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<title>The Poet and the Yogi</title>

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<p align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:center; line-height:150%;margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0"><b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><span lang=EN-GB><font size="4">The Poet and the Yogi</font><o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<div class=Section1>

<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify;line-height:150%;mso-pagination:
none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'><i><span lang=EN-GB
style='font-family:Arial'><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></span></i></p>

<p class=MsoNormal style="text-align:justify; mso-pagination:
none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none; line-height:150%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0"><span lang=EN-GB>IT is at
times said that a critic, at least a successful critic, is a poet who has
failed. Likewise the poet himself is a Yogi who has failed. That is to say, to
be a good and genuine poet one has first to be a Yogi. Is it really so? Just to
prove it a French priest has even gone to the length of writing a book.¹ Of
course, Abbé Brémond has not used the term 'Yogi' but 'mystic', and prayer, he adds,
is the inherent virtue of a mystic. We can then hold that a Yogi, a spiritual
aspirant or even a mere aspirant – on the whole they mean the same.<o:p></o:p></span></p>

<p class=MsoNormal style="text-align:justify; text-indent:8.85pt; mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none; line-height:150%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0"><span
lang=EN-GB>According to Brémond, a poet is he who has either fallen from the
status of a mystic or has deviated from the path of inner discipline. He is of
the opinion that the fount of a poet's inspiration, insight and feeling is
either a spiritual experience or an experience inclined towards spirituality.
But the poet has not marched forward in a straight line to the original Goal;
nor has he even attempted to give it a shape. After covering half the distance
he halts for a time and then moves on through by-lanes, putting forward the secret
experience of his inner soul in the decorative dress of flowery words. He simply
looks upon the experience as something imaginary, dream-like and an object of fancy
produced by the intellect. At last it comes to this that he grows into a poet
to the same extent as he has kept aloof from the path of a mystic. For to
proceed on straight along the path of spirituality is to avoid the by-lanes of
poetry, i.e., to <span class=SpellE>extin</span></span><span class=SpellE><span
class=GramE><span lang=EN-GB>guish </span></span></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style="text-align:justify; text-indent:8.85pt; mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none; line-height:150%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0">&nbsp;</p>

<p class=MsoNormal style="mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:
none;text-autospace:none; line-height:150%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0"><span lang=EN-GB>¹</span><span lang=EN-GB
style='font-size:10.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt'> Prière Poésie, par
I'Abbè H. Brémond (de l'Acadèmie Française).</span><span lang=EN-GB><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></span></p>

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<p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center;mso-line-height-alt:
7.65pt;mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none;
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<span lang=EN-GB style='font-size:10.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:
12.0pt;'>Page – 101<o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></span></p>

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<p class=MsoNormal style="text-align:justify; mso-pagination:
none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none; line-height:150%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0">
<span class=SpellE><span
class=GramE><span lang=EN-GB>inevitably all poetry and poetic inspiration.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>

<p class=MsoNormal style="text-align:justify; text-indent:11.75pt; mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none; line-height:150%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0"><span
lang=EN-GB>Let us pin our attention on the first thing first: whether the poet
is at all a Yogi or a Sadhaka and, if so, in what sense. It is not quite
uncommon that in the creation of almost every poet we observe more or less the
indication of something beyond the grasp of the senses, something divine and
infinite. The aspiration of every poet flies to an immaculate realm of Beauty
and Truth, to a world beyond. Milton, Wordsworth and Dante need no
introduction in this field, for they are undoubtedly spiritual. They seriously
resorted to spirituality. But it is strange enough how Shakespeare, whose
creation is replete with nature's scenes and the experiences of man's
day-to-day life, says:</span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style="text-align:justify; text-indent:11.75pt; mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none; line-height:150%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0">&nbsp;</p>

<p class=MsoNormal style="text-align:justify; mso-pagination:
none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none; line-height:150%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0"><span lang=EN-GB><span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>&nbsp;</span><span style='mso-tab-count:1'>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span>With
thoughts above the reaches of our souls,<o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></span></p>

