ABSTRACT
This is a search for Tagore’s truth from his literary works, drawn on as many genres as possible. The occasion for such a search is of course his dialogue with Einstein on the nature of reality. But instead of taking off from there, the attempt here has been to pave the way thither. The method is inductive and builds from below. Each of his works cited has a truth in it. A good number of them are identified here. They may not cohere into a single truth, but what is common to them is their human concern, even in works dealing with spiritual experiences. And quite a few do.
This search helps give a profile of Tagore’s creativity which is of the highest order and which is what ultimately matters. And there are moments in his late life when he does reveal a truth not far from Einstein’s non-human one, yet he would not give up on consciousness, the human prerogative. It may be his subjectivity in the face of the objective world, as opposed to the objectivity of the world that the scientist, in spite of himself, is involved with.
