Paramhansa Yogananda on Rabindranath Tagore

Sri Paramhansa Yogananda, the author of “Autobiography of a Yogi”, writes, “I met Rabindranath soon after he had received the Nobel Prize for literature. I was drawn to visit him because I admired his undiplomatic courage in disposing of his literary critics. I was introduced to Rabindranath in Calcutta by his secretary, Mr. C.F. Andrews, who was simply attired in Bengali dhoti. He referred lovingly to Tagore as ‘Gurudeva.’”                           “Rabindranath received me graciously. He emanated an aura of charm, culture, and courtliness. Replying to my question about his literature background, he told me that he had been chiefly influenced by our religious epics and by the works of Vidyapati, a popular fourteenth-century poet.”                                                                                                                                   About two years after founding the Ranchi school he received an invitation from Rabindranath to visit him at Santiniketan to discuss their educational ideas. Sri Paramhansa Yogananda writes, “I went gladly. The poet was seated in his study when I entered; I thought then, as at our first meeting, that he was as striking a model of superb manhood as any painter could desire. His beautifully chiseled face, nobly patrician, was framed in long hair and flowing beard. Large, melting eyes; an angelic smile; and a voice of flutelike quality that was literally enchanting. Stalwart, tall, and grave, he combined an almost womanly tenderness with the delightful spontaneity of a child. No idealized conception of a poet could find more suitable embodiment than in this gentle singer.”                                                                                            “Tagore and I were soon deep in a comparative study of our schools, both founded along unorthodox lines. We discovered many identical features – outdoor instruction, simplicity, ample scope for the child’s creative spirit, Rabindranath, however, laid considerable stress on the study of literature and poetry. The Santiniketan children observed periods of silence but were given no special yoga training.”                                                                                                              The Poet listened with flattering attention to the Yogi’s description of the energizing Yogoda exercise and of the yoga concentration techniques taught to all students at Ranchi. Narrating his early educational struggles Tagore told him, “I fled from school after the fifth grade,” he said, laughingly.“That is why I opened Santiniketan under the shady trees and the glories of the sky.” He motioned eloquently to a little group studying in the beautiful garden. “A child is in his natural setting amidst the flowers and the songbirds. There he may more easily express the hidden wealth of his individual endowment. True education is not pumped and crammed in from outward sources, but aids in bringing to the surface the infinite hoard of wisdom within.”                                                                                                                   Sri Paramhansa Yogananda writes, “Rabindranath invited me to stay overnight in the guest house. In the evening I was charmed by a tableau of the poet and a group in the patio. Time unfolded backward: the scene before me was like one in an ancient hermitage—the joyous singer encircled by his devotees, all aureoled in divine love. Tagore knitted each tie of friendship with cords of harmony. Never assertive, he drew and captured the heart with an irresistible magnetism. Rare blossom of poesy blooming in the garden of the Lord, attracting others by a natural fragrance!”                                                                                                                                    The Yogi also recalls that in his melodious voice, Rabindranath read to them a few of his exquisite poems, newly created. He says, “The beauty of his lines, to me, lies in his art of referring to God in nearly every stanza, yet seldom mentioning the sacred Name. Drunk with the bliss of singing, he wrote, I forget myself and call Thee friend who art my Lord.                                        Sri Paramhansa Yogananda says, “I rejoice that the little school has now grown to an international university, Visva-Bharati, where scholars from many lands find an ideal environment.”