<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify;mso-line-height-alt:9.1pt;
mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none; line-height:150%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'><span
class=GramE><span lang=EN-GB>or,</span></span><span
lang=EN-GB><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></span></p>

<p class=MsoNormal style="text-align:justify; margin-left:.5in;
mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none; line-height:150%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0"><span
lang=EN-GB>There's a divinity that shapes our ends </span></p>

<p class=MsoNormal style="text-align:justify; margin-left:.5in;
mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none; line-height:150%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0"><span
lang=EN-GB>Rough hew them how we will.<o:p></o:p></span></p>

<p class=MsoNormal style="text-align:justify; mso-pagination:
none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none; line-height:150%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0"><span lang=EN-GB><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></span></p>

<p class=MsoNormal style="text-align:justify; mso-pagination:
none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none; line-height:150%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0"><span lang=EN-GB>Do we not
then feel that Shakespeare's inner soul is in the closest touch with the
Consciousness beyond, far surpassing the earth, and his poetic vision has been
surcharged with some intense superhuman delight? Even the poets who are most
materialistic, who are averse to any Ideal, who are anti-divine, whatever may
be their outer utterance – are they not the descendants of Lucifer or
Prometheus? Let us recollect what Baudelaire wrote about them, about the pangs
of their hearts:<o:p></o:p></span></p>

<p class=MsoNormal style="text-align:justify; mso-pagination:
none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none; line-height:150%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0"><span lang=EN-GB><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></span></p>

<p class=MsoNormal style="text-align:justify; text-indent:2.15pt; mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none; line-height:150%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0"><span
lang=EN-GB><span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>&nbsp;</span><span style='mso-tab-count:
1'>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span>Une Idée, <span class=SpellE>une</span> Forme, <span
class=GramE>un</span> Être<o:p></o:p></span></p>

<p class=MsoNormal style="text-align:justify; text-indent:2.15pt; mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none; line-height:150%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0"><span
lang=EN-GB><span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>&nbsp;</span><span style='mso-tab-count:
1'>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span>Parti de I' azur <span class=GramE>et</span> tombè<o:p></o:p></span></p>

<p class=MsoNormal style="text-align:justify; mso-pagination:
none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none; line-height:150%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0"><span lang=EN-GB><span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>&nbsp;</span><span style='mso-tab-count:1'>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span>Dans
<span class=GramE>un Styx bourbeux et</span> plombé,<o:p></o:p></span></p>

<p class=MsoNormal style="text-align:justify; mso-pagination:
none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none; line-height:150%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0"><span lang=EN-GB><span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>&nbsp;</span><span style='mso-tab-count:1'>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span><span
class=SpellE><span class=GramE>Ou nul oeil du Ciel ne pénètre.</span></span><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></span></p>

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solid windowtext .5pt;padding:0in 0in 1.0pt 0in'>

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<span
lang=EN-GB style='font-size:10.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;'>Page –
102<o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></span></p>

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<p class=MsoNormal style="text-align:justify; mso-pagination:
none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none; line-height:150%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0"><span lang=EN-GB><span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>&nbsp;</span><span style='mso-tab-count:1'>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span>(An
Idea, a Form, a Being<o:p></o:p></span></p>

<p class=MsoNormal style="text-align:justify; mso-pagination:
none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none; line-height:150%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0"><span lang=EN-GB><span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>&nbsp;</span><span style='mso-tab-count:1'>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span>That
sprang from the blue and fell<o:p></o:p></span></p>

<p class=MsoNormal style="text-align:justify; mso-pagination:
none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none; line-height:150%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0"><span lang=EN-GB><span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>&nbsp;</span><span style='mso-tab-count:1'>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span><span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>&nbsp;</span>In the muddy grey <st1:place><st1:PlaceType>river</st1:PlaceType> of <st1:PlaceName>Hell</st1:PlaceName></st1:place> <o:p></o:p></span></p>

