Abhisara - the Tryst

Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941)

He was a Indian poet, short story writer, song composer, playwright, essayist and painter. In 1913 he became the first non European to recieve the Nobel prize for literature entitled Gitanjali. 

His volumes of poetry are

 Manasi or The Ideal One (1890)

Sonar Tari or The Golden Boat (1894)

Katha O Kahini (1899)

Gitanjali or Song Offering (1901)

Gitimalya or Wreath of Songs (1914)

Balaka or The Flight of Cranes (1916) 

The Gardener (1913)

Fruit Gathering (1916)

The Fugitive (1921) 

Abhisara was written in Bengali by Rabindranath in 1899. He translated this poem into English for a collection of eighty six translated poems called Fruit Gathering, brought out in 1916 by Macmillan. 

This is a story poem based on Upagupta, a Buddhist monk who lived in the 300 BCE and was revered by Emperor Ashoka. 

Abhisara - the Tryst

Poem Analysis

Setting

The story of the poem, as already discussed, is based on the legends of the Buddhist monk Upagupta. So, the poem is set in 300 BCE. The place mentioned in the poem is Mathura city, India. Two meetings between Upagupta and Vasavadatta took place within a year, in a difference of several months.

It was August, the monsoon, when Vasavadatta stumbled upon Upagupta for the first time while their second meeting happened in April, the springtime. Both the meetings took place during the night time.

While the first meeting took place in a gloomy atmosphere with the murky sky, lightning and growling storm, the second meeting was in a rather cheery condition with the fool moon, notes of a flute floating around and the birds chirping. And notably, the atmosphere in both the scenes contradict with the state of life Vasavadatta was living in. Maybe this is a deliberate attempt from the poet to remind us how people’s fate changes with time and that the outer world may not reflect our inner condition.

Title

The Bengali word “abhisar” and the English word “tryst” mean the same – a private romantic meeting between two lovers. Though the present poem doesn’t really deal with a conventional kind of romantic love affair, the meeting between Upagupta and Vasavadatta outside the Mathura city wall when she needed someone the most to take care of her was no less than a tryst. It was a higher kind of love on display – spiritual love.

Upagupta, being a Buddhist monk, believed in selfless service to humanity. He attended and cared for Vasavadatta when the entire city showed apathy towards her. It was a secret meeting between them and a secret love affair which nobody in the city knew about. So, the title of the poem “Abhisara - The Tryst” is not only justified but also very meaningful.

Themes

Tagore’s poem “The Tryst” conveys a number of messages to the readers. The prominent themes in the poem are –

Transitory nature of youth and beauty

In the poem, we see how Vasavadatta, who once was a beautiful and proud woman and a famous dancing girl, was thrown out of the city when she suffered from an epidemic. This reminds us that youth and beauty are not permanent. So, we should not be proud of such qualities which are temporary in nature.

Human compassion

Upagupta was a disciple of Lord Buddha and he believed in selfless service to mankind. When he found Vasavadatta in an abandoned state, he showed his kindness and took great care of her. Upagupta ‘took her head on his knees’, ‘moistened her lips with water’ and ‘smeared her body with balm’ to give solace to her sores.

Vasavadatta’s address was so fitting when he asked, “Who are you, merciful one?” Upagupta indeed was ‘merciful’ not only to Vasavadatta but to the entire humanity by his philosophical and spiritual faith.

Spiritual love and wisdom

The poem “The Tryst”, as the name suggests, can be seen as a love story too. But this is not the traditional romantic love. It’s rather spiritual love which is unconditional and asexual.

The hermit, Upagupta was wise enough to politely refuse Vasavadatta’s invitation for a rest at her home in the first part of the poem. He knew that at that time she needed no help from him. So, he promised to visit her when the time was right.

And that time finally came even before a year was passed. Vasavadatta was struck with an epidemic and nobody was there to care for her. Upagupta visited the deserted woman and offered his selfless service out of his love for her, out of his love for the entire mankind.

Symbols

Light and darkness

Tagore in his poem “Abhisara - The Tryst” has used light and darkness symbolically to give a glimpse of the inner world of the two characters in the poem.

In the first part of the story, it was a dark August night when the beautiful lady Vasavadatta met the hermit, Upagupta. Though the lady was glittering with jewels, she was actually in the dark, i.e., she was ignorant of how temporary her youth and beauty was. Again, the flash of the lightning might be suggestive of the inner light of wisdom that Upagupta showed by politely refusing her suggestion to go with her.

In the later stage of the poem, the brightness of the moon suggests the same inner light of the monk that remains intact.

Monsoon and spring

The poem “The Tryst” depicts two meetings between Upagupta and Vasavadatta, one in monsoon and the other in Springtime. The changing seasons in nature symbolises the changing conditions of our life. In the poem we see how Vasavadatta’s fate changes with time. Once she was the most beautiful and most desired lady in the town, but later she was abandoned by everyone.