Vaidyanath Mishra (11 June 1911 – 5 November 1998), better known by his

pen name A pen name or nom-de-plume 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 name may be used to make the author's na ...

Nagarjun, was a

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 Maithili poet who has also penned a number of novels, short stories, literary biographies and travelogues, and was known as ''Janakavi''- the People's Poet. He is regarded as the most prominent protagonist of modernity in Maithili.

Personal life and biography

Early life and education

Vaidyanath Mishra was born on 11 June 1911 (Jyeshtha Purnima), in the Gram Panchayat Tarauni and Block Benipur in

Darbhanga District Darbhanga district is one of the thirty-eight districts of Bihar States and territories of India, state in eastern India, and Darbhanga city is the administrative headquarters of this district and 5th largest city of Bihar as well. Darbhanga d ...

Bihar Bihar ( ) is a states and union territories of India, state in Eastern India. It is the list of states and union territories of India by population, second largest state by population, the List of states and union territories of India by are ...

, India to Uma Devi and Gokul Mishra. He spent most of his days in his mother's village Satlakha of

Madhubani district Madhubani district is one of the thirty-eight districts of Bihar, India, and is a part of Darbhanga division. Its administrative headquarters are located in Madhubani. The district has an area of and has a population of 4,487,379 (as of 20 ...

, Bihar. He later converted to

Buddhism Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...

and got the name ''Nagarjun''. His mother died when he was only four years old, and his father being a vagabond himself, couldn't support him so young Vaidyanath thrived on the support of his relatives, and the scholarships he won on the account of him being an exceptional student. Soon he became proficient in

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 ...

Pali Pāli (, IAST: pāl̤i) is a Classical languages of India, classical Middle Indo-Aryan languages, Middle Indo-Aryan language of the Indian subcontinent. It is widely studied because it is the language of the Buddhist ''Pali Canon, Pāli Can ...

and

Prakrit Prakrit ( ) is a group of vernacular classical Middle Indo-Aryan languages that were used in the Indian subcontinent from around the 5th century BCE to the 12th century CE. The term Prakrit is usually applied to the middle period of Middle Ind ...

languages, which he first learnt locally and later at

Varanasi Varanasi (, also Benares, Banaras ) or Kashi, is a city on the Ganges river in northern India that has a central place in the traditions of pilgrimage, death, and mourning in the Hindu world.* * * * The city has a syncretic tradition of I ...

and

Calcutta Kolkata, also known as Calcutta (List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern ba ...

, where he was also semi-employed, while pursuing his studies. Meanwhile, he married Aparajita Devi and the couple had six children.

Career

He started his literary career with Maithili poems by the pen-name of Yatri (यात्री) in the early 1930s. By the mid-1930s, he started writing poetry in Hindi. His first permanent job of a full-time teacher, took him to

Saharanpur Saharanpur is a city and a Municipal corporation (India), municipal corporation in Uttar Pradesh, India. It is also the public administration, administrative headquarters of Saharanpur district. Saharanpur city's name was given after the Sain ...

(

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh ( ; UP) is a States and union territories of India, state in North India, northern India. With over 241 million inhabitants, it is the List of states and union territories of India by population, most populated state in In ...

), though he didn't stay there for long as his urge to delve deeper into Buddhist scriptures, took him to the Buddhist monastery at

Kelaniya Kelaniya ( ) is a suburb of Colombo in the Western Province, Sri Lanka, Western Province, Sri Lanka. Located from Colombo Fort, it is known for the Buddhist temple built on the banks of the Kelani River, which divides the suburb from Colombo Di ...

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

, where in 1935, he became a Buddhist monk, entered the

monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of Monasticism, monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in Cenobitic monasticism, communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a ...

and studied the scriptures, just as his mentor, Rahul Sankrityayan had done earlier, and hence took upon the name "Nagarjun". While at the monastery, he also studied

Leninism Leninism (, ) is a political ideology developed by Russian Marxist revolutionary Vladimir Lenin that proposes the establishment of the Dictatorship of the proletariat#Vladimir Lenin, dictatorship of the proletariat led by a revolutionary Vangu ...

and

Marxism Marxism is a political philosophy and method of socioeconomic analysis. It uses a dialectical and materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to analyse class relations, social conflict, ...

ideologies, before returning to India in 1938 to join 'Summer School of Politics' organised by noted peasant leader, Sahajanand Saraswati, founder of Kisan Sabha. A wanderer by nature, Nagarjun spent a considerable amount of his time in the 1930s and the 1940s travelling across India. He also participated in many mass-awakening movements before and after independence. Between 1939 and 1942, He was jailed by the British courts for leading a farmer's agitation in Bihar. For a long time after independence he was involved with journalism. He played an active role in

Jayaprakash Narayan Jayaprakash Narayan Srivastava (; 11 October 1902 – 8 October 1979), also known as JP and ''Lok Nayak'' (Hindi for "People's leader"), was an Indian politician, theorist and Indian independence activist, independence activist. He is mai ...

's movement prior to the Emergency period (1975–1977), and therefore was jailed for eleven months, during the emergency period. He was strongly influenced by Leninist-Marxist ideology. This was one of the reasons that he never found patronage from the mainstream political establishments. He died in 1998 at the age of 87 in

Darbhanga Darbhanga is the fifth largest city and municipal corporation in the state of Bihar in India, and is considered an important city in North Bihar. It serves as the headquarters of the Darbhanga district and the Darbhanga division. Darbhanga ...

