Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar was a towering personality that still shines bright. Throughout his long life he stood for morality, honest character, truthfulness, social reforms, unselfishness, liberalism heart, a man of Himalayan magnanimity and by training, a far-sighted social reformer with a modern vision. A son of the soil, Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar was, with a vast career of learning the first modernly refined man not only of Bengal but also of India. Birth, Education & Activities In the history of enlightened personalities, Vidyasagar finds a unique niche. He was born on 26th day of September, 1820. The rustic boy of Thakurdas Bandopadhyay and Bhagabati Devi of Birsingha, Midnapore rose to inimitable eminence through hazards of poverty. He was an obstinate boy. He had turned his obstinacy into rock-like strength of character that would not stoop to any adverse state of affairs. From 1829 to 1841 Ishwar Chandra studied Vedanta, Vyakaran, Literature, Rhetoric’s, Smriti and Ethics in Sanskrit College. And in 1839 the title ‘Vidyasagar’ was conferred on him for his unusual talent. He was appointed as the Head Pandit of the Fort William College on 29th December, 1841. Soon he learnt English and Hindi. In 1846 Vidyasagar was employed to grace the chair of the assistant secretary of the Sanskrit College. Although a Sanskrit scholar he had a remarkable proficiency in English and very few people could recite Shakespeare like him. His first books ‘Betal Panchabingsati’ saw the light of the day in 1847. In 1851 Vidyasagar became a professor and later on the Principal of the Sanskrit College. Character Vidyasagar came of an obscure orthodox Brahmin family in Midnapore. Yet he won the heart of the Bengali people by dint of his versatile activities. He roused the Bengali people from the caves of idleness and ignorance. In his character of extra-ordinariness were reconciled the opposite: love and heroism, tenderness and manliness, precept and practice, action and contemplation. Contribution His contribution in the field of education, particularly modern education and women’s education is great. No parallel could be found to match his manly kindness with which Vidyasagar carried on a life-long crusade against polygamy and a campaign for widow-marriage. The old and the new, tradition as well as modernity combined to produce this great sentinel of the last century. He did what Rammohan could not do. The king without crown tried to make people rational and Vidyasagar tried to make them bold and fearless. Vidyasagar invented Bengali prose through translation as well as own writings. His translations are actually transcreations. Sakuntala is a facile prose translation of Kalidas. Death He died on July 29, 1891. Conclusion We get the opportunity to re-estimate Vidyasagar in a new light and arrange for seminars and debate-societies for disseminating Vidyasagar’s thoughts and ideas among the rising generation. Various organizations must hold a mirror before the degenerating society so that it could re-think and re-establish the relevance of the mighty son of Bengali prose. Nawabs shoe donation =================== One day, Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar and his few friends decided to collect donations to form Calcutta University. He traveled across Bengal and neighboring states asking people to donate for the foundation. While doing so, one day he reached outside the palace of an influential King. After hearing his plea the King, pulled one of his shoes and dropped into Vidyasagars bag as donation. Vidyasagar thanked Nawab and left. The very next day Vidyasagar organized an auction of the Nawabs shoe and earned Rs. 1000. The Nawab after hearing that his shoe has fetched so much amount of money, he himself gave a similar amount of money as donation. Death ===== Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar, the great scholar, academician and reformer passed away on 29 July, 1891 at the age of 70 years. After his deathRabindranath Tagore said, One wonders how God, in the process of producing forty million Bengalis, produced a man!
Posted on: Thu, 25 Sep 2014 21:50:15 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015