A Journal of Mahatma Gandhi Antarrashtriya Hindi Vishwavidyalaya
A Journal of Mahatma Gandhi Antarrashtriya Hindi Vishwavidyalaya A Journal of Mahatma Gandhi Antarrashtriya Hindi Vishwavidyalaya
‘Subhashit Ratna’. This reminds us of Jatak or Hitopdesh stories. Their aim was to impart moral education, which was the main trend of Mahavir Prasad Dwivedi age. But some of Subhashit Ratnas are still relevant today, e.g. in Subhashit Ratna 1, the story goes : “Once upon a time, a gardener tied a number of axes with a piece of rope and entered his garden. The trees in the garden began to tremble with fear at the sight. One of the old standing bushes in the garden tried to pacify them by saying : ‘‘Brothers, why fear. So long as one of us do not join the axe, nobody will be able to destroy us.’’ It is true, only treachery by our loved ones can destroy us, nothing else has the power to do so. In his book “Jungle Jathkam” Kashinath Singh has artistically and effectively dealt with this theme. With the change in situation, the meaning of the story changes. So it is relevant till today.During Sapreji’s tenure as a writer, the British were ruling over India. It is a well known fact that, the British succeeded in establishing their supremacy over India with the help of our countrymen. The treachery of a handful of Indians led to the failure of the 1857 revolt. It was ultimately suppressed with Indian help. The role played by the handle in ‘Subhashit’ is similar to the role played by the traitors in 1857 revolt. Kashinath Singh’s ‘ Jungle Jathkam’ is oriented around emergency. He condemns those who supported govt. oppression during emergency. According to him, only those who give in easily become favorites of an oppressive govt.In the modern age of globalization, there is no dearth of such characters. When story writing started developing wings in India, it had the benefit of access to five different sources;- 1. Story writing in Sanskrit Literature. 2. Popular tales, fables in urdu. 3. Folk legend. 4. Stories from Bengali and 5. English Literature. Sapreji has four stories to his credit a) EK Pathik ka Swapn ‘The aspirations of a traveller’ b) Samman kise kehte hain ‘What is respect’ c) EK tokri bhar mitti ‘A basketful of earth’. d) Azam Although the technique of ‘’Ek Pathik Ka Swapn” follows the ‘Dastan’ tradition, the description bears the stamp of Sanskrit Literature. Azam is a didactic story, based on one of Oliver Goldsmith’s essays. ‘Samman kise Kehte hain’ is a tale of empathy where, there is a conflict between freedom and bondage on the one hand, and patriotism and treachery on the other, with the good 22 :: January-March 2012
forces of liberty and patriotism triumphing over the negative forces. The theme of “Samman Kise kehte Hain” ripens into maturity in Premchand’s “Soze Vatan.” “Ek Tokri Bhar Mitti” is the last of Sapreji’s stories. Besides structural brevity, it also has intensity of effect. Although it deals with social injustice, it expresses faith in the inherent goodness of human nature. The effect is a transmutation of mind and heart. It reflects Premchand’s initial stories. Madhav Rao’s contribution to the art of story writing is no doubt noteworthy but, much more important than that is the fact that he gave a definite shape to the art of literary criticism in Hindi. According to him, Literary Criticism plays a crucial role in the development of Literature. Therefore, he was always eager to develop the art of Literary Criticism. He worked diligently to achieve this end. He wanted to establish a “Nagri Pracharini Sabha” and a “Samalochana Society” for the development of Literary Criticism. He also desired the publication of a magazine “Nagri Samalochana.” Although his dreams remained unfulfilled, yet in “Chhattisgarh Mitra”, he tried hard to give a definite shape to the art of Literary Criticism. Within a short period of two years in1900-1901, around 20 critical reviews by Sapreji were published—ranging from poetry and novel to astrology, grammar, education of women etc. He also wrote a critical review of a magazine “Bhasha Chandrika.”In the March, 1916 of “Maryada” Sapreji’s brilliant review on “Oxford Survey of British Empire” was published. It was humorously satirical, light-hearted in tone and full of wit. Glancing through the widely variegated range of his works, we come to the conclusion that his art of criticism was not limited to literature alone. These reviews establish the fact that he was a great linguist being well versed in Hindi, Marathi, Sanskrit and English. He has brilliantly analyzed several literary translation. Examining “Bharat Gaurav”, Sapreji has expressed his views on Literary Criticism in the following manner—“Though the word critic has a positive meaning, it is generally associated with having negative implications. It is generally held that critical appraisal is akin to finding loopholes. Whatever be the quality of work, the duty of a critic is to set right and smoothen out the rough edges. This does not imply that a critic’s work is flawless. After all, he is human and liable to error.” In ‘Bharat Mitra’ he writes : “Just as an appraiser of precious stones carefully examines his gems and evaluates their worth, similarly brilliant critics examine literary creation and evaluate its merits and demerits. This is literary criticism.”Sapreji has reviewed a number of poems especially those of Sridhar Pathak, who gained immense popularity as an experimental poet. His poems were both in ‘Khariboli’ and ‘Brajbhasha’. ‘Dhanvijay’ January-March 2012 :: 23
- Page 1 and 2: A Journal of Mahatma Gandhi Antarra
- Page 3 and 4: L A N G U A G E DISCOURSE W R I T I
- Page 5 and 6: Editor's Note ‘Hindi’ is primar
- Page 7 and 8: Heritage EK TOKRI BHAR MITTI Madhav
- Page 9 and 10: Discourse THE IMPORTANCE OF MADHAV
- Page 11 and 12: nationalism into literature; societ
- Page 13 and 14: 1. History of India, and other coun
- Page 15 and 16: anch of knowledge— natural and so
- Page 17 and 18: country, growing indignation at the
- Page 19 and 20: the consciousness of the colonized
- Page 21: and we rise above religious dogma,
- Page 25 and 26: his thoughts boldly, without fear.T
- Page 27 and 28: characteristics of the age in which
- Page 29 and 30: For, when father having been engage
- Page 31 and 32: and panegyrists going and singing p
- Page 33 and 34: I burst forth, ‘‘Aha, Niuniya!
