That on that day,
in the pre-dawn night of the
dispersed fair
in the midst of
the smiles and jokes,
the din and bustle,
the idle talks on trivial matters
a song arose:
'Oh Lord, please take me across' -
that I am being unable to
forget;
that is amazing me
even today.
That these words
human beings
have been saying
since
so many days,
'Please take me across' -
this is a strange affair.
This desire of his/hers -
whether it knows itself completely -
even that
I'm unable to comprehend.
If
an Ascetic -
leaving
all efforts in the World
behind,
comes to the shore of his/her Ocean of Austerities,
stands there,
and says:
'Oh Giver of Attainments,
Please Take me Across
to the Shore of Realization',
then
the meaning of that
we can understand.
But,
(s)he in front of whom
there is no purpose,
there are no austerities -
where is his/her Sailor,
where is his/her Ocean,
what is (s)he looking to go across?
His/her this shore - where is that,
and
that shore - where again is that?
We -
verily from within the midst of
all the press of our duties1 -
are saying:
'Oh Lord, please Take me Across';
when the cabby is driving his/her cab,
(s)he is saying: 'Please Take me Across';
when the grocer is weighing rice and beans2,
(s)he is saying: 'Please Take me Across'.
Don't think
they are saying 'Please Take us Across from this work only'.
They are wishing to go across
while verily
staying in the midst of
work;
that is why,
at the time of singing a song,
their work is not being absent3.
Oh Ocean of Joy,
this shore is Yours,
that shore too is Yours.
But,
when I call
one shore
'my shore',
then
from the other shore
it suffers
a separation.
Then,
it falls from the
feeling
of Completeness
of its own;
for the other shore -
in the inside
its psyche keeps crying
all the time.
My shore's 'I'
feels
the Separation
from
That 'You' of Your Shore.
To go across -
that is why
so much longing and crying.
Calling 'This is my house',
the person called 'I'
is toiling to death
day and night.
Until (s)he is able to say
'This is Your House too',
before that
(s)he has so many afflictions,
so many attachments,
so many losses -
there is no end to that;
until then,
while doing housework,
his/her inner soul
cries
and sings:
'Oh Lord, Please Take me Across'.
The moment
(s)he is able to
make
'my house'
'only Your House',
it is at that very moment
that
even while
staying within the house,
(s)he goes across.
Considering 'my work',
when the person called 'I'
day and night
goes about huffing and puffing,
then
(s)he receives so many blows,
and
deals so many blows -
it is then only
that
his/her song is: 'Please Take me Across';
when (s)he is able to say, 'Your Work',
then (s)he has gone across.
I shall make 'my house' 'Your House',
I shall make 'my work' 'Your Work' -
it is then only
that
I and You
Shall Merge.
Leaving my house I shall go to Your House,
leaving my work I shall go to Your Work -
this promise
is not
our heart's promise.
For,
this, too, is a promise of separation.
The 'I'
in which
You do not reside,
and the You
in which
I do not reside -
they both, verily, are equal to me4.
This is precisely why,
right in the midst of our house,
right in the midst of the market of our duties5
day and night
a sound
has arisen:
'Oh Lord, Please Take me Across.'
It is verily Here
that
The Ocean Exists,
it is verily Here
that The Going Across Exists.
11 Paush 1315
(December 25, 1908)
Bengali original: http://www.tagoreweb.in/Render/ShowContent.aspx?ct=Essays&bi=72EE92F5-BE50-4057-6E6E-0F7410664DA3&ti=72EE92F5-BE50-4907-FE6E-0F7410664DA3&ch=1