This thesis explores five documents written by Tagore between 1906 and 1940. Tagore was writing at a time when India was struggling for independence. Among his numerous concerns, he wanted an India which could be compassionate and humane. He realized that such a lofty goal could only be achieved through an education system which not only encouraged these qualities but allowed students to cultivate them by understanding the world around them. Central to the arguments in this thesis is Tagore's discussion of the tapobon, the Indian meditative forest. The tapobon is seen as metaphorical place for contemplation in deciphering the world and developing an understanding of one's place in it. The documents examined here reflect the breadth and depth of Tagore's thoughts on education though they are only a sampling of the extensive work he did in his lifetime.

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<p>ABSTRACT</p><p>This study is concerned with the process of the making of a postcolonial poet persona where the poet is addressing multiple audiences and is trying to speak for, and speak to, multiple constituencies through poetry. The poets examined here, Rabindranath Tagore, Derek Walcott, and Mahmoud Darwish--arguably among the best-known poets of the modern world--sought to be heard by various sensibilities and succeeded in reaching them. Outside the fold of the Western Metropolitan world, they as a trio have much to teach us about how poets living under three different phases of colonial hegemony (colonial India, postcolonial West Indies, and neocolonial Palestine/Israel) manage to speak. Their presence in their poetry, or the pressure their life stories and their poet personae, becomes an essential part of reading their work. Desiring to speak themselves, the poets chosen here have necessarily had to speak for their regions, peoples and cultures, alternately celebrating and resisting the burden of representation, imposed on them by both their own people and by the outsiders who receive them. How does a postcolonial poet address changing contingencies--personal, social and political-- while continuing to hold the attention of a global readership? How have their formal and esthetic approaches shifted as they responded to contingencies and as they attempted intervene in local and global conversations regarding the fate and future of their societies? An examination of the genre of poetry and postcolonial agency, this study addresses these and other related questions as it looks at the emergence and evolution of Tagore, Walcott, and Darwish as postcolonial world poets.</p> / Dissertation

Vytautas P. Bložė, Donaldas Kajokas ir Rabindranathas Tagorė yra gerai susipažinę su indų Vedų vaišnavizmo mitologija, todėl savo eilėraščiuose įdomiai ir gražiai ją taiko, atskleisdami įvairių reiškinių prasmes ir praturtindami lietuvišką poeziją. Daugiausiai dėmesio poetai skiria mėnuliui, sielos ir Supersielos ryšiui ir Dievo Krišnos archetipui, mažiau – šventam medžiui ir gėlei. Kajokas daugiau dėmesio skiria mėnuliui. Bložės mėnulis skatina dvasinį augimą ir neleidžia pasiduoti materialiai tamsai, taip pat dieviškas asmuo su begaliniu pasauliu, Kajokui jis – ne tik šviesa, lemtis bet ir pats Dievo Asmuo (su mėnulio veidu ir akimis), grojantis fleita, taip pat moters ir vaiko įvaizdis, kas atitinka indų mitologiją, o Tagorei mėnulį atstoja Pats Dievas Krišna, turintis mėnulio veidą. Jų mėnulis yra nuolatos veikianti dieviška asmenybė, kas būdinga indų mitologijai. Poetams labai svarbus sielos ir Supersielos santykio motyvas. Visi trys remiasi Vedų šventraščių alegorija ir šį įvaizdį pateikia kaip du paukštelius. Paukštelis Supersiela nuolatos pataria, ką daryti, kad jos antrininkė išsivaduotų nuo žemų įgeidžių ir pasiektų aukščiausią tobulumą, atgaivindama dievišką draugystę. Tagorės paukštis yra be galo laimingas, būdamas kartu su Viešpačiu, Bložė stebi šiuos paukštelius, o Kajoko paukštis nelaimingas, nes neįsiklauso į Supersielą. Kajoko ir Tagorės Supersiela ir siela dar lyginamos su saule ir jos šviesa, Supersielos nebuvimą sielos gyvenime – su... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / Vytautas P. Bložė, Donaldas Kajokas and Rabindranath Tagore are well acquainted with indian Vedic mythology, therefore in their poetry they adjust it interestingly and beautifully, by revealing the meanings of different phenomenons, and in this way enriching lithuanian poetry. Most of the attention the poets allot to the moon trop, the relationship between the soul and the Supersoul and the archetype of God Krishna, less attention – to the sacred tree and flower. Kajokas attaches great importance to the moon. Bložė's moon induces spiritual growth and does not allow to yield to material darkness, it is also divine person with limitless world. To Kajokas it is not only the light, destiny, but also God (with moonlike face), who plays the flute, it is the trope of a woman and a child too. And for Tagore the place of the moon takes God Krishna Himself with His moonlike face. Their moon is always acting divine person, what is the characteristic of indian mythology. The motive of the relation between the soul and the Supersoul is very significant to the poets. All three of them lean on the allegory of Vedic scriptures and present this trop as two birds. The bird Supersoul always advises what to do for Her minor to make itself free from low whims, by reviving divine friendship. Tagore's bird is endlessly happy being together with the Lord, Bložė observes these birds and Kajokas' bird is unhappy, because it doesn't heed to the Supersoul. Kajokas' and Tagore's Supersoul and... [to full text]

