This PPT is based on M.A. Semester 3 presentation on Pre-Independent Indian English Literature, presented at the Department of English, MKBU. The topic of this presentation is "The Impoverished Gift: Reading the Title of the Poem".

1. The Impoverished Gift:
Reading the Title of the
poem

2. Prepared by Trushali Dodiya
Roll no:- 19
Enrollment no:- 4069206420220011
Sem:- 3(M. A.) Batch:- 2022-24
Paper no. :- 201 Paper Code:- 22406
Paper name:- Pre-independence Indian English
Literature
Submitted to:- Smt. S. B. Gardi Department of English,
M.K.B.U.
Dated on:- 16/10/2023
Email:- trushalidodiya84@gmail.com

3. Points to Ponder
● Introduction
● Meaning of দ্বীন দেন
● The Impoverished Gift
● Why Impoverished?
● The Richest Temples in
India
● Conclusion

4. ● The poem ‘Deeno Dan’ is originally written in
Bengali by Rabindranath Tagore
● Later translated in English by Sandipto Da
Gupta
● Published on the 20th of Shravan, 1307 as per
Bengali Calendar.
● July/August 1900
● About the arrogance of king - Devotion of
Hermit
“There is no god in that temple”, said the hermit.
Introduction

5. Meaning of দ্বীন দেন
● This title can be
interpreted in the
multiple ways.
● To give -
Religion(interpreting
religion as Dharma)
● the king.
● A temple Given by the
King to GOD or
People?
(দ্বীন দেন)

6. The Impoverished Gift
For the translation of the poem Sandipto
Da Gupta has used this title.

7. Why Impoverished?
● Impoverished means
○ To make poor
○ To deprive strength, richness, or fertility by
depleting or draining of something
essential(“Impoverish Definition & Meaning”)

8. “ “No God? Oh Saint, aren’t you speaking like an atheist?
On that throne studded with priceless gems, beams the golden idol,
And yet, you proclaim that it is empty?”(“Deeno Daan a poem Rabindranath
Tagore”)
“2 million golden coins
were showered on that grand structure that kisses the sky,
I offered it to the Gods after performing all the necessary rituals,”
(“Deeno Daan a poem Rabindranath Tagore”)
In the first line when Hermit says that there is no God in the
Temple, the king gives a response
In Sanskrit(according to Hindu vedas, Puranas and Epics like
Ramayana and Mahabharat, King’s First duty is to look for the
welfare of people of his kingdom. As Gujarati Vishwakosh notes it
as, “પ્રજાની રક્ષાનું તથા પ્રજાની સખશાુંતત જાળવવાનું કતતવ્ય”(Shukla)

9. In response to the vainglory of the King, Hermit puts some very important
points…
“In the very year in which twenty million of your subjects were struck
by a terrible drought;
The desperate masses without any food or shelter,
came begging at your door crying for help, only to be turned away,
they were forced to take refuge in forests, caves, camping under
roadside foliages, derelict old temples;
and in that very year,
when you spent 2 million gold coins to build that grand temple of
yours,..” (“Deeno Daan a poem Rabindranath Tagore”)

10. That was the day when God pronounced:
‘My eternal home is lit by everlasting lamps,
in the midst of an azure sky.
In my home the foundations are built with the values
of Truth, Peace, Compassion and Love.
This poverty-stricken puny miser,
Who could not provide shelter to his own homeless
subjects,
Does he really fancy he can give Me a home?’(“Deeno Daan a
poem Rabindranath Tagore”)
That is the day God left that Temple of yours.
And joined the poor beside the roads, under the trees.
Like the emptiness of the froth in the vast seas,
Your mundane temple is hollow.
It is just a bubble of wealth and pride.” (“Deeno Daan a poem
Rabindranath Tagore”)
It’s like “Nero
Fiddled while Rome
Burned”(Gyles 211)

11. The result of going against power
The enraged King howled,
“oh you sham cretin of a person,
Leave my kingdom this instant”. (“Deeno Daan a poem Rabindranath
Tagore”)
At the Parliament of Religion, Swami Vivekananda states that, “You erect
churches all through India, but the crying evil in the East is not religion-
they have religion enough - but it is bread that the suffering millions of
burning India cry out for with parched throats. They ask us for bread, but
we give them stones. It is an insult to a starving people to offer them
religion; it is an insult to a starving man to teach him
metaphysics…”(Sharma)

