Sachchidananda Hirananda Vatsyayan (7 March 1911 – 4 April 1987), popularly known by his

pen name A pen name, also called a ''nom de plume'' or a literary double, is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name. A pen na ...

Agyeya (also transliterated Ajneya, meaning 'the unknowable'), was an Indian writer, poet, novelist, literary critic, journalist, translator and

revolutionary A revolutionary is a person who either participates in, or advocates a revolution. The term ''revolutionary'' can also be used as an adjective, to refer to something that has a major, sudden impact on society or on some aspect of human endeavor. ...

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 ...

language. He pioneered modern trends in Hindi poetry, as well as in fiction, criticism and journalism. He is regarded as the pioneer of the ''Prayogavaad'' (experimentalism) movement in modern Hindi literature. Son of a renowned archaeologist

Hiranand Sastri Hiranand Sastri (1878–1946) was an Indian archaeologist, epigraphist and official of the Archaeological Survey of India who was involved in the excavation of numerous sites including Nalanda, and Sankissa. His son, Sachchidananda Vatsyayan 'Ag ...

, Agyeya was born in Kasia, a small town near Kushinagar 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 ...

. He took active part in the Indian freedom struggle and spent several years in prison for his revolutionary activities against British colonial rule. He edited the '' Saptak'' series which gave rise a new trends in Hindi poetry, known as ''Nayi Kavita''. He edited several literary journals, and launched his own Hindi language weekly '' Dinaman'', which set new standard and trends in Hindi journalism. Agyeya translated some of his own works, as well as works of some other Indian authors to English. He also translated some books of world literature into Hindi. Agyeya was awarded the

Sahitya Akademi Award The Sahitya Akademi Award is a literary honour in India, which the Sahitya Akademi, India's National Academy of Letters, annually confers on writers of the most outstanding books of literary merit published in any of the 22 languages of the ...

(1964),

Jnanpith Award The Jnanpith Award is the oldest and the highest Indian literary award presented annually by the Bharatiya Jnanpith to an author for their "outstanding contribution towards literature". Instituted in 1961, the award is bestowed only on Indian w ...

(1978) and the internationally reputed Golden Wreath Award for poetry.

Early life and education

Agyeya was born as Sachchidananda Vatsyayan in Punjabi Brahmin family on 7 March 1911 in an archaeological camp near Kasia, Kushinagar district of

, where his father, Hiranand Sastri, an

archaeologist Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landsca ...

, was positioned for an excavation. His mother was Vyantidevi (d. 1924) who was not much educated. Hiranand Sastri and Vyantidevi had 10 children, of whom Agyeya was the fourth. Agyeya spent his early childhood in

Lucknow Lucknow (, ) is the capital and the largest city of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh and it is also the second largest urban agglomeration in Uttar Pradesh. Lucknow is the administrative headquarters of the eponymous district and divis ...

(1911–1915). Due to his father's professional appointment at various places, he had to shift to various places including

Srinagar Srinagar (English: , ) is the largest city and the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir, India. It lies in the Kashmir Valley on the banks of the Jhelum River, a tributary of the Indus, and Dal and Anchar lakes. The city is known for its ...

and

Jammu Jammu is the winter capital of the Indian union territory of Jammu and Kashmir. It is the headquarters and the largest city in Jammu district of the union territory. Lying on the banks of the river Tawi, the city of Jammu, with an area of ...

(1915–1919),

Patna Patna ( ), historically known as Pataliputra, is the capital and largest city of the state of Bihar in India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Patna had a population of 2.35 million, making it the 19th largest city in India. ...

(1920),

Nalanda Nalanda (, ) was a renowned ''mahavihara'' (Buddhist monastic university) in ancient Magadha (modern-day Bihar), India.Ootacamund and

Kotagiri Kotagiri or Kothagiri is a taluk and a Panchayat town in The Nilgiris District in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the third largest hill station in the Nilgiri hills. Kotagiri is located at . It has an average elevation of . Demographi ...

(1921–1925). Due to this peripatetic lifestyle, Agyeya came into contact with different Indian languages and cultures. His father, himself a scholar of

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 ...