<p class=MsoNormal style="text-align:justify; mso-pagination:
none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none; line-height:150%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0"><span lang=EN-GB><span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>&nbsp;</span><span style='mso-tab-count:1'>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span><span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>&nbsp;</span><span class=SpellE><span class=GramE>Unpierced by Heaven's seeing.)</span><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>

<p class=MsoNormal style="text-align:justify; mso-pagination:
none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none; line-height:150%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0"><span lang=EN-GB><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></span></p>

<p class=MsoNormal style="text-align:justify; text-indent:9.8pt; mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none; line-height:150%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0"><span
lang=EN-GB>In our country also Rabindranath Tagore's name needs no mention. A
spiritual aspiration pervades his poetic inspiration. It is evident that this
spiritual aspiration is the source of his poetic creation. But let us listen to Madhusudan, the so-called iconoclast:<o:p></o:p></span></p>

<p class=MsoNormal style="text-align:justify; text-indent:9.8pt; mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none; line-height:150%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0"><span
lang=EN-GB><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></span></p>

<p class=MsoNormal style="text-align:justify; margin-left:.5in;
mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none; line-height:150%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0"><span
lang=EN-GB>Where is the world of the Brahman?<o:p></o:p></span></p>

<p class=MsoNormal style="text-align:justify; margin-left:.5in;
mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none; line-height:150%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0"><span
lang=EN-GB>Where am I, a worthless creature of evil?<o:p></o:p></span></p>

<p class=MsoNormal style="text-align:justify; margin-left:.5in;
mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none; line-height:150%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0"><span
lang=EN-GB>How can <span class=GramE>I</span>, a mere human,<o:p></o:p></span></p>

<p class=MsoNormal style="text-align:justify; margin-left:.5in;
mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none; line-height:150%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0"><span
lang=EN-GB>Enmeshed in the world's illusion,<o:p></o:p></span></p>

<p class=MsoNormal style="text-align:justify; margin-left:.5in;
mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none; line-height:150%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0"><span
lang=EN-GB>Like a bird in a cage,<o:p></o:p></span></p>

<p class=MsoNormal style="text-align:justify; margin-left:.5in;
mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none; line-height:150%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0"><span
lang=EN-GB>Attain that world of Freedom whose vision<o:p></o:p></span></p>

<p class=MsoNormal style="text-align:justify; margin-left:.5in;
mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none; line-height:150%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0"><span
lang=EN-GB>Draws the Adept of the highest Yoga from age to age?<o:p></o:p></span></p>

<p class=MsoNormal style="text-align:justify; mso-pagination:
none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none; line-height:150%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0"><span lang=EN-GB><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></span></p>

<p class=MsoNormal style="text-align:justify; text-indent:10.3pt; mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none; line-height:150%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0"><span
lang=EN-GB>Even at the very commencement of his immortal epic, Meghnadbadh he
invokes Saraswati the white-armed Mother of knowledge. The feeling or firm
conviction is that the Mother of Knowledge is also the giver of liberation.
That is why the poetry that is a help and a means to attain liberation has a
special appeal to our heart.<o:p></o:p></span></p>

<p class=MsoNormal style="text-align:justify; text-indent:10.3pt; mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none; line-height:150%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0"><span
lang=EN-GB>Of course, there are poets whose creations totally lack spirituality
or even something akin to it. For example, Catullus, of whom Sri Aurobindo
says: &quot;He has as much philosophy in him as a red ant.&quot;<o:p></o:p></span></p>

<p class=MsoNormal style="text-align:justify; text-indent:9.8pt; mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none; line-height:150%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0"><span
lang=EN-GB>A poet like Catullus can easily be put forward to contradict
Bremond's conclusion. Granted, such poets are very few in number, nevertheless
they appear to prove Bremond's conclusion quite baseless. But, as a matter of
fact, it is not so. The aim of a poet is to create a living thing, a thing of
considerable worth, a thing of beauty and delight with the help of words. Is
not this very act of his something <span class=GramE>supernal</span><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></span></p>

