Where the Mind Is Without Fear written by Rabindranath Tagore
About the Poet
Rabindra Nath Tagore is a well-known
poet and writer of India. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for his collection of
poems under the title ‘Gitanjali’. The present poem appeared in that collection
of poems. The poet had written this poem in Bengali, but later he himself
translated this poem into English.
About the Poem
Tagore wrote this poem when India was
under British rule. People were hopeful in those days that sooner or later,
their country was going to be liberated from the slavery of the British. Tagore
was also cherishing the hope of freedom. So he wrote this poem in which he made
prayer to God to grant his country the real type of freedom. By reading this
poem, we come to know what type of freedom Tagore wished to get for his
country.
Text of the Poem
Where the Mind id without Fear
Where the mind is
without fear and the head is held high
Where knowledge is free
Where the world has not been broken up into fragments
By narrow domestic walls
Where words come out from the depth of truth
Where tireless striving stretches its
arms towards perfection
Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way
Into the dreary desert sand of dead habit
Where the mind is led forward by thee
Into ever-widening thought and action
Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake
Line-to-line Explanation of the Poem
(Lines 1 to 4)
Where the mind is
without fear and the head is held high
Where knowledge is free
Where the world has not been broken up into fragments
By narrow domestic walls
Where words come out from the depth of truth
Word-meanings: 1. Held-kept 2. Fragments-pieces 3. Narrow domestic walls: Usually
when there is division in a house, small walls are erected (built) to show
separation in a family. But here in the poem, the poet thinks of his country as
a family. He hopes that no walls should be built to separate one human being
from the other. In a way the poet does want that his countrymen should be
divided on the basis of caste, religion, culture, and dogmas.
4. ‘words come out from the depth of
truth’: The poet wishes that his countrymen should be truthful. They should not
become hypocrites. Whatever they think and do must come out of the depth of
their hearts. It should be real and genuine.
Explanation:
The poet imagines an ideal situation. He wishes that his countrymen should be bold and courageous. They should not have
any fear in their minds. They should be able to hold their heads high with the
honour. In the next line, the poet wishes that in his country knowledge should
be free. It should not be the prerogative (special right) of the few. The light
of knowledge should spread everywhere. Every child of the country should have
the right to education. Such is Tagore’s concept of education.
‘Where the world has not been broken up into fragments
By narrow domestic walls’
Tagore not only thinks of his own
country India, it seems that he thinks of the whole world also (Vasudevo
Kutumbhkam). He thinks of the whole world as a family which should not be
divided into fragments (pieces). It happens when there is division into a
family. Small domestic walls are built within the small house. Thus the unity
of the family is destroyed.
But Tagore means to say that his
country and even the whole world should not be divided on the basis of
nationalities, languages, cultural differences, castes and religions.
‘Where words come out from the depth of truth’
In the above line, the poet wishes that his
countrymen should be honest and truthful. He prays to God that his countrymen should be simple and straightforward. They
should not show hypocrisy neither in their words nor in deeds. What they do
should do or speak should come out of their hearts. It means they should be
truthful and outspoken in words and deeds. The poet indeed imagines of an ideal
situation in his country where no evil prevails.
Lines 5-8:
Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection
Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way
Into the dreary desert sand of dead habit
Where the mind is led forward by thee
Into ever-widening thought and action
Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake
Word-meanings: 1.Tireless: without feeling tired 2. Striving: struggle
3. Clear stream of reasoning: The poet thinks of the mind in which
the flow of thoughts is very clear 4. Dreary: dry 5. Thee: you 6. Dead habit:
outdated customs and dogmas 7. Heaven of freedom: a country becomes a heaven of
freedom when all the people respect one another’s freedom and rights.
Explanation:
The poet makes a prayer to God that his country should be free in the real
sense of the word. His countrymen should not be tired of struggling to achieve
perfection in their work. Before doing anything the reasoning powers should
guide them. They should not be swayed by their emotions while doing their
actions.
A clear stream of well-reasoned
thoughts should flow in their minds. Such thoughts should not be overpowered by
the overflow of emotions that are related to their bad habits and old customs.
The poet also prays that the minds
of his people should ever be widening. He means to say that his countrymen
should always try to increase their knowledge.
