"Where the mind is without fear" () is a poem written by 1913 Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore before India's independence. It represents Tagore's vision of a new and awakened India. The original poem was published in 1910 in "Naivedya" and, in Tagore's own translation, in its 1912 English edition. "Where the mind is without fear" is the 35th poem of Gitanjali, and one of Tagore's most anthologised poems.
It is an expression of the poet's reflective spirit and contains a simple prayer for his country, the India of pre-independence times.
Original Bengali script
English translation Tagore's own translation found in the 1912 English edition of Gitanjali ran:
History and translation This poem was most likely composed in 1900. It appeared in the volume Naivedya in the poem titled "Prarthona" (July 1901, Bengali 1308 Bangabda). The English translation was composed around 1911 when Tagore was translating some of his work into English after a request from William Rothenstein. It appeared as poem 35 in the English Gitanjali, published by The India Society, London, in 1912. p. 9. In 1917, Tagore read out the English version (then titled 'Indian Prayer') at the Indian National Congress session in Calcutta.Prabhat Kumar Mukhopadhyay, rabIndrajIbanIkathA, 1981, p.104
As in most of Tagore's translations for the English Gitanjali, almost every line of the English rendering has been considerably simplified. Line 6 in the English version omits a reference to manliness (পৌরুষ), and the stern ending of the original, where the Father is being enjoined to "strike the sleeping nation without mercy" has been softened.
This poem often appears in textbooks in India and is also popular in Bangladesh. There is a Sinhala translation of this song by the name "Mage Deshaya Avadi Karanu Mana Piyaneni" (Sinhala: මාගේ දේශය අවදි කරනු මැන පියාණෙනි; lit. "My father, let my country awake") which was translated into Sinhala by Mahagama Sekara.
Legacy In July 2026, film artist Andrea Jeremiah quoted lines from the poem, emphasising the phrase "where knowledge is free," while speaking at an anti-NEET protest at Rajarathinam Stadium in Chennai, Tamil Nadu.
See also Freedom of thought Independence Day (India) National revival
References
External links Quoted by the Prime Minister at Visva-Bharati University (15 December 2001) Quoted at the 66th Session of the Indian History Congress "Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high" Where The Mind Is Without Fear - Summary Where the Mind is Without Fear Bengali Songs - Rabindra Sangeet