Bharatendu Harishchandra

Bharatendu Harishchandra
Bharatendu Harishchandra
Born	9 September 1850; Benares, Benares State, British India
Died	6 January 1885 (aged 34); Benares, Benares State, British India
Pen name	Rasa
Occupation	Novelist, poet, playwright
Language	Hindi
Notable works	Andher Nagari

Bharatendu Harishchandra (9 September 1850 – 6 January 1885) was an Indian poet, writer and playwright. He authored several dramas, life sketches and travel accounts, using new media such as reports, publications, letters to editors of publications, translations, and literary works to shape public opinion.^[1]^[2] 'Bharatendu Harishchandra' is often considered as the father of modern Hindi Literature and Hindi theatre.^[3]^[4] He has been hailed as a Yug Charan for his writings depicting the exploitative nature of the British Raj.^[5]

Writing under the pen name "Rasa", Harishchandra picked themes that demonstrated the agonies of the people. For instance, the country's poverty, dependency, inhuman exploitation, the unrest of the middle class and the urgent need for progression of the country. Referred as a fearless journalist, Harishchandra refuted the prevailing orthodoxy of the time and revealed the machination of the mahants, pandas and priests.^[5] He was an influential Hindu "traditionalist", using Vaishnava devotionalism to define a coherent Hindu religion.^[2]

Biography

Bharatendu Harishchandra was born in Benaras. His father Girdhar Das was a poet. His parents died when he was young.^[6]

His ancestors were landlords in Bengal,^[7] and he was born into a wealthy family.Gopal, Madan (1985). "Remembering Bharatendu Harishchandra". Indian Literature. pp. 101–109.

Acharya Ramchandra Shukla has described Bharatendu's journey to the Jagannath temple in Puri, Orissa with his family in 1865, at the young age of 15.^[8] During this trip he was deeply moved by the Bengal Renaissance and decided to translate the genres of social, historical, and Puranic plays and novels into Hindi. This influence reflected in his Hindi translation of the Bengali drama Vidyasundar, three years later, in 1868.

By age 17, Harishchandra was known for his literary talents. ^[9]

Harishchandra edited the magazines Kavi Vachan Sudha, Harishchandra Magazine, Harishchandra Patrika and Bal Vodhini.^[10]

He wrote under the pseudonym Girdhar Das. He was titled "Bharatendu" ("The moon of India") at a public meeting by scholars of Kashi in 1880 in recognition of his services as a writer, patron, and moderniser. Ram Vilas Sharma refers to the "great literary awakening ushered in under Bharatendu's leadership" as the "second storey of the edifice of renascent Hindi", the first being the Indian Rebellion of 1857.^[7]

He was married and had one daughter.

Hindu traditionalism

According to Barbara and Thomas R. Metcalf, Bharatendu Harishchandra was a powerful Hindu "traditionalist" in North India, promoting the continuity of received tradition and self-conscious participation with the modern world. He rejected the authority of those engaged with Western learning and institutions over Hindu religious matters and recommended they be left to traditionally educated Hindu scholars. He used new media, especially publications to shape public opinion. In doing so, he contributed to the development of modern forms of the Hindi language.

He used Vaishnava devotionalism to define a coherent Hindu religion, using the Kashi Dharma Sabha as his institutional base, started in the 1860s by the Maharaja of Benares as a response to more radical Hindu reformist movements. Harishchandra insisted on the value of image worship and interpreted Bhakti as devotion to a single god; this was in response to Orientalist and Christian critiques of Hinduism.^[2]

Although Urdu was used as the lingua franca across North India since the 18th Century, Harishchandra espoused the cause of reviving Hindi as part of his cultural and nationalist activities. He "combined pleas for [the] use of Swadeshi articles with demands for replacement of Urdu by Hindi in courts and a ban on cow slaughter".^[11] He continued his campaign for a legal ban on cow slaughter on behalf of Maharaja of Benares, taking it to the Delhi Durbar. His petition on the same, according to Sahay ([1905] 1975: 84), had 60,000 signatories and was submitted to Lord Lytton. Even though no action was taken on the ban, he was given the title "Vir Vaishnava".^[12]

Major works

Plays

Bharatendu Harishchandra soon became a director, manager, and playwright. He used theatre as a tool to shape public opinion. His major plays are:

Vaidika Himsa Na Bhavati, 1873 (वैदिक हिंसा न भवति)
Satya Harishchandra, 1876 (सत्य हरिश्चन्द्र)
Bharat Durdasha, 1875
Niladevi, 1881 (नीलदेवी)
Andher Nagari (अन्धेर नगरी, City of Darkness), 1881: A popular play of modern Hindi drama and a political satire. Translated and performed in many Indian languages by prominent Indian directors like B. V. Karanth, Prasanna, Arvind Gaur and Sanjay Upadhyaya.

Poetry

Bhakta Sarvagya (भक्त सर्वज्ञ)
Prem Malika (प्रेम मालिका), 1872
Prem Madhuri (प्रेम माधुरी), 1875
Prem Tarang (प्रेम तरंग),1877
Prem Prakalpa (प्रेम प्रकल्प), Prem Phulwari (प्रेम फुलवारी) and Prem Sarowar (प्रेम सरोवर), 1883
Holi (होली), (1874)
Madhumukul (मधुमुकुल), 1881
Raga Sangrah (राग संग्रह), 1880
Varsha Vinod (वर्षा विनोद), 1880
Vinay Prem Pachasa (विनय प्रेम पचासा), 1881
Phulon Ka Guchchha (फूलों का गुच्छा), 1882
Chandravali (चन्द्रावली), 1876 and Krishnacharitra (कृष्णचरित्र), 1883
Uttarardha Bhaktamal (उत्तरार्द्ध भक्तमाल), 1876–77

निज भाषा उन्नति अहै, सब उन्नति को मूल ।
बिन निज भाषा-ज्ञान के, मिटत न हिय को सूल ।।

विविध कला शिक्षा अमित, ज्ञान अनेक प्रकार।
सब देसन से लै करहू, भाषा माहि प्रचार ।।

Translation:
Progress is made in one's own language (the mother tongue), as it the foundation of all progress.
Without the knowledge of the mother tongue, there is no cure for the pain of heart. Many arts and education infinite, knowledge of various kinds.
Should be taken from all countries, but be propagated in one's mother tongue.

He also wrote the following famous lines, which are frequently cited, when someone laments the pathetic situation in which India often finds itself. The lines exhort all Indians to work together to end this situation.

रोवहु सब मिलि के आवहु भारत भाई ।
हा। हा। भारत दुर्दशा न देखी जाई ।।

Translations

Harsha's Ratnavali (रत्नावली)
Vishakhadatta's Mudrarakshasa (मुद्राराक्षस)
Ramprasad Sen's Vidyasundar (विद्यासुन्दर) from Bengali
Karpuramanjari (कर्पूरमञ्जरी) from Prakrit
Shakespeare's Merchant of Venice as Durlabh Bandhu (दुर्लभ बन्धु) Invaluable Friend

Essay collection

Bharatendu Granthavali (भारतेन्दु ग्रन्थावली), 1885