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ملك الغرفة المظلمة
مسرحية رمزية أو صوفية ان شئت القول
كتب طاغور مسرحية "الغرفة المظلمة" عام 1910، وهى مسرحية صوفية رمزية، فالغرفة المظلمة هى الوعى الباطن، كما يفسرها عبد الرحمن صدقى فى كتابه طاغور والمسرح الهندى
كتب طاغور مسرحية "الغرفة المظلمة" عام 1910، وهى مسرحية صوفية رمزية، فالغرفة المظلمة هى الوعى الباطن، كما يفسرها عبد الرحمن صدقى فى كتابه طاغور والمسرح الهندى
149 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1914
26 people are currently reading
306 people want to read
About the author
Rabindranath Tagore
2,575 books4,244 followersAwarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1913 "because of his profoundly sensitive, fresh and beautiful verse, by which, with consummate skill, he has made his poetic thought, expressed in his own English words, a part of the literature of the West."
Tagore modernised Bengali art by spurning rigid classical forms and resisting linguistic strictures. His novels, stories, songs, dance-dramas, and essays spoke to topics political and personal. Gitanjali (Song Offerings), Gora (Fair-Faced), and Ghare-Baire (The Home and the World) are his best-known works, and his verse, short stories, and novels were acclaimed—or panned—for their lyricism, colloquialism, naturalism, and unnatural contemplation. His compositions were chosen by two nations as national anthems: India's Jana Gana Mana and Bangladesh's Amar Shonar Bangla.
The complete works of Rabindranath Tagore (রবীন্দ্র রচনাবলী) in the original Bengali are now available at these third-party websites:
http://www.tagoreweb.in/
http://www.rabindra-rachanabali.nltr....
Tagore modernised Bengali art by spurning rigid classical forms and resisting linguistic strictures. His novels, stories, songs, dance-dramas, and essays spoke to topics political and personal. Gitanjali (Song Offerings), Gora (Fair-Faced), and Ghare-Baire (The Home and the World) are his best-known works, and his verse, short stories, and novels were acclaimed—or panned—for their lyricism, colloquialism, naturalism, and unnatural contemplation. His compositions were chosen by two nations as national anthems: India's Jana Gana Mana and Bangladesh's Amar Shonar Bangla.
The complete works of Rabindranath Tagore (রবীন্দ্র রচনাবলী) in the original Bengali are now available at these third-party websites:
http://www.tagoreweb.in/
http://www.rabindra-rachanabali.nltr....
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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
January 18, 2014
A friend asked me to read this book. I had never heard of it and I was somewhat uncomfortable with how I ought to approach it. Should I review Indian philosophy or read the background of the man? As it was, I did neither and decided to allow the book to speak for itself.
Originally written in Bengali, I found the translation very difficult to understand. It was as if I were reading another language and having to detect nuances of meanings from how words were being used. I had the same issues with the characters, but was less secure in understanding them. As a result I can say that I am not entirely sure that I have understood the book or not. Nevertheless, I should summarize this book in the following way: it is an effort to symbolically represent man's relationship with and path to find God.
Having said this, one may be disposed to ask which God I mean and press me for a closer definition. For this, I am afraid I can give no greater definition and therein lies the greatness of this book. It is not that it leaves issues vague enough so that we may interpolate and allow some sort of warm and funny modern spiritual voodoo nor is it specific enough to guarantee that a Christian fundamentalist interpretation is incorrect. The brilliance is simply that the revelation must be individual rather than collective and isolated and mutable, albeit evolutionary in its understanding thereof.
I quote Sudarshana's self-realization: It is my defeat that has brought me freedom. Oh, what an iron pride was mine! Nothing could move or soften it. My darkened mind could not in any way be brought to see the plain truth that it was not the King who was to come, it was I who ought to have gone to him.
How is it that this character comes to understand this truth? Is she even right about her discovery? The evidence, at least according to others in the book, leave that issue moot. Yet there is one specific truth which is inevitable and that is that only through the seeking that we are able to find any truth. Nothing is discovered by incorporating it into what we already know about our lives and the lives of others. It is a kind of cataclysmic revelation, entirely intuitive, and that which cannot be understood in and of itself beyond following the path of the revelatory truth.
