Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar

Ishwar Chandra Bandyopadhyay (26 September 1820 – 29 July 1891), popularly known as Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar^[a] (Bengali pronunciation:[iʃːɔɾt͡ʃɔnd̪ɾobid̪ːaʃaɡɔɾ]),^[1] was an Indian educator and social reformer of the 19th century.^[2]

He was renowned as one of the principal proponents of the Bengal Renaissance.^[3] He was the most prominent campaigner for Hindu widow remarriage, petitioning the Legislative Council despite severe opposition, including a counter-petition (by Radhakanta Deb and the Dharma Sabha) which had nearly four times as many signatures.^[4][5] Even though widow remarriage was considered a flagrant breach of Hindu customs and was staunchly opposed, Lord Dalhousie personally finalised the bill, and the Hindu Widows' Remarriage Act, 1856, was passed. Against child marriage, the efforts of Vidyasagar led to the Age of Consent Act, 1891. In which the minimum age of consummation of marriage was 12 years.^[6][7]

A weekly newspaper, Somprakash Patrika, was started on 15 November 1858 (1 Agrahayan 1265 BS) by Dwarakanath Vidyabhusan. Dwarakanath (1819–1886) was a professor of the Sanskrit College in Calcutta, India. The original plan was mooted by Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar (1820–1891), who continued to advise Dwarakanath in editorial matters. He was also associated as secretary with the Hindu Female School, which later came to be known as Bethune Female School.

Se destacó en sus estudios de pregrado de sánscrito y filosofía. El Colegio y Universidad de Sánscrito , donde estudió, le otorgó el título honorífico de Vidyasagar ('Océano del Conocimiento'; del sánscrito विद्या , vidyā , ' conocimiento ' y सागर , sāgara , ' océano ' ). ^{[ 8 ]}

Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar nació en una familia brahmán bengalí, hijo de Thakurdas Bandyopadhyay y Bhagavati Devi, en la aldea de Birsingha , en el distrito de Paschim Medinipur (antiguo distrito indiviso de Midnapore), el 26 de septiembre de 1820. La familia era originaria de Banamalipur, situada en el actual distrito de Hooghly . ^{[ 9 ] [ 10 ] [ 11 ]} A los 9 años, fue a Calcuta y comenzó a vivir en la casa de Bhagabat Charan en Burrabazar , donde Thakurdas ya residía desde hacía algunos años. Ishwar se sintió a gusto en medio de la numerosa familia de Bhagabat y se adaptó rápidamente. Los sentimientos maternales y afectuosos de Raimoni, la hija menor de Bhagabat, hacia Ishwar lo conmovieron profundamente y tuvieron una fuerte influencia en su posterior labor revolucionaria en favor del empoderamiento de la mujer. Defendió la causa de la educación femenina.

Su búsqueda de conocimiento era tan intensa que solía estudiar bajo una farola, ya que no podía permitirse una lámpara de gas en casa. ^{[ 12 ]} Aprobó todos los exámenes con excelencia y en rápida sucesión. Fue recompensado con varias becas por su rendimiento académico. Para mantenerse a sí mismo y a su familia, Ishwar Chandra también aceptó un trabajo de medio tiempo como profesor en Jorashanko . Ishwar Chandra ingresó en el Sanskrit College de Calcuta, donde estudió durante doce largos años y se graduó en 1841, obteniendo títulos en gramática sánscrita, literatura, dialéctica [Alankara Shastra], vedanta, smriti y astronomía. ^{[ 1 ]} Como era costumbre entonces, Ishwar Chandra se casó a los catorce años. Su esposa fue Dinamayee Devi. Narayan Chandra Bandyopadhyaya fue su único hijo.

En 1839, Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar aprobó con éxito su examen de derecho sánscrito. En 1841, a la edad de veintiún años, Ishwar Chandra se unió al Fort William College como jefe del departamento de sánscrito.

After five years, in 1846, Vidyasagar left Fort William College and joined the Sanskrit College as 'Assistant Secretary'. In the first year of service, Ishwar Chandra recommended a number of changes to the existing education system. This report resulted in a serious altercation between Ishwar Chandra and College Secretary Rasomoy Dutta. In 1849, against the advice of Rasomoy Dutta, he resigned from Sanskrit College and rejoined Fort William College as a head clerk.^[13]

Vidyasagar championed the upliftment of the status of women in India, particularly in his native Bengal. Unlike some other reformers who sought to set up alternative societies or systems, he sought to transform society from within. Vidyasagar also fought against child marriage and the practice of men marrying many girls (polygamy)^[14]

Unable to tolerate the ill-treatment, many of these girls would run away and turn to prostitution to support themselves. Ironically, the economic prosperity and lavish lifestyles of the city made it possible for many of them to have successful careers once they stepped out of the confines of society and into the demi-monde. In 1853, it was estimated that Calcutta had a population of 12,700 prostitutes and public women. Many widows had to shave their heads and don white saris, supposedly to discourage attention from men. They led a deplorable life, Vidyasagar thought it was unfair, and sought out the changes.^[15]

The Wood's despatch of 1854—considered the Magna Carta of Indian education—adopted a new policy towards 'mass education'. Hitherto, the official focus was on the upper classes of the population for education. Dubbed the 'Downward Filtration Theory', this implied that education always filters down from the upper classes of society to the common masses.

