Self, nature and the infinite
Examine how Sadhana rereads the Upanishads to connect the individual, nature, love and action.
An original introduction. This guide accompanies the work; it is neither the complete text nor a translation.
Situating the text
Published in 1913, the papers recast Bengali talks given to the pupils of his school at Santiniketan; friends translated some passages, and most papers were read at Harvard University. Tagore warns in his preface that he writes neither as a scholar nor as a systematic philosopher. Eight lectures present Tagore’s reading of the Upanishads and of Buddhist teaching as a living philosophy rather than a museum piece. They treat the relation of the individual to the universe, soul consciousness, evil, the self, love, action, beauty and the infinite, arguing that the soul finds freedom through union and love rather than possession.
Following the arguments
Forest and city : The first lecture contrasts civilizations nurtured within city walls with an Indian ideal formed in the forest, aiming not to acquire but to realise. Problem of evil : Pain and evil are treated as real but not final, as marks of an unfinished world that is moving toward perfection. Self and love : The self is fulfilled not by asserting its separateness but by realising itself in love and in work for others.
Continuing the reading
Begin with the first and fourth lectures, then ask where Tagore is interpreting classical texts and where he speaks from his own experience. Published in 1913, the papers recast Bengali talks given to the pupils of his school at Santiniketan; friends translated some passages, and most papers were read at Harvard University. Tagore warns in his preface that he writes neither as a scholar nor as a systematic philosopher.
For Tagore the self grows freer as it recognizes its kinship with other people and with the natural world.
Your turn to think.
- Which experiences does Tagore offer as evidence of unity between the self and the universe?
- How does he answer the objection that suffering contradicts that unity?
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