Assignment paper 201

Name : Latta J. Baraiya 

Roll no : 11

Paper : Indian English Literature Pre-independence

Semester : M.A sem 3

Topic : There is No God in The Temple

Submitted to : Department of English Maharaja Krishnakumarsinhji Bhavnagar University. 

Introduction

If we talk about literature the main work of literature is to portray reality and truth. When we study any literary text, we get something that is connected with our today. That connection taught us lots of things. And that is why if we want to study society, we have to study the literature of the society first. Poets, writers, authors, and novelists also express their views on the matter that can not be spoken openly, because other people can't accept it. Some points are not much talked about, because some people have binaries when their sentiments are hurting them. 

When critics make arguments on the matter of religion, people bully them, Harass them and also punish them. This poem also speaks the truth about religion and God. There is also conflict going on between Hindus and Muslims. Hindus and other religion's methods of worshipping are different. Hindus believe in idol worship, Muslims are not believers in idol worshipping. But they both have blind faith in God. So let's discuss it in detail. First I would like to give a brief introduction of Rabindranath Tagore.

Rabindranath Tagore :-

Rabindranath Tagore was born on 7 May 1861. At some time towards the end of the seventeenth century, his forefathers had migrated from their native lands to Govindpur, one of the three villages which later came to constitute Calcutta. In the course of time, the family came to acquire property and considerable business interests through the pursuit of commercial and banking activities. They had particularly benefited from the growing power of the British East India Company. Rabindranath’s grandfather, Dwarkanath Tagore, lived lavishly and broke the Hindu religious ban of those times by travelling to Europe, just like his contemporary, Rammohan Roy, the nineteenth century social and religious reformer. 

Rabindranath Tagore's contributions to Bengali literature and the Indian modern art movement, as well as his philosophies and accomplishments as an artist, educator, and activist are widely known throughout India today. During the first half of the twentieth century, Tagore bridged the intellectual divide between East and West at a time when the Indian nation was 

struggling to break free from the oppressive rule of the British Empire. Tagore is a globally recognized poet and philosopher and his ideas about cross-cultural communication are relevant even today. He wrote prophetically about the dangers of globalization, commenting that ''the modem age has brought the geography of the earth near to us, but made it difficult for us to come into touch with man." Tagore presented his solutions to this modern globalization by encouraging "generous and creative" communication between nations. In this way he hoped that the global community could "come into touch with man" through mutual understanding and respect. 

Deeno Daan poem :- 

“There is no god in that temple”, said the Saint.

The King was enraged;

“No God? Oh Saint, aren’t you speaking like an atheist?

On the throne studded with priceless gems, beams the golden idol,

And yet, you proclaim that’s empty?”

“It’s not empty; It’s rather full of the Royal pride.

You have bestowed yourself, oh King, not the God of this world”,

Remarked the saint.

The King frowned, “2 million golden coins

Were showered on that grand structure that kisses the sky,

I offered it to the Gods after performing all the necessary rituals,

And you dare claim that in such a grand temple,

There is no presence of God”?

The Saint calmly replied, “in the very year in which, twenty million of your subjects were struck by a terrible drought;

The pauperized masses without any food or shelter,

came begging at your door crying for help, only to be turned away,

they were forced to take refuge in forests, caves, camping under roadside foliages, derelict old temples;

and in that very year

when you spent 2 million gold to build that grand temple of your’s,

that was the day when God pronounced:

“My eternal home is lit by everlasting lamps,

In the midst of an azure sky,

In my home the foundations are built with the values:

Of Truth, Peace, Compassion and Love.

The poverty stricken puny miser,

Who could not provide shelter to his own homeless subjects,

Does he really fancy of giving me a home?”

That is the day God left that Temple of yours.

And joined the poor beside the roads, under the trees.

Like emptiness of the froth in the vast seas,

Your mundane temple is as hollow.

It’s just a bubble of wealth and pride.’

The enraged King howled,

“oh you sham cretin of a person,

Leave my kingdom this instant’.

The Saint replied calmly,

“The very place where you have exiled the Divine,

Kindly banish the devout too”.

— Rabindranath Tagore, 

Why has this poem become so popular ? 

Originally written in Bengali, 'Deeno Daan' is a part of Tagore's poetry collection 'Kahini'. It was signed by the Nobel laureate some 120 years ago (Bengali calendar 1307). In 'Deeno Daan', Tagore writes about a sage who criticizes a king for getting a temple built in the name of God using “two million gold coins” while turning away the poor during a drought. And so, the sage goes on to say that the temple has no God but only “royal pridel”. 

The poem is about a sage who tells a king that the temple which has been built with "two million gold coins" does not have a God inside. Upon hearing this, the king gets angry, calls him an atheist, and asks if such a grand temple could be empty. The sage replies that it isn't empty but in fact filled with the king's pride. The sage then reminds the king that it was wrong on his part to spend the riches in building a temple in the same year when the people of his kingdom were struck by a calamity and had nothing for themselves. 

