Leave this Chanting and Singing
“Leave this Chanting and Singing” is a religious poem by Rabindranath Tagore that expresses the poet’s deep devotion and faith in God. It belongs to the tradition of ‘Bhakti’ poetry and offers a unique perspective on the nature of worship and the search for God.
In the poem, the poet encounters a devotee who is secluded in a corner of a temple, engaging in traditional rituals and chanting. The poet challenges the devotee’s approach and encourages him to abandon the repetitive recitation, signing, and bead counting. The poet emphasizes that God cannot be found within the confines of a temple and urges the seeker to step outside and engage with the world.
The poet asserts that God can be found in the toil of farmers tilling the land and in the labor of path makers breaking stones. God’s presence is not limited to specific places or rituals. The poet describes God as being with these hardworking individuals through all weather conditions, and their garments, covered in dust, symbolize their closeness to the divine.
The poet suggests that instead of clinging to religious formalities, the seeker should shed the facade of holiness and embrace the humble reality of earthly work. By actively participating in the world and working alongside those who labor diligently, one can truly connect with God. The poet emphasizes that hard work itself is a form of worship and the most genuine way to reach out to the divine.
Furthermore, the poet challenges the notion of deliverance or liberation from the cycle of birth and death. The pursuit of deliverance through religious rituals and practices is deemed futile. The poet highlights that even God, who has taken on the task of creation, is bound by the responsibilities and duties associated with it. Instead of seeking deliverance, the poet advocates for wholehearted engagement with life’s challenges and the fulfillment of one’s responsibilities.
In summary, Tagore’s “Leave This Chanting” explores the poet’s deep devotion to God and offers a critique of traditional forms of worship. The poem encourages individuals to abandon repetitive rituals and instead find God through hard work, genuine engagement with the world, and the fulfilment of responsibilities.
Summary of Leave This Chanting
“Leave This Chanting” is a religious poem written by Rabindranath Tagore. This poem reveals the poet’s profound devotion and faith in God. It belongs to the tradition of ‘Bhakti’ poetry. The poet’s deep knowledge of God gives him new treatment.
The poet sees a devotee alone in the corner of the temple with all the doors locked. He performs a song in honour of God. The poet asks him to leave the poem, to sign and to say the beads. The poet asks him to open his eyes and see that there is no Deity in front of him. God is not dwelling in temples. If one really tries to find God, he ‘s got to get out of the temple. He’s going to meet God where the tiller tills the land. He’s going to meet him where the route builder splits the bricks. It’s still with these boys, whether it’s sun or shower. Poet says that God’s garments are often coated with dust like these modest hard-working people. He asks the seeker of God to throw off the holy mantle, and like him, to come down on the dirty earth to work hard with these guys. This is the most substantial way to reach out to God.
Poet further tells to stop thinking to attain deliverance. Often people think that they can attain deliverance by singing religious songs in praise of God. For them deliverance means freedom from the cycle of birth and death. But to attain deliverance is impossible God, himself is not free from all this. God has taken upon himself the difficult task of creation. God is not only a creator but also take care of everything on this earth. God is bound to his duty forever. There is no other way than hard work to attain God. Poet asks the worshipper to come out from his meditation. He says that God could not be found through meditation or through offering flowers and incense. All these efforts are futile. Poet further says that there is no harm if our clothes gets dirty and stained. If we want to attain God we have to stand by him with all those people who work hard throughout the day to earn their living. The whole idea of the poem is that hard work itself is worship.
Explanation
Stanza 1
The lines quoted above have been taken from the poem ‘Leave This Chanting’ written by great Indian poet, Rabindranath Tagore. This poem was originally written in Bengali but later the poet translated it into English. This poem shows poet’s faith and deep understanding of God. The poem is written in the manner of traditional ‘Bhakti’ poetry. In this poem poet condemns the traditional way of worship. He says that one can find God only by hard work. Because work is worship.
The poet sees a devotee sitting in the corner of a temple with all doors shut. He was singing in the praise of God. Poet condemns him and asks him to leave this chanting and singing. He also asks him to stop telling of beads. He asks him why he is sitting in the dark corner of the temple. Why have you shut all the doors? The Poet asks the devotee to open his eyes and look, God is not before him. What poet here tries to say is that all these traditional ways of finding God are futile, and useless. You cannot get Him by this way. God does not reside in temples.