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mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none;border:medium none;mso-border-bottom-alt:
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<span
lang=EN-GB style='font-size:10.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;'>Page –
103<o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></span></p>

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<p class=MsoNormal style="text-align:justify; mso-pagination:
none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none; line-height:150%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0"><span class=GramE><span
lang=EN-GB>aspiring for the world beyond?<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>

<p class=MsoNormal style="text-align:justify; text-indent:.15in;mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none; line-height:150%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0"><span
lang=EN-GB>The very same truth has been uttered by Vishwanath Kaviraj. The real
form or soul of poetry consists of delight. The delight one gets in the
realisation of the Brahman and the delight one derives from one's poetic creation
spring from the same source. Both have an indivisible consciousness of
self-expressive delight. Indeed it is a serious matter that demands our special
attention. Both of them have no relation with outer objects, nor does their
self-supporting delight of consciousness reckon on things of the material
world. I have already said that the theme of the poet may not be spiritual;
even then he derives from a subtle consciousness all his poetic inspiration.<o:p></o:p></span></p>

<p class=MsoNormal style="text-align:justify; text-indent:10.55pt; mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none; line-height:150%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0"><span
lang=EN-GB>The author of Sahitya Darpan (The Mirror of Literature) tells
us something profound and significant as regards the spiritual nature or form
in poetic creation. The delight of poetry can be grasped neither by impure,
lifeless and rigid qualities nor by restless vitalistic movements; it is
reflected in Sattwic virtues alone. Hence the poet creates something
only after he has been surcharged with Sattwic qualities. Further, the
purpose of reading poetry is to arouse the qualities of sattva in
oneself and to move towards our nature's purification and emancipation, free
from the evil contact of rajas and tamas. We may as well
recollect here the similar .conclusion the Greek thinker, Aristotle, arrived
at, that a tragedy has katharsis, a power to purge the heart. However,
it is doubtful if anybody has raised the greatness of poetry to such a pitch as
Vishwanath Kaviraj has done.<o:p></o:p></span></p>

<p class=MsoNormal style="text-align:justify; text-indent:11pt; mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none; line-height:150%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0"><span
lang=EN-GB>Fundamentally there is no difference between Vishwanath Kaviraj and Abbe
Bremond. The difference that does exist is not about the source of poetry but
about its culmination. According to Bremond, the inner inspiration of the poet
or the source of it is a spiritual experience. He also adds to it that the poet
descends into a lower level of nature the moment he endeavours to mould his
experience into words and tries to give it a metrical shape without following
the straight<o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></span></p>

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<span lang=EN-GB style='font-size:10.0pt;
mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;'>Page – 104<o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></span></p>

</div>

<p class=MsoNormal style="text-align:justify; mso-pagination:
none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none; line-height:150%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0"><span class=GramE><span
lang=EN-GB>yogic process, without assimilating
the inner divinity into his entire being; he has spread it out and lost it in
the display of words. So he has to give himself up to falsehood and play
tricks. The thing that has to be manifested with the effort of his life has
been totally exhausted in easy trifles and meaningless words. He has grown
into an artist displaying false and baseless words instead of becoming an
artist of life. In the place of having a genuine full realisation he becomes enamoured
of the visionary illusive creation of a nine-day wonder. He has been
fascinated, as it were, by the dance of the nymphs and has deviated from the
real path. It is not that at times the poet does not feel that his creation is
simply a jugglery of words. Strangely enough, with the help of fruitless words
a modern poet proves the worthlessness of words:<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>

<p class=MsoNormal style="text-align:justify; mso-pagination:
none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none; line-height:150%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0"><span lang=EN-GB><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></span></p>

<p class=MsoNormal style="text-align:justify; mso-pagination:
none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none; line-height:150%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0"><span lang=EN-GB><span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>&nbsp;</span><span style='mso-tab-count:1'>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span>Je
<span class=GramE>suis</span> <span class=SpellE>las</span> des <span
class=SpellE>gestes</span> intérieurs,<o:p></o:p></span></p>

