Many times,
we get bankrupt
after a festival.
A whole day
passes
to pay off the debt.
Someone with little savings,
if (s)he goes to fulfill
his/her interest
of being a king
for a day -
then
(s)he makes
his/her ten days
bankrupt;
there is no other way.
That is why,
the day after the festival
is very depressing to us.
On that day,
all the brightness
of the sky's light
fades away;
on that day,
our heart
becomes laden
with dejection.
But, there is no way.
In the whole year,
at least for a day
human beings
banish their own
miserliness,
and thus
seek to establish
a relationship
of give-and-take
with That Generous One.
With Godliness Manifest in opulence,
they experience That God.
There are
two kinds of experience.
One kind -
like the poor experience the rich;
by receipt of charity.
In this experience
only the difference1
is brought out2
more clearly3.
Another kind of experience
is
the experience of
equality.
In that place,
I don't have to sit outside the door;
I can sit somewhat on the same cushion.
Every day,
when we live poorly -
then
our cheerless mind
keeps begging
from the Joyful.
On the Day of Festival,
it wants to say:
'Today,
not just taking -
today,
I, too, shall rejoice
like You -
today,
I don't have indigence,
I don't have penury,
today
my joy
and my giving
are -
just like Yours -
countless.'
Thus,
what Godliness is,
what is called Unstinted Abundance -
when I feel That
within myself -
then
I realize
and
prove
that
God is not only my Benefactor,
but (S)He is also my Relative.
But,
to realize This
and
to go about
evangelizing This -
many times,
at the end
we need to accept
sorrow.
Looking at
the
scattered leftovers,
melted candles
and
dried garlands
of the
next day -
our mind
gets dejected;
then,
the kingly generosity of the mind
does not stay
anymore;
remembering the topic of accounts,
our mind
becomes wearied.
But,
(s)he does not have to
suffer sorrow
who,
every day
keeps accumulating savings -
little
by
little;
the person
who
every day
is arranging
for festivals -
whose festival day
and
every day
do not have
complete difference
between them -
there is
an
internal connection
with each other.
If this is not present,
then only
we need to
arrange for a festival
by
borrowing.
We do rejoice,
but
much of that rejoicing
we do not exactly
pay for
out of our own pocket -
we keep borrowing
at least
fifteen annas4
of that.
We borrow from the assembly of people;
we borrow from the flower garlands, from the lights, from the decoration;
we borrow from the songs, the instruments, the talks.
In the excitement
of that day,
we have no awareness at all
that
we are running
on
borrowed items;
the day after,
when the flowers
dry up,
when the lights
turn off,
when the people
depart,
then -
the huge emptiness
of our debt
strikes
our eyes
and
makes our heart
restless.
It is precisely
because of
this indigence of ours
that
we abandon
the God of Festival
and rest assured -
exactly along with
the Festival Itself;
we do not make
any arrangements at all
to sit
the King of Festivals
on our Throne of Every Day.
It is our Great Fortune
that
these few of us
every day
at dawn -
in this temple-compound
meeting together
were saving up
little by little;
in This Festival-fair
we haven't arrived
exactly like a gate-crashing alien;
our mornings of every day -
not all of them
have been spent
offhand,
carelessly.
We, perhaps, have been
able to
tell the Lord of the Festival
that,
'With You,
I do have some introduction;
I have received
Your Invitation.'
After that,
we won't
finish our festival
suddenly,
in only a day -
we shall keep
this festival
flowing
in the midst of our
day-to-day
festival.
It is verily every day,
that
in the morning -
this festival
of these few of us -
shall keep going.
In the midst of
all the everyday trivialities
and Self-forgetfulness
of
ours,
at least once -
in the beginning of the day,
we shall keep experiencing
the Godliness
of the World's
Eternal Festival.
When every day
Dawn Shall Arrive
and
Stand
above the Eastern Horizon
with Her Light
in hand -
then
the few of us, verily,
shall sit still
and
shall feel,
our Every Day is Glorious -
Filled with Godliness,
our lives' trivialities
have not sullied Her5
by even a trace;
every day, verily, is She New;
every day, verily, is She Bright;
every day, verily, is She Utterly Amazing;
the Vessel of Immortality
in Her Hand -
even if poured completely face down -
even a drop of that
does not get wasted.
9 Paush 1315
(December 23, 1908)
Bengali original: http://www.tagoreweb.in/Render/ShowContent.aspx?ct=Essays&bi=72EE92F5-BE50-4057-6E6E-0F7410664DA3&ti=72EE92F5-BE50-4337-DE6E-0F7410664DA3&ch=1