Rumi And Ravindranath Tagore: Poets Of Divine Love

Rumi: The Mystic Poet

Rumi was born as Jalal ad-Din Mohammad Balkhi in Persia on September 30th 1207. The poet was known as Rumi based after the city he lived in. Rumi composed many works of mysticism and expressed the deepest longings of the human heart for it's beloved divine. Rumi was a mystic, a deep thinker, a sufi poet and all his work quenches the readers thirst to express the divine and find themselves. Rumi was born in Balkh that is a part of Afghanistan today. He grew up in a Persian family. His father Baha Al Din Walad was a famous Islamist jurist, theologian, and scholar. Rumi was exposed to Islamic teachings from a very young age. During the Mongol invasion the family had to flee Afghanistan and settle in Konya, Turkey.

Rumi studied philiosophy, Islamic jurisprudence, and spirituality under the guidance of scholars in Konya. His encounter with the wandering dervish (member of the Sufi or Islamic mystic fraternity) Shams al-Din Tabrizi transformed his life. Shams mentored Rumi in a deep understanding of Sufi poetry. Rumi wrote over 65000 verses, that mostly spanned into two important collections: the mystical poetry compiled in the Mathnavi or Masnavi and the second one Divan-e Shams-e Tabrizi that was dedicated to his beloved mentor Shams al-Din Tabrizi. Rumi founded the Mevlevi order also known as the Whirling Dervishes whose hypnotic whirling/spinning dance symbolizes the seeker's journey to divine reunion.

Rumi’s philosophy is based on the idea that we are all interconnected and that love is the essence of all existenced. He believed that the goal of life is to realize our oneness with God and with all creation.

Rumi influenced many poets that came after, one of them seems to be Ravindranath Tagore who was born nearly 6 centuries later. </section>

Ravindranath Tagore: The Philosopher Poet

Ravindranath Tagore was born in May 1861 and wrote similar poems that expressed the transcendent intimacy for the divine. His much acclaimed work "Gitanjali" translated by Tagore in English (in 1912), earned him the Nobel prize in Literature in 1913. The idea of a direct, joyful, and totally fearless relationship with God can be found in many of Tagore’s religious writings, including the poems of Gitanjali. This is similar to the writings of Rumi in my very humble opinion! Unlike Rumi, Ravindranath Tagore did not meet any enlightened teacher or only write mystical verses or essays. He also wrote about other non mystical matters such as nationalism, poverty, etc.

Ravindranath Tagore's own family was a confluence of three cultures: "Hinduism", "Mohammedean" and "British". His father Dwarkanath was well known for his command over "Arabic" and "Persian". Ravindranath grew in an atmosphere in which a deep knowledge of Sanskrit and ancient Hindu texts was combined with an understanding of Islamic traditions as well as Persian literature. His outlook was persistently non sectarian! Ravindranath Tagore was also influenced by Baul devotionalism. Bauls are a group of mystic minstrels of mixed elements of Suifism and Vaishnavism from Bengal (West and East), Tripura, Assam, and Meghalaya of India. Baul music celebrates celestial love, but does this in very earthy terms, as in declarations of love by the Baul for his lifemate. With such a liberal interpretation of love, it is only natural that Baul devotional music transcends religion!! One of Baul's iconic composer "Lalon Shah" was a Bengali spiritual leader, philosopher and mystic. It is believed that he highly influenced Ravindranath Tagore. Lalon's philosophy of humanity rejects all distinctions of caste, class, and creed and takes stand against theological conflicts and racism. It denies all worldly affairs in search of the soul and embodied the socially transformative role of sub-continental Bhakti and Sufism

A painting of the spiritual mystic Lalon Shah by Ravindranath Tagore's older brother

Most of Ravindranath Tagore's work was written in Shantiniketan (Abode of Peace), the small town that grew around the school he founded in Bengal in 1901. It celebrated variety and forged an inclusive vision. Tagore was no only a great poet, but he was also a versatile writer, music composer, painter. He wrote many short stories, novels, playwrights, essays on politics, literature, culture, social change, religious beliefs, philosophical analysis, international relations and much else. He also painted pictures and depicted a mix of representation and whimsical abstraction.

Outdoor Studies held at Shantiniketan

It is interesting to note that Tagore's idea of Shantiniketan inspired Leonard Elmhirst to set up Dartington Hall in UK and Mushanokōji Saneatsu to setup the Little Village in Japan. The idea was to do local changes at the grassroot level and instil an education system that was wholistic.

We can imagine that Rabindranath’s physical appearance – handsome, bearded, dressed in non-Western clothes – may, to some extent, have encouraged his being seen as a carrier of exotic wisdom. Yasunari Kawabata, the first Japanese Nobel Laureate in Literature, treasured memories from his middle-school days of “this sage-like poet”: "His white hair flowed softly down both sides of his forehead; the tufts of hair under the temples also were long like two beards, and linking up with the hair on his cheeks, continued into his beard, so that he gave an impression, to the boy I was then , of some ancient Oriental wizard!"