- Page 35 and 36: aid. The flower was punished forthw
- Page 37 and 38: years in this guileful world I roam
- Page 39 and 40: form. Now, once again there was a s
- Page 41 and 42: Discourse LIFE AND IDEALS OF PREMCH
- Page 43 and 44: and the train also arrived, but cou
- Page 45 and 46: Discourse THE CONCEPT OF INDIANNESS
- Page 47 and 48: of first novel goes to the Genji Mo
- Page 49 and 50: untouchable boy. The boy is from
- Page 51 and 52: eligious leaders. Premchand in his
- Page 53 and 54: · Partition of India and growth of
- Page 55 and 56: 2) Ghar ki Raah, Indra Basawada, Sa
- Page 57 and 58: Sahai, Nagendra, Bhagwat Sharan Upa
- Page 59 and 60: two women (Rekha and Gaura) simulta
- Page 61 and 62: significant. Since real aspects lik
- Page 63 and 64: Another very major challenge that e
- Page 65 and 66: students of Dacca University had ta
- Page 67 and 68: Culture THE BHARATNATYAM HERITAGE I
- Page 69 and 70: and her husband also migrated to Ho
- Page 71 and 72: for her has been the one at Chidamb
‘Subhashit Ratna’. This reminds us <strong>of</strong> Jatak<br />
or Hitopdesh stories. Their aim was to<br />
impart moral education, which was the<br />
main trend <strong>of</strong> Mahavir Prasad Dwivedi<br />
age. But some <strong>of</strong> Subhashit Ratnas are<br />
still relevant today, e.g. in Subhashit Ratna<br />
1, the story goes : “Once upon a time,<br />
a gardener tied a number <strong>of</strong> axes with<br />
a piece <strong>of</strong> rope and entered his garden.<br />
The trees in the garden began to tremble<br />
with fear at the sight. One <strong>of</strong> the old<br />
standing bushes in the garden tried to<br />
pacify them by saying : ‘‘Brothers, why<br />
fear. So long as one <strong>of</strong> us do not join<br />
the axe, nobody will be able to destroy<br />
us.’’ It is true, only treachery by our<br />
loved ones can destroy us, nothing else<br />
has the power to do so.<br />
In his book “Jungle Jathkam” Kashinath<br />
Singh has artistically and effectively dealt<br />
with this theme. With the change in<br />
situation, the meaning <strong>of</strong> the story changes.<br />
So it is relevant till today.During Sapreji’s<br />
tenure as a writer, the British were ruling<br />
over India. It is a well known fact that,<br />
the British succeeded in establishing their<br />
supremacy over India with the help <strong>of</strong><br />
our countrymen. The treachery <strong>of</strong> a handful<br />
<strong>of</strong> Indians led to the failure <strong>of</strong> the 1857<br />
revolt. It was ultimately suppressed with<br />
Indian help. The role played by the handle<br />
in ‘Subhashit’ is similar to the role played<br />
by the traitors in 1857 revolt.<br />
Kashinath Singh’s ‘ Jungle Jathkam’<br />
is oriented around emergency. He<br />
condemns those who supported govt.<br />
oppression during emergency. According<br />
to him, only those who give in easily<br />
become favorites <strong>of</strong> an oppressive govt.In<br />
the modern age <strong>of</strong> globalization, there is<br />
no dearth <strong>of</strong> such characters. When story<br />
writing started developing wings in India,<br />
it had the benefit <strong>of</strong> access to five different<br />
sources;-<br />
1. Story writing in Sanskrit Literature.<br />
2. Popular tales, fables in urdu.<br />
3. Folk legend.<br />
4. Stories from Bengali and<br />
5. English Literature.<br />
Sapreji has four stories to his credit<br />
a) EK Pathik ka Swapn ‘The aspirations<br />
<strong>of</strong> a traveller’<br />
b) Samman kise kehte hain ‘What is<br />
respect’<br />
c) EK tokri bhar mitti ‘A basketful<br />
<strong>of</strong> earth’.<br />
d) Azam<br />
Although the technique <strong>of</strong> ‘’Ek Pathik<br />
Ka Swapn” follows the ‘Dastan’ tradition,<br />
the description bears the stamp <strong>of</strong> Sanskrit<br />
Literature.<br />
Azam is a didactic story, based on<br />
one <strong>of</strong> Oliver Goldsmith’s essays. ‘Samman<br />
kise Kehte hain’ is a tale <strong>of</strong> empathy where,<br />
there is a conflict between freedom and<br />
bondage on the one hand, and patriotism<br />
and treachery on the other, with the good<br />
22 :: January-March 2012
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