Pushpa Ratna Sagar () (born Pushpa Ratna Tuladhar) (29 October 1922 – 11 November 2011) was a Nepalese merchant, grammarian,

lexicographer Lexicography is the study of lexicons and the art of compiling dictionaries. It is divided into two separate academic disciplines: * Practical lexicography is the art or craft of compiling, writing and editing dictionary, dictionaries. * The ...

and pioneer pressman. Born Pushpa Ratna

Tuladhar Tulādhar (Devanagari: तुलाधर) is a Nepali/Nepalese caste from the Newar community of the Kathmandu Valley in Nepal. The name Tuladhar is derived from the Sanskrit words "tula" (weighing scale) and "dhar" (possessor), thus meaning scal ...

Asan Asan (; ) is a Administrative divisions of South Korea, city in South Chungcheong Province, South Korea. It borders the Seoul Capital Area to the north. Asan has a population of approximately 400,000. Asan is known for its many hot springs an ...

Dhalasikwa,

Kathmandu Kathmandu () is the capital and largest city of Nepal, situated in the central part of the country within the Kathmandu Valley. As per the 2021 Nepal census, it has a population of 845,767 residing in 105,649 households, with approximately 4 mi ...

, he acquired the nickname Sagar in his childhood during a pilgrimage to Ganga Sagar (

Sagar Island Sagar Island is an island in the Ganges delta, lying on the Continental Shelf, continental shelf of Bay of Bengal about 100 km (54 nautical miles) south of Kolkata. This island forms the Sagar (community development block), Sagar CD Block ...

) in India. He was the third and youngest son of trader Pushpa Sundar Tuladhar and his wife Dhan Maya.

Early life

Sagar received primary education at a neighbourhood school conducted at the home of teacher

Jagat Lal Master Jagat Lal Master (; 1902 – 19 January 1967) (alternative name: Jagat Lal Shrestha) was a Nepalese educator and writer. He advocated the teaching of English and ran a school at his home, risking state censure during the time of the autocratic R ...

. He was married to Lani Devi Bania of Itum Bahal on 12 January 1942. In 1943, he left for

Lhasa Lhasa, officially the Chengguan District of Lhasa City, is the inner urban district of Lhasa (city), Lhasa City, Tibet Autonomous Region, Southwestern China. Lhasa is the second most populous urban area on the Tibetan Plateau after Xining ...

Tibet Tibet (; ''Böd''; ), or Greater Tibet, is a region in the western part of East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are other ethnic groups s ...

to join his ancestral business house Ghorasyar.

Career

While in Lhasa, he was stirred by the activism in Nepal against the suppression of

Nepal Bhasa Newar (; , ) is a Sino-Tibetan language spoken by the Newar people, the indigenous inhabitants of Nepal Mandala, which consists of the Kathmandu Valley and surrounding regions in Nepal. The language is known officially in Nepal as Nepal Bhas ...

and imprisonment of writers by the

Rana Rana may refer to: Astronomy * Rana (crater), a crater on Mars * Delta Eridani or Rana, a star Films * Rana (2012 film), an Indian Kannada-language action drama * Rana, a 1998 Telugu-language action film directed by A. Kodandarami Reddy * R ...

regime. He thought of doing something for his mother tongue, and started writing a grammar of the language that would be useful to students. In 1949, he returned to Kathmandu where he completed the manuscript. The grammar, entitled ''Subodh Nepal Bhasa Vyakaran'', was published in 1952. In 1951, ''

Thaunkanhe ''Thaunkanhe'' () is the first magazine in Nepal Bhasa to be published from Nepal. The monthly magazine began publication on 21 May 1951 (Nepal Era 1071 Bachhala), coinciding with the festival of Swanya Punhi, the "full moon day of flowers" marki ...