With remarkable prescience that prophesied this year’s plight of the migrants and others in the aftermath of the lockdown, Tagore had written: “In the very year in which twenty million of your subjects were struck by a terrible drought… pauperised masses without any food or shelter, came begging at your door crying for help, only to be turned away…. in that very year when you spent 2 million gold to build that grand temple….”

The poem crossed the language barrier, too, thanks to a Calcuttan who now lives in Delhi. The Facebook user translated “some excerpts” of the poem in English. 

This poem and its English translation was shared on social media by Banojyotsna Lahiri, an alumnus of Presidency College and JNU, on August 5 and since then the poem has gone viral on the internet. It is widely shared by Tagore's readers on social media and personal messengers.  Talking about the coincidence of the poem and the current situation of the Coronavirus pandemic and migrant issues in India, Lahiri said to The Telegraph, 

“I found it extremely meaningful and topical. I saw the poem being shared by more and more people on social media. There are many non-Bengalis on my friend list. I thought they should also know the essence of the poem. I translated it in English and shared a second post in the afternoon." 

• Banojyotsna Lahiri

Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone in Ayodhya for the Ram temple on August 5 which received mixed reactions from Indians. A day after the public ceremony, a 120-years old poem written by Tagore has gone viral. The reason: Tagore's poem 'Deeno Daan' has an uncanny resemblance to the present times we live in. The temple construction is expected to cost around Rs 300 crore. Now what is the use of that temple ? 

“The Covid-19 pandemic and the lockdown has had a similarly devastating effect with millions robbed of livelihood and crying for help. And here we have hundreds of crores being spent on a temple” 

• Lahiri

The Ram Mandir celebrations were on at a time when the Covid-19 pandemic situation in India has reached its worst phase, with over 50,000 cases being reported on a daily basis. The deaths from Covid-19 on the same day crossed the 40,000 mark; this is the fifth-highest in the world. 

What is the massage of Tagore through the poem :- 

If we look at the message that Tagore wants to give us, there are some blind people, like the king, who are wasting money and time to build temples, statues and buildings by using poor people's money. Only because they are in power. The true responsibility of the king (government) is to help poor and needy people, not to waste the money on that kind of stuff, which is totally useless. 

Yes, there is not only the government responsible for this, people are also responsible for this. I want to explain with an example that some organizations and groups of villages asking money for school building, and for school repairing people hesitate a lot to donate, but if people ask money for temples and religious matters people donate money like anything ! And said that

ધરમ ના કામમા ઢીલ ના હોય ! 

And yes the main point is that what is the true need of the generation ? Education or religion ??? 

The other thing is that the government has money for statues, buildings and temples but they haven't money for poor people who are needy people. We have to note here that,

“Tagore was against institutionalised religion. He was not an atheist but he denounced institutionalised religion because it spoke of power and reeked of arrogance and monetary wealth.” 

Based on 2019's PPPs International Comparison Program, According to the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDG) programme, 80 million people out of 1.2 billion Indians, roughly equal to 6.7% of India's population, lived below the poverty line of $1.25 in 2018–19. 

Why is the government not working for those people ? There are people who don't even have food for themselves. Government should bring them above the poverty line. 

Conclusion 

To wind up we can say that, from the time of Tagore to now the situation hasn't changed !! We are still that much blind !  I don't know whether we are not aware about it or we are pretending like we are not aware about it. But I want to say that, if we will not ask the question, who will ? Yes we may face the situation like Harmit has faced ! And that is happening also. Whoever is speaking against the government, they are thrown away. They are bullied, harassed and lynched ! So the solution to this problem is, we have to educate people more and more. Education is able to remove that blindness of religion, that veil of religion can remove through education. 

References

Desk, Sentinel Digital. “Deeno Daan: Find out Why This Rabindranath Tagore Poem Is Going Viral on Social Media - Sentinelassam.” The Sentinel Assam, The Sentinel Assam, 8 Aug. 2020, https://www.sentinelassam.com/national-news/deeno-daan-find-out-why-this-rabindranath-tagores-poem-is-going-viral-on-social-media-493855. 

Mukherjee, Raka. “'There Is No God in the Temple': Rabindranath Tagore's Poem 'Deeno Daan' Goes Viral a Century Later.” News18, 6 Aug. 2020, https://www.news18.com/news/buzz/there-is-no-god-in-the-temple-rabindranath-tagores-poem-deeno-daan-goes-viral-a-century-later-2762815.html. Accessed 21 Oct. 2021. 

“Poem Penned by Rabindranath Tagore 120 Years Ago Goes Viral, Here's Why - Times of India.” The Times of India, The Times of India, 8 Aug. 2020, https://m.timesofindia.com/life-style/books/features/poem-penned-by-rabindranath-tagore-120-years-ago-goes-viral-heres-why/amp_articleshow/77419051.cms. 

Yadav, Ritu. “A Study of Literatures and Ideas of Rabindranath Tagore: A Great Indian Writer.” A Study of Literatures and Ideas of Rabindranath Tagore: A Great Indian Writer - Ignited Minds Journals, http://ignited.in/I/a/120233.