In 1859, the government's education policy reiterated "the spread of vernacular elementary instruction among the lower orders".^[16] Upon this, Vidyasagar addressed a letter, dated 29 September 1859, to John Peter Grant, the Lieutenant Governor of Bengal, underlining his perception:

An impression appears to have gained ground, both here and in England, that enough has been done for the education of the higher classes and that attention should now be directed towards the education of the masses... An inquiry into the matter will, however, show a very different state of things. As the best, if not the only practicable means of promoting education in Bengal, the Government should, in my humble opinion, confine itself to the education of the higher classes on a comprehensive scale.^[17][18]

The words "higher classes" in Bengali parlance do not entail anything but caste, which bestows or withdraws the privilege of education on a person by birth. Thus, Vidyasagar explicitly advocated for confining education to "higher classes".^[18]

Earlier in 1854, Vidyasagar had scoffed at the admission of a wealthy man from the goldsmith caste of Bengal in the Sanskrit College, Calcutta. His argument was that "in the scale of castes, the goldsmith class (Subarnabanik) stands very low". Notably, Sanjib Chattopadhyay, a biographer of Vidyasagar, revealed that Ishwar Chandra started his primary education in a school established and maintained by Shibcharan Mallick, a rich man of the goldsmith caste in Calcutta.^[19]

Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar’s long association with Karmatar, a sleepy hamlet in present-day Jharkhand, about 20 km from the district headquarters of Jamtara, seems to have been forgotten by the people of the state.

Vidyasagar came to Karmatar in 1873 and spent more than 18 years of his life here. He had set up a girls' school and a night school for adults on the premises of his house, which he called Nandan Kanan. He also opened a free homoeopathy clinic to provide some medical care to these unprivileged tribal people.

After his death, the Nandan Kanan, the abode of Vidyasagar, was sold by his son to the Mallick family of Kolkata. Before Nandan Kanan could be dismantled Bengali Association of Bihar on 29 March 1974 purchased it with money collected by house-to-house contribution of one rupee each. The Girls' School has been restarted, named after Vidyasagar. The Free Homeopathic Clinic is serving the local population. The house of Vidyasagar has been maintained in its original shape. The most prized property is the 141-year-old 'Palanquin' used by Vidyasagar himself.^[20]

El Gobierno de Jharkhand , el 26 de septiembre de 2019, denominó al bloque Karmatand del distrito de Jamtara como Bloque Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar, en señal de respeto por el aniversario del nacimiento del gran reformador social.

Declaración oficial del ex primer ministro de Jharkhand, Raghubar Das :

"El distrito (karmatand prakhand) de Jamtara fue el 'karma bhumi' (lugar de trabajo) del reformador social y firme defensor de la educación femenina Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar. Ahora, este distrito se conocerá como Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar prakhand."

También fue secretario de la Escuela Femenina Hindú, que más tarde pasó a ser conocida como la Escuela Femenina Bethune.

Vidyasagar era liberal en su perspectiva, a pesar de haber nacido en una familia brahmán hindú ortodoxa. Además, poseía una sólida formación académica y estaba influenciado por ideas y pensamientos orientales. Ramakrishna , en cambio, carecía de educación formal. Sin embargo, mantenían una buena relación. Cuando Ramakrishna conoció a Vidyasagar, lo elogió como el mar de la sabiduría. Vidyasagar bromeó diciendo que Ramakrishna debería haber recogido algo de agua salada de ese mar. Pero Ramakrishna, con profunda humildad y respeto, respondió que el agua del mar común podría ser salada, pero no el agua del mar de la sabiduría. ^{[ 21 ]}

Poco después de la muerte de Vidyasagar, Rabindranath Tagore escribió con reverencia sobre él: «¡Uno se pregunta cómo Dios, en el proceso de producir cuarenta millones de bengalíes, produjo a un hombre!» ^{[ 22 ] [ 23 ]}

Tras su muerte, se le recuerda de muchas maneras, algunas de ellas son:

1. En 2004, Vidyasagar ocupó el puesto número 9 en la encuesta de la BBC sobre el bengalí más grande de todos los tiempos . ^{[ 24 ]}
2. La rectitud y el coraje fueron los rasgos distintivos del carácter de Vidyasagar, y sin duda se adelantó a su tiempo. En reconocimiento a su erudición y labor cultural, el gobierno lo nombró Compañero del Imperio Indio (CIE) en 1877 ^{[ 25 ].} En los últimos años de su vida, eligió pasar sus días entre los " Santhals ", una antigua tribu de la India.
3. El servicio postal indio emitió sellos con la imagen de Vidyasagar en 1970 y 1998. ^{[ 26 ]}

Lista de lugares que llevan el nombre de Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar

• Colegio Vidyasagar
• Colegio Vidyasagar para Mujeres
• Instituto de Salud Vidyasagar
• Vidyasagar Mahavidyalaya
• Vidyasagar School of Social Work
• Vidyasagar Setu
• Vidyasagar Shishu Niketan
• Vidyasagar Teachers' Training College, Midnapore
• Vidyasagar University
• Vidyasagar Vidyapith
• Vidyasagar Vidyapith Girls' High School
• Vidyasagar Railway Station, Karmatanr, Jamtara
• Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar Polytechnic

Indian film director Kali Prasad Ghosh made Vidyasagar, a Bengali-language biographical film about Ishwar Chandra's life in 1950 which starred Pahadi Sanyal in the titular role.^[27][28]

• Works by or about Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar at the Internet Archive
• Isvar Chandra Vidyasagar at the Encyclopædia Britannica
• Dutt, Romesh Chunder (1911). "Vidyasagar, Iswar Chandra" . Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.).