Stanza 2
He is there where the tiller is tilling the hard ground where the path maker is breaking stones. He is with them in sun and in shower, and his garment is covered with dust. Put off they holy mantle and even like him come down on the dusty soil.
Reference to Context
The lines quoted above have been taken form the poem ‘Leave This Chanting’ written by Rabindranath Tagore, a great Indian poet. This poem was originally written in Bengali. But later the poet translated it into English. This poem shows poet’s faith and deep understanding of God’s nature. The poem is written in the manner of traditional ‘Bhakti’ type of poetry. Poet gives it a new treatment. Throughout the poem, the poet condemns the traditional way of worship. He says that one can find God only through hard work. Because work is worship.
In these lines, the poet says that living place of the God is not temples. You will find Him among simple and hard working people. You will find him where tiller is tilling the ground. You will find him where the path maker is breaking stones. He is always with these people whether it is sun or shower. Poet further says that clothes of God are covered with dust like these humble hard working men. He asks the seeker of God to put off their holy mantle and like him come down on the dusty earth to work hard with these men. This is the only and substantial way to reach God.
Stanza 3
The lines quoted above have been taken from the poem ‘Leave This Chanting’ written by a great Indian poet, Rabindranath Tagore. This poem was originally written in Bengali but later the poet himself translated it into English. This poem shows poet’s deep faith and understanding of God. But the poem is written in the manner of traditional Bhakti poetry. Poet says that to find God one need not follow the traditional way of worship like repeating ‘mantras’ and telling of beads. The only way to find God is hard work. For God hard work is the best way of worship.
In these lines, the poet addresses all those who are in pursuit of deliverance. Often people think that they can attain deliverance by singing religious songs in the praise of God. For them, deliverance means freedom from the cycle of birth and death and hard work. But to attain deliverance is impossible. God himself has taken upon his shoulder the hard work of creation. God, not only creates but also takes care of everything. God is bound to us forever. There is no other way than hard work to attain God.
Stanza 4
The lines quoted above have been taken from the poem ‘Leave This Chanting’ written by Rabindranath Tagore, a great Indian poet. The poem was originally written in Bengali but later the poet himself translated it into English. This poem shows the poets’ deep understanding of God. The poem is written in the manner of traditional ‘Bhakti’ poetry but poet handled it in a different style. The Poet says that God is all–pervasive. You need not go to the temple and repeat ‘mantras’ to find him. The only way to find God is by hard work.
In these lines the poet condemns all those who follow the old way of worship. He asks the worshiper to come out from his meditation Poet says that one can not find God through meditation. One can not find Him by offering flowers and incense. All these efforts are futile. The Poet further says that there is no harm if our clothes get dirty and stained. If we want to attain God we have to stand by him with all those people who work hard to earn their living. The whole idea hidden behind these lines is that hard work itself is worship.
Exercise
Q.1:- How does the poet bring home the philosophy of ‘Karma’?
Ans.:- Tagore brings home the philosophy of ‘Karma’ by saying that this is the only substantial way to find God. The poet condemns the traditional ways of worship. He says that people follow many stupid ways to attain God like chanting, singing, telling of beads and meditation. But all these efforts are futile. One can find God among all those people who work hard for the whole day to earn their living. Hard work is the only way which leads us to God. ‘Karma’ which means work, itself is worship. Poet further says that God, himself is engaged in work. He performs the task of creation. So, if you want to find God, you have to work hard.
2. Where is God found according to the poet?
Ans.:- The Poet says that one cannot find God by sitting in the dark corner of the temples with all doors closed or by singing songs in the praise of God. All these ways of finding God will be proved useless because God does not live in temples. If anyone really wants to find God, he or she has to search among the people who work hard. God lives there where tiller is tilling the ground. He lives where path maker is breaking stones. God lives with only those who work hard. God will be found among humble and hard working people.
3. What does ‘deliverance’ refer to?
Ans.:- Deliverance means freedom from the cycle of birth and death. Everyone wants to attain deliverance because it will help him to escape from the hard work in life. The Poet does not like the idea of deliverance. For him it is useless because deliverance is not possible. Often people try to attain deliverance by meditation and other traditional ways of worship like chanting and singing which is not desirable. Poet says that God is also not free from hard-work. He has taken upon himself the difficult task of creation. God is not only a creator but he takes care of everything. So the idea of deliverance is of no use.