13. The Richest temples in India
-Padmanabhaswamy Temple, Kerala- 1,20,000 crores
total wealth
Tirumala Tirupati Venkateswara Temple Andhra pradesh-
650 crores
-Guruvayurappan temple- 2500 crores
Vaishno Devi Temple- 500 crores
Sai Baba Temple, Madhya Pradesh- 1800 crores-
-Sabarimala Temple- 245 crores
Siddhivinayak Temple, Maharashtra- 125 crores-
(Dey)

14. ● Can be applied to the imperial, consumerist and market-economy world (the
government, business and military nexus) and its heartless greed and
arrogance right now in our times.(Chatterjee)
● India- Third largest military spender(Singh)
● According to UNDP as described in NMPI, 135 million people escaped from
poverty from 2015-2021(“National Multidimensional Poverty Index- A
Progress Review 2023”)
○ As per the report, in 2016-16 it was 24.85% it decreased in 2020-21
14.95%, it means 9.9 % decrease
○ But still 10 percent of the population are suffering from poverty means
10 crores people
● Poverty is often curtailed
● Deeno Dan and India’s situation
● Income of the temples and poverty
● Still so many temples are building up. Ex., Ram Mandir Ayodhya

15. Conclusion
● This gift of king makes them poor
● Spending money in vain in building the temple
● It deprive their strength, richness, or fertility by
depleting or draining of something essential-
basic need of people
● To pompous effects and satisfy their own vanity

16. References
“দ্বীন দেন.” Google Translate, 9 March 2019,
https://translate.google.co.in/?sl=gu&tl=en&text=%E0%A6%A6%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%AC%E0%A7%8
0%E0%A6%A8%20%E0%A6%A6%E0%A7%87%E0%A6%A8&op=translate . Accessed 15 October
2023.
Chatterjee, Monish R. “The Impoverished Gift.” Countercurrents, 15 March 2017,
https://countercurrents.org/2017/03/the-impoverished-gift/ . Accessed 15 October 2023.
“Deeno Daan a poem Rabindranath Tagore.” Mainstream Weekly, 7 August 2020,
https://mainstreamweekly.net/article9787.html. Accessed 14 October 2023.
Dey, Panchali. “India's richest temples and their net worth! | Times of India.” The Times of India, 1 September
2023, https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/travel/web-stories/indias-richest-temples-and-their-net-
worth/photostory/103284438.cms. Accessed 15 October 2023.

17. Gyles, Mary Francis. “Nero Fiddled while Rome Burned.” JSTOR, vol. 42, no. 4, 1947, https://www.jstor.org/stable/3291751?read-
now=1&typeAccessWorkflow=login#page_scan_tab_contents. Accessed 15 October 2023.
“Impoverish Definition & Meaning.” Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/impoverish . Accessed 15 October
2023.
“National Multidimensional Poverty Index- A Progress Review 2023.” United Nations Development Programme, 18 July 2023,
https://www.undp.org/india/publications/national-multidimensional-poverty-index-progress-review-2023 . Accessed 15 October
2023.
Sharma, Gurumayum Ranjit. The Idealistic Philosophy of Swami Vivekananda. Atlantic Publishers & Distributors, 1987.
Shukla, Bansidhar. “રાજધર્ત – Gujarati Vishwakosh – ગજરાતી તવશ્વકોશ.” ગજરાતી તવશ્વકોશ, January 2003,
https://gujarativishwakosh.org/%E0%AA%B0%E0%AA%BE%E0%AA%9C%E0%AA%A7%E0%AA%B0%E0%AB%8D%E0%
AA%AE/ . Accessed 15 October 2023.
Singh, Dalip. “India third largest military spender after US and China.” The Hindu BusinessLine, 25 April 2023,
https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/news/india-third-largest-military-spender-after-us-and-china/article66773097.ece.
Accessed 15 October 2023.