Religion and Rabindranath Tagore: Select Discourses, Addresses, and Letters in Translation

Rabindranath Tagore was deeply influenced by the nirguni sants of north India, inspired by the Vaishnav poets belief in divine love, and found solace in the Baul singers who used songs as their medium of self-expression. His poetry and songs reflect these varied influences.

While Tagore has been studied from the biographical, literary, social, and political perspectives, his religious and philosophical side has not often been examined, owing to the unavailability of the bulk of his Bengali writings in translation. This volume includes selections from Tagores essays, public addresses, and letters. The lucid translation makes accessible the hitherto relatively neglected area of his prose writings and speeches. With a focus on the critique of contemporary Hinduism, conceptions of God and religion, and ethical activism, this work identifies the various stages in the evolution of Tagores religious thoughts beginning from the 1880s.

In his comprehensive introduction, Amiya P. Sen identifies the originality of Tagores religious and philosophic conceptions. Sen also situates Tagores religious life and thought in his time and, importantly, places him within trends in contemporary Hindu religious and philosophical thought.