"Nirvana is not the blowing out of the candle. It is the extinguishing of the flame because day is come"

Rabindranath Tagore’s metaphor draws upon the imagery of light and darkness to portray a unique understanding of nirvana, often described in Buddhist philosophy as liberation from suffering and the cycle of rebirth. The conventional image of nirvana is sometimes misinterpreted as complete emptiness or annihilation, the “blowing out” of a candle signifies disappearance, a snuffing of all existence. Tagore challenges this premise with subtle depth; he redefines nirvana not as darkness following the end of light, but as the moment when the light of a small flame is rendered unnecessary by a much greater illumination: the arrival of day.

His words suggest that enlightenment or spiritual awakening is not the nullification of self or the exhaustion of life, but the transcendence of ordinary consciousness. The flame represents our limited, individual awareness burning within the vast darkness of ignorance. Blowing out such a flame in the dark would be to plunge everything into emptiness. Tagore envisions a gentler, more affirmative cessation, not an abrupt end, but a natural transformation. As dawn approaches, the little candle is no longer needed; the vastness and clarity of daylight replaces it. The sense of individuality and separation dissolves not into void, but into a greater wholeness that dawns from realization.

Nirvana, by this vision, is not about losing one’s existence but about merging into a boundless awareness, letting go of egocentric clinging when a deeper truth is apprehended. Suffering ceases because ignorance ceases; the flame no longer stands against the darkness. Instead, what was painstakingly illuminated by the candle is now openly revealed by the fullness of day. Tagore’s message is affirming: true liberation is not a negation but a transformation, from constricted being to illuminated living, where the sun of understanding makes every separate, striving effort unnecessary.