Where the Mind is Without Fear: A Tribute to Robindranath Thakur on His Birth Anniversary

 

Where the Mind is Without Fear: A Tribute to Robindranath Thakur on His Birth Anniversary

Today, we celebrate the birth anniversary of Shree Robindranath Thakur, a seer-poet, visionary, and dharmic thinker whose words continue to light the path for a nation yearning for spiritual clarity and fearless progress.

At Samvad Bharati, we do not merely remember Thakur — we resonate with him. His words are not relics of the past; they are a living force. His ideals breathe through our vision. And there is no better way to articulate our aspirations than through the opening line of his evergreen poem:

"চিত্ত যেথা ভয়শূন্য"
"Where the mind is without fear…"

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🕉 Chitta – The Sky of Consciousness

The word chitta is not merely “mind.” In the śāstric understanding, it is Chit Śakti — the very force of Prakriti that transforms inert matter into Chetana (consciousness). It is the field of Chaitanya, the living ether in which all experience arises. It is Chidambaram, the space of awareness, the dance floor of Shiva.

As declared in the Lalitā Sahasranāma:

citistatpadalakṣyārthā cidekarasarūpiṇī
She is Consciousness itself, the essence of the word "Tat" (That), the undivided form of pure Awareness.

When this chitta — the divine light within — is without fear, the individual becomes aligned with truth, clarity, and power. This is what Thakur invokes in the first line of his poem.

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😨 What is Fear? Where Does it Come From?

Fear is not a natural state — it is the shadow cast by ignorance. And not merely ignorance of facts, but ignorance of our true Self.

When we forget the eternal Atma Svarupa, we begin to fear everything — death, rejection, ridicule, suffering. But as Bhagavān Śrī Kṛṣṇa reminds us in the Bhagavad Gītā:

na jāyate mriyate vā kadācin
nāyaṁ bhūtvā bhavitā vā na bhūyaḥ
ajo nityaḥ śāśvato ’yaṁ purāṇo
na hanyate hanyamāne śarīre

The soul is never born, nor does it ever die. It is eternal, unchanging, and indestructible. It is not destroyed when the body is destroyed.

Fear arises when we forget this divine truth and cling to what is temporary.

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💡 The Role of Vidyā in Overcoming Fear

In our mrityuloka, the world of impermanence, fear arises from everything that hints at death — disease, poverty, violence, ignorance, betrayal. When a society lacks the tools to overcome these, fear dominates.

But vidyā — both aparā (material knowledge) and parā (spiritual knowledge) — is the only real antidote to fear. When light shines, darkness disappears. This is what Robindranath Thakur urges us to pursue: a fearless intellect rooted in knowledge and truth.

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🙌 "Uccha Jetha Shirā" – Where the Head is Held High

What does such a fearless world look like?

Imagine a world:

• Where you don’t need to bargain for justice.

• Where a person’s word is enough.

• Where promises are sacred, and truth is culture.

• Where no one forces you to change your god.

• Where wearing a tilak on your forehead is a sign of confidence, not backwardness.

• Where being a Hindu, a polytheist, or an idol-worshipper is met with respect, not contempt.

• Where joy is normal, and living is sacred.

This is not utopia. This is not fantasy. It is a Vedic vision and a Dharmic destiny. Our śāstras have already laid the path. The solutions are with us — but it takes you, the sādhaka of Chit Svarūpa, to bring them alive.

This is the world Robindranath Thakur longed for. And it is the world we strive to create at Samvad Bharati.

Samvad Bharati.