden in death. 

          Dakghar was written in 1911, during the phase of Gitanjali. The play emerged at an odd time with the poet’s natural disposition. Tagore was then afflicted by physical and psychological distress. A nervous breakdown caused pain in his ear and the left side of his head. Though the medicine Aram relieved the physical pain, but its side effects like melancholy, anxiety, etc, intensified his mental discomfort. While Tagore ultimately overcame this condition through inner resilience and return to a normal life still the impact of this mental turbulence is clearly be seen in Dakghar.

          By trying to escape the boundaries, the call of the road echoed in this play—a call towards liberation. In the same period, he was engaged in writing Jibansmriti, another testament to his introspective impulse. Freedom through nature emerged as the poet’s paramount aspiration. We find a story of extraordinary emancipation through the every line in the play Dakghar.

Just as a small child finds freedom in a mother’s lap, the poet’s mind also wished to become childlike. To escape the pettiness of daily life, Tagore desired companionship with children—where the harsh shadows of reality cannot eclipse the present moment. In this sense, Amal becomes a translucent reflection of the poet himself. Hours pass inside Amal’s confined room. He cannot move. Sudha comes to him with flowers—she represents movement, while Amal remains still. The conflict between home and road, enclosure and journey, resonates as the central thematic apprehension of Dakghar.

         Critics and scholars have interpreted Rabindranath’s play in diverse and questions have been raised. Questions persist: Is Dakghar a meditation on death or about liberation? Does it symbolize the union of the individual soul with the supreme soul, or does it rest upon some other philosophical foundation?

         This Paper seeks to examine and elucidate these questions through critical analysis.