Maithili Sharan Gupt (3 August 1886 – 12 December 1964
) was one of the most important modern
Hindi
Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been ...
poets. He is considered one among the pioneers of ''
Khari Boli
Kauravi ( hi, कौरवी, ur, ), also known as Khaṛībolī is a set of Western Hindi varieties of Shauraseni Prakrit mainly spoken in Northwestern Uttar Pradesh.
Standard Hindi and Urdu are based on Khariboli, specifically on its De ...
'' (plain dialect) poetry and wrote in
Khari Boli
Kauravi ( hi, कौरवी, ur, ), also known as Khaṛībolī is a set of Western Hindi varieties of Shauraseni Prakrit mainly spoken in Northwestern Uttar Pradesh.
Standard Hindi and Urdu are based on Khariboli, specifically on its De ...
dialect,
at a time when most Hindi poets favoured the use of
Braj Bhasha
The Braj language, ''Braj Bhasha'', also known as Vraj Bhasha or Vrij Bhasha or Braj Bhāṣā or Braji or Brij Bhasha or Braj Boli, is a Western Hindi language. Along with Awadhi (a variety of Eastern Hindi), it was one of the two predominant ...
dialect.
He was a recipient of the third highest (then second highest) Indian civilian honour of
Padma Bhushan
The Padma Bhushan is the third-highest civilian award in the Republic of India, preceded by the Bharat Ratna and the Padma Vibhushan and followed by the Padma Shri. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is given for "distinguished service ...
.
For his book Bharat-Bharati (1912), widely quoted during India's freedom struggle, he was given the title of Rashtra Kavi
by
Mahatma Gandhi
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (; ; 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948), popularly known as Mahatma Gandhi, was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist Quote: "... marks Gandhi as a hybrid cosmopolitan figure who transformed ... anti- ...
.
Early life
He was born in
Chirgaon,
Jhansi
Jhansi (; Hindi: झांसी, Urdu: ) is a historic city in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It lies in the region of Bundelkhand on the banks of the Pahuj River, in the extreme south of Uttar Pradesh. Jhansi is the administrative head ...
in
Uttar Pradesh
Uttar Pradesh (; , 'Northern Province') is a state in northern India. With over 200 million inhabitants, it is the most populated state in India as well as the most populous country subdivision in the world. It was established in 195 ...
in the Kankane clan of the
Gahoi Baniya community in a family that was once a wealthy zamindar family, but the wealth was lost by the time he was born. His father was Seth Ramcharan Gupta
and mother's name was Kashibai. Both his father and his brother Shearamsharan Gupta were prominent poets.
He disliked school as a child, so his father arranged for his education at their home.
As a child, Gupt studied
Sanskrit
Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural diffusion ...
, English and
Bengali
Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to:
*something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia
* Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region
* Bengali language, the language they speak
** Bengali alphabet, the w ...
.
Mahavir Prasad Dwivedi was his mentor. He married in 1895.
[Rishi jaimini Kaushik Barua, "Ikhattara Varshon ki Abhinandaniya Gatha", in Raashhtarkavi Maithiliisharana Gupt Abhinandan Granth, Ed. Agravaal Vaasudevasharana, 1959, Raashhtarkavi Maithiliisharana Gupt Abhinandan Committee Calcutta, p. 150.]
Literary works
Gupt entered the world of Hindi literature by writing poems in various magazines, including ''
Saraswati
Saraswati ( sa, सरस्वती, ) is the Hindu goddess of knowledge, music, art, speech, wisdom, and learning. She is one of the Tridevi, along with the goddesses Lakshmi and Parvati.
The earliest known mention of Saraswati as a g ...
''. In 1910, his first major work, ''Rang mein Bhang'' was published by Indian Press. With ''Bharat Bharati'', his nationalist poems became popular among Indians, who were struggling for independence. Most of his poems revolve around plots from
Ramayana
The ''Rāmāyana'' (; sa, रामायणम्, ) is a Sanskrit epic composed over a period of nearly a millennium, with scholars' estimates for the earliest stage of the text ranging from the 8th to 4th centuries BCE, and later stages ...
