In the current times, it seems like the debates on religious beliefs are the active participants of a marathon, where everyone seems to be too goal-oriented on achieving the click-bait milestones. The endless reels on occult practices, superstitions, black magic, and after-death scenarios have become favourites among podcasters looking to create sensational or controversial content. While such topics often attract wide audiences due to their mysterious and provocative nature, the authenticity of proving any of these claims—whether true or false—is beyond the scope of this article. However, amidst this noisy scramble for sensationalism, it becomes important to align oneself to the voices that resonated with human intellect.
Think back to that memorable exchange between Sadhguru and Javed Akhtar — when asked what one should believe in if not faith, Akhtar simply replied, “Common sense”, and one such voice of human intellect and common sense that explored spirituality with depth was that of Rabindranath Tagore — a poet, philosopher, and visionary whose engagement with Buddhism offers a refreshing contrast to today’s content-driven narratives. Tagore didn’t embrace Buddhism as a religion, but rather studied it through the philosophical lens.
He writes “While God waits for his temple to be build of love, men brings stones.”
“Another achievement of Indian culture and tradition that deeply influenced Tagore was that of Buddhism. Here also it was the Buddhist tradition of the Buddha and the Buddhist way of life that appealed to him the most. This is very clear not only from his translation of the Dhammapadda, his narrative poem based on Buddhist legend and a good number of lyrics centering around the personality of the Buddha, but also from a number of sermons and socio-political and socio-religious essays.”
- Commented by Historian Nihharranjan Roy (as mentioned in the book “Buddhist Imapact on Rabindranath Tagore’s Creation”)
Tagore’s Buddhist philosophy was around the pragmatic approach of love and humanity, a guideline for peace and happiness to humans gifted by humans. Tagore propagated the positive aspects of Buddhist thoughts and refrained from delving into the concept of human suffering.
Lord Buddha’s Philosophy
Gautam Buddha was born in Lumbini, located in modern-day Nepal. At age twenty-nine, he left the comfort of his home to take up a wandering journey towards enlightenment. As a curious soul, he was perturbed by umpteen questions on human existence — birth, illness, aging, and sorrow. He wanted to find a way to overcome these sufferings and therefore parted ways from the traditional living to find paths of liberation.
Buddha then went on to establish the principles of Buddhism through discourses and laid the foundation — the Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path — emphasizing values like nonviolence, self-restraint, individualism, and social equality.
Influence of Gautam Buddha’s Philosophy on Tagore
Rabindranath Tagore belonged to a family of rationalists and scholars, and was introduced to the principles of Buddhism through his family’s spiritual inclination towards Buddhist philosophy. To further understand the essence of Buddhist literature, Tagore studiedRajendralal Mitra’s The Sanskrit Buddhist Literature of Nepal (1882) which emphasised the interconnectedness of all living beings. Tagore’s work in the form of novels, poems, and dance often reflected these Buddhist ideals through themes of compassion, renunciation, and inner harmony. Tagore outrightly challenged the social structure that promotes caste division and propagated that the caste system can only be a distortion of the true social fabric. His works like Malini, Chandalika, Visarjan, Natir Puja are based on the same principles.
Tagore writes in his first English book of religious essays:
“To me the verses of the Upanishads and the teachings of Buddha have ever been things of the spirit, and therefore endowed with boundless vital growth, and I have used them, both in my own life and in my preaching, as being distinct with individual meaning for me, as for others, and waiting for their confirmation, my own special testimony, which must have its value because of its individuality.”
(As mentioned in the essay – Rabindranath Tagore and His Consonance with Buddhism: A Formative Impression by Vinita Sharma & Nandini Ahlawa
To The Buddha
The world today is wild with the delirium of hatred,
the conflicts are cruel and unceasing in anguish,
crooked are its paths, tangled its bonds of greed.
All creatures are crying for a new birth of thine,
Oh thou of boundless life,
Save them, raise thine eternal voice of hope,
Let love’s lotus with its inexhaustible treasure of honey
Open its petals in thy light.
O Serene, O Free, in thine immeasurable mercy and goodness
wipe away all dark stains from the heart of this earth.
Thou giver of immortal gifts,
Give us the power of renunciation,
And claim from us our pride.
In the splendour of a new surprise of wisdom
let the blind gain their sight
and let life come to the souls that are dead.
O Serene, O Free, in thine immeasurable mercy and goodness,
Wipe away all dark stains from hearts of this earth
In the above lines, Tagore has realised the eternal essence of Buddhist teachings and how humans are disoriented with greed, anguish and cruelty. Tagore observes Buddha as an epitome of peaceful and compassionate life.
Shantiniketan
Tagore was extremely fond of Buddhist philosophy, so apart from writing, he established “Visva Bharati” at Santiniketan, based on Buddhist monasteries — a great centre of learning at that time. The education system promoted multi-culturalism, tolerance and individual growth along with community welfare. He also started a course on Buddhist studies and rekindled Pali studies at Shantiniketan.
Tagore’s vast body of work includes many reflections on Buddhist philosophy, urging fellow human beings to live with peace and love, and promoting the universal message of compassion, wisdom, joy, goodness, and respect for others.”