Man at the Centre <strong>of</strong> Universe<strong>Tagore</strong>’s Ideas on Complete EducationUDAYA NARAYANA SINGHA set <strong>of</strong> four words here – aspiration, power, freedom andmoral communion, define how <strong>Tagore</strong> would like to placeman at the centre <strong>of</strong> his universe as he spelt out his ideason education.A painting by Rabindranath <strong>Tagore</strong>While talking about his childhood and educationRabindranath <strong>Tagore</strong> (1929) had once written: “I wasbrought up in an atmosphere <strong>of</strong> aspiration, aspirationfor the expansion <strong>of</strong> the human spirit. We in our home soughtfreedom <strong>of</strong> power in our language, freedom <strong>of</strong> imagination inour literature, freedom <strong>of</strong> soul in our religious creeds and that<strong>of</strong> mind in our social environment. Such an opportunity hasgiven me confidence in the power <strong>of</strong> education which is one withlife and only which can give us real freedom, the <strong>high</strong>est that isINDIA PERSPECTIVES VOL 24 NO. 2/2010 104 INDIA PERSPECTIVES VOL 24 NO. 2/2010 105
<strong>Tagore</strong> with the students <strong>of</strong> the Santiniketan schoolOpen air ambience <strong>of</strong> Santiniketan schoolclaimed for man, his freedom<strong>of</strong> moral communion in thehuman world....” (From ‘Ideals<strong>of</strong> Education’, Visva-BharatiQuarterly, April-July 73-74). Thefour <strong>high</strong>lighted words here– namely, aspiration, power,freedom and moral communion,define how <strong>Tagore</strong> would liketo place man at the centre <strong>of</strong>his universe as he spelt out hisideas on education.By the early 20 th century,by when western educationhad permeated into our livesin India, nobody seemed tohave thought about CompleteEducation which would providea learning opportunity wherethere is a communion betweenman and nature, betweenteacher and the taught, betweenliberal arts and the performingand fine arts, and where Manis at the centre <strong>of</strong> universe.That knowledge or skill alonewill not lead us anywhere ashuman beings, and that weneed something more thanthese came out beautifully ina statement <strong>of</strong> Einstein whenhe said: “Knowledge and skillsalone cannot lead humanityto a happy and dignified life.Humanity has every reason toplace the proclaimers <strong>of</strong> <strong>high</strong>moral standards and valuesabove the discoverers <strong>of</strong> objectivetruth. What humanity owes topersonalities like Buddha, Moses,and Jesus ranks for me <strong>high</strong>erthan all the achievements <strong>of</strong>the inquiring and constructivemind.”To this list <strong>of</strong> ‘Great Minds’that Einstein (1879-1955) hadmentioned, I would like toadd <strong>Tagore</strong> – not just for hispoems, plays, stories, novels,songs, and paintings, but als<strong>of</strong>or his philosophy and ideason nation-building – and histhoughts on ‘What makes mancomplete?’, and ‘How CreativeJoy’ as in Music, Painting,Sculpting or Writing go hand inhand with Applied Sciences?’While commenting on <strong>Tagore</strong>’sideas on education, O’Connell,K.M. (2003; ‘Rabindranath<strong>Tagore</strong> on Education’) argued:“Rather than studying nationalcultures for the wars won andcultural dominance imposed,he advocated a teaching systemthat analysed history andculture for the progress thathad been made in breakingdown social and religiousbarriers. Such an approachemphasized the innovations thathad been made in integratingindividuals <strong>of</strong> diversebackgrounds into a largerframework, and in devisingthe economic policies whichemphasized social justice andnarrowed the gap between richand poor.”While looking back at hisexperiment at Santiniketanwhen he was 80, <strong>Tagore</strong> toldus how he found a place for‘science’ in the scheme <strong>of</strong> thingshere (in ‘Atmacarita’): ‘OnceI had taken a vow to imparteducation, the creative field <strong>of</strong>which was the poetic universe<strong>of</strong> the Supreme Creator, and soI had invoked the cooperation<strong>of</strong> the land, the water and thesky <strong>of</strong> this place. I wishedto place the penance forKnowledge on the pedestal <strong>of</strong>Joy. I tried to inspire the youngstudents in the festive garden <strong>of</strong>nature by singing the welcomesongs for each season…Here,right at the beginning wecreated a space for the mystery<strong>of</strong> the origin <strong>of</strong> universe. Iwanted to create a space forthe intellectual in the totaland vibrant scheme <strong>of</strong> mine,which was why Science had aspecial position <strong>of</strong> privilege inour work-place. The Vedas tellus – ‘yasmadrite na siddhatiyajno, vipashcitashcana sadhiinam yogaminvati’ –‘One without whom even themost knowledgeable onescannot attain the fruit <strong>of</strong> theyajnas – One that is attainableonly with intellect and not bychants nor by magical rituals!’That was why I have tried touse both joy and intellect inthe creative construction <strong>of</strong>this place.’ (Translation bythis author).Notice that contrary to ourbelief, there is no talk <strong>of</strong>‘divinity’ or ‘supernatural’ here,which is very interesting. <strong>Tagore</strong>here talks about bringing in acommunion between the forces<strong>of</strong> ‘intellect’ – the sciences, andthe power <strong>of</strong> ‘joy’ – the arts. Allthrough, his argument is thatboth need to be ‘located’ withinthe space in which they needINDIA PERSPECTIVES VOL 24 NO. 2/2010 106 INDIA PERSPECTIVES VOL 24 NO. 2/2010 107
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