Life of my life
by
Rabindranath Tagore
(Text
& Summary)
This
fourth lyric of Tagore's Gitanjali is a solemn pledge, a pledge to remain true
to God. In this song, the poet shows love and respect to God by attempting to
keep every aspect of his body and mind, pure and beautiful for the glory and
greatness of God.
Life of my life
Life
of my life, I shall ever try
to
keep my body pure, knowing that thy living touch
is
upon all my limbs.
I
shall ever try to keep all untruths out from my thoughts,
knowing
that thou art that truth which has kindled
the
light of reason in my mind.
I
shall ever try to drive all evils away from my heart
and
keep my love in flower, knowing that thou hast thy seat
in
the inmost shrine of my heart.
And
it shall be my endeavour to reveal thee in my actions,
knowing
it is thy power gives me strength to act.
Summary
In this
song, Tagore expresses love. ‘Life of my life’ here means the love force behind
his life. Life becomes lively only when it is filled with love. One has to keep
his body, mind and spirit pure, to receive the bliss of love. True love is
accessible to those who keep themselves pure.
Tagore
says, that real Love is the ultimate truth. Man can realize the real love only
when he keeps his thoughts pure. Thoughts of evil, greed, anger, revenge will keep
him away from the ultimate truth. After realizing this universal truth, one becomes
enlightened and his mind becomes spiritual. Here ‘the light of reason in my
mind’ means the transformation of mind from doubts to answers. One who realizes
the truth has no doubts, his thoughts are like light, he can see, feel and
realize the truth for himself. But for this, one has to keep his mind pure.
The poet
says, that he shall strive to keep all the evil thoughts away from his mind and
keep his love in flower. Tagore says he will preserve his love in flower
because love is as fragile as a flower. Only a flower can hold love. As much as
love is fragile so is a person’s heart. Heart is so fragile too. Love can only
reside in a person’ heart and it has no other place where it can sustain. But
for love to sustain, one has to drive away all the evils from one’s heart.
Tagore
says that he will try to express his love through action, because there is no
other way to express love. True love is in action. Knowledge of this ultimate
truth about love, gives Tagore the strength and courage to act. Love is action.
In this
poem, the poet pledges to God, that he shall always try to be pure because the
source of his life is He and He is present in every part of his body. He
promises to drive away all forms of untruths from his thoughts because God
Himself is truth and has blessed him with the power to reason and rationalize.
He shall keep his love and adoration for God in bloom and fresh because he
knows that God lives in his heart. He shall do good things, because the power
in him to act and work has been granted by God himself.
0 Comments