In my humble opinion, his poems on God and his appearance caused Yeats (who translated Geetanjali to English) to typecast him as a mystic. But Ravindranath Tagore, was not just a mystic. He was not an enlightened soul like Rumi. He was very much a versatile worldly person, who took interest in politics, plays, painting. His non mystic endevors frustrated his Western followers who romantacised him to be singularly mystic. It is only reasonable to read Tagore's famous tribute to the ideal homeland here!

Tagore's famous tribute to an ideal homeland

Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high
Where knowledge is free
Where the world has not been broken up into fragments
By narrow domestic walls
Where words come out from the depth of truth
Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection
Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way
Into the dreary desert sand of dead habit
Where the mind is led forward by thee
Into ever-widening thought and action
Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake!

It is also very interesting to know that while many believe that Ravindranath's poems had a Hindu influence, Ravindranath was a member of the reformist group Brahmo Samaj. Brahmo Samaj rejected many practises in the Hindu religion as abberations. While it branched out of Hinduism, it was heavily influenced by Christianity. It was founded by Raja Ram Mohan Roy. Ravindranath Tagore's father Debendranath Tagore was a founding member of Brahmo Samaj. At one point, Debendranath appointed Ravindranath as Brahmo Samaj's secretary. During this period, Hinduism received revived energy due to the presence of Sri Ramkrishna Paramhansa. Many of Paramhansa's followers published monthly magazines "Nabajiban" and "Prachar", these talked about the greatness of Hinduism over Brahmoism. Ravindranath Tagore heavily criticised these articles! Ravindranath Tagore was a person of logic and all his worldly actions were very much influenced by logic than religion.

The legendary scientist Albert Einsteing and the very famous Ravindranath Tagore met for the first time in 1926 in Germany. On July 14, 1930 Ravindranath Tagore was welcomed by Einstein at the later's home in Kaputh, near Potsdam, in Germany. They met the third and fourth time again at this location and the fifth time in New York! Einstein spoke in German and Tagore spoke in English, their communication was translated. They shared a deep mutual respect! Einstein alluded to Tagore as a Rabbi (teacher) and the Tagore turned down the offer of a Doctorate from Berlin University as a protest against Nazi treatment of Einstein! Einstein also co-sponsored the "The Golden Book of Tagore" along with Jagadish Chandra Bose, and Gandhi, this book is a compilation of Homage to Tagore on account of his 70th Birthday. The two had a very intellectually stimulating discussion on science, dual vs non-dual reality. Einstein believed in duality, that God and humans are separate. According to Einstein an object exists weather humans exist or not. According to Tagore who was anchored in non-duality, the existence and beauty of an object matters only through a living being's mind. When the mind ceases to exist, the object ceases to exist, ceases to be beautiful, that is the object's existence is linked to the mind's making it one. Tagore later rephrased his sentiments as "This world is a human world – the scientific view of it is also that of the scientific man. Therefore, the world apart from us does not exist; it is a relative world, depending for its reality upon our consciousness!" For Einstein the Realist the table in the house had to continue to exist when nobody was there. Tagore did not deny the continued existence of the table, but maintained that its existence must be perceived by a conscious human mind if it is to mean anything. He also claimed that although we conceive of our con- sciousness as individual, it has a universal character such that we can speak of the 'Universal Mind'! The difference of opinion between the two was due to the difference in religious beliefs. This discussion highlights the essence of Tagore - he said that "Ideally, every emotion and action should be God." While Ravindranath Tagore was not a mystic, he lived his life by this sentiment!

An interesting novel fact about Ravindranath Tagore: He is the only person who has written the national anthems of two countries: India and Bangladesh. He wrote India's national anthem "Jana Gana Mana" and Bandladesh's "Amar sonar Bangla". Another interesting fact is that Ravindranath Tagore was awarded the Knighthood in 1915 by the then ruling British King George-V, however Tagore returned it back in 1919 when 379 peaceful demonstrators and innocent people were killed at the Jalianwala Baug under the same rule! Tagore was overwhelmed with shame at carrying a title conferred upon him by the British. Although he did not wish to slight the honor, he implored Viceroy Lord Chelmsford to relinquish the knighthood title (Sir) in solidarity with his countrymen. </section>

Selected Poetry

The poems of both Ravindranath Tagore and Rumi string the heart's exalted yearning, ravishing ecstacy and consuming desire! They are as powerful today as they were many years ago! An ambiguity about religious experience is central to many of Rumi and Tagore’s devotional poems, and makes them appeal to readers irrespective of their beliefs. This applies particularly to their many poems which combine images of human love and those of pious devotion.

Waiting by Ravindranath Tagore

The song I came to sing
Remains unsung till today!
I have spent my days in stringing
and in unstringing my instrument.