,
Mahabharata
The ''Mahābhārata'' ( ; sa, महाभारतम्, ', ) is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India in Hinduism, the other being the '' Rāmāyaṇa''. It narrates the struggle between two groups of cousins in the K ...
,
Buddhist
Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...
stories and the lives of famous religious leaders. His famous work ''Saket'' revolves around
Urmila
Urmila () is a princess featured in the Ramayana. She is the younger sister of Sita, and the wife of Lakshmana, the younger brother of Rama.
Legend
Urmila is the daughter of King Janaka of Mithila and Queen Sunayana, and the younger siste ...
, wife of
Lakshmana
Lakshmana ( sa, लक्ष्मण, lit=the fortunate one, translit=Lakṣmaṇa), also spelled as Laxmana, is the younger brother of Rama and his loyalist in the Hindu epic '' Ramayana''. He bears the epithets of Saumitra () and Ramanuja ( ...
, from
Ramayana
The ''Rāmāyana'' (; sa, रामायणम्, ) is a Sanskrit epic composed over a period of nearly a millennium, with scholars' estimates for the earliest stage of the text ranging from the 8th to 4th centuries BCE, and later stages ...
, while another of his works ''Yashodhara'' revolves around
Yashodhara, the wife of
Gautama Buddha
Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha, was a wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism.
According to Buddhist tradition, he was born in L ...
.
प्राण न पागल हो तुम यों, पृथ्वी पर वह प्रेम कहाँ..
मोहमयी छलना भर है, भटको न अहो अब और यहाँ..
ऊपर को निरखो अब तो बस मिलता है चिरमेल वहाँ..
Creative style
His works are based along patriotic themes,
among others poets such as
Ramdhari Singh Dinkar and
Makhanlal Chaturvedi. His poetry is characterized by non-rhyming couplets in Khadi Boli. Although the couplet structure is non rhyming, the prominent use of
alliterations
Alliteration is the conspicuous repetition of initial consonant sounds of nearby words in a phrase, often used as a literary device. A familiar example is "Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers". Alliteration is used poetically in various ...
lends a rhythmic backdrop due to the rhythmic alterations between vowels and consonants. He was a religious man, and this can be seen in his works.
Major works
Poetry:
* ''Saket(1931)''
* ''Rang mein Bhang(1905)''
* ''Matrubhumi''
* ''Bharat-Bharati(1912)''
* ''Jayadrath Vadh(1910)''
* ''Vikat Bhat''
* ''Plassey ka Yuddha''
* ''Gurukul''
* ''Kisan''
* ''Panchavati(1925)''
* ''Nirjhar''
* ''Yashodhara(1932)''
* ''Manushyata''
* ''Kirano ka khel''
* ''Dvapar(1936)''
* ''Anagh(1928)''
Political career
After India got independence in 1947, he was also made an honorary member of the
Rajya Sabha
The Rajya Sabha, constitutionally the Council of States, is the upper house of the bicameral Parliament of India. , it has a maximum membership of 245, of which 233 are elected by the legislatures of the states and union territories using si ...
, where he used poetry to put his opinions before the other members. He remained a member of the Rajya Sabha till his death in 1964. He was awarded Padma Bhushan in 1954.
See also
*
List of Hindi-language poets
This is a List of notable Hindi language poets:
A
* Abdul Rahim Khan-I-Khana (1556–1627), composer, poet, and produced books on astrology
* Amir Khusrow (1253–1325), musician, scholar and poet
* Ashok Chakradhar (born 1951), author and poet ...
References
External links
Maithili Sharan Gupt at Kavita KoshThree poems of the poet from Bharat Bharati are available for readers at www.geeta-kavita.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gupt, Maithili Sharan
1886 births
20th-century Indian poets
Hindi-language poets
People from Jhansi district
Recipients of the Padma Bhushan in literature & education
M
20th-century Indian translators
Translators to Hindustani
Hindi-language writers
Translators of Omar Khayyám
Poets from Uttar Pradesh
Rashtrakavi
Indian male poets
1964 deaths