I think that this book suggests that we must seek the truth beyond who we are now and within that which we may yet become. In this sense it is like going through the jungle in search of a tiger, but without a weapon. Absolute truth, then, is always a struggle, sometimes a weary and frustratingly pointless one. We may return many times without finding what we seek and we may yet grasp at the truth and then lose our grasp on it, all because we are overwhelmed by the world. Still our struggle for our revelation is all that we may possess and our search for the truth something which we cannot complete, hence never possess.
This book is written in symbolic language. In some ways this book makes Samuel Beckett read like a non-fiction account of kitchen appliances. Sometimes I would read passages over and on several occasions I began chapters over again because I felt I was missing something. While I think that I do not understand much clearly in The King of the Dark Chamber,I am convinced that it is an impressive, beautiful and very significant book. Understanding it is perhaps like grasping a greased pig, but perhaps that is exactly wherein its brilliance lies: you must follow the path of which it speaks (and by which it speaks) to understand even the symbology in which it is written. This kind of truth leaves one ultimately listening rather than speaking. That silence is deafening.
Originally written in Bengali, I found the translation very difficult to understand. It was as if I were reading another language and having to detect nuances of meanings from how words were being used. I had the same issues with the characters, but was less secure in understanding them. As a result I can say that I am not entirely sure that I have understood the book or not. Nevertheless, I should summarize this book in the following way: it is an effort to symbolically represent man's relationship with and path to find God.
Having said this, one may be disposed to ask which God I mean and press me for a closer definition. For this, I am afraid I can give no greater definition and therein lies the greatness of this book. It is not that it leaves issues vague enough so that we may interpolate and allow some sort of warm and funny modern spiritual voodoo nor is it specific enough to guarantee that a Christian fundamentalist interpretation is incorrect. The brilliance is simply that the revelation must be individual rather than collective and isolated and mutable, albeit evolutionary in its understanding thereof.
I quote Sudarshana's self-realization: It is my defeat that has brought me freedom. Oh, what an iron pride was mine! Nothing could move or soften it. My darkened mind could not in any way be brought to see the plain truth that it was not the King who was to come, it was I who ought to have gone to him.
How is it that this character comes to understand this truth? Is she even right about her discovery? The evidence, at least according to others in the book, leave that issue moot. Yet there is one specific truth which is inevitable and that is that only through the seeking that we are able to find any truth. Nothing is discovered by incorporating it into what we already know about our lives and the lives of others. It is a kind of cataclysmic revelation, entirely intuitive, and that which cannot be understood in and of itself beyond following the path of the revelatory truth.
I think that this book suggests that we must seek the truth beyond who we are now and within that which we may yet become. In this sense it is like going through the jungle in search of a tiger, but without a weapon. Absolute truth, then, is always a struggle, sometimes a weary and frustratingly pointless one. We may return many times without finding what we seek and we may yet grasp at the truth and then lose our grasp on it, all because we are overwhelmed by the world. Still our struggle for our revelation is all that we may possess and our search for the truth something which we cannot complete, hence never possess.
This book is written in symbolic language. In some ways this book makes Samuel Beckett read like a non-fiction account of kitchen appliances. Sometimes I would read passages over and on several occasions I began chapters over again because I felt I was missing something. While I think that I do not understand much clearly in The King of the Dark Chamber,I am convinced that it is an impressive, beautiful and very significant book. Understanding it is perhaps like grasping a greased pig, but perhaps that is exactly wherein its brilliance lies: you must follow the path of which it speaks (and by which it speaks) to understand even the symbology in which it is written. This kind of truth leaves one ultimately listening rather than speaking. That silence is deafening.
July 15, 2022
‘Raja’ or ‘The King of the Dark Chamber’ deals with association between God and man. Using tangible metaphors, the nonfigurative perception of God has been made quite palpable. The premise of this play is sombrely remarkable. It is a glorious effort to sensationalize the clandestine dealings of divinity with the human heart.
The King of this play is not identifiable by any of the characters. There is much assumption about him, so that everybody gets involved in an interweave of contemplation, emotion, and speculation.
Even the Queen, Sudarshana, has not seen him. in actual fact, nobody has seen him. Surangama, a Maid of Honour, deems in his reality, even though she too has not seen him. But there is a counterfeit King in the play, a pretender by whom most of the characters are swindled.
Even the Queen takes this man to be the genuine King. When the fake King is uncovered, Sudarshana decides to put an end to her disgrace and mortification by giving herself to up to fire, where she sees the real King.