4. What does the poet ask us to leave in order to realise God?
Ans.:- The poet asks us to leave the traditional modes of worship. He advises the seekers of God to leave chanting and telling of beads in order to please God. He asks the worshipers to come out from their meditation. The Poet also advise them to stop offering the flowers and incense to God. The Poet says that one cannot find God by following all these traditional ways of worship. We can attain God only by hard work. Hard work itself is the best way of worship.
Long Questions
Q.1. Write an essay on Tagore’s mysticism.
Ans.:- Rabindranath Tagore was a deeply religious and mystic poet. His mysticism is of a different kind ‘Leave This Chanting’ is a deeply religious poem which shows poet’s love for God. His mysticism is very easy to understand. This poem presents a new aspect of God. The Poet believes that God does not live in heaven. You need not sing songs of praise in order to please God. According to Tagore God is all pervasive. God is present in every humble creature created by him. If anyone really wants to find God, he or she has to come out of temples, because God does not live in temples. He lives with those people who work hard. He is there where the tiller is tilling the hard ground. He is with path makers who are breaking stones. All the traditional ways are of no use. The Poet asks the worshippers to give up all those ways. The Poet also condemns the idea of deliverance. The Poet says that deliverance is impossible to attain. People follow different ways of worship in pursuit of deliverance because they want to make themselves free from the cycle of birth and death. Poet further argues that God Himself is also not free.
He has taken upon himself the difficult task of creation. He is not only a creator but also takes care of everything present on the earth. So we should not try to free ourselves from this birth-death-cycle and hard work. According to the poet, hard work is the key to reach God. Poet also advises worshippers to come out, from their mediation. He also advises them to stop offering flowers and incense to God. If they want to attain God, they have to come out from temples to work with those people who work hard. It does not matter whether it make their clothes dirty and stained. This is the only way to reach God. So, we can say that Tagore as a mystic poet is different from other poets.
Q.2. What does the poet castigate?
Ans.:- In this poem, from beginning to end’s Tagore loudly castigates the traditional forms of worship. Yes, he is a religious poet, has deep faith in God. But he is different from other religious poets because he condemns all these useless modes of worship. Some people believe that God lives in temples and heaven. They can attain him by singing songs in the praise of God. But their thinking is wrong. God does not reside inside temples. He could not be attained by chanting and telling of beads. To attain God you need not to sit in the dark corner of the temples. If you want to find God you have to come out of temples because He lives outside with humble and hard working people. You will find him with the tiller who is tilling the ground. You will find him with path maker who is breaking stones.
Tagore castigates idolatry and blind worship. He also castigates the idea of deliverance. He says that to attain deliverance is impossible.
The Poet says that our God is also not free. He is bound to us. He has taken upon himself the task of creation. So we have to give up the idea of salvation because it is not possible. Poet asks the worshippers to come out from their meditation. He also advises them to stop offering flowers and incense in order to please God. If they want to attain God, they have to take off their holy mantle and have to come down in the dusty soil to work hard with those hard working people. This is the only way to attain God. The Poet further says that there is no harm if your clothes get dirty and stained. You have to work with those people. You will find God in the sweat of your brow. You can attain God only by hard work. This is the reason why the poet castigates idolatry and blind worship.
3. How can one realise God. Discuss with reference to Tagore’s philosophy.
Ans.:- ‘Leave This Chanting’ shows Tagore’s deep love and faith in God. In this poem Tagore says that one can realise God only by following the path suggested by Tagore. And that path is of hard work. One can realise God only by hard work.
Hard work is the key which leads us to God. God is all-pervasive. You need not to go to temples to find Him. You need not to sing songs of praise to please Him. He is to be found among those farmers who till the hard land throughout the day. He will be found among the path makers who do the hard work of breaking stones. God lives with all these humble, hard working people. So the poet asks the worshippers to take off their holy mantle and come down to the dusty soil to work with these men. Poet also castigates the idea of salvation. For people, deliverance means freedom from the cycle of birth and death. The Poet says that the very idea of deliverance is useless.
Deliverance is impossible to attain. God himself is not free. He has taken upon His shoulders the task of creation. He creates everything and takes care of everyone. God is bound with us all for ever. The Poet advises the seekers of God to come out of their meditations because this is not the appropriate way to reach God. He also asks them not to offer flowers and incense to God. God could not be pleased by this way. He could be pleased only by hard work. God is always with those who work hard. The Poet says that there is no harm if your clothes get dirty or stained. If you really want to meet God you have to work hard because hard work is worship. The Poet says, “Meet him and stand by him toil and in sweat of the brow.