Rabindranath Tagore compares well-reasoned
thoughts to a stream full of clear water. He has also compared old habits,
narrow-mindedness and dogmas to the sand that is spread in a vast dry desert. If,
by any means, a stream of water is made to pass through such a desert, it would
get lost into the dry sand. In that case, it will be a sheer wastage of
valuable water. In the same way, well-reasoned thoughts also go waste if they
are overpowered by bad habits, dogmas and narrow-mindedness.
So the poet prays to God that his countrymen
should always have well-reasoned thoughts. There should not be any place for
bad habits in their minds.
After that, the poet again prays to
God that his countrymen’s minds should always keep on broadening. They should always
accept new ideas to develop their mind and personalities. There should be
appropriate coordination between their thoughts and actions. Every human being
in his country should enjoy the freedom of thought.
If all the above wishes of the poet
are granted by God, then, his country would really become a ‘heaven of
freedom’.
Into that heaven of freedom, my
Father, let my country awake
Lastly, the poet seems to pray to
God to awaken the inner-being (deep insight) of his countrymen so that they
should be able to differentiate between good and evil, right and wrong, and
friend and foe.
Stanzas
for Comprehensions:
Stanza
1.
Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high
Where knowledge is free
Where the world has not been broken up into fragments
By narrow domestic walls
Reference to the Context:
The above lines have been taken from the poem ‘Where the Mind is without fear’
written by Rabindranath Tagore. In this poem, the poet thinks of an ideal
situation. He prays to God that his country should be free in the real sense of
the word. His countrymen should not be slaves to bad habits, narrow-mindedness,
dogmas.
Explanation: The
poet imagines an ideal situation. He wishes that his countrymen should be bold and courageous. They should not have
any fear in their minds. They should be able to hold their heads high with the
honour. In the next line, the poet wishes that in his country knowledge should
be free. It should not be the prerogative (special right) of the few. The light
of knowledge should spread everywhere. Every child of the country should have
the right to education. Such is Tagore’s concept of education. Tagore not only thinks of his own
country India, it seems that he thinks of the whole world also (Vasudevo
Kutumbhkam). He thinks of the whole world as a family which should not be
divided into fragments (pieces). It happens when there is a division into a
family. Small domestic walls are built within the small house. Thus the unity of
the family is destroyed.
But Tagore means to say that his
country and even the whole world should not be divided on the basis of
nationalities, languages, cultural differences, castes, and religions.
Stanza 2
Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way
Into the dreary desert sand of dead habit
Where the mind is led forward by thee
Into ever-widening thought and action
Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake
Reference to the Context:
The above lines have been taken from the poem ‘Where the Mind is without fear’
written by Rabindranath Tagore. In this poem, the poet thinks of an ideal
situation. He prays to God that his country should be free in the real sense of
the word. His countrymen should not be slaves to bad habits, narrow-mindedness,
dogmas. They should live in harmony and unity. His country should be real
heaven in which his countrymen will enjoy their freedom.
Explanation: The poet
makes a prayer to God that his country should be free in the real sense of the
word. Before doing anything the reasoning powers should guide them. They should
not be swayed by their emotions while doing their actions.
A clear stream of well-reasoned
thoughts should flow in their minds. Such thoughts should not be overpowered by
the overflow of emotions that are related to their bad habits and old customs.
The poet also prays that the minds
of his people should ever be widening. He means to say that his countrymen
should always try to increase their knowledge.
Rabindranath Tagore compares well-reasoned
thoughts to a stream full of clear water. He has also compared old habits,
narrow-mindedness, and dogmas to the sand that is spread in a vast dry desert.
If, by any means, a stream of water is made to pass through such a desert, it
would get lost into the dry sand. In that case, it will be sheer wastage of
valuable water. In the same way, well-reasoned thoughts also go waste if they
are overpowered my bad habits, dogmas and narrow-mindedness.
So the poet prays to God that his
countrymen should always have well-reasoned thoughts. There should not be any
place for bad habits in their minds.
After that, the poet again prays to
God that his countrymen’s minds should always keep on broadening. They should
always accept new ideas to develop their mind and personalities. There should
be appropriate coordination between their thoughts and actions. Every human
being in his country should enjoy freedom of thought. Then and only then his
country can be called a Heaven of freedom. They should always remain awakened.