Consequently she flees to her father’s place because she is powerless to tolerate the true King’s love.
With Surangama supporting her all the time, she learns, through her anguish, the message of self-surrender, and is at last united with the true King.
Evidently, the King in this play symbolizes God who is all over the place and is the whole thing but who is yet nowhere and is nobody particularly.
Every human being, in his or her restraints or shortened knowledge, makes of this King what they can. Some rebuff his very being; some try to presuppose his name and appropriate his roles; and some blindly admit him and are at ease.
While the Queen has her hesitations, a mere Maid of Honour is resolutely certain of his existence. The Maid knows that the King would not relinquish his subjects.
Thus the play is about the human soul’s escapades in its effort to be acquainted with God.
The King of this play is not identifiable by any of the characters. There is much assumption about him, so that everybody gets involved in an interweave of contemplation, emotion, and speculation.
Even the Queen, Sudarshana, has not seen him. in actual fact, nobody has seen him. Surangama, a Maid of Honour, deems in his reality, even though she too has not seen him. But there is a counterfeit King in the play, a pretender by whom most of the characters are swindled.
Even the Queen takes this man to be the genuine King. When the fake King is uncovered, Sudarshana decides to put an end to her disgrace and mortification by giving herself to up to fire, where she sees the real King.
Consequently she flees to her father’s place because she is powerless to tolerate the true King’s love.
With Surangama supporting her all the time, she learns, through her anguish, the message of self-surrender, and is at last united with the true King.
Evidently, the King in this play symbolizes God who is all over the place and is the whole thing but who is yet nowhere and is nobody particularly.
Every human being, in his or her restraints or shortened knowledge, makes of this King what they can. Some rebuff his very being; some try to presuppose his name and appropriate his roles; and some blindly admit him and are at ease.
While the Queen has her hesitations, a mere Maid of Honour is resolutely certain of his existence. The Maid knows that the King would not relinquish his subjects.
Thus the play is about the human soul’s escapades in its effort to be acquainted with God.
July 2, 2019
This play shows a symbolic and profound meaning about God. Many characters express different concepts about God. Some doubt about the existence of God and some say that a fake person was impersonating as God. The rivalry between kings to capture God's kingdom and his queen shows the greedy and egoistic nature of humans. Even the queen herself has no clear concept of God who met her only in the dark chamber. But she experienced His presence by listening to his music and voice. At the end she and others realise their faults and surrender to God by giving up their egoistic attitude. The king of dark chamber leads them from dark ignorance to bright realms of enlightenment and love. Thus the whole play revolves around search for God. One has to read it two or three times to understand the implied meaning and message.
February 7, 2013
So, true to my word, I'm reading as much Tagore as I can possibly can.
This play, titled "The King of The Dark Chamber," revolves around a mysterious, unseen, omniscient king, who is both benevolent and efficient. His strange reticence towards being seen causes most of the drama in the story, rattling his beautiful wife and the kings of nearby kingdoms.
I believe the king serves as a metaphor for God in this play. Tinged with Tagore's characteristic themes of passionate love, staunch patriotism and dark humor, this is a story worth reading.
This play, titled "The King of The Dark Chamber," revolves around a mysterious, unseen, omniscient king, who is both benevolent and efficient. His strange reticence towards being seen causes most of the drama in the story, rattling his beautiful wife and the kings of nearby kingdoms.
I believe the king serves as a metaphor for God in this play. Tinged with Tagore's characteristic themes of passionate love, staunch patriotism and dark humor, this is a story worth reading.
August 11, 2018
Some people complained that I don't have a door to stop them. They left. They also make me see so that I would suddenly give birth to a wood and create a door with it and then stop them! After a while another one suddenly entered. Being scared of the darkness started screaming, "You trapped me"!- didn't even realized that there is no door! Why do people obsessed with those doors! Don't they know, those doors stop the breeze, our sense to differ light & dark!!
-My review on that book
-My review on that book
June 19, 2018
I'm new to his work and I wish to get more familiar and read more. This being my first time experience his work, it was a very new but familiar kind feeling. I'm still not completely sure about the story but boy I liked the complexity. I feel adult now.