, encouraged him to study

and taught him some basic English. He was taught Sanskrit and Persian by

Pandit A Pandit ( sa, पण्डित, paṇḍit; hi, पंडित; also spelled Pundit, pronounced ; abbreviated Pt.) is a man with specialised knowledge or a teacher of any field of knowledge whether it is shashtra (Holy Books) or shastra (Wea ...

and Maulavi in Jammu. FCC-in-1930

After passing his matriculation in 1925 from the University of Punjab, Agyeya moved to

Madras Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

, joined the

Madras Christian College Madras Christian College (MCC) is a liberal arts and sciences college in Chennai, India. Founded in 1837, MCC is one of Asia's oldest extant colleges. The college is affiliated to the University of Madras but functions as an autonomous insti ...

, and did Intermediate in Science in 1927, studying mathematics, physics and chemistry. In the same year, he joined the Forman Christian College in

Lahore Lahore ( ; pnb, ; ur, ) is the second List of cities in Pakistan by population, most populous city in Pakistan after Karachi and 26th List of largest cities, most populous city in the world, with a population of over 13 million. It is th ...

, where he studied mathematics, physics, chemistry and English, and received a Bachelor of Science in 1929, standing first in a class. Thereafter he enrolled for an M.A. in English, but dropped out, and joined the Hindustan Socialist Republican Army (HSRA), a revolutionary organisation, with a view to fight for

Indian independence movement The Indian independence movement was a series of historic events with the ultimate aim of ending British rule in India. It lasted from 1857 to 1947. The first nationalistic revolutionary movement for Indian independence emerged from Bengal ...

, and participated in rebellious activities against the British colonial government. In November 1930, he was arrested on account of his involvement in the attempt to help Bhagat Singh, a socialist revolutionary and leader of HSRA, to escape from jail in 1929. He was then sentenced on charge of

sedition Sedition is overt conduct, such as speech and organization, that tends toward rebellion against the established order. Sedition often includes subversion of a constitution and incitement of discontent toward, or insurrection against, esta ...

against British rule in India. He spent the next four years in jail in Lahore, Delhi and Amritsar. During these prison days, he started writing short stories, poems and the first draft of his novel '' Shekhar: Ek Jivani''. He was associated with the Progressive Writers Association (PWA) and, in 1942, he organised the All India Anti-Fascist Convention. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

in 1942, he joined the Indian army and was sent to the Kohima Front as a combatant officer. He left the army in 1946. He stayed at Meerut (Uttar Pradesh) for sometime and remained active in local literary groups. During this period, he published several translations into English of other writers, and a collection of his own poems, ''Prison Days and Other Poems''. Agyeya married Santosh Malik in 1940. Their marriage ended in divorce in 1945. He married Kapila Vatsyayan (

née A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...

Malik) on 7 July 1956. They separated in 1969. He died on 4 April 1987, aged 76, in

New Delhi New Delhi (, , ''Naī Dillī'') is the capital of India and a part of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Parliament Hous ...

. He was cremated at Nigambodh Ghat.

Career

After his release from jail in 1934, Agyeya worked as a journalist in

Calcutta Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, commer ...

, and from 1939 for

All India Radio All or ALL may refer to: Language * All, an indefinite pronoun in English * All, one of the English determiners * Allar language (ISO 639-3 code) * Allative case (abbreviated ALL) Music * All (band), an American punk rock band * ''All'' (All ...

. Agyeya edited ''Sainik'' from Agra (1936–37), ''Vishal Bharat'' from Calcutta (1937–39), ''Prateek'' (1947) and ''Naya Prateek'' (1973) respectively from Allahabad and New Delhi. In English. he edited ''Vak'' (1951). He served as an editor of

Jayprakash Narayan Jayaprakash Narayan (; 11 October 1902 – 8 October 1979), popularly referred to as JP or ''Lok Nayak'' (Hindi for "People's leader"), was an Indian independence activist, theorist, socialist and political leader. He is remembered for le ...

's ''Everyman's Weekly'' (1973–74) and editor-in-chief of Hindi daily ''

Navbharat Times ''Navbharat Times'' (NBT) a Hindi newspaper distributed in Delhi, Mumbai, Lucknow and Kanpur. It is from the stable of Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd (BCCL), which also publishes other dailies including '' The Times of India'', '' The Economi ...

