Rabindranath Tagore is nice poet from materialistic point of view. That's all. To satisfy the materialistic person. He is not a nice poet from spiritualistic point of view. We have nothing to do with him

Expressions researched:
"He is nice poet from materialistic point of view. That's all. To satisfy the materialistic person. He is not a nice poet from spiritualistic point of view. We have nothing to do with him"

Bhagavad-gita As It Is Lectures

Rabindranath Tagore is nice poet from materialistic point of view. That's all. To satisfy the materialistic person. He is not a nice poet from spiritualistic point of view. We have nothing to do with him. (chuckles) We have to do with the poet like Vyāsadeva.

Lecture on BG 8.5 -- New York, October 26, 1966:

Bhaktijana: The Indian poet, Rabindranath Tagore, is he nice? Do you know Rabindranath Tagore?

Prabhupāda: Yes, why not.

Bhaktijana: Is he a nice poet?

Prabhupāda: He is nice poet from materialistic point of view. That's all. To satisfy the materialistic person. He is not a nice poet from spiritualistic point of view. We have nothing to do with him. (chuckles) We have to do with the poet like Vyāsadeva. Don't you see how nicely he has written Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam? There is no comparison, even from the literary point of view. He is perfect poet. Lokasyājānato vidvāṁś cakre sātvata-saṁhitām, anarthopaśamaṁ sākṣād bhakti-yogam adhokṣaje, lokasya ajānataḥ... (SB 1.7.6). People do not know this, that to get out of the clutches of māyā, all this nonsense, the only thing is bhakti-yogam. And people do not know it. Lokasyājānato vidvāṁś cakre sātvata-saṁhitām. The greatest poet, vidvān, learned Vyāsadeva, has written this Bhāgavatam. So he is the greatest poet.

Devotee: Swamiji, while it's true that anyone who thinks of Kṛṣṇa as he is dying can take on the body of Kṛṣṇa, is it not true that if you don't spend your life thinking of Kṛṣṇa, it may be difficult at the time of death to remember Him because of attachment?

Prabhupāda: Certainly. If you don't practice, then at the time of examination, certainly you'll fail. (chuckles) If you say, "All right. I shall see in the examination hall. I shall write everything nice," that is nonsense. You have to study nicely before the examination. Therefore it is said, yudhya ca mām anusmara (BG 8.7). Practice it. Abhyāsa-yoga-yuktena. What is yoga? Yoga means practice. Abhyāsa-yoga-yuktena cetasā nānya-gāminā (BG 8.8). Yoga means you do not allow your mind to go anywhere else. Just try to engage. Sa vai manaḥ kṛṣṇa-padāravindayoḥ (SB 9.4.18). Always fix up in Kṛṣṇa. That is the highest type of yoga. All right. Question finished? Let us chant. (end)