'', the first Nepal Bhasa monthly magazine to be published from Nepal, began publication with Sagar as the deputy editor. In a bid to promote publishing in Nepal Bhasa, Sagar formed a partnership with two like-minded former Tibetan traders,

Purna Kaji Tamrakar Purna Kaji Tamrakar () (1920 - 2009) was a Nepalese merchant, author and journalist who worked to develop Nepal Bhasa at the time when writers were being persecuted by the government. Pages 60-67. Early life Tamrakar was born at Maru, Kathmandu ...

and Ratna Man Singh Tuladhar, and in 1952 established Nepal Press at his home at 11/122 Asan Tyouda Tol, Kathmandu. Their equipment consisted of second-hand Vicobold letterpress machines imported from

Kolkata Kolkata, also known as Calcutta ( its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River, west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary ...

. Sagar was also active in a number of associations. He was a member of Dharmodaya Sabha (Society for the Rise of the Teaching), a Buddhist organization founded in 1944 in

Sarnath Sarnath (also known as Deer Park, ''Sarangnath'', ''Isipatana Deer Park'', ''Rishipattana'', ''Migadaya'', or ''Mrigadava'')Gabe Hiemstra, "Buddha Chronicle 24: Kassapa Buddhavaṃsa". ''Wisdom Library'', 14 September 2019. is a town nort ...

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 population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

by exiled Nepalese monks and dedicated to promoting

Theravada Buddhism ''Theravāda'' (; 'School of the Elders'; ) is Buddhism's oldest existing school. The school's adherents, termed ''Theravādins'' ( anglicized from Pali ''theravādī''), have preserved their version of the Buddha's teaching or '' Dhamma'' in ...

. In 1957, he was secretary of the Kathmandu chapter of the

Nepalese Chamber of Commerce, Lhasa The Nepalese Chamber of Commerce, Lhasa opened in 1943, the first ever organization of businesses formed by Nepalese traders based in the Tibetan capital. The Newar merchants conducted trade between Lhasa and Kolkata transporting goods over the H ...

when it hosted a reception to honour visiting Chinese Premier

Zhou Enlai Zhou Enlai ( zh, s=周恩来, p=Zhōu Ēnlái, w=Chou1 Ên1-lai2; 5 March 1898 – 8 January 1976) was a Chinese statesman, diplomat, and revolutionary who served as the first Premier of the People's Republic of China from September 1954 unti ...

. In 1960, Sagar set up Nepal Printing Press and continued his service to Nepal Bhasa. He compiled a dictionary of original words with meanings in Nepal Bhasa, Nepali and English, and in 1998, published it under the title ''Nepal Bhasaya Maulik Sabdakosh''.

Honors

On 31 October 1994, Nepal Bhasa Parishad decorated Sagar with the title Bhasa Thuwa (Patron of the Language). He was made a patron of Nepal Lipi Guthi, an organization dedicated to preserving

Nepalese scripts Newari scripts ( Nepal Lipi: 𑐣𑐾𑐥𑐵𑐮 𑐁𑐏𑐮, Devanagari: नेपाल आखल) are a family of alphabetic writing systems employed historically in Nepal Mandala by the indigenous Newar people for primarily writing Nepal B ...

. In 2008, chairman of the Constituent Assembly Subash Nemwang presented Sagar with a letter of felicitation to honour his contribution to

Buddhism in Nepal Buddhism in Nepal started spreading since the reign of Ashoka through Indian and Tibetan missionaries. The Kiratas were the first people in Nepal who embraced the Buddha’s teachings, followed by the Licchavi (kingdom), Licchavis and Newar peop ...

at a function organised by Dharmodaya Sabha.

Published works

*''Subodh Nepal Bhasa Vyakaran'' (''Understandable Nepal Bhasa Grammar''), 1952 *''Nepal Bhasaya Maulik Sabdakosh'' (''Original Dictionary of Nepal Bhasa''), 1998

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sagar, Pushpa Ratna 1922 births 2011 deaths Businesspeople from Kathmandu Linguists from Nepal Nepalese journalists 20th-century linguists Lexicographers Newar-language writers Nepalese merchants Nepal Bhasa movement

Early life

Career

Honors

Published works

See also

References