"Where the mind is without fear and the head held high;

Where knowledge is free;"--

Tagore dreams about a socio-spiritual utopia where there is a fearless human spi
rit of boldness and a strong sense of self-respect for all human beings. The fre
edom of knowledge is a liberal ambiance, an anti-colonial strain can be heard he
re. what Tagore seems to oppose here is the hegemonic power of knowledge as tapp
ed by the Ideological State Apparatus.
"Where the world has not been broken up into fragments by narrow domestic walls;
Where words come out from the depth of truth;"--
This is the imagination of a unified, peaceful and healthy world where there are
no class/race/moral fragmentation and meanness. He also aspires for a spiritual
honesty in linguistic representation and an unproblematic relation between the
word and the world.
"Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection;
Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way into the dreary desert san
d of dead habit;"---
In the imagined utopia, there would be an endless perfectionist journey in terms
of cultural and social development. There would be revolutionary potential and
a tendency towards new ideas in this world. It will not be dominated by 'dead ha
bit' of conformity. The revolution would be backed by clear logic.
"Where the mind is led forward by Thee into ever-widening thought and action;
Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake."---
There would be harmony in between thought and action in that world of honesty an
d the mind will strive towards a spiritual union with the divine spirit. The poe
m ends with an invocation to the divine father to uplift the existing reality to
this paradise of liberty. The indication is clearly towards an independence fro
m British bondage as far as India is concerned.
The poet wishes to be awakened to a heaven where the mind can work fearlessly an
d the spirit can hold its head high, where one can acquire knowledge in all free
dom of choice, where the big world of man is not fragmented or restricted to sma
ll mutually exclusive compartments, where everybody speaks his/her heart clear,
where actions flow in the form of various streams moving from success to success
, where petty conventions do not stagnate the course of judgement, where manhood
is not pieced, where God himself leads us in all acts, all thoughts, and all so
urces of delight. We need a strong motivating slap by God to be elevated to that
heaven.
the poem was written whn india was under british domination.
So, Rabindranath Tagore prayed for an independent country.A place, where evryone
believes in truth..and hv reasoning power. where people are not binded within t
he boundaries of superstition. A place, where evrybody tries to to b perfectand a
ll are held equally irrespective of caste, creed and religion.
where the Mind is Without Fear is a short lyric taken from Gitanjali.Here, the poet
prays God to awaken his country from darkness and slavery into a state of ideal
freedom.
In this inspiring poem, the poet prays God for the spiritual emancipation of his
country and countrymen.True freedom lies in a full and virtuous living.Therefor
e the poet prays to God that his countrymen should be fearless, truthful,rationa
l, God-fearing,noble and generous. Knowledge should be free and there should be
no divisions of caste,creed and nationality.The poet prays to God to give perfec
tion to those who are working hard to achieve perfection without taking rest.Rab
indranath Tagore prays God to help his countrymen to follow the path of logical
thinking and not to indulge their mind in antique and outdated customs and tradi
tions.According to Rabindranath Tagore,the outdated customs and traditions close
the ways of progress. Hence his countrymen should leave behind all the outdated
customs and traditions and should fill their minds with logical thinking to lea
d themselves on the path of progress.
Rabindranath Tagore prays God that his countrymen should follow the divine way o
f progress and must involve themselves in right action and thinking.His countrym
en should possess the universal mind and should leave behind the narrow thinking
.Their mind should be liberated from all the narrow thinking and should accept t
he broad outlook.It is to be noted that the heaven of freedom for which the poet p
rays is not a heaven of political and economic freedom but of spiritual freedom
from fear, narrow-mindedness and evil desires.