Introduction
Rabindranath
Tagore is a famous Indian pre-independence writer. He is the only Indian to have won the noble
prize for literature for his translation of Geetanjali, an anthology of
poems. Tagore is the only poet in the
world who takes the pride of writing national anthem for two countries – India and
Bangladesh. The prose The Problem of
Self is a philosophical essay about the uniqueness of the self and its
importance.
Two views of Human Beings
Every
human being could be given two views – one individual as a part of the universal
and the other is the individual as a unique self, which the universal cannot
crush. The individual as a self is proud
of its isolation and the whole world seeks this individuality. This separation of the individual is very
precious, which could be achieved after sufferings and sometimes by sins. The sacrifice or suffering represents the
cost and the attainment of the individuality represents what we have gained.
The True Self
In
a meeting, one of the audience asked Tagore whether the destruction of the self
or individuality was not held as a supreme goal of humanity in India. Tagore tries to answer this question. Tagore says that according to Indian thought
the deliverance of an individual is deliverance from avidya, ignorance. We must get rid of our ignorance so that our
mind will find freedom in the inner idea.
‘Dharma’, a Sanskrit word, means the innermost nature, the essence, the
implicit truth of all things. The freedom
of the self from the ignorance is dharma.
This freedom could be seen in two ways – the self displays itself and the
self which transcends itself and thereby reveals its own meaning. To display itself it reveals to be big, to
reveal itself it gives up everything it has.
Tagore compares this with a lamp.
A lamp which contains oil is separate from its surroundings and seems to
be miserly or selfish. Once when it is
lighted, it relates itself with the things far and near it and freely sacrifices
its oil and feed the flame. This freedom
of self is preached by Buddha. This freedom
is not simply breaking of the self, but widening of love. This state of widening of love is termed as ‘Nirvana’,
the highest point of love. Everything raises
the question ‘Why?’ in our mind but when we say ‘I love’ there is no question of
‘why’.
The Eternity of Self
When
things are done with such love, there is no pain. There will only be freedom in action. This is what Bagavat Gita teaches. Show your nature in love and do it freely
and never expect anything in return. This
action is more like God’s creation and this creation is self revealment. When we do things with love, we separate ourselves
from our action. This separateness of
our self is described as ‘maya’, an illusion.
This maya is deathless and eternal, ‘amritam’.
Society and the Self
We
live in a society. When we as
individuals in the society, want to pay less and gain more, there will be
confusion and fight. But we should
transcend this attitude and wish for the welfare of the society we will realize
the higher self, which is the function of love.
This is ‘bodhi’ or ‘true awakening’ which will lead us to darkness but
to illumination. ‘Bodhi’ could be
attained only by self will and not by compulsion.
Conclusion
This
self will has its own limitations like a chess game, where we cannot move coins
as we wish. Our self power must act
within limits, so that there is joy in the player. It is like a father who divides his
properties among his sons. It is the
father’s will to give the property, though smaller in portion, to his
sons. It gives freedom to the sons yet has
its own restrictions. These limits will
lead us towards the unlimited. This thought
gives the self a proper meaning.
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