(103) In one salutation to thee, my God (from Gitanjali)

by Rabindranath Tagore

English version by Rabindranath Tagore
Original Language Bengali

In one salutation to thee, my God, let all my senses spread out and touch this world at thy feet.
     Like a rain-cloud of July hung low with its burden of unshed showers let all my mind bend down at thy door in one salutation to thee.
     Let all my songs gather together their diverse strains into a single current and flow to a sea of silence in one salutation to thee.
     Like a flock of homesick cranes flying night and day back to their mountain nests let all my life take its voyage to its eternal home in one salutation to thee.

-- from Gitanjali, by Rabindranath Tagore

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Commentary by Ivan M. Granger

What a lovely outpouring of the heart to God by the great Bengali poet, Rabindranath Tagore.

Imagine the courage it takes for a poet, a singer of songs, to say, "Let all my songs gather together their diverse strains into a single current and flow to a sea of silence in one salutation to thee."

When a poet wants fame, he wants each line to make a great noise and proclaim his name. But when a poet is truly great, he wants each strain to lead to silence, the lines washing away all noise, even the voice of the poet himself!

That is the way, the only real form of prayer: One all-encompasing salutation to the Divine that leaves us utterly empty of self, that leaves us standing in spaciousness and silence. Such a pure yielding turns all of life into a voyage that continuously returns us to our eternal home.

In one salutation...



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103) In one