Remembering and honoring Vidyasagar
Haimanti Banerjee
The 19th century was a very important one among so many before that because it gifted the world with innumerable great personalities from Bharat, particularly from Bengal.
To take a few names: Bharat Pathik, a great social reformer; Raja Ram Mohan Roy, a giant spiritual leader; Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa and his disciple Vivekananda; Rishi Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay, a genius and a pioneering scientist; Jagadish Chandra Basu, Kobiguru Rabindranath Thakur, Acharya Prafulla Chandra Roy, CV Raman, Srinivasa Ramanujam and so many others in and outside of Bengal who will be remembered as stalwarts in their fields for centuries to come.
Among them, one magnanimous personality is Vidya Sagar. Men of such nobility were seldom appreciated during their lifetime. More than 200 books have been published on Vidyasagar in many languages, and innumerable articles have been published as well.
It is astonishing that the character of Vidyasagar has not been studied by many in India in comparison to great and famous personalities in the global context. If such research had been done, VS would have shined in the century’s zenith. Indian books talk about many famous contemporary people like Gariboldi, Mazzini, Lincoln, Darwin, Spencer, Mendel, Louis Pasteur, Tolstoy, Einstein, Bertrand Russell, Graham Bell, and so many others, but Vidyasaga’s contribution to Bengal and Bharat did not receive much attention because India was under the British colonial rule.
His objective was very clear, and his approach was impersonal in essence and aimed at the welfare of the mass. His ceaseless reasoning, liberalism, and humanitarian efforts in every field were commendable.
During the 19th century, after the collapse of Muslim rule, the East India Company was able to stabilize the administration to a large extent, and the social and political conditions of Bharatias were in a state of degeneration after centuries of foreign interventions. The rigidity of social laws and women’s conditions were particularly pitiful. In the midst of all this hopelessness, he arrived like a savior for many. As Amalesh Mishra wrote in his biography of Vidya Sagar, “he combined in himself a scientist, a conqueror, a revolutionary, a diplomat, a literateur, and a benevolent superman for the great contributions he made for the Indian society”.
His soft heart always cried for the distress of humanity and was critical about the traditional conservative sentiment and atmosphere. He will be remembered for his caliber in bringing the enactment of widow marriage in the year 1856 by fighting with his own people headed by Raja Radhanath Deb and convincing the English administrator after deep research in shastras, including Parasar and Narada Samhitha. The despicable social ostracism and stigma of the widows, especially young widows, was rooted out by his relentless effort. He was a trailblazer who walked the walk; He set an example by marrying his son to a widow. He spent approximately eighty-two thousand Rupees in those days from his pocket to finance 62 widow marriages during his lifetime.
The education of girls was one of the main aims in his benevolent life, and he had a specific timeline; first – education of girls, second – the right of widow remarriage, and third, to abolish the practice of polygamy.
After he became the Principal of the Sanskrit college, not only did he make revolutionary changes in the college, he established a school in his village, Birsingha. It is worth mentioning that the land, the building, and everything was at his own expense, and at least 300 students who could not come during the day were taught at night.
As soon as he was appointed Inspector of schools, he established 20 training schools to raise a band of qualified teachers. The task of preparing vernacular class books was also taken by him. During his tenureship in Sanskrit college, he published three important books Bodhodaya, Upakramanica Rjupath most importantly, Byakaran Koumudi. Though he was extremely busy with widow remarriage, he created marvels in the year 1856 like Kathamala, Charitabali, and বর্ণপরিচয় (Borno Porichoy). Borono Porichoy ushered in a new era in the Bengali language which reached the masses quickly both for literacy and modernization of the language, thus ushering in a new generation of writers and grammarians. Every child in Bengal and beyond was first introduced to their matribhasha alphabet by reading Borono Porichoy.
Vidyasagar, by his eloquent argument, silenced the proposer who wanted to eliminate Sanskrit as a subject for higher studies in Calcutta University which was established in 1857. Today Sanskrit is one of the best-applied languages for computer science studies and application.
Vidyasagar dedicated his life to human welfare. He realized that social reforms are basically related to social welfare, and for that, he realized the importance of media. He published the first monthly issue of Sarba Suvakairi, which means the welfare of all. The purpose of this journal was to eradicate many superstitions that had been embedded in society and in people’s minds. He was associated with many other journals. His association with journalism prompted him to build a better social order and espoused the cause of mass education when there was little scope for journalism during that era.
His talents were multifaceted, and he was an extremely kind-hearted and compassionate human being. Right after Homeopathy treatment was introduced in Bengal around 1835, he started treating patients. He used to keep a detailed diary of the patients, their illness symptoms, and medicines applied. In Karmatar, the Santals and other tribes reposed full confidence in him. It is well known that the famous Dr. Mahendralal Sarkar, who treated Sri Ramakrishna, turned to a Homeopath physician of repute simply being persuaded by Vidyasagar. He was the epitome of compassion. He always helped the poor and needy. He financially helped and supported many, among them was the legendary Bengali poet Michael Madhusudan Datta.
His ardent love and respect for his parents, particularly for his mother, was so intense that it became a household topic in Bengal and even Sri Ramakrishna went to meet him personally, and with profound humility and respect, Ramakrishna addressed him as ‘Vidya Sagar’ meaning an ocean of wisdom. Then he said that “the water of general sea might be salty, but not the water of the sea of wisdom.”
A man of his profile will have any interest other than his targeted ones, which is very difficult to imagine, but he had. Soon he came into direct contact with the world of theater while he was the Principal of Sanskrit college realized that female education could be made easy through the medium of stage performance. Vidyasagar used to be present almost every night at the rehearsal room of these dramas. Vidyasagar came to witness the Bidhaba-Bibaha, which was written by Umesh Chandra Mitra. It moved him so deeply, he could not restrain his tears. His creative wonders, like Sitar Banobas, Shakuntala, and Bhrantibilas, were staged with great admirations. Bhrantibilas was one of his greatest humorous creations.
Vidyasagar is equally relevant and important in the 21st century, where literacy in the country is still a challenge, and the education of women is still not widely accessible and acceptable. Where human and social welfare is being challenged and compromised every day by political interests and agendas, the message from Vidyasagar’s life remains very important for us today.
