Some people say,
in
Worship,
there
is
no room
for
Prayer;
Worship
Is
Meditation only -
experiencing
in mind
God's
True
Form.
We
could have
accepted
that
opinion,
if
in the World
we
did
not
see
any
Manifestation
of
Desire.
We
do not
pray
to
iron -
we
do
not
pray
to stone,
we
submit
our
prayer
to only
that person
who
has
a
faculty
of desire.
If
God
were only
the Form
of
Truth,
if
God's
Manifestation
Happened
only in the
Form
of
Infallible
Rules,
then
to Him -
the
Question
of
Prayer
Would
Not Have
Arisen
even
in our
imagination.
But,
since
He Is
'Aanandaruupamamritam'1 -
since
He
Is
Full
of Desire,
Full
of
Love,
Full
of Joy -
that
is why
we
do
not
know Him
only
by
Science;
it is
only
by
desire
that
we need to
know
His
Form
of Desire -
His
Form
of
Joy.
I
have
said
even before -
in
the World
one
proof
of
Desire
we
have
obtained
in Beauty.
This
Beauty
Kindles
our
desire,
and
it is
verily
upon
Desire
where
Its
Support
Lies;
this
is why
we
use
Beauty
as
raw
material
in
the field
of
Love,
not
in the
field
of
necessities.
This
is why
our
costumes,
our
music,
our
fragrance -
only
where
there is
a
Connection
between
Desire
and desire,
where
there is
a
Union
between
Joy
and
joy.
The
God
of This
World
in
the
World
of
His -
Has
Made
such a
Huge
Arrangement
of
This
Needless
Beauty -
that
is
precisely why
our
heart
has
realized -
the World
Is
A Place
of
Union;
otherwise,
so
much
dressing
and
costumes
of
here,
are,
verily
an
excess.
In
the World,
that
our
heart,
too,
has
something
to
realize -
if we
totally
pass that
topic
over,
why
will that
do?
On
one
side,
Light
Exists,
that is
precisely
why
we
have eyes;
on
one side,
Truth
Exists -
that
is
precisely
why
we
have
consciousness;
on
one
side,
Knowledge
Exists,
that
is precisely
why
we
have intellect;
likewise,
what
exists
on
the other
side,
in the midst of
us
the heart
is
whose reflection?
The
Upanishads
Have Answered
this
question:
Raso Vai Sah2.
He
Is
Rasa3;
He
again,
Is
Joy.
I
have
hinted
even before -
by
Power
we
can
serve
our necessities;
by
Logic
we
can
acquire
knowledge;
but,
in
the
Context
of
Joy,
the Power
and
the Logic
Stop -
coming
only
up to
the
Door;
They,
verily,
Need
To
Stand
outside.
With
This
Joy,
the
relationship
of
totally
inner
quarters -
is
of
Desire.
In
Joy,
force
of any kind
may
not
be applied -
there,
it
is
only
Desire,
only
Happiness.
In
me,
the
Abode
of
This Desire
Is
heart.
That
heart
of
mine -
full
of
Desire -
is it
established
in
emptiness?
Is
its
nutrition
in falsehood?
Is
its
destiny
in the
midst
of
failure?
Then,
whence did
this
strange symptom
come?
In
what way
does
it
survive,
even
for a
moment?
In
the
midst of
the
World,
is
there
only
one sham?
And,
that
sham,
verily,
is
this heart
of
mine?
That
is
never
the case.
At
the
time
of
This
Desire
of ours,
our
heart
is
bound
with
the
Umbilical Cord
of
the
Worldwide
Essence
of
Desire -
it
is
verily from
there
that
It
Has
Collected
the
Elixir
of Joy,
and
Has
Survived;
otherwise,
Its
Life
Would
Be
extinguished;
It
Does Not
Want
Food
and
Clothes -
It Does
Not
Want
Education
and
Attainments -
It
Wants
Immortality -
It
Wants
Love.
What
It
Wants -
That
Exists
in a small way
in
This
World,
and
Exists
in
the
Final
Way
in
Him -
that
is
precisely why
It
Wants;
otherwise,
Its Creation
Has
Not Happened,
only for
dying
by
banging
Its
head
against
a closed door.
Therefore,
the
heart
knows
itself,
and
that
is precisely why
it
definitely
knows that,
its
one
full
gratification
lies
in
the midst
of
the Endless.
