Page:Rabindranath Tagore - A Biographical Study.djvu/139

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IX
SPIRITUAL COMMONWEALTH
115

luxury, of soft carpets and hangings, became repugnant. As he sat there alone, a young man of eighteen, a complete revulsion of feeling took place in his mind, and half consciously, half unconsciously, he gave himself to poverty and God.

Some idea has already been given of Devendranath's imaginative powers, and we see that, in those gifts of heart and mind which a father can hand on to a son, the elder Tagore was rarely endowed. He provided the congenial atmosphere in which that son's nature could grow to its full flourish.

It remains only to add the three articles of his simple creed, to be found in the little book of guidance that he once drew up for his followers:

1. In the beginning there was naught. The One Supreme alone existed. He created the whole universe.
2. He is the God of Truth, Infinite Wisdom, Goodness and Power, Eternal and All Pervading, the One without a second.
3. In His worship lies our salvation in this world and in the next.

The sequel to this Credo of the Maharshi is to be found in the book of meditations by his son and his disciple.