Interplay of Attachment and Detachment in Tagore’s ‘Atithi’ (‘The Guest’)

The timeless truth of the Upanishad enlightens that one should be in a pure place, himself pure (śuci), enduring in pureness (sattva), learning the Real (sat), voicing of the Real, contemplating the Real, surrendering to the Real. The realization of actual Real makes him completely other; he has the reward (phala) of having his shackles cut; becomes annulled of expectancy, unchained from fear in regard to others [as fully] as in regard to himself, void of longing. He attains to undying, incalculable bliss, and goes on with. Liberty from desire (niṣkāmatva) is like the supreme treasure as a person who is trapped by all desires, who has the marks of determination, notion, and self-conceit, is fettered; in being the opposite of that, he is liberated. At stages in his life, enhanced by constantly new-fangled realizations- both mystical and material, Tagore rejoices a sense of liberation. The subject of liberation is noticed repeatedly in all the genres of his literary opus, sometimes evidently, at other times in a coined fashion. His individual conviction which encompasses the belief of liberation, moksha or mukti, portrayed a lot from the Upanishadic teachings. Tagore remains a loyal adherent of exercising individual journeying as a key to finding freedom. This paper is an earnest endeavour to explore the short story ‘Atithi’ (‘The Guest’) by Rabindranath Tagore and understand the interplay of attachment and detachment.