The time has not come true,
the words have not been rightly set,
only there is agony
of whishing in my heart....

I have not seen his face,
nor have I listened to his voice,
only I have heard his gentle footsteps
from the road before my house...

But the lamp has not been lit
And I cannot ask him into my house;
I live in the hope of meeting with him;
but this meeting is not yet!

Agony and Ecstasy of Divine Discontent: The Moods of Rumi

In the orchard and rose garden
I long to see your face
In the taste of sweetness
I long to kiss your lips.
In the shadows of passion
I long for your love.


Oh! Supreme lover!
Let me leave aside my worries.
The flowers are blooming
with the exultation of your Spirit.


By Allah!
I long to escape the prison of my ego
and lose myself in the mountains and the desert.
These sad and lonely people tire me.
I long to revel in the drunken frenzy of your love
and feel the strength of Rustom in my hands.


I am sick of mortal kings
I long to see your light!
With lamps in hand
the sheikhs and mullahs roam
the dark alleys of these towns
not finding what they seek.
Your are the Essence of the Essence,


The intoxication of Love,
I long to sing your praises
but stand mute
with the agony of wishing in my heart!

*This poem is Rumi's earnest request to unite with God!! How beautiful it is. It is so wonderful that after all these years, the poem brings peace to the reader!!*

Come to Me: by Rumi

I am your lover
Come to my side
I will open
the gate to your love
Come settle with me
Let us be neighbors
to the stars
You have been hiding so long
aimlessly drifting
in the sea of my love.
Even so
you have always been
connected to me
Concealed, revealed
in the known
in the unmanifest
I am life itself.
You have been a prisoner
of a little pond
I am the ocean
and its turbulent flood
Come merge with me
leave this world of ignorance
Be with me
I will open
the gate to your love.

Behind the scenes by Rumi:

Is it your face
that adorns this garden?
Is it your fragrance
that intoxicates this garden?
Is it your spirit
that has made this brook
a river of wine?

Hundereds have looked for you
and died searching
in this garden
where you hide behind the scenes.

But this pain is not for those
who come as lovers.
You are easy to find here.
You are in the breeze
and in this river of wine

HAVE YOU NOT HEARD HIS SILENT STEPS?

Here is a poem by Ravindranath Tagore, that I love a lot! I learnt this as a child, at my school. I was startled to learn a song about God that was so simple and that evoked surrendering or seeing God everywhere! So beautiful!

HAVE you not heard his silent, steps?
He comes, comes, ever comes.
Every moment and every age, every day and every night he comes, comes, ever comes.

Many a song have I sung in many a mood of mind,
but all their notes have always proclaimed,
He comes, comes, ever comes.

In the fragrant days of sunny April
through the forest path he comes, comes, ever comes.

In the rainy gloom of July nights
on the thundering chariot of clouds he comes, comes, ever comes.

In sorrow after sorrow it is his steps
that press upon my heart, and it is the golden touch
of his feet that makes my joy to shine.

Famous Quotes by the Great Rumi

Your task is not to seek for love, but merely to seek and find all the barriers within yourself that you have built against it.

We already have all the love we need inside of us, but we may have built up walls that prevent us from experiencing it fully. By removing these barriers, we can open ourselves up to more love in our lives.

I have learned so much from God that I do not look for anything outside of myself. Everything is within me, the entire universe is inside me.

When I Die by Rumi

When I die
when my coffin
is being taken out
you must never think
i am missing this world

don't shed any tears
don't lament or
feel sorry
i'm not falling
into a monster's abyss

when you see
my corpse is being carried
don't cry for my leaving
i'm not leaving
i'm arriving at eternal love

when you leave me
in the grave
don't say goodbye
remember a grave is
only a curtain
for the paradise behind

you'll only see me
descending into a grave
now watch me rise
how can there be an end
when the sun sets or
the moon goes down

it looks like the end
it seems like a sunset
but in reality it is a dawn
when the grave locks you up
that is when your soul is freed

have you ever seen
a seed fallen to earth
not rise with a new life
why should you doubt the rise
of a seed named human

have you ever seen
a bucket lowered into a well
coming back empty
why lament for a soul
when it can come back
like Joseph from the well

when for the last time
you close your mouth
your words and soul
will belong to the world of
no place no time

Ravindranath Tagore's idea of Supreme Love!

It is not merely the number of protons and electrons which represents the truth of an element; it is the mystery of their relationship which cannot be analysed. We are made conscious of this truth of relationship immediately within us in our love, in our joy; and from this experience of ours we have the right to say that the Supreme One, who relates all things, comprehends the universe, is all love – the love that is the highest truth being the most perfect relationship.

How lucky are we to read these great words that came from the minds of these blessed souls!! How many hearts they touch, how much love they spread, and how eternal they are. I am an absolute fangirl of Rumi and Rabindranath Tagore and as I learn more, I obsess more! </section> </body> </html>