Self Versus Society in 'The Impoverished Gift' by Rabindranath Tagore

1. Self Versus Society in ‘The Impoverished Gift’ by
Rabindranath Tagore
Paper N/o., Subject Code, Name :
201 : 22406 : Indian English
Literature – Pre-Independence
Prepared by : Nirav Amreliya
Ro. N/o. : 18
Dated on : 2nd October, 2022
Batch :2021 – 2023 (M.A. Sem.3)
Enrollment Number : 4069206420210002
Submitted to : Smt. Sujata Binoy Gardi Department of English,
Maharaja Krishnakumarsinhji Bhavnagar University - Bhavnagar

2. Tagore’s ‘Deeno Daan’ is a story narrative whose relevance
extends far beyond both the space of the kingdom where the event
takes place, and also the time frame which extends to all time.
 It underscores the obscenity of extravagance on the part of the
rich and powerful (here depicted through the grandiose actions of a
monarch, and yet just as applicable to the obscenity of imperials
looters and plunderers.
 In this balladic story, a vainglorious monarch expends enormous
quantities of gold to build up a glittering temple to benevolent God
while at the same time heartlessly turning away thousands of
suffering subjects rendered paupers by a wildfire which consumed
their all.
The arrogant King is taught a lesson in humanity and morality by
a highly revered sage who chooses to offer his devotions to God
under the trees and upon the dust of the green earth instead of the
King’s opulent temple. (Source)
Introduction to the Poem

3. Self Versus Society
Said the royal attendant, “Despite entreaties, king,
The finest hermit, best among men, refuses shelter
In your temple of gold, he is singing to god
Beneath a tree by the road.
 In the beginning lines, the narrator alludes to the sovereignty of the sage who
– due to his own finest will – refuses to be the part or a puppet of king’s vanity
despite given the highest position in the temple vaingloriously built by the
monarch as a part of his glory under the name of worshipping God.
This can be stretched further into the field of Transcendentalism, the
prominent transcendentalist Ralph Waldo Emerson, in his ‘Self-Reliance’ states
“To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to change you is the greatest
accomplishment.” However, this statement should not be taken to define and
vindicate one’s rigidity of character, but cherished as a uniqueness of one’s self.

4. “There is no god in that temple,” said the hermit.
Furious,
The king said, “No god! You speak like a godless man,
Hermit. A bejewelled idol on a bejewelled throne,
You say it’s empty?”
 These successive lines refer to the staunch individualism as dealt with in
field of Transcendentalism, denial of God’s existence in front of authority in
social dynamics is superficially seen as an attempt to defile the so-called
sacredness of given culture, but this assumption is faulty as there is room for
individual freedom too.
 Swami Vivekananda quips while addressing the Parliament of Religions in
Chicago : “…the crying evil in the East is not religion — they have religion
enough — but it is bread that the suffering millions of burning India cry out for
with parched throats. They ask us for bread, but we give them stones. It is an
insult to a starving people to offer them religion;” (Source)
 Salman Rushdie says : “’Respect for religion’ has become the code-phrase
meaning ‘Fear of Religion.’ Religions, like all other ideas, deserve criticism, satire,
and yes, our fearless disrespect.” (Source)

5.  In one of the articles published in Los Angeles Times on
7th Feb., 2005, Salman Rushdie gives remarkable statement
concerning religion and its supremacy in cultural aspects :
“The moment you say any idea system is sacred, whether it’s
a religious belief system or a secular ideology, the moment
you declare a set of ideas to be immune from criticism,
satire, derision, or contempt, freedom of thought becomes
impossible.” (Source)

6. “Not empty, it holds royal arrogance,
You have consecrated yourself, not the god of the world.”
 Here in these lines, the artistic beauty is seen. The hermit
says that royal arrogance and pompous egoism are there
instead of the divine and true worshipping sentiments.
 Similarly, we find the towering statues of dictators
around the world, such as Kim Jong-un from North Korea,
Joseph Stalin from Soviet Union, Vladmir Lenin from
Russia, Robert Mugabe from Zimbabwe, and Adolf Hitler
from Germany, etc.

