Abstract
The substantial differences between Tagore and Gandhi came from their differently negotiated relationships to tradition and modernity. However, they shared a sense of wonder in living life in an enchanted cosmos. Gandhi saw enchantment in truth and Tagore saw enchantment in nature. Gandhi heard the voice of truth as an “inner voice” and Tagore heard the music of the spheres. The important point was that they heard a voice other than man. They believed in a world larger than human reality. This distanced them both equally from modernity. For a central idea of the enlightenment and of modernity is its emphatic rejection of a wider order.
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Notes
- 1.
The Kadamba flower, from the tree Neolamarckia Kadamba.
- 2.
Second month of the Indian monsoon season, usually in July–August (as per Bengali calendar).
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Puri, B. (2015). Conclusion. In: The Tagore-Gandhi Debate on Matters of Truth and Untruth. Sophia Studies in Cross-cultural Philosophy of Traditions and Cultures, vol 9. Springer, New Delhi. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-81-322-2116-6_6
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