''Jnanasudha'' (also spelled as ''Gnansudha'' or ''Gyansudha'') was a

Gujarati Gujarati may refer to: * something of, from, or related to Gujarat, a state of India * Gujarati people, the major ethnic group of Gujarat * Gujarati language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by them * Gujarati languages, the Western Indo-Aryan sub- ...

magazine that ran from 1892 to 1919, in which

Ramanbhai Neelkanth Ramanbhai Mahipatram Nilkanth (13 March 1868 – 6 March 1928) was a Gujarati novelist, essayist, literary critic from India. The Ramanlal Nilkanth Hasya Paritoshik is named after him. Life Ramanbhai Nilkanth was born on 13 March 1868 in Ahm ...

edited.

History

''Jnanasudha'' began publishing weekly as an organization of Ahmedabad Prarthana Samaj. There are no surviving copies of the magazine before 1892, so the date of first publication is not traceable. It is certain that when the magazine was handed over to Ramanbhai Neelkanth in 1987, it published its newspaper weekly, and then monthly in January 1892. Neelkanth was busy in the administration of Prarthana Samaj and in social reform activities, so he handed over the magazine to Jivanlal Amarshi Mehta, a publisher who edited the magazine for one year. Then, the magazine was edited by Gatulal Gopilal Dhruv, a secretary of Prarthana Samaj, until it stopped publishing in 1919.

Neelkanth used ''Jnanasudha'' to propound the religious principles of Prarthana Samaj, and resisted the superstitious beliefs and malpractices of Hindu society. With the exception of ''

Raino Parvat ''Raino Parvat'' ( a mountain out of a mustard seed) is a 1914 Gujarati play by Ramanbhai Neelkanth (1868–1928), written with an eye on social reform attempts to bring about a synthesis of the Sanskrit and English styles of drama. It is c ...

'' (1914), most of Neelkanth's writings were published in this magazine. Neelkanth's only novel, ''

Bhadrambhadra ''Bhadrambhadra'' () is a 1900 Gujarati language, Gujarati satirical novel by Ramanbhai Neelkanth. It is regarded as the first humorous novel in Gujarati literature and as the first Gujarati novel written in the first person narrative. Ramanbhai ...

'' (1900), was first serialised in ''Jnanasudha'', starting in April 1892 and concluding in June 1900. The debates between

Manilal Dwivedi Manilal Nabhubhai Dwivedi (; 26 September 1858 – 1 October 1898) was a Gujarati-language writer, philosopher, and social thinker from British India, commonly referred to as Manilal in literary circles. He was an influential figure in 19th-ce ...

and Neelkanth on the subjects of

Dvaita Dvaita Vedanta (); (originally known as Tattvavada; IAST: ''Tattvavāda''), is a sub-school in the Vedanta ''Vedanta'' (; , ), also known as ''Uttara Mīmāṃsā'', is one of the six orthodox (Āstika and nāstika, ''āstika'') trad ...

(dualism) and Advaita (non-dualism) philosophy was carried in the pages of Manilal's Sudarshan and in ''Jnanasudha''. These debates are considered unparalleled in Gujarat's history of reflective literature. Other notable contributions to the magazine include Neelkanth's ''Kavitasiddhanta'' (Theory of Poetry),

Kant Immanuel Kant (born Emanuel Kant; 22 April 1724 – 12 February 1804) was a German philosopher and one of the central Enlightenment thinkers. Born in Königsberg, Kant's comprehensive and systematic works in epistemology, metaphysics, et ...

's critique of ''

Siddhantasara ''Siddhantasara'' (; ) is a 1889 Gujarati book on the history of philosophy by Indian writer and philosopher Manilal Dwivedi. It is a historical critique of the world's religious philosophies. The book deals with the evolution of religious se ...

'',

Balwantray Thakore Balwantray Kalyanray Thakore (23 October 1869 – 2 January 1952), popularly known as B. K. Thakore (), was a poetry teacher and one of the great pioneers of the ''Pandit yug'', during the turn of the twentieth century period in Gujarati literatur ...

's sonnets under the title ''Premno Divas'', Nhanalal's poem ''Vasantotsav'', and the debate between

Narsinhrao Divetia Narsinhrao Divatia (1859–1937) was a poet, linguist and critic of Gujarati literature. Life He was born on 3 September 1859 in Ahmedabad to Bholanath Divetia. He completed Bachelor of Arts in Sanskrit from Elphinstone College in 1880 and st ...

and

Govardhanram Tripathi Govardhanram Madhavram Tripathi (; 20 October 1855 – 4 January 1907) was an Indian Gujarati language novelist of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He is known for his four volume novel, '' Saraswatichandra'', acclaimed as one of the mas ...

on Gujarati spellings.

Dhirubhai Thaker Dhirubhai Premshankar Thaker (27 June 1918 – 22 January 2014) was an Indian Gujarati writer, who was best known for creating the '' Gujarati Vishwakosh'', a 25-volume encyclopedia of the Gujarati language. Life Thaker was born on 27 June 191 ...

published ''Jnanasudha: Svadhyay ane Suchi'' in 1987, which is a critical and bibliographical study of writings published in ''Jnanasudha''.

References

{{reflist 1919 disestablishments in Asia Gujarati-language magazines Monthly magazines published in India Weekly magazines published in India Magazines established in 1902 Magazines disestablished in 1919 Mass media in Gujarat Defunct magazines published in India

History

Contents

See also

References