Work is Worship
WORK IS WORSHIP
Leave this chanting and singing and
telling of beads!Whom dost thou
worship in this lonely dark corner of a temple with doors all shut? Open
thine eyes and see thy God is not before thee
He is there the tiller is tilling
the hard ground and where the path-maker
is breaking stones. He is with them
in sun and shower,and his garment is covered with dust. Put off thy holy mantle and even like him come
down on the dusty soil!
Deliverance? Where is this deliverance to be found? Our master himself has joyfully taken upon him the bonds of
creation; he is bound with us all forever. Come out of thy meditations and leave aside thy flowers and incense!
What harm is there if thy clothes become tattered and stained?Meet him and stand by him in toil and in sweat of thy brow.
Introduction:
Poet Rabindranath Tagore is a poet,philosopher,and teacher. He wrote poetry,drama and fiction in the Bengali language and was also a celebrated artist and musician.
He won the noble prize for the literature in 1913 after the publication of 'Digitalizing English', a volume of spiritual poetry. In 1919 he established at Shantiniketan a university for promoting cultural co-operation between the east and the west and named it Vishwa-Bharathi
Seven deadly sins:
wealth without work
pleasure without conscience
science without humanity
knowledge without character
politics without principle
commerce without morality
worship without sacrifice.
- Mahatma Gandhi
Quotations which emphasize importance of work or Karmayog: 1] work before you play 2] work is food for noble mind 3] There is no shortcut to hard work 4] work without love is slavery – M. Teresa
New words: Chant-say a prayer in a singing voice Till(v)-prepare and use land for growing crops Garment-dress Deliverance-final release from rebirth Bead-a small round ball of wood
Theme of the poem: Karmayoga (socially productive and useful work) alone will help man achieve liberation from rebirth.
Best line of the poem which I liked most:
Put off the thy holy mantle and even like him come down on the dusty soil!
Suggested books for further reading:
1] Vachana's of lord Basavanna 2] Vachana's of Sarvajnana 3] Vachana's of Allam Prabhu and Akka mahadevi