This study addresses the issue of William Butler Yeats' use of Upanishad philosophy in his poetry. Although many analyses of Yeats' art vis-a-vis Eastern religion exist, none offer the thesis that the poet transformed certain religious concepts for his own purpose, thereby removing those concepts from the purview of Eastern religion. Quite the contrary, many of the analyses argue a parallel between Yeats' poetry and the religious concepts.In Chapter 1 this study gives a brief overview of the problem and proposes the thesis that instead of paralleling Eastern religious concepts, Yeats transformed those concepts; such transformations result in ideas which run counter to the yogic goal as expounded in the Upanishads.Chapter 2 summarizes yogic sources which help elucidate the concepts of Upanishad thought. Also Chapter 2 introduces various the critical analyses which present inaccurate conclusions regarding Yeats' use of Eastern religion.Chapter 3 explains certain Eastern religious concepts such concepts as karma and reincarnation and asserts that the goal of the discipline of yoga is self-realization.Chapter 4 discusses the poems of Yeats' canon which have been analyzed critically in terms of Eastern religious concepts and have erroneously been considered to parallel certain Eastern concepts. This chapter argues that Yeats' transformations resulted in an art which is chiefly based on the physical level of being, whereas the goal of yogic discipline places its chief emphasis on the spiritual level of being. Also it is argued that Yeats cultivated imagination, whereas the Eastern religious devotee cultivates intuition.Chapter 5 details the critical analyses which have erroneously argued the Yeatsian parallel to Eastern religion, showing how these critics have sometimes failed to understand concepts adequately and thus have misapplied them to Yeats' art.Chapter 6 contrasts Yeats' poetry with that of Rabindranath Tagore. Yeats failed to realize Tagore's motivation when Tagore referred to God. Yeats claimed that all reference to Cod was vague and that he disliked Tagore's mysticism. This lack of understanding on Yeats' part, I suggest, further supports the thesis that Yeats' use of Eastern religion constitutes transformations which do not reflect Upanishad philosophy but instead reflect a Yeatsian version of those concepts--a version which many critics have not clearly elucidated. / Department of English

What role does education play in a democratic society? How can the right sort of education help foster a free, responsible, and caring citizenry? How can education begin to reconcile and incorporate intellectually complicated and seemingly opposite ideas and theories, such as idealism and pragmatism, localism and globalism, thought and action? In my thesis, I aim to reveal, and perhaps begin to answer, these larger ideas pertaining to the role of education in society. Moreover, I address these questions through the lens of Rabindranath Tagore and John Dewey, two thinkers and practitioners at the turn of the twentieth century who sought to use education to find solutions to problems facing their respective local communities, but also the global community.

India is celebrated as the largest democracy in the world but is it truly democratic? Is it the nation-state that its founder’s envisioned it to be? Has it addressed it ancient issue of social diversity? This paper seeks to assess the present problem faced by the Indian Democracy; problems based on India’s inherent social diversity. Furthermore the paper seeks to recommend a solution based on Amartya Sen’s Open Impartiality approach that will allow the country to reassess its democratic platform. The paper also aims at providing a starting point to execute Sen’s approach by exploring the vision of two of India’s independence leaders: Mohandas Karamchandra Gandhi and Rabindranath Tagore.

Rabindranath Tagore, Nobel Prize winning Bengali poet and polymath, is an eminent figure in the history and culture of modern India. As the Indian Independence Movement grew in the early twentieth century, Tagore used his renown to establish a university in the rural community of Santiniketan: Visva-Bharati, “where the world meets in a single nest.” All of Tagore’s efforts — artistic, educational, and social — were informed by a universalist philosophy that he developed based on the Upanishads. Tagore’s philosophy facilitated unity between all creation, including harmony between the peoples of humanity and between humanity and the natural world. The architecture of Santiniketan is a tangible manifestation of Tagore’s philosophy. Designed under his direction by his associates Nandalal Bose, Rathindranath Tagore, and Surendranath Kar, Tagore’s residences at Santiniketan, in particular the houses Udayan and Shyamali, illustrate Tagore’s universalism in two primary ways. The designs unify a diverse set of traditions within a Modernist framework, and provide for maximum interaction between indoor and outdoor spaces. Udayan is a synthesis of Indian, Japanese, Javanese, and European designs, finding commonalities in the traditions through abstraction and modern materials. Shyamali also draws from a variety of influences and, in service to a connection between man and nature, the design blurs the boundaries between indoors and outdoors by using the natural material of mud. The architecture of Santiniketan, because it is a product of Tagore’s unique values, does not fit easily within the major trends of Modernist architecture in India or beyond. It is best evaluated as a single thread in the contrapuntal nature of Modernism.

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Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941) is often considered the most important literary figure in modern Bengali history. He lived through the transformation of Bengali culture and society from colonial to anticolonial to post-colonial times. Tagore was a playwright, novelist, philosopher, and songwriter. He wrote and composed nearly 2,500 songs, called Rabindrasangeet. My interlocutors ascribe Tagore’s songs with a particular affective strength that has become a medium for the construction of diasporic identity. In this dissertation, I explore the lives of three generations of women – from precolonial Bengal, post-independence Bengal, and the modern diaspora – and the types of movement they have experienced. I identify a rupture between the familiar and the immediate that accompanies their movement, and characterize this rupture as creating space for multiple identities, reflections, and intimacies, and the continuous building, dismantling, and rebuilding of culture. I argue that the genre of Rabindrasangeet forms and reforms in the diaspora through embodied processes of micro-level performance. Through friendships, kinships, inter-generational relationships, and technologically mediated connections, Rabindrasangeet remains present. It is a tool for self-making, and used to convey unspoken feelings in a gendered world.