<p class=MsoNormal style="text-align:justify; mso-pagination:
none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none; line-height:150%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0"><span lang=EN-GB><span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>&nbsp;</span><span style='mso-tab-count:1'>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span>Je
<span class=GramE>suis</span> <span class=SpellE>las</span> des départs intérieurs!<o:p></o:p></span></p>

<p class=MsoNormal style="text-align:justify; mso-pagination:
none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none; line-height:150%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0"><span lang=EN-GB><span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>&nbsp;</span><span style='mso-tab-count:1'>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span><span
class=GramE>Et</span> de I'hèoisme a coups de plume<o:p></o:p></span></p>

<p class=MsoNormal style="text-align:justify; mso-pagination:
none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none; line-height:150%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0"><span lang=EN-GB><span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>&nbsp;</span><span style='mso-tab-count:1'>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span>Et
d'une beauté toute en <span class=GramE>formules !</span><o:p></o:p></span></p>

<p class=MsoNormal style="margin-left:1.5in; mso-pagination:
none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none; line-height:150%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0"><span lang=EN-GB>Charles
Vildrac – &quot;<span class=SpellE>Livre</span> d' amour&quot;<o:p></o:p></span></p>

<p class=MsoNormal style="text-align:justify; mso-pagination:
none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none; line-height:150%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0"><span lang=EN-GB><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></span></p>

<p class=MsoNormal style="text-align:justify; mso-pagination:
none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none; line-height:150%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0"><span lang=EN-GB><span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>&nbsp;</span><span style='mso-tab-count:1'>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span>(I
am sick of imaginary gestures,<o:p></o:p></span></p>

<p class=MsoNormal style="text-align:justify; mso-pagination:
none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none; line-height:150%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0"><span lang=EN-GB><span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>&nbsp;</span><span style='mso-tab-count:1'>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span>I
am sick of mental expeditions! <o:p></o:p></span></p>

<p class=MsoNormal style="text-align:justify; mso-pagination:
none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none; line-height:150%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0"><span lang=EN-GB><span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>&nbsp;</span><span style='mso-tab-count:1'>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span>And
of the bravery of the pen-stroke <o:p></o:p></span></p>

<p class=MsoNormal style="text-align:justify; mso-pagination:
none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none; line-height:150%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0"><span lang=EN-GB><span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>&nbsp;</span><span style='mso-tab-count:1'>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span>And
of a beauty all formulated.)<o:p></o:p></span></p>

<p class=MsoNormal style="text-align:justify; mso-pagination:
none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none; line-height:150%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0"><span lang=EN-GB><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></span></p>

<p class=MsoNormal style="text-align:justify; text-indent:8.6pt; mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none; line-height:150%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0"><span
lang=EN-GB>Aristotle's preceptor, Plato, draws our attention to this side of
poetry – the illusory charming power of poetry. No doubt, the world of the poet
is charming. But it is equally the world of falsehood. Plato was religious to
the marrow. The main cause of his looking upon the poets with considerable
displeasure is that in their creations </span><span lang=EN-GB
style='font-family:"Arial Narrow";mso-bidi-font-family:"Arial Narrow"'>– </span><span
lang=EN-GB>e.g.</span><span lang=EN-GB style='font-family:"Arial Narrow";
mso-bidi-font-family:"Arial Narrow"'> </span><span lang=EN-GB>Homer – the
gods have an inferior nature even to that of a human being. It is an absurdity
on the face of it. Having turned falsehood and an evil ideal into a thing of
grace and delight<o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></span></p>
<div style='border:none;border-bottom:solid windowtext 1.0pt;mso-border-bottom-alt:
solid windowtext .5pt;padding:0in 0in 1.0pt 0in'>

<p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center;mso-pagination:none;
mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none;border:medium none;mso-border-bottom-alt:
solid windowtext .5pt;padding:0in;mso-padding-alt:0in 0in 1.0pt 0in; line-height:150%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>
<span
lang=EN-GB style='font-size:10.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;'>Page –
105<o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></span></p>