Read
October 2, 2023el libro me interesó desde que leí "poema dramático"
efectivamente a mí también me ha parecido un poema dramático
de lo ínfimo que se sobre la cultura india lo de que tanta sabiduría resida en la oscuridad/destrucción/muerte/nada/no-ser llámalo como quieras Me vuelve loca
efectivamente a mí también me ha parecido un poema dramático
de lo ínfimo que se sobre la cultura india lo de que tanta sabiduría resida en la oscuridad/destrucción/muerte/nada/no-ser llámalo como quieras Me vuelve loca
November 27, 2023
A decent play
It's a nice play that seems to be inspired by the Shakespearean style. I didn't find much substance in the first half but the second half grabbed my attention. It has an interesting spiritual element to it.
It's a nice play that seems to be inspired by the Shakespearean style. I didn't find much substance in the first half but the second half grabbed my attention. It has an interesting spiritual element to it.
November 8, 2017
Superb allegory!!
Tells us about what type of person a kind should be. Our politicians may get a great lesson from reading this
Tells us about what type of person a kind should be. Our politicians may get a great lesson from reading this
November 5, 2018
This play is one of the most profound and far-reaching plays I have read. Wisdom is disclosed at various levels.
November 2, 2020
‘A fancy comes to me-that desire can never attain its object-it need never attain it.’
April 23, 2021
Connecting physical world to the spiritual in a subtle, effortless way, this play is one of Tagore's best.
May 20, 2022
Brilliantly crafted
October 12, 2024
“This is my jolly pilgrimage to the land of
losing everything.” #Tagore2024
losing everything.” #Tagore2024
February 25, 2014
عندما ننظر لفكرة الإسلام عن الله ستجد الآتي:
الله هو الواحد الأحد المتعال.. الله لا تدركه الابصار وهو يدرك الأبصار.. الله متواجد في كل مكان و لكننا لا نراه.. نعلم بوجوده ولكننا لم نقابله أبدا.. لا نحيطه بأعيننا و لكننا نراه من خلال صنعته و خلقه.. ندرك وجوده من آثاره في الكون..
الله عادل يكره الظلم.. الله رحيم بعباده و يحب لهم الخير و يكره لهم الشر..
الله قادر على كل شيء.. قادر أن يجعل الجميع مثل الملائكة مجبرين على عبادته و لكنه ترك للإنسان حرية الاختيار .. إما ان يعبد الله أو يكفر به.. إما أن يحاول أن يعرف الله و أما ان يعرض عنه..
و لكن الله لن يترك ال��نسان يتخبط هكذا.. بل هو فقط ينتظر أن تكون النية خالصة من الإنسان في المعرفة فيقترب منه الله.. و من يتقرب إليه شبرا تقرب إليه منه ذراعا و من أتاه ماشيا أتاه الله هرولة ... فهو يمد يده بالمساعدة و ينتظر فقط من عباده أن تكون لديهم الرغبة الحقيقية و النية الصادقة.
لكن أحيانا يدعى الناس أنهم أرباب.. أو أنهم مبعوثون من قبل الله و يتحدثون باسمه.. إنهم يفعلون هذا فقط لخدمة مصالحهم و أغراضهم.. و يقع بعض المسلمين في الفخ و يسلموا قيادة حياتهم لأمثال هؤلاء المتحدثين باسم الله.. و الله في الحقيقة لا يضع واسطة ولا نائب يتحدث باسمه في الأرض.. إنه أقرب للإنسان من حبل الوريد..
هذا جزء بسيط من التصور الإسلامي للخالق عز و جل..
ما علاقة هذا بالمسرحية؟
حسنا .. أستبدل كلمة "الإسلام" من الفقرات السابقة .. و ضع مكانها "طاغور في المسرحية" و ستكون منطبقة تماما على هذه المسرحية العبقرية!
اندهشت بالفعل من تطابق فكرة طاغور عن الخالق الأعظم مع فكرة الإسلام عن الخالق بهذا الشكل !
شعرت أثناء قراءة المسرحية أنها مسرحية صوفية إسلامية و ليست بمسرحية رمزية هندية!
استمتعت بكل تلك الرمزية المفرطة في المسرحية..
الملك المحتجب الذي لا يعرفه أحد ولكنه يتصرف في مقادير الحياة في مملكته..
الحجرة المظلمة التي يتحدث فيها فقط الملك لحاشيته.. فهي رمزية الابتعاد عن بهرج و زينة الحياة للوصول للخالق.. فعندما نتخلص من حب الدنيا نبدأ في الإحساس بالقرب من الله..
