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When Bertrand Russell's article reminded Rabindranath Tagore of Upanishad verse | A century old letter between Nobel laureates
Just a year after Tagore wrote the letter, he won the Nobel Prize in literature in 1913.
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On this day in 1912, Rabindranath Tagore wrote a letter to English mathematician and philosopher Bertrand Russell, bringing together two towering intellectuals whose contributions to literature would later be recognised with the Nobel Prize. Their correspondence, which is over a century old, includes an Upanishad verse, a reference to an article, and exchange of ideas on philosophy.
The Nobel Prize X handle shared the letter from Bertrand Russell Archives from McMaster University on Tuesday.
In the letter, penned by Tagore, he refers to another letter that Russell wrote to him and expresses his gratitude. Tagore added that he will ask Dr Seal to pay Russel a visit at Cambridge whenever he has time. While it is not clear who the ‘Dr Seal’ is that Tagore is referring to in the letter, it could be Brajendranath Seal, a scholar, thinker, educational administrator and reformer, and who was considered close to Tagore.
Tagore tells Russell that he read his article on the ‘Essence of the Religion’ in a Hibbert Journal “with great interest” and that it reminded him of a verse from the Upanishad, which translates, according to the letter, to --
“From him words, as well as mind, come back baffled. Yet he who knows the joy of Brahman (the Infinite) is free from all fear.”
Here is what the letter says-
“37 Alfred Place W. South Kensington
Dear Mr Russell.
S.W.
13 October 1912
Dear Mr Russell,
Thanks for your kind letter. I will ask Dr Seal to pay you a visit at Cambridge, when you will have an opportunity to know him.
I read your article on the Essence of Religion in the last issue of the Hibbert Journal with very great interest. It reminded me of a verse in the Upanishad which runs thus -
“Yato vácho nivartauté aprápya manasá Saha, Anandam Brahmano Vidván na l vibhéti Kutushchan”
"From him words, as well as mind, come back baffled. Yet he who knows the joy of Brahman (the Infinite) is free from all fear."
Through knowledge you cannot apprehend him; yet when you live the life of the Infinite and are not bound within the limits of the finite self you realize that great joy which is above all the pleasures and pains of our selfish life and so you are free from all fear.This joy itself is the positive perception of Brahman.
It is not a creed which authority imposes on us but an absolute realization of the Infinite which we can only attain by breaking through the bonds of the narrow self and setting our will and love free.
Yours Sincerely,
Rabindranath Tagore”
Nobel Prize wins in coming years
Just a year after Tagore wrote the letter, he won the Nobel Prize in literature in 1913 and became the first non-European and first Asian laureate to receive a Nobel Prize in any category
It was his collection of poems titled ‘Gitanjali (Song Offerings)’, which he translated into English himself, that got him the recognition. He was awarded "because of his profoundly sensitive, fresh and beautiful verse, by which, with consummate skill, he has made his poetic thought, expressed in his own English words, a part of the literature of the West”, according to The Nobel Prize website.
Till date, he remains the only Indian recipient of the Nobel Prize in Literature.
Years later, in 1950, Bertrand Russell won the same prize "in recognition of his varied and significant writings in which he champions humanitarian ideals and freedom of thought”.
