Summary and Critical Appreciation of Upagupta by Tagore

Introduction of the Poem:

The poem ‘Upagupta’ is a part of Tagore's writings in English in an anthology of 86 poems, translated from the original Bengali Version by Tagore himself. The anthology is entitled ‘Fruit Gathering’. These poems have a haunting melody and belong to a world of experience where sensuous merges with the spiritual.

 

Through this poem the poet tries to show how mankind can be united only by the spiritual bond of love and friendship; youth, beauty, pride and vanity must necessarily come to nothing if it is not accompanied by a morally religious and spiritual life. The theme of the poem has its roots in the teachings of the Upanishads and the poet's own beliefs that God can be found through personal purity, renunciations of worldly pleasures and service to others.

 

The poem is set in the city of Mathura which was once a centre of Buddhist culture and religion. The poem is a delicate story of love and friendship and relates an incident in the life of Upagupta, a faithful disciple of Lord Buddha, devoid of earthly pleasures and absolutely self- disciplined. The young monk is ignored by the people of the city. At that time, a woman, fettered by the worldly pleasures, pride of youth, beauty and materialism, invites Upagupta to her residence. But the offer is kindly rejected by him with a significant promise to visit her at the right time. Yet later, when she was suffering from an incurable disease he nurses her tenderly and attends to her in her pain and suffering. The moral dignity of Upagupta is finally maintained. Earlier he had rejected the temptation to accompany her but later attended to her needs at the right time and relieved her of pain and misery.

The poem beautifully reflects the poet's maturity of poetic understanding. It communicates its spiritual message through symbolism. 

Summary of the Poem: 

Upagupta, the disciple of Buddha, lay asleep on the ground near the city wall of Mathura. It was a dark and gloomy night in the month of August and the whole city was asleep. At such an hour, the silence of the restful hours of the night was broken by the sound of the anklets of a beautiful dancing girl who was passing by with a lamp.

Upagupta woke up startled with her anklet's touch. She lowered her lamp and observed the austerely beautiful face of the young ascetic. On seeing the holy man resting on the dusty ground, she offered to take him to her house, saying that the dirty corner in which he was sleeping was not a fit bed for him.

 

The young ascetic urged her in a kind and merciful tone to proceed on her way and further assured her that he would accept her invitation when the time would be ripe for him. The woman was taken aback at that prophecy and trembled in fear at his ability to look into the future. She left the place in a stormy weather conditions.

 

Time passed and it was spring season. On a warm spring evening when the people of the town had gone to celebrate the festival of flowers, Upagupta passed through the city gates. As he entered the city gates, he was surprised to see a woman lying there on the dust. She was struck with the dreaded disease, black pestilence. She had been driven away from the city by those people for whom she had danced and among whom she had been once so popular.

The ascetic sat down beside the affected woman, gave her water and tended to her wounds. To her query as to who he was, Upagupta reminded her of the vow he had made to her and further remarked that it was the right time to visit her. 

Critical Appreciation of the Poem: 

Through this poem ‘Upagupta’, Rabindranath Tagore beautifully portrays a universal truth which has its roots in the teaching of Upanishads that God can be found through personal purity, service to others and triumph of the spirit over the temptations of the five senses. The same ideology finds its echo in the preaching of Buddha.

The poem is set in the city of Mathura, once the centre of Buddhist culture and religion. Upagupta, a famous disciple of Buddha, is a symbol of austerity, simplicity, triumph over anger and lust, an embodiment of self - service and sacrifice. His disciplined life gave him an austere beauty which even the young beautiful dancer of the city could not resist. Being a true follower of Buddha, his motto was selfless service to humanity.

 

On the contrary, the poet has presented the woman as a representative of mortal love, materialism and pleasures of five senses. Hence the poem communicates its spiritual message through symbolism. The same dancer, whose offer was earlier rejected, was visited when she actually needed it, being ill and forsaken.

 

In the poem, the poet has used the two seasons - monsoon and spring, as the symbols of the two contrasting phases of life. The scene of Mathura is also not free of contrasting picture, i.e., the walled city of Mathura is full of worldly vices while the territory of the city is free from materialism.

Very beautifully, with mature poetic understanding, the poet enables the readers to recognise that sensuousness and a life immorally and vainly spent must be transformed by a spiritual awakening. Each line of the poem is meaningful. This narrative poem is written in blank verse which gives it a prose like effect. However, the wistful and mystical quality and the moral message is beautifully brought out in the lyrical tones. The strong overtones of mysticism are marked in ‘The young ascetic was walking ….

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Tagore's poetry is musical with the music of the lines rising and falling with emotions. Such rhythm is felt throughout the poem ‘The branches of the wayside trees were aching with blossom, gay notes of the flute came floating.....’