'' (1977–80) of the Times of India Group. He travelled to Japan in 1957–58, where he learned about Zen Buddhism which influenced him and his writing style. In 1961, he joined the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant un ...

as a visiting lecturer in Indian Literature and Civilization, and remained there until June 1964. In 1965, he returned to India and became Founder Editor of the newsweekly '' Dinaman'' of the Times of India Group. When the members of the

Hungry generation The Hungry Generation ( bn, হাংরি জেনারেশান) was a literary movement in the Bengali language launched by what is known today as the Hungryalist quartet, ''i.e.'' Shakti Chattopadhyay, Malay Roy Choudhury, Samir Ro ...

or ''Bhookhi Peerhi'' movement were arrested and prosecuted for their anti-establishment writings, Agyeya through ''Dinmaan'' relentlessly supported the young literary group of Culcutta till they were exonerated. His dispatches on

Bihar Bihar (; ) is a state in eastern India. It is the 2nd largest state by population in 2019, 12th largest by area of , and 14th largest by GDP in 2021. Bihar borders Uttar Pradesh to its west, Nepal to the north, the northern part of West ...

's famous famine are considered milestones in pro-people reporting. He remained in India till 1968, before embarking on a trip to Europe. In 1969 he returned to Berkeley as Regents Professor, and continued there until June 1970. In 1976, he had an 8-month stint at

Heidelberg University } Heidelberg University, officially the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg, (german: Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg; la, Universitas Ruperto Carola Heidelbergensis) is a public research university in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, ...

, as a visiting professor. Later he joined University of Jodhpur, Rajasthan as Professor and Head of the Department of Comparative Literature.

Works

During the four years in prison, Agyeya started writing short stories and published them in ''

Hans Hans may refer to: __NOTOC__ People * Hans (name), a masculine given name * Hans Raj Hans, Indian singer and politician ** Navraj Hans, Indian singer, actor, entrepreneur, cricket player and performer, son of Hans Raj Hans ** Yuvraj Hans, Punjab ...

'', edited by

Premchand Dhanpat Rai Srivastava (31 July 1880 – 8 October 1936), better known by his pen name Premchand (), was an Indian writer famous for his modern Hindustani literature. Premchand was a pioneer of Hindi and Urdu social fiction. He was one of ...

. He also started writing the first draft of his autobiographical novel ''Shekhar: Ek Jivani'', followed by its second and third draft. His first collection of poems, ''Bhagnadutta'', appeared in 1933. After his release from the jail, he published his first short story collection, ''Vipathga'', in 1937, and in 1941, he published the first volume of ''Shekhar: Ek Jivani'', followed by the second volume in 1944. Its third volume, though announced, was never published. In 1943, he edited and published ''Tar Saptak'', a collection of poems by seven young writers, whose poems were not published before. Considered the first anthology of modern Hindi poetry and a milestone in the history of Hindi literature, ''Tar Saptak'' gave rise to the ''Prayogvad'' (

Experimentalism Experimentalism is the philosophical belief that the way to truth is through experiments and empiricism. It is also associated with instrumentalism, the belief that truth should be evaluated based upon its demonstrated usefulness. Experimentalis ...

) in Hindi poetry, and established a new trends Hindi poetry, known as ''Nayi Kavita'' (New Poetry). ;Poetry collections: * Bhagndoot (1933) * Chinta (1942) * Ityalam (1946) * Hari ghaas par kshan-bhar (1949) * Baawra aheri (1954) * Indradhanu raunde hue ye (1957) * Ari o karuna prabhamaya (1959) * Angan Ke Par Dwar (1961) * Poorva (1965) * Sunahale Shaivaal (1965) * Kitni naavon mein kitni baar (1967) * Kyonki main usei jaanta hoon (1969) * Saagar-mudra (1970) * Pahle main sannata bunta hoon (1973) * Mahavriksha ke neeche (1977) * Nadi ki baank par chhaya (1982) * Sadanira-1 (1986) * Sadanira-2 (1986) * Aisa koi ghar aapne dekha hai (1986) * Maruthal (1995) * Sarjana ke kshan (Selection) * Thaur thikaane (Handwritten, circulated xeroxed) * Karaawas ke din (Trans. from English by Uday Shankar Shrivastava) * Kavishri ( Ed. Shiyaram Sharan Gupt) * Aaj ke lokpriy kavi (Ed. Vidya Niwas Mishra) * Kaavya-stabak ( Ed by Vidya Niwas Mishra & Ramesh Chandra Shah) * Sannate ka chhand (Ed by

Ashok Vajpeyi Ashok Vajpeyi ( hi, अशोक वाजपेयी; born 1941) is an Indian Hindi-language poet, essayist, literary-cultural critic, apart from being a noted cultural and arts administrator, and a former civil servant. He was chairman, Lali ...

