THE CONFLICT BETWEEN SCIENCE AND RELIGION IN RABINDRANATH TAGORE’S 'MUKTA-DHARA' (Pages 93-100) by in THE ENGLISH RESEARCH EXPRESS / ISSN:2321-1164 (Online); 2347-2642 (Print)

Rabindranath Tagore was the one writer who first gained for modern India, a place on the world literary scene. The award of the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1913 was but the beginning of a drama of recognition on a global scale for which they cannot be any parallels in literary history. He was a genius par excellence and a versatile man. In Mukta-Dhara, written in 1922, the dramatist condemns technology, which is divorced from religion and humanity. Mukta-Dhara is the name of a river and it is symbolic of the human quest for freedom. The central conflict in the play emerges between the offensive force of Uttarakut and the defensive force of Shiv-taryans. Mukta-Dhara, the river is the bone of contention between these parties. The water of this river assumes many layers of significance in the play. The King of Uttarakut plans to control the economic prosperity of the people of Shiv-tarai by building a dam across the river. He wants to hoard the water for his own kingdom. King Ranjit’s political power, combined with selfishness is further assisted by science and technology. Throughout the play, the contrast between science and religion is maintained. Religion recognizes the presence of God and the meaning, beauty and purpose of his creation. Science challenges and even competes with it. The tension between science and religion; parochialism and humanism; feudalism and democracy and between bondage and freedom is finally resolved by the triumph of the latter over the former. Abhijit, who symbolizes religion, broad humanism, spiritual democracy and liberation, triumphs over King Ranjit, who stands for science, parochialism, feudalism, short-sightedness, exploitation, suppression and bondage. Prince Abhijit becomes a martyr in the cause of empirical freedom as well as spiritual freedom. Keywords: dramatist condemns technology, quest for freedom, offensive force, defensive force, economic prosperity, science & religion, parochialism &humanism, feudalism & democracy, bondage &freedom, spiritual democracy &liberation, spiritual freedom etc.