summary of Rabindranath Tagore's poem ' Upagupta '

                   Rabindranath Tagore is a myriad minded man and a relentless spokesperson of humanity. His poetic genius surpasses the barriers of space and time. He has given Indo Anglican poetry a new dimension- 'prose-poem' making a solid technical achievement in his powerful manipulation of free verse form and poetic prose. 

         Rabindranath Tagore's poem, ' Upagupta ' is the translated work of his bengali poem named 'Avisara' ( অভিসার )  . Upagupta leads ascetic life renouncing the luxury and hedonistic pleasure and travels from one town to another. He is one of the disciples of Lord Buddha. The poem opens with the description of a day of August with ' murky sky ' which made the people to stay indoors , turning out the lamps. In this rainy night, Upagupta sleeps in the dust near the city wall of Mathura. Suddenly his sleep is disturbed by the feet of a lustrous city woman . He does not mind it at all as it has not been a deliberate attempt on the part of the lady.Dressed in a pale blue attire and starred with jewels , the dancing girl has returned from the royal court. He hears the tinkling sound of her anklets and watches her alluring looks, ' drunk with the wine of her youth' . She asks the austere looking young acetic to stay the  stormy night in her house . 

He well understands what she wants to say. So he  plainly refuses saying that it has not been the right time. Soon the heavy howling Strom arises with occasional flashes of lightening and thunder. 

      In the second part of the poem, Nature is dressed in vernal beauty in Mathura- trees are overloaded with blossom,  air is resonated with the sweet tunes coming from the flute,  citizens celebrate the festival of flowers   in the woods, the full moon lights the shadowy town, the amorous koels sings the sleepless night. When the Nature is in her full lustrous beauty, the dancing girl has failed to keep ' her lustrous eyes' . She has become an outcast as she is struck with black pestilence . Her body is spotted with scars and sores. It can be fairly assumed that she is suffering from sexual transmitted disease which is the result of her promiscuous lifestyle. Upagupta once again returns to Mathura and finds the ailing lady near the wall of the town. He gives her water and smears balm on her body. When she asks his identity,  Upagupta replies that it is the right time to visit her and enjoy her hospitality and serves the suffering humanity.