Also Read
Thy gifts to us mortals fulfil all our needs and yet run back to thee un-diminished.
The river has its everyday work to do and hastens through fields and hamlets; yet its incessant stream winds towards the washing of thy feet.
The flower sweetens the air with its perfume; yet its last service is to offer itself to thee.
Thy worship does not impoverish the world.
From the words of the poet men take what meanings please them; yet their last meaning points to thee.
 |
| Gitanjali Poem no. 75 |
Summary
The poet explains that everything in His creation has its origin from Him and ends within Him. The gifts of God to the mortals are inexhaustible. They serve the needs of human beings and return to God without diminishing. The river passes through the villages and fields irrigating them without its water being diminished in any way. It continues to flow till it mingles with the sea. The flower makes the air sweet and fresh with its perfume but in end it fades away in the feet of God paying its last service as an offering to God. The poet means to say that the soul has its origin from the Almighty and it completes its purpose and merges with the divine soul.
The worship of God does not make anybody poorer, neither the river, nor the flower, nor the poet who devotes his songs to the service of his maker, though the world may interpret them differently.
Critical Analysis
The poem explains the mystical origin of the creation. God creates the things they fulfil their purpose and later merges with Him. The Upanishad says: "From him proceed the oceans and all the mountains and the rivers of every kind, from Him also emanate the annual herbs and the juice, by which the inner self exists encircled by the gross elements."
The use of concrete, sensuous imagery to illustrate mystical truths is to be noted. The image of flower symbolizes the vitality and sacrificing attitude of God. The river is again an embodiment of life, endless flow of life and its merging with sea symbolizes the union of earthly soul with the eternal and universal one.
"Thy gift to us mortals fulfil all our needs and yet run back to thee undiminished. The river has its everyday work to do and hastens through fields and hamlets; yet its incessant stream winds towards the washing of thy feet."
The theme of realization is recurrent here. The poet speaks about the universal truth, the truth of origin. Everything is coming out from the universal soul, being its own part. It serves its purpose and again runs back to the God. The immortal gift of God for man in the form of nature - river, flower, light and wind everything has its origin from the Immanent, Omnipotent one. The river serves the purpose of fertilizing the earth and runs back to its source, the God to wash the feet of Creator. Similarly man, a part of universal soul will ultimately meet his source, his origin after serving his purpose of humanity, love, devotion and spirituality.
Annotations
Impoverish: making poor. Undiminished: without finishing. Hamlets: villages. Incessant: never ending.