Ramchandra Shukla (1884 – 1941) was an Indian poet and historian of Hindi literature. He was also an accomplished writer, essayist, scholar, novelist and critic. He is known as the first person to codify Hindi literature using scientific methods and limited resources while conducting extensive research based on real-world evidence. He wrote the famous book “History of Hindi Literature” in 1929 and is considered one of the greatest writers of the 20th century.
Contents
Wiki/Biography
Acharya Pandit Ramchandra Shukla or Acharya Shukla was born on Saturday, 4 October 1884 (age 56 at the time of death) in Basti Agona, North-Western Provinces, British India. His zodiac sign was Libra. In his childhood, he learned Hindi, English and Urdu languages from qualified teachers at his home. Later, his family moved to Mirzapur district of Uttar Pradesh as his father got a job there. In 1898, Ramchandra Shukla passed his middle school education. His mother died when he was nine years old. Although he had a strong desire for education from a young age, he could not attend school regularly. However, he managed to pass the Fine Arts (FA) entrance examination. He then moved to Mirzapur and completed his high school education at the Mission School in Fine Arts. His father wanted him to work in the local administrative office (tehsil), but Shukla had bigger dreams of pursuing higher education. Ultimately his father sent him to Allahabad to study law, but Ramchandra Shukla was more interested in literature than law. However, he struggled to succeed in his law studies. Despite his father’s efforts to get him settled in the tehsil, it was clear that Shukla was not interested in that path.
Physical Appearance
Hair Color: Gray
Eye colour: black
Family
parents and siblings
His father, Chandrabali Shukla, was a Revenue Inspector (Kanungo) in Mirzapur. His mother’s name was Vibhasi Devi.
wife and children
Ramchandra Shukla got married to Savitri Devi at an early age. The couple had three daughters and two sons. His sons’ names are Keshav Chandra and Gokul Chandra and his daughters’ names are Vidya, Durgavati and Kamala. His great granddaughter Dr. Mukta is a litterateur. His great grandson Dr. Manjeet Chaturvedi is a writer.
religion/religious views
Ramchandra Shukla followed Hindu religion.
Caste
Ramchandra Shukla belonged to the Brahmin community.
livelihood
During his studies in Prayagraj (then known as Allahabad), Ramchandra Shukla wrote and published some of his literary works and experiences. In 1893, when Ramchandra Shukla and his parents moved to Mirzapur, he heard about the religious achievements of Swami Vivekananda, which were famous throughout India. Shukla was inspired by Swami’s teachings and became interested in philosophy. He then decided to study philosophy and this fascination grew in him. As a result, even before he took his final school examination in 1899, he had finished translating “Essay on Imagination” into Hindi.
Essay on Imagination, written by Ramchandra Shukla
As soon as Ramchandra Shukla got a job as a teacher in a mission school in Mirzapur district, he started publishing his essays in various newspapers and magazines. Many of his literary essays were published in Saraswati magazine and were highly praised by literature lovers. He received high recognition for his significant contributions to Hindi literature (literature), and he rose to prominence as a result of his remarkable writing abilities. After this he started becoming more liked by the readers. Shukla started his journey as a writer with a poem and an article in Hindi titled “Dress of Ancient Indians”. When he was 17, he wrote his first published essay in English titled “What Has India to Do”. In 1908, Kashi Nagari Pracharini Sabha requested Ramchandra Shukla to edit a large Hindi dictionary named “Hindi Shabd-Sagar”. He also served as the Chairman of the Hindi Department at Banaras Hindu University for a long time.
Ramchandra Shukla (seated first from left) with members of the Hindi Department of Banaras Hindu University.
Later, Ramchandra Shukla started teaching Hindi at Banaras Hindu University (BHU) in 1919. When Babu Shyam Sunder Das died, he was chosen as the head of the Hindi Department (Chairman). Meanwhile, Acharya Ramchandra Shukla worked on completing a comprehensive dictionary (Shabd Sagar) by collecting words from the streets and everyday language of Kashi. During that time, Banaras Hindu University (BHU) was in need of a distinguished Hindi scholar. After special request and financial persuasion of the founder Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya, Ramchandra Shukla agreed to take up the post. In 1919 he was appointed as Professor of Hindi without any interview. In 1937, during the tenure of Malviya ji, Ramchandra Shukla was the head of BHU. Became the Chairman of the Hindi Department of. In 1921, Ramachandra Shukla wrote a book titled “Non-cooperation and Non-Merchant Classes of India” because he strongly opposed imperialism. In this book, he studied and understood the challenges faced by different Indian classes during the colonial period. The target was set. Semi-feudal economy. Even though he was not known for storytelling, he wrote a long Hindi story called “Giyarah Varsh Ka Samay” in 1930 to promote original writing.