It
is
not
that
Desire
only
Exists
in
its4
direction -
It5
also Exists
in
other
directions;
if
It6
Did Not
Exist
in
other
directions,
then
it7
wouldn't have
survived -
even
for
a moment's
span
of time -
it8
wouldn't have
existed,
even
in
this
little
amount
of
a small
particle
only,
by
which
even
the
activities
of
life
in
the form
of
exhalation
and
inhalation
could
go
on.
That
is
precisely why
the
Upanishads
Have
Said,
with
so
much
force:
Kohyevaanyaat Kah Praanyaat Yadesha Aakaasha Aanando Na Syaat, Esha Hyevaanandayaati9.
Who,
verily,
would have
put
an effort
to
maintain
this
body,
who,
verily,
would
have
stuck
with this
life -
were
it
not
for
the
Existence
of
This
Joy
in
the Sky -
This Joy,
verily,
Is
the One
Who
Gives
joy.
With
Desire,
in
the middle
of
desire -
the
forerunning
is performed
by
Prayer.
In the
midst
of
two
desires -
the
separation
that
exists -
upon
That
Separation
Is Standing
That
Female
Forerunner
called
'Prayer' -
in
Her
plaintive
dress.
This
is why
with
exceptional
courage,
the
Vaishnava
Has
Spoken
that,
in the
Diverse
Beauty
of
the World -
the sundry
tunes
of
the Flute
of
God
that
are being
played -
they
are
only
His
Prayer,
for
us;
He
Is
Wanting
our
hearts -
Calling
them
in
This
Ineffable
Music -
that
is precisely
why
This
Music
of Beauty
Raises
the Pain
of Separation
of
our
hearts.
That
One -
Full
of
Desire -
where
He
Is
Seeking
our
desire,
in
such a
sweet
tune -
there,
He
Has
totally
Controlled
all
His
Powers -
the
Intense
Force
by
which
He
Has Bound
the
solar
system
with
the Sun
in
an
infallible
way,
even
a trace
of
That
Force
is
not
present here;
that
is
why
the
Flute
Is
Playing
in
such
mournful
tunes -
in
such
sweet
tunes -
in
such
various
diverse
moods;
there is
no
end
to
invitation
anymore.
To
such
an invitation
of
His -
Shall
the
Prayer
of our
minds
Not
Rise?
Will
She10
Not
Cry Out,
falling
down
on
the
dirt
mat
of
Her
Separation?
From the
joyless
exile
of
untruth,
darkness
and
death,
at
the time
of
the
Journey
of Love,
is
it
not
This
Female Forerunner
called
'Prayer',
Who
Shall
Show
us
the way,
moving
ahead
with
Her
flickering
lamp-fire
in hand?
Until
the
day
we have
our
hearts,
until
the
day
God -
Who
Is
the
Essence
of Love -
Is
Decorating
This
World
as
An Abode
of
Joy
by
His
Multifarious
Beauty,
until
that
day -
without
Union
with Him,
the
Pain
of human beings -
how
Shall
That
Be
Extinguished?
Until
that
day,
which
ego
of Knowledge -
hardened
by
skepticism,
can
affront
the
Prayer
of
human beings,
and
turn Her
away?
That
This Prayer
of
ours -
from
the
mud bed
of
the
Heart
of
the
Universal
Human
Being,
like
an
eager
lotus -
Is
Raising
Her Face
toward
Light,
pushing
all
her
coverings
of
masses
of
water
away -
It
Is
Opening
Up
all
Its
Fragrance
and
Beauty -
wet
from the
tears
of
dewdrops,
and
Is Saying:
'Asato Maa Sadgamaya, Tamaso Maa Jyotirgamaya, Mrityormaamritam Gamaya'11 -
This
Complete
Gift
of
Prayerful
Worship
of
the
Human Heart -
to
be
able
to
chastise
It
as delusion -
who
has
so
big
and
so
cruel
an
aridity!
20 Paush 1315
(January 3, 1909)
Bengali original: http://www.tagoreweb.in/Render/ShowContent.aspx?ct=Essays&bi=72EE92F5-BE50-4057-6E6E-0F7410664DA3&ti=72EE92F5-BE50-4717-8E6E-0F7410664DA3&ch=1