Ecopoetic Vision and Environmental Ethics in Rabindranath Tagore: A Literary, Cultural and Interdisciplinary Exploration of Nature and Sustainability

Abstract

This study investigates Rabindranath Tagore’s profound ecological consciousness as expressed through his literary corpus, wherein nature emerges not as a passive backdrop but as an animate, ethical, and spiritual presence integral to human existence. Drawing on texts such as ‘Balai’ (1907), ‘Dui Pakhi’ (1912), ‘Raktakarabi’ (1925), ‘Brikkha-Ropon’ (1927), and ‘Arogya’ (1928), the research explores how Tagore’s works articulate an early and enduring model of ecopoetic sensibility—one that weaves together aesthetics, cultural ethics, and environmental stewardship. Through interdisciplinary analysis involving ecocriticism, comparative philosophy, and literary hermeneutics, the article situates Tagore’s vision alongside thinkers such as Thoreau, Wordsworth, Gandhi, Heidegger, and Rachel Carson, revealing his singular contribution to a global ecological imagination. Far from romantic nostalgia, Tagore’s nature-writing emerges as a blueprint for ethical coexistence and a prophetic response to the crises of modernity and environmental degradation. His legacy as an environmental seer anticipates contemporary debates on sustainability, ecological justice, and the spiritual-poetic imperative to dwell harmon within the natural world.