He it is, the innermost one, who awakens my being (Song 72) by Rabindranath Tagore

He it is, the innermost one, who awakens my being (Song 72) by Rabindranath Tagore 

He it is, the innermost one, who awakens my being with his deep hidden touches.

He it is who puts his enchantment upon these eyes and joyfully plays on the chords of my heart in varied cadence of pleasure and pain.

He it is who weaves the web of this maya in evanescent hues of gold and silver, blue and green, and lets peep out through the folds his feet, at whose touch I forget myself.

Days come and ages pass, and it is ever he who moves my heart in many a name, in many a guise, in many a rapture of joy and of sorrow.

He it is, the innermost one, who awakens my being with his deep hidden touches.

 

Tagore’s poem describes a spiritual journey, revealing how God lives within each person. He shows that God is the hidden energy in us all. We often search for Him outside, but He’s right inside us, awakening our spirit in mysterious yet gentle ways. God fills us with awe and shapes our emotions. He creates beautiful, short-lived illusions in colors like gold, silver, blue, and green. God is the true essence, while humans are like His shadows. Even though we are part of Him, we forget this truth because of His illusions, or *maya*. This illusion makes us search for Him in many ways, not realizing He’s already within us. Everything we feel and experience is because of God’s will, bringing both joy and sorrow.

In the Gita, Krishna tells Arjuna that the Lord lives in everyone’s heart, and with His power of illusion, makes us move like a pot spinning on a wheel. This means God is in our hearts, guiding all we do. Wise people believe God exists within us, in a tiny form in the center of the body, as the ruler of the past and future. But because of *maya*, people forget this truth and seek God in many forms and names.

Tagore beautifully illustrates how God’s illusions weave colors of gold, silver, blue, and green, and through them, we glimpse His touch, making us forget ourselves. Tagore realizes that humans and God are one. This wisdom comes through God’s guidance, revealing that God made humans from Himself and created *maya* to make us forget our true selves. As a result, we feel lost. Even those who look beyond the illusions keep searching for God, unaware that He’s already inside them.