Open Thy Eyes and See Thy God Summary and Explanation
PSEB Class 9 English Poem 1 Open Thy Eyes and See Thy God Summary, Explanation along with Difficult Word Meanings and Poetic Devices from English Main Course Book
Open Thy Eyes and See Thy God Summary – Are you looking for the summary, theme and Lesson explanation for Punjab School Education Board (PSEB) Class 9 English Poem 1 – Open Thy Eyes and See Thy God from English Main Course Book. Get Lesson summary, theme, explanation along with difficult word meanings and poetic devices.
PSEB Class 9 English Main Course Book Poem 1 – Open Thy Eyes and See Thy God
The poem highlights the belief of the poet that God does not reside in temples. He strengthens the idea that God is everywhere.
- Open Thy Eyes and See Thy God Summary
- Open Thy Eyes and See Thy God Summary in Hindi
- Open Thy Eyes and See Thy God Theme
- Open Thy Eyes and See Thy God Explanation
- Open Thy Eyes and See Thy God Poetic Devices
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Open Thy Eyes and See Thy God Summary
The poet asks the devotees to stop chanting and counting the beads in prayer. God cannot be found in the lonely dark corners of the temple. He asks the devotees to open their eyes and see that God is not in front of them. God can be found near the tiller and the pathmaker. God is with people who work hard and then shower to clean the dirt away. He asks the priests to take off the holy mantle and join God down to the dusty soil. The poet asks the readers not to go to temples to find freedom from birth and death. He says that God himself is bound to creation and destruction. He is bound to us forever. So there is no need to free ourselves from birth and death. Leave meditation, incense-burning, and putting on garlands on the statues. There is nothing wrong with torn and stained clothes. One can find God only after hard work and toil.
Summary of the Poem Open Thy Eyes and See Thy God in Hindi
कवि भक्तों से प्रार्थना में जप और माला गिनना बंद करने का आग्रह करते हैं। ईश्वर मंदिर के एकांत अंधेरे कोनों में नहीं मिल सकते। वे भक्तों से अपनी आँखें खोलने और यह देखने का आग्रह करते हैं कि ईश्वर उनके सामने नहीं हैं। ईश्वर को किसान और पथ-निर्माता के पास पाया जा सकता है। ईश्वर उन लोगों के साथ हैं जो कड़ी मेहनत करते हैं और फिर स्नान करके गंदगी साफ करते हैं। वे पुजारियों से पवित्र वस्त्र उतारकर ईश्वर से धूल-मिट्टी में मिल जाने का आग्रह करते हैं। कवि पाठकों से जन्म-मृत्यु से मुक्ति पाने के लिए मंदिरों में न जाने का आग्रह करते हैं। वह कहते हैं कि ईश्वर स्वयं सृजन और संहार के लिए बाध्य हैं। वे हमसे सदा के लिए बंधे हैं। इसलिए जन्म-मृत्यु से मुक्त होने की कोई आवश्यकता नहीं है। ध्यान, धूप-दीप जलाना और मूर्तियों पर माला चढ़ाना छोड़ दो। फटे और दागदार कपड़े पहनने में कोई बुराई नहीं है। ईश्वर को कठिन परिश्रम और परिश्रम के बाद ही पाया जा सकता है।
Theme of the Poem Open Thy Eyes and See Thy God
The poem is centred around the idea or belief that God is found everywhere and not just in temples. Temples are closed structures with lonely dark corners. The priest wears a mantle, a holy cloak that is always clean. However, God prefers to be near the dusty soil, among hard-working tillers and pathmakers. Therefore, the poem highlights the preference of a day of hard work over a day of meditation, incense-burning, and chanting. The poem also discards the need for finding deliverance, pointing out the fact that God himself is bound to us due to the joy in creation.
Open Thy Eyes and See Thy God Poem Explanation
Stanza:
Leave this chanting and
Singing and telling of beads!
Whom dost thou worship in this
Lonely dark corner of a temple
With doors all shut? Open thine
Eyes and see thy God is not
before thee!
Word-meanings:
chant: to sing a religious song or prayer continuously
dost: do
thou: you
thine: your
thy: your
thee: you
Explanation: In this stanza, the poet asks the readers to stop singing prayers continuously and telling the holy rosemary beads (people chant a holy mantra and hold a bead of a string of rosemary beads which they keep on moving as they chant the subsequent hymn). He asks who they are worshipping in the dark and lonely corner of the temple. The temple has closed the doors to the outside world and nature. The poet asks the readers to open their eyes and see that God is not before them when they are in a temple.
Stanza:
He is there where the tiller is
tilling the hard ground and where
the path maker is breaking stones.
He is with them in the sun and in
shower, and His garment is covered
with dust. Put off thy holy mantle and
even like Him come
down on the dusty soil!
Word-meanings:
tiller: one who tills or cultivates land
put off: remove
mantle: cloak or covering worn by a priest
Explanation: According to the poet, God is where the farmer cultivates their land and where the pathmaker breaks stones to make a path for people to walk on. He is with them when they work in the sun and when they cleanse themselves in the shower. God’s garments are covered with dust as well. Therefore, the poet advises priests to remove their clean and holy cloaks and join the dusty soil with God and the farmer and pathmaker.
Stanza:
Deliverance? Where is this deliverance
to be found? Our master himself
has joyfully taken upon him the bonds
of creation; He is bound with us all
forever.
Word-meanings:
deliverance: freedom from birth and death
bound: connected or joined
Explanation: The poet asks the readers not to go to temples to find freedom from birth and death. He says that God himself is bound to creation and destruction. He is bound to us forever. So there is no need to free ourselves from birth and death.
Stanza:
Come out of thy meditations and
Leave aside thy flowers and incense!
What harm is there if thy clothes
become tattered and stained? Meet
him and stand by him in toil and in the
sweat of thy brow.
Word-meanings:
meditation: a serious thought or study
incense: an aromatic stick which produces a sweet smell when burnt
tattered: torn
toil: hard work
Explanation: The poet urges the devotees to come out of practices like meditation, making garlands, and burning incense. He says that there is no harm in tattered and stained clothes. God is with those who work hard throughout the day. If they truly wish to be closer to God, they need to work and sweat.
Open Thy Eyes and See Thy God Poetic Devices
Freeverse: This poetic device shows that the poem follows no rhyming scheme
Imagery: This poetic device shows that a particular scene has been described to great detail and so we can imagine the scene in our minds. For example- “He is there where the tiller is tilling the hard ground and where the path maker is breaking stones.”
Symbolism: This poetic device describes an action or object which symbolises a value or action. For example – “Open thy eyes” symbolises opening our mind spiritually.
Simile: This poetic device shows a direct comparison or correlation between two objects with the use of ‘like’ and ‘as’. For example- “Put off thy holy mantle and even like Him come down on the dusty soil!” has simile showing that the poet urges priests to remove the holy mantle and come on the soil like God.
Conclusion
This post covers the poem Open thy eyes and see thy God by Rabindranath Tagore. Students of PSEB Class 9 English Maincourse Book can take help of this content and revise the summary, lesson explanation and word meanings to get a clear understanding of the poem.