Cover of Ramchandra Shukla’s book ‘Eleven Years of Time’
In his poetry collection titled “Madhushrota”, Ramchandra Shukla has expressed his strong desire for mountains, rocks, waterfalls, crops, birds and his childhood memories. One of his famous works, “History of Literature” was later edited online by a group of renowned Hindi writers and translators, led by Dr. Suresh Kumar Mishra “Uratrapt” author and methodologist from Ranga Reddy, Andhra Pradesh . His work “History of Hindi Literature” is considered an authentic work of Hindi literature.
Cover page of the book History of Hindi Literature (1928)
One of Ramchandra Shukla’s most loved literary criticism essays is “What is Poetry”, where he has beautifully explained the nature of poetry and its elements. This essay is a part of his notable collection titled “Chintamani”, which was initially published in two volumes and included essays on various emotions such as anger and hatred. Later, some of his previously scattered and unpublished essays were found and published as “Chintamani-3” revised by Namvar Singh and “Chintamani-4” revised by Kusum Chaturvedi.
Cover of Namvar Singh’s book Chintamani-3
Later, Ramachandra Shukla translated Edwin Arnold’s “The Light of Asia” into “Buddha Charita”, a biography of Gautam Buddha written in Brij Bhasha verse. He also translated Ernst Haeckel’s “The Riddles of the Universe” into “Vishva Prapancha” and added his own thought-provoking introduction by comparing the findings with Indian philosophical systems.
Cover of the book ‘Buddha Charita’, the biography of Gautam Buddha written by Ramchandra Shukla
Ramchandra Shukla’s works show that his focus was not only on modernization of Hindi language, literature and ideas; He went even further than that. He also played a role in promoting the scientific temper by translating and updating scientific and historical works. Additionally, he developed a scientific approach to studying literary works of different periods, viewing them as outcomes of the social, economic, and political conditions of their respective times.
Statue of Acharya Ramchandra Shukla in Rabindrapuri, Varanasi
Major works
- National thinking of Nirala and Nazrul
- elected management collection
- Naya Mandand (research magazine in Hindi)
Awards, Honors, Achievements
- Ramchandra Shukla received an award of Rs 500 by the Hindustani Academy for his writing ‘Mysticism in Poetry’.
- In 1939, Ramchandra Shukla received the Mangala Prasad Prize Award of Rs 1200 from the Hindi Sahitya Sammelan, Allahabad for his composition ‘Chintamani’.
Death
Ramchandra Shukla died of a heart attack on 2 February 1941 in Banaras state of British India.
Facts/General Knowledge
- As a young boy, he was deeply influenced by Swami Vivekananda’s speech at an event in Chicago.
- Shukla’s work sheds light on the beginnings of Hindi poetry and prose from the sixth century and how it evolved over time. He talks about how it was influenced by Buddhist and Nath schools and also mentions the contributions of medieval poets like Amir Khusro, Kabirdas, Ravidas and Tulsidas. The exploration of Hindi literature continues even in the modern era, where writers like Nirala and Premchand brought realism in their works.
- Ramchandra Shukla believed that real literature goes far beyond merely expressing human thoughts and feelings. It should focus on “Lokmangal”, which is the progress of society where common people are given great importance, and their struggles are seen as a path towards improvement. Literature, with its beauty and artistic qualities, should connect with the difficulties of the marginalized and deprived persons and work towards freeing humanity from all forms of exploitation.
- Apart from being a writer, Ramchandra Shukla was also a skilled painter. It is said that he designed the layout of his house himself.
- In 1972, a research institute named ‘Acharya Ram Chandra Shukla Sahitya Shodh Sansthan’ was established in his honour. This institute is the center of various literary activities. It was established due to the wish of his son Gokul Chandra Shukla and was constructed on land provided by the Varanasi Local Authority. In addition, the Uttar Pradesh state government gave financial assistance for the construction and development of the institute’s facilities.
A picture of ‘Acharya Ram Chandra Shukla Sahitya Research Institute’
- In 1973, famous critic Dr. Ram Vilas Sharma wrote a book titled ‘Acharya Ramchandra Shukla and Hindi Criticism’, in which he told that Ramchandra Shukla was against feudal and courtly literature. Sharma quoted in his book that Shukla believed that this type of literature did not actually reflect the lives of regular people and the society of their times.
Cover of Dr. Ram Vilas Sharma’s book ‘Acharya Ramchandra Shukla and Hindi criticism’
- According to Awadhesh Pradhan, a Hindi scholar and former BHU professor, Acharya Shukla came to BHU at a time when Hindi was predominantly used for communication by the British in universities like Allahabad and Calcutta. Shukla took the lead in developing a systematic curriculum and study material for Hindi and also wrote about Shabd Sagar and the history of Hindi literature. According to Pradhan, Ramchandra Shukla is known for increasing the importance and identity of Hindi at the international level.
Picture of an old chair of Ramchandra Shukla
- In 2018, Kusum Chaturvedi and Dr. Mukta made a documentary about Acharya Shukla for Doordarshan (an Indian public service broadcaster), and during the same time they also wrote and published his biography.
Categories: Biography
Source: vcmp.edu.vn