زوجة الملك التي لا تراه و لكنها تبحث عنه طوال المسرحية .. تخطئ أحيانا و تظن أن الملك شخصا آخر و لكنها في النهاية تصل إلى حقيقة الملك و تدرك وجوده.. إلخ إلخ..
مسرحية هندية من كاتب هندوسي لكنها تحمل روحا إسلامية اكثر مما تحمله كتابات سيد قطب و مصطفي محمود و العقاد مجتمعين!
الله هو الواحد الأحد المتعال.. الله لا تدركه الابصار وهو يدرك الأبصار.. الله متواجد في كل مكان و لكننا لا نراه.. نعلم بوجوده ولكننا لم نقابله أبدا.. لا نحيطه بأعيننا و لكننا نراه من خلال صنعته و خلقه.. ندرك وجوده من آثاره في الكون..
الله عادل يكره الظلم.. الله رحيم بعباده و يحب لهم الخير و يكره لهم الشر..
الله قادر على كل شيء.. قادر أن يجعل الجميع مثل الملائكة مجبرين على عبادته و لكنه ترك للإنسان حرية الاختيار .. إما ان يعبد الله أو يكفر به.. إما أن يحاول أن يعرف الله و أما ان يعرض عنه..
و لكن الله لن يترك ال��نسان يتخبط هكذا.. بل هو فقط ينتظر أن تكون النية خالصة من الإنسان في المعرفة فيقترب منه الله.. و من يتقرب إليه شبرا تقرب إليه منه ذراعا و من أتاه ماشيا أتاه الله هرولة ... فهو يمد يده بالمساعدة و ينتظر فقط من عباده أن تكون لديهم الرغبة الحقيقية و النية الصادقة.
لكن أحيانا يدعى الناس أنهم أرباب.. أو أنهم مبعوثون من قبل الله و يتحدثون باسمه.. إنهم يفعلون هذا فقط لخدمة مصالحهم و أغراضهم.. و يقع بعض المسلمين في الفخ و يسلموا قيادة حياتهم لأمثال هؤلاء المتحدثين باسم الله.. و الله في الحقيقة لا يضع واسطة ولا نائب يتحدث باسمه في الأرض.. إنه أقرب للإنسان من حبل الوريد..
هذا جزء بسيط من التصور الإسلامي للخالق عز و جل..
ما علاقة هذا بالمسرحية؟
حسنا .. أستبدل كلمة "الإسلام" من الفقرات السابقة .. و ضع مكانها "طاغور في المسرحية" و ستكون منطبقة تماما على هذه المسرحية العبقرية!
اندهشت بالفعل من تطابق فكرة طاغور عن الخالق الأعظم مع فكرة الإسلام عن الخالق بهذا الشكل !
شعرت أثناء قراءة المسرحية أنها مسرحية صوفية إسلامية و ليست بمسرحية رمزية هندية!
استمتعت بكل تلك الرمزية المفرطة في المسرحية..
الملك المحتجب الذي لا يعرفه أحد ولكنه يتصرف في مقادير الحياة في مملكته..
الحجرة المظلمة التي يتحدث فيها فقط الملك لحاشيته.. فهي رمزية الابتعاد عن بهرج و زينة الحياة للوصول للخالق.. فعندما نتخلص من حب الدنيا نبدأ في الإحساس بالقرب من الله..
زوجة الملك التي لا تراه و لكنها تبحث عنه طوال المسرحية .. تخطئ أحيانا و تظن أن الملك شخصا آخر و لكنها في النهاية تصل إلى حقيقة الملك و تدرك وجوده.. إلخ إلخ..
مسرحية هندية من كاتب هندوسي لكنها تحمل روحا إسلامية اكثر مما تحمله كتابات سيد قطب و مصطفي محمود و العقاد مجتمعين!
October 24, 2012
مسرحية فيها كتير من الوعظ.تقريبا لبعد منتصفها حتى تبدأ الأحداث بالحركة.فيها لحن صوفي..تحكي عن بلاد يحكمها حاكم لم يره أحد حتى زوجته...
March 17, 2015
Beautiful.
February 4, 2017
A nice Bengali play, translated in English..
January 14, 2013
Was it the god he was referring to???
May 15, 2013
Good read
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews