Gitanjali : nagri mein mool Bangla thatha Hindi padhanuwaad by Rabindra Nath Thakur

Gitanjali has been translated into many languages all over the world, and in some languages many a time over. In Hindi also numerous versions are available, including this one by me, which was first published in 2002 by Vagdevi Prakashan, along with the original in Bengali in Devnagari script. And the positive response it got from the readers has prompted Vagdevi to include in this new edition the English translation done by Tagore himself. Thus, this volume contains the original Gitanjali in Bengali (in Devnagari or Hindi script), the poet's rendering of it in English (for which he got the Nobel Prize in 1913), and the Hindi translation. editor hope that readers from all these languages will find it useful, as they will be in a position to enjoy the translation, along with the originals in Bengali and English. For those who do not know Hindi or Bengali, and English is their language, this edition in any case will provide them with the English rendering by the poet himself. The introduction to first English Gitanjali by W. B. Yeats also appears in the last pages. For the Hindi readers, the Devnagari transcript is there to enchant them with the musicality of the original Bengali words, even as the translation also tries to recapture it!

So much has been written about Gitanjali, and critical studies of it are all the time coming forth, so editor have refrained from adding any from my side. The piece I wrote for the first edition in Hindi, as introduction, indicating my process of translating it, is reproduced, but the thought of rendering it in English did not occur to me. It is mainly addressed to the Hindi reader. Yet those familiar both with English and Hindi, may find it of some use.