Keywords
Rabindranath Tagore
Environment
Nature
Astronomy
Beauty
Reality
How to Cite
Abstract
Rabindranath Tagore, the famous Nobel Laureate literature from India is mainly known for his creation in art, literature and music. However, since, his childhood he had deep curiosity and regard for science. His initiation to astronomy by his father Debendranath Tagore and later on his interest in life-science enabled him to pursue his search for the origin of the Universe. Rabindranath’s deep-rooted belief in integrating human consciousness with nature manifested through his perception of environment in many ways during his days in Santiniketan. His close association with famous physicist and biologist, Jagadish Chandra Bose and later on his five meetings with great mathematician Albert Einstein took him different levels of understanding science. His disagreement with Einstein on the question of existence reality independent of human beings was rooted in Oriental philosophical tradition. It also echoed the basic understanding of quantum mechanics. Tagore was always enthusiastic about popularisation of science and his last seminal work in the realm of science, Visva-Parichay (Introduction to the Universe), was a major addition to that trend.
References
1. Bhattacharya, Arupratan. 2018. Bangalir Bigyan Bhavana o Sadhana. Kolkata: Dey’s Publishing. (Bengali year 1425 B.S.)
2. Bhattacharya, Sabyasachi. 1998. “Introduction.” In The Contested Terrain: Perspectives on Education in India. Hyderabad: Orient Longman.
3. Bhattacharya, Sabyasachi. 2011. Rabindranath Tagore: An Interpretation. Gurugram, Haryana: Penguin Books.
4. Capra, Fritjof. 1988. Uncommon Wisdom. New York: Simon & Schuster. https://www.fritjofcapra.net/heisenberg-and-tagore/. Accessed April 15, 2025.
5. Chatterjee, Ramananda, ed. 1931. “The Nature of Reality: Authorised Version.” Modern Review, January.
6. Chattopadhyay, Dipankar. 2011. Rabindranath O Bigyan. Kolkata: Ananda Publishers Pvt. Ltd.
7. Heisenberg, Werner. 1955. The Physicist’s Conception of Nature. London: Hutchinson.
8. Marianoff, Dimitri. 1930. “Einstein and Tagore Plumb the Truth.” New York Times Magazine, August 10. Quoted in Dipankar Home and Andrew Robinson, “Einstein and Tagore: Man, Nature and Mysticism.” Journal of Consciousness Studies 2 (2): 167–179, 1995.
9. Mukhopadhyay, Prabhat Kumar. 1994. Rabindra-Jiboni o Rabindra Sahitya Probeshak. Santiniketan: Visva-Bharati.
10. Tagore, Rabindranath. 1926. “A Poet’s School.” In Tagore for You, edited by Sisir Kumar Ghose. Santiniketan: Visva-Bharati, 1984.
11. Tagore, Rabindranath. 1937. “Jagadish Chandra.” Prabashi, December.
12. Tagore, Rabindranath. 1961. Jibansmriti. In Rabindra Rachanabali, Centenary Volume, Vol. 10. Calcutta: West Bengal Government.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Copyright (c) 2025 JASSSR