</div>

<p class=MsoNormal style="text-align:justify; mso-pagination:
none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none; line-height:150%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0"><span class=GramE><span
lang=EN-GB>the poets place it before man and
thus they keep him away from truth, beauty and bliss.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>

<p class=MsoNormal style="text-align:justify; text-indent:11.5pt; mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none; line-height:150%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0"><span
lang=EN-GB>Of course, it cannot be affirmed that in the poetic creation there
can be no illusory power of Ignorance. No doubt, there are poets who have
either blurred their spirituality or their inner soul by resorting to poetry.
But in that case we can safely affirm that it is the poet and not his poetic
creation that is in fault. It is absolutely a personal affair. If things are to
be judged in this light, then there is not even a single object which does not
stand as an obstacle to one's inner spiritual discipline.<o:p></o:p></span></p>

<p class=MsoNormal style="text-align:justify; text-indent:12.2pt; mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none; line-height:150%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0"><span
lang=EN-GB>So we cannot at once jump to the conclusion that a poet is he who
has either fallen from the status of a Yogi or who has slipped down from the
path of yogic discipline. Just an example will dispel all doubts. The poets of
the Upanishads were at once seers and yogis in the fullest measure. As the
Upanishads are wonderful in their poetic values, even so are they highly
inspiring and soul-stirring in their mantric powers. Here the poet and the seer
have become one and with their mutual help they reveal each other. It is not
that vak (speech) <span class=GramE>must needs</span> be a covering
of or an illusory substitute for truth. It can as well be the most beautiful
and benevolent image of the Brahman as Sound.<o:p></o:p></span></p>

<p class=MsoNormal style="text-align:justify; text-indent:.15in;mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none; line-height:150%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0"><span
lang=EN-GB>Be that as it may, it can never be said that a poet and a Yogi are
one and the same, or that there is no difference between the poetic creation
and the spiritual discipline. To say that they are one is nothing short of <span
class=GramE>an</span> hyperbole: The consciousness of the poet dwells in the
world of speech and this world belongs to the mental world. The light of the
poet's inner soul illumines this mental world of speech and turns it into a
seeker of spirituality. But the field of a Yogi is more spacious and more
objective. He endeavours to illumine the body and the vital nature with the
light of spirituality. The poet can start doing this work. He may even be an
aid to it; still more, at the end he may reveal or announce</span></p>
<div style='border:none;border-bottom:solid windowtext 1.0pt;mso-border-bottom-alt:
solid windowtext .5pt;padding:0in 0in 1.0pt 0in'>

<p class=MsoNormal align=center style="text-align:center; padding:0in; border-style:none; text-indent:.15in;mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:
none;mso-border-bottom-alt:solid windowtext .5pt;
mso-padding-alt:0in 0in 1.0pt 0in; line-height:150%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0">
<span lang=EN-GB style='font-size:10.0pt;
mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;'>Page – 106<o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></span></p>

</div>

<p class=MsoNormal style="text-align:justify; mso-pagination:
none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none; line-height:150%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0"><span class=GramE><span
lang=EN-GB>the Victory. But the poet cannot sit
on the throne of a Yogi by dethroning him. Moreover, it is not obligatory that
in order to be a Yogi one must be a poet first. Even if the Poetic Being is a
brother to the Brahman, yet it is not the Brahman itself.</span></span></p>
<div style='border:none;border-bottom:solid windowtext 1.0pt;mso-border-bottom-alt:
solid windowtext .5pt;padding:0in 0in 1.0pt 0in'>

<p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center;line-height:150%;
mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none;border:medium none;
mso-border-bottom-alt:solid windowtext .5pt;padding:0in;mso-padding-alt:0in 0in 1.0pt 0in; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>
<span
lang=EN-GB style='font-size:10.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;'>Page –
107<o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></span></p>

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