) * Ajneya: Sanklit kavitayen (Ed by Namvar Singh) Novels: * Shekhar: Ek Jeevani I (1941) * Shekhar: Ek Jeevani II (1944) * Shekhar: Ek Jeevni III (Unpublished) * Nadi ke dweep (1952) * Apne-apne ajnabi (1961) * Barahkhambha (co-writer, 1987) * Chhaya mekhal (Incomplete, 2000) * Beenu bhagat (Incomplete, 2000) Stories

anthologies In book publishing, an anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler; it may be a collection of plays, poems, short stories, songs or excerpts by different authors. In genre fiction, the term ''anthology'' typically categ ...

: * Vipathga (1937) * Parmpara (1944) * Kothri ki baat (1945) * Sharnaarthi (1948) * Jaydol (1951) * Amarvallari tatha anya kahaniyan(1954) * Kadiayan tatha anya kahaniyan (1957) * Acchute phool tatha anya kahaniyan (1960) * Ye tere pratiroop (1961) * Jigyasa tatha anya kahaniyan (1965) * Meri priy kahaniyan (Selection, 2004) * Chhorra hua rasta (Sampoorn kahanitan-1, 1975) * Lautti pagdandiyan (Sampoorn kahaniyan-2, 1975) * Sampoorn Kahaniyan (2005) * Adam Ki diary (Ed by Nand Kishore Acharya, 2002) Play: * Uttar Priyadarshi Travelogue: * Are Yayavar Rahega Yaad (1953) * Kirnon ki khoj mein (Selection, 1955) * Ek Boond Sahsa Uchhli (1960) Criticism: * Trishanku * Hindi sahitya: Ek adhunik paridrishya * Atmanepad * Aatmparak * Aalwaal * Likhi kagad kore * Jog likhi * Adyatan * Samvatsar * Smriti ke paridrishya * Srot aur setu * Vyakti aur vyavastha * Yug-sandhiyon par * Dhaar aur kinaare * Bhartiya kala drishti * Smritichhanda * Kendra aur paridhi * Srijan: kyon air kaise * Kavi-Nikash * Kavi-drishti (Prefaces) * Tadbhav (Selection by