Works and literature

The subjects of his poetry are varied. Effects of both his wandering tendencies and activism, is evident in his middle and later works. His famous poems like ''Bādal kō Ghiratē Dēkhā hai'' (), is a travelogue in its own right. He often wrote on contemporary social and political issues. His famous poem ''Mantra Kavita'' (मंत्र कविता), is widely considered the most accurate reflection of a whole generation's mindset in India. Another such poem is ''Āō Rānī Hum Ḍhōēṅgē Pālakī'' (), which sarcastically humiliates the then prime minister of India,

Jawaharlal Nehru Jawaharlal Nehru (14 November 1889 – 27 May 1964) was an Indian anti-colonial nationalist, secular humanist, social democrat, and statesman who was a central figure in India during the middle of the 20th century. Nehru was a pr ...

, for the extravagant welcome thrown by him for Queen Elizabeth. Besides these accepted subjects of poetry, Nagarjun found poetic beauty in unconventional subjects. One of his most astonishing works is a poem based on a show called ''With Sharp Teeth'' (). Another such creation is a series of poems on a full-grown

jackfruit The jackfruit or ''nangka'' (''Artocarpus heterophyllus'') is a species of tree in the Common fig, fig, mulberry, and breadfruit family (Moraceae). The jackfruit is the largest tree fruit, reaching as much as in weight, in length, and in d ...

. Because of the breadth of his poetry, Nagarjun is considered the only Hindi poet after

Tulsidas Rambola Dubey (; 11 August 1511 – 30 July 1623pp. 23–34.), popularly known as Goswami Tulsidas (), was a Vaishnavism, Vaishnava (Ramanandi Sampradaya, Ramanandi) Hinduism, Hindu saint and poet, renowned for his devotion to the deity Rama. H ...

to have an audience ranging from the rural sections of society to the elite. He effectively freed poetry from the bounds of elitism.

Languages

Maithili was his mother tongue and he authored many poems, essays and novels in Maithili. He was educated in

, and

. Hindi remained the language of the bulk of his literature. The Hindi of his works varies from highly

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 ...

ized to

vernacular Vernacular is the ordinary, informal, spoken language, spoken form of language, particularly when perceptual dialectology, perceived as having lower social status or less Prestige (sociolinguistics), prestige than standard language, which is mor ...

forms. He was a poet of the masses, and preferred to write in the language of immediate local impact. Therefore, he never adhered to specific bounds of languages. He also had good grasp of the

Bengali language Bengali, also known by its endonym and exonym, endonym Bangla (, , ), is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language belonging to the Indo-Iranian languages, Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European languages, Indo-European language family. ...

and used to write for Bengali newspapers. He was close to the Bengali Hungry generation or ''Bhookhi Peerhi'' poets and helped Kanchan Kumari in translating

Malay Roy Choudhury Malay Roy Choudhury (29 October 1939 – 26 October 2023) was an Indian Bengali poet, playwright, short story writer, essayist and novelist who founded the Hungryalist movement in the 1960s. Early life and education Malay Roy Choudhury was ...

's long poem ''Jakham'' and ''Chana Jor Garam'' in Hindi.

Awards

Nagarjun was given 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 ...

in 1968 for his historic book ''Patarheen Nagna Gachh'', and the 'Bharat Bharati Award' by the

government for his literary contributions in 1983. He was also honoured by the Sahitya Akademi Fellowship, India's highest literary award for lifetime achievement, in 1994.

Major literary works

Poetry

* Yugdharao * Kal aur Aaaj * Satrange Pankhon Wali * Talab ki Machhliyan * Khichri Viplava Dekha Humne * Hazar Hazar Bahon Wali * Purani Juliyon Ka Coras * Tumne Kaha Tha * Akhir Aisa Kya Kah Diya Maine * Is Gubare Ki Chhaya Mein. *Yeh Danturit Muskaan * Mein Military Ka Boodha Ghoda * Ratnagarbha * Aise bhi hum kya * Bhool jao purane sapne * Apne Khet Mein Chandana * Fasal * Akal aur Uske bad * Harijan Gatha * Badal ko ghirate Dekha hai * Aaj main beej hoon * Mantra Kavita

Novels

* Rati Nath Ki Chachi * Balachnama * Baba Bateshar Nath *Himalaya ki betiya * Nai Paudh * Varun Ke Bete * Dukh Mochan * Ugratara * Jamania Ka Baba * Kumbhi Pak * Paro and Asman Mein Chanda Tare. * Abhinandan * Imaratia * Sita Usko * Navturiya

Essay collections

* Ant Hinam Kriyanam. * Bum Bholenath * Ayodhya ka raja

Maithili works

* Patrahin Nagna Gachh (collection of poems) * Chitra (collection of poems) * Pparo(novel) *Navturiya(novel) *Balchnma(novel) *His work on culture has been published in the form of books entitled ''Desh Dashkam'' and ''Krishak Dashkam''.

Works on Baba Nagarjun

*Poet Kumar Vishwas and channel

ABP News ABP News is an Indian Hindi-language free-to-air television news channel owned by ABP Group. Initially launched as Star News in 1998, it was later acquired by the ABP Group (ABP). It won the Best Hindi News Channel award in the 21st editi ...

aired a video documentary about the life and writings of Nagarjun in their Mahakavi Series.Mahakavi-Episode 6: Watch incredible story of poet Nagarjun
/ref>

References

External links

Nagarjun at Gadya Kosh
(his prose work in Devanagari script )
Nagarjun at Kavita Kosh
(Hindi)

;Work online

{{Authority control 1911 births 1998 deaths Maithili poets Writers of Mithila Poets from Bihar Hindi-language poets Hindi-language writers Converts to Buddhism from Hinduism Indian Buddhist monks Indian independence activists from Bihar Recipients of the Sahitya Akademi Award in Maithili Recipients of the Sahitya Akademi Fellowship 20th-century Indian poets People from Darbhanga district 20th-century Indian novelists 20th-century Indian monks Novelists from Bihar 20th-century Buddhist monks