7. Kim Jong-un – North Korea Joseph Stalin – Soviet Union Vladimir Lenin - Russia
Robert
Mugabe -
Zimbabwe
Adolf
Hitler -
Germany

8. Said the tranquil hermit, “The year when the fires
Raged and rendered twenty thousand subjects
Homeless, destitute; when they came to your door
With futile pleas for help, and sheltered in the woods,
In caves, in the shade of trees, in dilapidated temples,
When you constructed your gold-encrusted building
With twenty lakh gold coins for a deity, god said,
‘My eternal home is lit with countless lamps
In the blue, infinite sky; its everlasting foundations
Are truth, peace, compassion, love. This feeble miser
Who could not give homes to his homeless subjects
Expects to give me one!’ At that moment god left
To join the poor in their shelter beneath the trees.
 These lines unflinchingly renders the indifference of rulers or leisure class
towards people who work for giving these people comfort. We can relate this
with the myth of Nero and Rome from which the famous proverb is derived :
“Nero fiddles while Rome burns.” Such rulers only care to maintain their false
image of being great even at the cost of the people coming under the boundary
of their ruling regime.

9. Flaring up in rage
The king said, “You false deceiver, leave my kingdom
This instant.”
 In these penultimate lines, the outraged king – having found his false glory
being besmirched by the words of truth spoken by the sage – abuses him with
alleging him as a deceiver; this shows that the monarch was never holding
respect for devotees, but for his false image, this also can be related to the
present time when people who do not prefer any of the national, religious, and
racist identities are regarded as ‘others’ and thus neglected from their rights by
mainstream groups in society.
 Here concerning the Powerplay idea given by Michel Foucault plays pivotal
role in analyzing such scenario. He rightly says in ‘Language, Counter-Memory,
Practice: Selected Essays and Interviews by Michel Foucault’ (1977) : “The
intellectual was rejected and persecuted at the precise moment when the facts
became incontrovertible, when it was forbidden to say that the emperor has no
clothes.” (Source)

10. 10 Richest Temples of India
1. Padmanabhswamy Temple, Kerala – 20 Billion
Dollar Wealth
2. Tirumala Tirupati Venkateshwara Temple,
Andhra Pradesh – Rupees 650 Crore Annual
Income
3. Shirdi Sai Baba Shrine, Mumbai – Rupees 360
Crore Annual Donation
4. Vaishno Devi Temple, Jammu – Rupees 500
Crore Annual Income
5. Siddhivinayak Temple, Mumbai – Rupees 48
Crore to 125 Crore Annual Income
6. Golden Temple, Amritsar – All-Over Wealth
Rupees 130 Crore
7. Meenakshi Temple, Madurai – Rupees 6 Crore
Annual Income
8. Jagannath Temple, Puri - gold articles
weighing nearly 130 kg, silver articles weighing
more than 220 kg
9. Kashi Vishwanath Temple, Varanasi – Rupees
4 Crore to 5 Crore Annual Donation
10. Somnath Temple, Gujarat – Annual Income 33
Crore (Source)

11. Conclusion
:
 Eventually at the end of this discussion, we can safely conclude
that themes such as powerplay, vaingloriousness of human beings,
individuality, social isolation, greed, and follies sharply dealt with in
the poem. Another noteworthy aspect of the poem is its fearless voice
favoring poor and their lives and questioning the rulers who are the
elites or upper-class people. Anything that is done without logical
efforts and only on the basis of emotional satisfaction, especially
taking revenues from mass, is not serving the people, especially
impoverished, but costing their lives in such follies.

12.  Works Cited :
 Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda, https://advaitaashrama.org/cw/content.php.
 “Democracy Is No Polite Tea Party.” Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 7 Feb. 2005,
https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2005-feb-07-oe-rushdie7-story.html.
 Desk, India Today Web. “If These 10 Temples Give Away Their Wealth, India's Poverty Will Be
Solved.” India Today, 19 Nov. 2016, https://www.indiatoday.in/fyi/story/siddhivinayak-hundi-
rich-temple-india-demonetisation-352322-2016-11-16.
 “Gilles Deleuze & Michel Foucault.” Intellectuals and Power by Gilles Deleuze & Michel
Foucault (254ES) - Atlas of Places, https://www.atlasofplaces.com/essays/intellectuals-and-
power/.
 “Salman Rushdie Condemns Attack on Charlie Hebdo.” English Pen, 9 June 2020,
https://www.englishpen.org/posts/campaigns/salman-rushdie-condemns-attack-on-charlie-
hebdo/.
“The Impoverished Gift.” Countercurrents, 15 Mar. 2017,
https://countercurrents.org/2017/03/the-impoverished-gift/.