"Leave this Chanting and Singing" by Rabindranath Tagore

"Leave this Chanting and Singing"

Rabindranath Tagore

How does Rabindranath Tagore pay homage to his Omnipresent God and what does he urge to the conventional devotee? Give your answer with the light of his poem, “Leave this Chanting and Singing”.

Answer: Rabindranath Tagore‘s “Leave this Chanting and Singing” is a kind of religious poems. This poem chalks out the poet’s profound devotion and faith in the God. It belongs to the tradition of ‘Bhakti’ poetry. The poet’s profound knowledge of the God gives him a new vision upon the esse of common people.

The poet sees a holy man alone in the corner of a temple with all the doors locked. He performs a song in the honor of God. The poet asks him to give up reciting the poem, and requests the holy-mam to sing mentioning the beads.

The poet also asks him to open his eyes and see that there's no Deity ahead of him. God is not dwelling in temples. If one really tries to find God, he has to get out of the temple. He will meet God where the tiller tills the land. He will also meet him where the route builder splits the bricks. He is still with these people, whether it is sun or shower.

The poet says that God’s clothes are often tinged with dust like these modest hard-working people. He asks the seeker of God to throw off the holy mantle, and like him, to come back down on the dirty earth to figure hard with these guys. This is the foremost substantial thanks to reach out to God.

The poet further tells to prevent thinking to achieve liberation. Often people think that they will achieve liberation by singing religious songs in praise of God. For them, liberation means liberty from the cycle of birth and death. But to attain liberation is impossible even to God. He himself is not free from all this.

The God has taken the onus of creation. God isn't only a creator but also the custodian of everything on this earth. The God is bound to his duty forever. There is no other way than diligence to achieve the God. The poet asks the worshiper to come out from the cocoon of his meditation. He says that the God could not be found through rumination or through giving flowers and incense sticks. All these efforts are futile.

The poet further emphasizes that there is no injury if our clothes gets dirty and discolored. If we want to achieve the God’s blessing, we have to stand by him with all those people who work hard throughout the day to earn their living. The whole idea of the poem is that hard working is the other name of worship.

Above all, man's ultimate spiritual goal is to seek salvation. This is the liberty of the soul from the phase of birth and death. The God has bound oneself in the process of creation and has accepted its joys and sorrows. Being a divine soul, he should not be limited to self-meditation and unnecessary practices of worshipping with flowers and incense sticks, but should spread himself among all for the God's sake.

Turning to the face of the world, he should seek the face of the God and learn the hard way through his deeds to find Him. The God does not listen to his prayers, because he is with the poor and needy. True religion involves a helping hand to lessen the hardship of the fortunate men and women who are fighting hard for the love and well-being of the people.

Like Vivekananda and many other spectators, Tagore believes that to serve the man is the service of the God. Mercy must be shown to the man who is fleeing from this world and seeking his own personal salvation. Tagore said that participation in life activities is essential for the realization of the God. This poem ‘Leave this chanting’ is equally important because of the pseudo-enthusiasm of his worshipers everywhere in world literature.

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