) * Lekhak ka Dayittva (Ed by Nand Kishore Acharya) * Khule Mein Khada Ped (Ed by Nand Kishore Acharya) Light Essyas: * Sab rang * Sab rang aur kuchh raag * Kahan hai dwaraka * Chhaya ka jangal Diary: * Bhavanti * Antara * Shaswati * Shesha * Kaviman (Ed by Ila Dalmia Koirala) Memoirs: * Smriti-lekha * Smriti ke galiyaron se * Main kyun likhta hoon Edited: * Tar Saptak * Doosra Saptak * Teesra Saptak * Chautha Saptak * Pushkarini * Naye ekanki * Nehru abhinandan granth (co-editor) * Roopambara (Sumitrnandan Pant abhinandan granth) * Homvati smarak granth * Sarjan aur sampreshan * Sahitya ka parivesh * Sahity aur samaj parivartan * Samajik yatharth aur katha-bhasha * Samkaleen kavita mein chhand * Bhavishya aur sahitya * Indian Poetic Tradition (With Vidya Niwas Mishra and Leonard Nathan) Introducing: * Naye Sahitya Srishta-1 Raghuveer Sahay: Seedihiyon par dhoop mein * Naye Sahitya Srishta-2 Sarveshawar Dayal Saxena: Kaath ki ghantiyan * Naye Sahitya Srishta-3 Ajit Kumar: Ankit hone do * Naye Sahitya Srishta-4 Shanti Mehrotra Conversations: * Aparoksh, Ramesh Chandra Shah & others * Rachna: Kyon aur kinke beech, Sharad Kumar, Geeti Sen & Others * Agyeya Apne bare mein (AIR Archives), Raghuveer Sahay & Gopal Das * Kavi Nayak Ajneya, Ila Dalmia & Neelima Mathur In English: * Prison days and other poems (Poetry) * A sense of time (Essays) Selection (general): Sanchayita (Ed Nand Kishore Acharya) Translations: * Shrikant (Sharat Chandra, from Bengali, 1944) * Gora (Rabindranath Thakur, from Bengali) * Raja (Rabindranath Thakur, from Bengali) * Vivekanand (With Raghuvir Sahay, from Bengali) * The resignation (Jainendra Kumar, into English) * The seventh horse of the sun (Dharmveer Bharti, into English) * The Silent waters (Poems of Sarveshwar Dayal Saxena, in 'Thought') * Vazir ka Feela (Ivo Andric, from English) * Mahayatra ( Pär Lagerkvist's trilogy, from English) Self-translated works: * Islands in the stream (Nadi ke dweep, into English) * To each his stranger (Apne apne ajnabi, into English) * The unmastered lute and other poems (Asadhya Veena and other poems into English, Ed by Pritish Nandy) * The revolving rock and other poems (Chakrant Shila and other poems into English, Ed Pritish Nandy) * First Person, Second Person (Poems, into English with Leonard Nathan) * Signs and silences (Poems, into English with Leonard Nathan) * Nilambari (Poems, into English) * Truculent clay (Bhavanti, into English with Manas Mukul Das) * Preparing the ground (Antara, into English with Manas Mukul Das) Translations in other languages: (Indian languages list too long) * German: Sekh Ktoratien (By Lothar Lutze) * : Stand-orte (By Lothar Lutze) * Swedish : Den arket (By orten Al Bud) * Servo-Croatian: Catoetien * : prvo liche drugo liche * :Vsak ima svoyega tuicha (By Tregoslav Andrich) Films on Ajneya: * Sarswat Van Ka Bavra Aheri, Producer Durgavati Singh, Doordarshan, New Delhi * Sannate ka Chhand, Dir. Pramod & Neelima Mathur, Vatsal Nidhi, New Delhi * Deep Akela, Dir. Pramod Mathur, MGAHVV, Wardha * Kavi Bharti, Bharat Bhawan, Bhopal

Reception

Agyeya was awarded the Sahitya Akademi Award in 1964 for his collection of poems '' Angan Ke Par Dwar'', and the Jnanpith Award in 1978 for ''Kitni Naavon Mein Kitni Baar''. He was also awarded the Bharatbharati Award and the Golden Wreath Award for poetry in 1983. Agyeya is considered to be one of the most influential Hindi writers of the 20th-century and is seen as the founder of ādhuniktā (modernism) in Hindi literature. He is considered 'the most westernised' among the Hindi writers between the 1940s and the 1960s. He was often criticised for his excessive use of intellectualism and individualism in his writings. The scholar Sushil Kumar Phull calls Agyeya an 'intellectual giant' and 'pundit of language' (master of language), and compares him with English poet

Robert Browning Robert Browning (7 May 1812 – 12 December 1889) was an English poet and playwright whose dramatic monologues put him high among the Victorian poets. He was noted for irony, characterization, dark humour, social commentary, historical sett ...

for his obscure and condense language which he used in his poetry.

Dramatic productions

His verse play ''Uttar Priyadarshi'', about the redemption of King Ashoka was first staged in 1966 at Triveni open-air theatre in Delhi in presence of the writer. Later it was adapted to Manipuri, by theatre director, Ratan Thiyam in 1996, and since been performed by his group, in various parts of the world.Review: Uttarpriyadarshi
by Renee Renouf, ''ballet magazine'', December 2000,

References

External links

Agyeya
at Penguin India
Agyeya
at
Agyeya
at

at {{DEFAULTSORT:Vatsyayana, Sachchidananda Hirananda 1911 births 1987 deaths Hindi-language poets Recipients of the Sahitya Akademi Award in Hindi Recipients of the Jnanpith Award Struga Poetry Evenings Golden Wreath laureates Hindu poets Madras Christian College alumni Forman Christian College alumni People from Kushinagar district Indian magazine editors Indian magazine founders Poets from Uttar Pradesh 20th-century Indian poets University of Madras alumni Businesspeople from Uttar Pradesh Journalists from Uttar Pradesh Indian male poets Indian male journalists 20th-century Indian journalists 20th-century Indian businesspeople 20th-century Indian male writers Punjabi Brahmins Translators to Hindi Hindi-language writers Hindi novelists Translators of Rabindranath Tagore