Jaishankar Prasad (30 January 1889
15 November 1937) was a prominent figure in modern
Hindi literature
Hindi literature () includes literature in the various Central Indo-Aryan languages, also known as Hindi, some of which have different writing systems. Earliest forms of Hindi literature are attested in poetry of Apabhraṃśa such as Awad ...
as well as
Hindi theatre. Prasad was his pen name. He was also known as ''Chhayavadi kavi''.
Early life
Poetic style
Prasad started writing poetry with the pen name of ‘
Kamayani’. The first collection of poem that Prasad penned, named, Chitradhar, was written in Braj, a dialect of Hindi but his later works were written in Khadi dialect or Sanskritized Hindi.
Later on Prasad promulgated ‘
Chhayavad’, a literary trend in Hindi literature.
He is considered one of the Four Pillars (''Char Stambh'') of
Romanticism
Romanticism (also known as the Romantic movement or Romantic era) was an artistic and intellectual movement that originated in Europe towards the end of the 18th century. The purpose of the movement was to advocate for the importance of subjec ...
in
Hindi Literature
Hindi literature () includes literature in the various Central Indo-Aryan languages, also known as Hindi, some of which have different writing systems. Earliest forms of Hindi literature are attested in poetry of Apabhraṃśa such as Awad ...
(
Chhayavad), along with
Sumitranandan Pant
Sumitranandan Pant (20 May 1900 – 28 December 1977) was an Indian poet. He was one of the most celebrated 20th century poets of the Hindi language and was known for romanticism in his poems which were inspired by nature, people and beauty wi ...
,
Mahadevi Verma, and
Suryakant Tripathi 'Nirala'.
His vocabulary avoids the
Persian element of
Hindi
Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...
and mainly consists of
Sanskrit
Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...
(
Tatsama
Tatsama ( , lit. 'same as that') are Sanskrit loanwords in modern Indo-Aryan languages like Assamese, Bengali, Marathi, Nepali, Odia, Hindi, Gujarati, and Sinhala and in Dravidian languages like Tamil, Kannada and Telugu. They generally ...
) words and words derived from Sanskrit (
Tadbhava
(Sanskrit: तद्भव, , lit. "arising from that") is the Sanskrit word for one of three etymological classes defined by native grammarians of Middle Indo-Aryan languages, alongside tatsama and deśi words. at pp. 67-69. A "tadbhava" is ...
words). The subject of his poetry spans the entire horizon of subjects of his era, from romantic to nationalistic.
Dramas and other writings
His dramas are considered to be most pioneering ones in
Hindi
Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...
. Prasad's most famous dramas include ''Skanda gupta'', ''Chandra gupta'' and ''Dhruva swamini''. The majority of them revolve around historical stories of
Ancient India
Anatomically modern humans first arrived on the Indian subcontinent between 73,000 and 55,000 years ago. The earliest known human remains in South Asia date to 30,000 years ago. Sedentism, Sedentariness began in South Asia around 7000 BCE; ...
. Some of them were also based on mythological plots.
In 1960s,
Shanta Gandhi Professor of Ancient Indian Drama while at
National School of Drama
National School of Drama (NSD) is a drama school situated at New Delhi, India. It is an autonomous organization under Ministry of Culture, Government of India. It was set up in 1959 by the Sangeet Natak Akademi and became an independent school ...
, revived interest in Jaishankar Prasad's plays for modern
Indian theatre, by successfully staging his most important play ''Skanda Gupta'' written in 1928, with little changes to the original script.
Personal life
Major works
Poetry
* Kānan kusum (The Forest Flower)(1913)
* Mahārānā kā mahatv (The Maharana's greatness)(1914)
* Jharnā (The Waterfall)(1918)
* Ānsū (The tear)(1925)
* Lahar (The wave)(1933)
*
Kāmāyanī (an epic about
Manu and the flood)(1935/36)
* Prem pathik (The Love Wanderer)(1914)
* Aatmkathya (Autobiography)
Drama
* Ek Ghoont (A sip)
* Skandagupta (On Emperor
Skandagupta
Skandagupta (Gupta script: ''Ska-nda-gu-pta'', r. –467) was a Gupta Empire, Gupta Emperor of India. His Bhitari pillar inscription of Skandagupta, Bhitari pillar inscription suggests that he restored the Gupta power by defeating his enemies, ...
)
* Chandragupta (On Emperor
)
* Dhruvasvāminī
* Rajyashrī (Royal Bliss)
*
Ajatashatru
Story collections
* Aandhī
* Pratidhvani (The Echo)
* Indrajāl (Hypnosis)
* Sandeh (Doubt)
* Daasi (Maid)
* Chitra Mandir
* Rasiya Balam
Novels
* Kankal (The Skeleton)
* Titli (The Butterfly)
* Iravati ( not completed)
Poetic drama
*Karunalay
Legacy
Neo-romanticism in Hindi Literature
Jaishankar Prasad's Kamayani (Hindi: कामायनी) (1936), a Hindi classic poem is considered as an important magnum opus of this school. The poem belongs to the Chhayavadi school of Hindi poetry.
Kamayani By Jaishankar Prasad
/ref>
Critical reception
In her glowing tribute to Jai Shankar Prasad, the poet- critic Mahadevi Verma said:
"Whenever I remember our great poet, Prasad a particular image comes to my mind. A fir tree stands on the slope of the Himalaya, straight and tall as the proud mountain peaks themselves. Its lofty head braves the assaults of the snow, the rain, and the blazing heat of the sun. Violent storms shake its spreading branches, while a thin stream of water plays hide-and-seek amongst its root. Even under the most heavy snowfall, the most fierce heat, and the torrential rain, the fir tree holds its head high. Even in the midst of the worst thunderstorm and blizzards, it remains steady and unflinching.”
Regarding his influence in Indian literature, the late scholar David Rubin wrote in ''The Return of Sarasvati'' (Oxford, 1993):- "To Jayshankar Prasad belongs the credit of making the first successful leap forward in the development of a genuine poetic art in ''khari boli'' Hindi and giving it, in ''Ansu'', its first masterpiece." Rubin felt his lyrics regarding nature and human love helped to define the ''Chhayavad'' movement, and that his reflective nature and deep love of reading and music heavily influenced his work.
See also
* List of Indian writers
This is a list of notable writers who come from India
India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by ...
References
Sources
*
External links
*
*
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Prasad, Jaishankar
1889 births
1937 deaths
Hindi-language writers
Hindi-language poets
Indian male novelists
Writers from Varanasi
Hindi dramatists and playwrights
20th-century Indian novelists
20th-century Indian dramatists and playwrights
Novelists from Uttar Pradesh
Indian male dramatists and playwrights
Poets from Uttar Pradesh
20th-century Indian poets
Dramatists and playwrights from Uttar Pradesh
20th-century Indian male writers