Vishnushastri Chiplunkar (20 May 1850 – 17 March 1882) ( Marathi : विष्णुशास्त्री कृष्णाशास्त्री चिपळूणकर) was a Marathi writer, whose writings have had a decisive influence on modern Marathi prose style. He was the son of the writer and scholar

Krushnashastri Chiplunkar Krushnashastri Chiplunkar (Devanagari: कृष्णशास्त्री चिपळूणकर) (1824–1878) was a social activist and a Marathi writer from Maharashtra, India. For some years, he served as a principal of the Teac ...

Life

Vishnushastri was born in

Pune Pune (; ; also known as Poona, ( the official name from 1818 until 1978) is one of the most important industrial and educational hubs of India, with an estimated population of 7.4 million As of 2021, Pune Metropolitan Region is the largest i ...

in a

Chitpavan Brahmin The Chitpavan Brahmin or Konkanastha Brahmin is a Hindu Maharashtrian Brahmin community inhabiting Konkan, the coastal region of the state of Maharashtra. Initially working as messengers and spies in the late seventeenth century, the communi ...

family to the Sanskrit scholar Krishnashastri Chiplunkar. He obtained his B.A. from Deccan College, Pune in 1872 and worked as a schoolteacher in government schools during the years 1872–1879. In 1880, he founded (together with

Gopal Ganesh Agarkar ''Gopal Ganesh Agarkar'' (14 July 1856 – 17 June 1895) was an Indian social reformer, educationist, and thinker from Maharashtra, India. At one time a close associate of Bal Gangadhar Tilak, he was co-founder of multiple educational in ...

and

Bal Gangadhar Tilak Bal Gangadhar Tilak (; born Keshav Gangadhar Tilak (pronunciation: eʃəʋ ɡəŋɡaːd̪ʱəɾ ʈiɭək; 23 July 1856 – 1 August 1920), endeared as Lokmanya (IAST: ''Lokmānya''), was an Indian nationalist, teacher, and an independence ...

) the newspapers Kesari (केसरी, in Marathi) and Mahratta (in English).He was also a co-founder The New English School in Pune. These institutions intended to provide a more patriotically inclined education as opposed to the schools run by the government in

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

. In 1878, Chiplunkar founded another monthly named ''Kavyetihas Sangraha'' (काव्येतिहास संग्रह) with the objective of better familiarizing the readers with the poetry and history of Maharashtra. The same year he established two printing presses, namely ''Aryabhushan Press'' (आर्यभूषण छापखाना) and ''Chitrashala'' (चित्रशाळा) press, the latter for the purpose of printing pictures of historical and spiritual figures and deities in Maharashtra.The next year, he opened a bookshop named ''Kitabkhana'' (किताबखाना), with the objective of making available inspirational books to Marathi readers. He died in Pune of

typhoid Typhoid fever, also known as typhoid, is a disease caused by ''Salmonella'' serotype Typhi bacteria. Symptoms vary from mild to severe, and usually begin six to 30 days after exposure. Often there is a gradual onset of a high fever over several d ...

at an early age of 32 in 1882. An early biography was written by his brother Lakshmanshastri Chiplunkar, and a later appraisal of his career by Madkholkar .

Writings

His career as a writer began in 1868, with his articles in the periodical ''Shalapatrak'' (शालापत्रक, The School Paper) founded by his father. Notable in this period are the critical appraisals of the

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 ...

poets

Kalidas Kālidāsa (''fl.'' 4th–5th century CE) was a Classical Sanskrit author who is often considered ancient India's greatest poet and playwright. His plays and poetry are primarily based on the Vedas, the Rāmāyaṇa, the Mahābhārata and th ...

Bhavabhuti Bhavabhūti (Devanagari: भवभूति) was an 8th-century scholar of India noted for his plays and poetry, written in Sanskrit. His plays are considered the equal of the works of Kalidasa. Bhavabhuti was born in Padmapura, Vidarbha, in Gondi ...

, Bana, Subandhu and Dandin. These articles introduced his readers to the 'Western' tradition of literary criticism. They were later republished as ''Sanskrit Kavipanchak'' (संस्कृत कविपंचक ). Eventually he became the editor of this periodical, however some of his articles criticizing the conduct of the British Government and

Christian Missionaries A Christian mission is an organized effort for the propagation of the Christian faith. Missions involve sending individuals and groups across boundaries, most commonly geographical boundaries, to carry on evangelism or other activities, such ...

proved controversial, and the ensuing repercussions forced the closure of ''Shalapatrak'' in 1875. In 1874, he started the monthly ''Nibandhamala'' (निबंधमाला, A Garland of Essays) for which he is principally remembered. Nearly all of the writing in the 84 issues of this periodical published in 12 years is due to him. His range is wide, and includes subjects such as the contemporary status of the Marathi language contrasted with that of English, Sanskrit and Marathi poetry, and the propriety of using foreign words in Marathi. ''Aamachya Deshachi Sthiti'' (अामच्या देशाची स्थिती, The state of our country) and ''Mudranaswatantrya'' (मुद्रणस्वातंत्र्य, Freedom of the press) are two of his influential political articles. He also translated the following works into Marathi in cooperation with his father: * Rasselas by

Samuel Johnson Samuel Johnson (18 September 1709 – 13 December 1784), often called Dr Johnson, was an English writer who made lasting contributions as a poet, playwright, essayist, moralist, critic, biographer, editor and lexicographer. The ''Oxford ...

* Kadambari by Banabhatta *The

Arabian Nights ''One Thousand and One Nights'' ( ar, أَلْفُ لَيْلَةٍ وَلَيْلَةٌ, italic=yes, ) is a collection of Middle Eastern folk tales compiled in Arabic during the Islamic Golden Age. It is often known in English as the ''Arabian ...

(loosely following the translation into English by Edward Lane) A compilation of his selected writings has been edited by Buddhisagar . Vishnushastri's Marathi prose style was moulded on the one hand by his knowledge of Sanskrit, and on the other by his extensive reading into the works of

, Addison and Macaulay. His writing is characteristic of what is usually called the ''अव्वल इंग्रजी'' (high English) period, when Marathi written syntax shows the heavy influence of long, complex sentences incorporating several subordinate clauses, prevalent in 18th and 19th century English. He is also commonly referred to as the

Shivaji Shivaji Bhonsale I (; 19 February 1630 – 3 April 1680), also referred to as Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, was an Indian ruler and a member of the Bhonsle Maratha clan. Shivaji carved out his own independent kingdom from the declining Adil ...

of the Marathi language. However, this honorific description was first applied to Vishnushastri by himself, and in fact, was spoken by him in English.

In popular culture

In the Marathi film Lokmanya: Ek Yug Purush on the life of Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Om Raut plays the character of Vishnushastrii.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chiplunkar, Vishnushastri Krushnashastri Chiplunkar, Vishnusastri Indian independence activists from Maharashtra 1850 births 1882 deaths Founders of Indian schools and colleges