Jivansmrti: The Birth of a Poet's Soul (Translation of Tagore's Jivansmrti)

Rabindranath Tagore’s long life (1861- 1941) was marked by ceaseless and torrential flow of creativity manifested in the richness and variety of all kinds of literary and artistic forms. He was both a man of action and a seer, a man of royal grandeur and an ascetic. In his philosophy of life the best of the East and that of the West are reconciled into a harmonious whole. His inclusive mind aspired after the universal man shining in the glory of creation and joie de vivre. With the passage of time, Tagore, our first Nobel Laureate, has only grown in stature and is now recognized as an increasingly significant and rich personality and a genius for all times.
Jīvansmŗti (1911) is an intimate account by Rabindranath, aptly called jīvanśilpī (artist of life), of the growth of the inner man within him from early childhood to youth. In Jīvansmŗti, the mature elderly poet seems to have been looking back—affectionately, indulgently, wittily—to the days of his childhood, boyhood, and the sad, mad and sweet boisterous days of early youth. He seems to have been wandering down memory lane, greeting once more the dear departed friends and kin in the mellowed light of fond remembrance.
Unlike a conventional autobiography Jīvansmŗti is not a systematic chronicle of events; rather it is unified by the author’s consciousness of invisible correspondence between his living and writing, operating like the impalpable note of some musical melody.
By offering many an explanation/clue to many a recurring idea, theme, facet in Tagore’s immeasurably rich and variegated literary and artistic oeuvre, Jīvansmŗti also provides a ‘magic casement’ opening on the ocean of Tagore’s creative and artistic oeuvre, and helps us to understand the author and his works better. Indeed Tagore’s oeuvre and Jīvansmŗti mutually lend colour, tone and keys to each other.
The book is written in such an easeful manner and in the tone of an intimate talk among friends, that after finishing the book one’s immediate feeling is of having a rare experience—as if one had spent some time with Rabindranath, sitting face to face, listening to his exquisite talk— a talk partly with himself, partly with the reader—a talk pleasurable to the ear, fascinating for the mind, which can be validly described as ‘a colourful flow of music’ or ‘a melodious rainbow’. It is as if one had taken a plunge in an unbelievably wonderful spring made of literature, music, painting, philosophy and humour.
The translators have attempted to strike a fine balance between fidelity and freedom by conveying the spirit of the original and yet conforming to the genius of English language. It will enable those who do not know Bengali or do not have enough proficiency in Bengali to enjoy a plunge into this ‘colourful flow of music’ or ‘melodious rainbow’.