Gitanjali · Chapter
CIII explained
The poet offers a final, unified salutation to the Divine, calling for all senses, mind, songs, and life to converge in a single act of devotion and return to their eternal home.
What happens
The poet offers a final, unified salutation to the Divine, calling for all senses, mind, songs, and life to converge in a single act of devotion and return to their eternal home.
Themes in this chapter
Divine Love and Devotion
The entire chapter is a single, intense act of salutation and devotion to God.
Spiritual Journey and Self-Realization
The poet's life is depicted as a voyage to its eternal home, symbolizing the soul's journey toward the Divine.
Characters to notice
- The Poet
The speaker who offers a unified salutation to God.
- The Divine
The recipient of the poet's salutation, addressed as 'thee' and 'thy'.
Key passages
“In one salutation to thee, my God, let all my senses spread out and touch this world at thy feet.”
In a single greeting to you, my God, may all my senses extend and reach this world at your feet.
The poet desires a unified, sensory devotion.
“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.”
Like a July rain-cloud heavy with unspent rain, may my entire mind bow at your door in one greeting.
The mind is compared to a cloud full of potential, bowing in humility.
“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.”
May all my songs combine their varied melodies into one stream and flow into a sea of silence in one greeting to you.
The poet's creative expressions merge into a silent, unified offering.
“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.”
Like a flock of cranes longing for home, flying day and night to their mountain nests, may my entire life journey to its eternal home in one greeting to you.
Life is a homesick voyage returning to the Divine, its eternal home.