Rabindranath Tagore Spirit Of Freedom Analysis

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The Spirit of Freedom – A Critical Analysis Rabindranath Tagore was a lover of human freedom. Influenced by the western liberalism, Tagore opined that freedom of a nation will provide ample scope to its citizens to express their view openly. Freedom, according to Tagore, has a spiritual root. It includes freedom of expression and freedom of conscience. Tagore envisaged that political freedom is not freedom unless it is accompanied by spiritual freedom. Spiritual freedom is the guiding force behind political freedom. It will show right path to an individual in realizing his political goal. The same is also applicable in case of a nation too. Tagore opens his essay ‘The Spirit of Freedom’ with a one-liner definition of how he sees ‘freedom’.…show more content…
While the monarch, apparently, had all the powers in his disposal, he was just a device for the lying & conspiring courtiers to manipulate for their own benefits: “In the old order the king was given to understand that he was freest individual in the world. A greater semblance of external freedom, no doubt, he had than other individuals. But they built for him a gorgeous prison of unreality.” Tagore then draws a parallel between the monarchs & the recent people of the West. The people too, seem to enjoy the most of liberty & freedom one may enjoy in a civilized society, but actually it is exact opposite. The apparent sense of the liberty is influenced through false-flattery & untruths by a handful of power-hungry self-seekers: “The mob-mind is allowed the enjoyment of an apparent liberty, while its true freedom is curtailed on every…show more content…
From the time of the Mahabharata to the rise of Buddhism, people had a zest for knowledge & freedom, of the mind & soul, & it was same almost all over Asia. But, in recent times, Tagore found that overflowing spirit has faded away to a great extent: “When India gave voice to immortal thoughts, in the time of fullest vigor and vitality, her children had the fearless spirit of the seekers of truth…But with the ebb of life in India the spirit of creation died away.” Tagore compares the society with the organic law of nature, wherein the differences in the parts of the body serve to help the organism in totality, & doesn’t change as per mere ‘convenience’, which is not the case of our society, where walls are brought up to suffice the greed of the handful few. The tight & inelastic grip of society renders the people passive. Borrowing the ideals of freedom & liberty from the West is in itself degenerating as the West has a decaying sense of true freedom. Like a bird in a golden cage, the apparent liberty is an insult to the ages of glory the people of India had once experienced. By trying to adopt something from the outsiders, which the people actually had better & in abundance, they have shoved themselves down a dark
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