राष्ट्रगीत आणि रवींद्रनाथ

राजस्थानचे राज्यपाल कल्याणसिंग यांनी राष्ट्रगीतातील `अधिनायक' या शब्दाबद्दल त्यांचे मत जाहीरपणे मांडले. त्यांनी मांडलेल्या मुद्याचे काय होईल ते काळ सांगेलच. पण त्यावरून संघ, हिंदुत्व वगैरेवर तोंडसुख घेणाऱ्यांसाठी काही माहिती. संघ स्थापनेच्या कितीतरी आधीचा हा वाद आहे. त्यावेळच्या नामांकित वृत्तपत्रांनी काय म्हटले होते, वाद वाढल्यानंतर स्वत: टागोरांनी त्यांची काय भूमिका मांडली होती; हे पाहणे ठीक राहील. मुख्य म्हणजे टागोरांची भूमिका पाहिल्यानंतर- या वादासाठी संघ, हिंदुत्व यांना जबाबदार धरणारे आणि या वादाच्या निमित्ताने टागोरांविषयी वेगळी भावना बाळगणारे हिंदुत्वाचे समर्थक - या दोघांनाही फेरविचार करावा लागेल. `टागोर आणि हिंदुत्व' याचाही वेगळा विचार करावा लागेल.

संबंधित माहिती-

"The proceedings began with the singing by Rabindranath Tagore of a song specially composed by him in honour of the Emperor."

– The Englishman, December 28, 1911)

"The Bengali poet Rabindranath Tagore sang a song composed by him specially to welcome the Emperor."

– The Statesman, December 28, 1911)

"When the proceedings of the Indian National Congress began on Wednesday 27th December 1911, a Bengali song in welcome of the Emperor was sung. A resolution welcoming the Emperor and Empress was also adopted unanimously."

– The Indian, Dec. 29, 1911)

"The annual session of Congress began by singing a song composed by the great Bengali poet Ravindranath Tagore. Then a resolution expressing loyalty to King George V was passed. A song paying a heartfelt homage to King George V was then sung by a group of boys and girls."

– The Bengalee, December 28, 1911)

"The proceedings of the Congress party session started with a prayer in Bengali to praise God (song of benediction). This was followed by a resolution expressing loyalty to King George V. Then another song was sung welcoming King George V."

– The Amrita Bazar Patrika, December 28,1911)

While the Indian National Congress discussed the status of Vande Mataram, Tagore himself wrote about the genesis of the controversy about the Jana Gana Mana in a letter on November 10, 1937 to Pulin Bihari Sen, which is included in Ravindrajivani, Prabhatkumar Mukherjee's biography of Tagore:

"A certain high official in His Majesty's service, who was also my friend, had requested that I write a song of felicitation towards the Emperor. The request simply amazed me. It caused a great stir in my heart. In response to that great mental turmoil, I pronounced the victory in Jana Gana Mana of that Bhagya Vidhata [ed. God of Destiny] of India who has from age after age held steadfast the reins of India's chariot through rise and fall, through the straight path and the curved. That Lord of Destiny, that Reader of the Collective Mind of India, that Perennial Guide, could never be George V, George VI, or any other George. Even my official friend understood this about the song. After all, even if his admiration for the crown was excessive, he was not lacking in simple common sense."

This should have settled the controversy, but because it continued to swirl around, Tagore was irked enough to write on March 13, 1939:

"I should only insult myself if I cared to answer those who consider me capable of such unbounded stupidity as to sing in praise of George the Fourth or George the Fifth as the Eternal Charioteer leading the pilgrims on their journey through countless ages of the timeless history of mankind."

Indeed, anyone who reads the full five stanzas of the poem – in original Bengali or in its translation – and not just the first stanza that was adopted, and is sung, as the national anthem, would be able to see the absurdity of the charge, for the poem, if anything, clearly mocks the idea of a mortal king being the"Bharata bhagyaa vidhaataa" deciding the fate of the country. In fact, the fifth and concluding stanza of the poem includes a ringing exhortation: "Nidrito Bharato Jaagey" (Sleeping India awakens), a phrase that eventually finds itself invoked even in Nehru's famous Freedom at Midnight speech.

- श्रीपाद कोठे

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