A Brief Difference In The Attitudes Of Two Historical Identities

A poet, a painter, a novelist, an essayist, a story writer and a mystic, so many personalities when entwined into one, an historical identity takes into a form of a man, whose songs are sung as the National anthem across border.

Guess! Who is this great personality?

It is none other than first Nobel laureate of India, Ravindra Nath Tagore.

     Gandhi Ji defended idols and he used to believe people cannot follow the abstract ideas about God.

     Tagore did not agree that people were so childish. He believes that somehow accepting these types of thing without any reason or thinking will lead a man to distressful circumstances.

     Gandhi Ji was a true believer of God in its human form. He himself took many fast and used to chant Ram.

     Tagore did not believe in counting and chanting mantras on beads. In one of his poem he says,"

      Leave this chanting and singing and telling of beads! Whom dost thou worship in this lonely dark corner of a temple with doors all shut?

     Open thine eyes and see thy God is not before thee!

      He is there where the tiller is tilling the hard ground and where the pathmaker is breaking stones.

     He is with them in sun and in shower, and his garment is covered with dust.

    Gandhi Ji believed that sexual life was incompatible to moral progress of human life.  He had firm belief in celibacy and in later period of life he used to experiment on celibacy.

     Tagore did not belief on such ideas.

     According to Gandhi Ji, every person must use ‘ charakha’ at least for 30 minutes in a day.  Tagore refusal was based on the point that using charakha for 30 minutes did not make a man to think or to develop reasoning.

    Where Gandhi ji strictly opposed the western products and culture and favoured only indigenous products, Tagore remained stand on his position of the necessity of harmony of culture and benefits of western products.

     There are differences, quite significant. But both had one dream that was a happy, prosperous India and both knew it well. He was Tagore who called Gandhi JI ‘Mahatma’, (The Great Soul). However Gandhi Ji proved to a great leader and till now more famous and respected in every nook and corner of world, the mysticism and sensitivity of Tagore still prevails today in the form of his mesmerizing paintings and illuminating literature

 * Post is inspired by an article written by Amartya Sen