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Maithili Sharan Gupt is not only considered as one of the most important of the modern poets of the Hindi literature, whose literary genius is remembered by only some at the current times, he is also considered to be one among the few pioneers of Khari Boli or the plain dialect poetry in his times.
While most of the Hindi poets were the followers of the difficult Braj Bhasha dialect while writing their poems, Maithili Sharan Gupt being the man he was preferred the use of Khari Boli dialect which could be read and understood by the masses as well as the class with equal ease. That was the greatness of this man who believed that poetry is for everyone and not only for some of the highly literate few. In the current times, his dialect of writing poetry is extensively being used by all the Hindi poets till date.
Coming from a modest family background, this poetic genius was born in a small city in Jhansi district in Uttar Pradesh in Chirgaon in a Gahoi family. Ghaloi’s were a term used by describes the class who were mainly traders and merchants who were residing in Central India during the British rule. While in his childhood days he was wary of attending school, his family arranged for home tuitions for him where he got the knowledge of various languages like Sanskrit, Bengali and English. While other than the above mentioned languages Maithili Sharan Gupt learnt in his childhood, his deep knowledge and understanding in Hindi literature might be accredited to his home tutor Mahavir Prasad Dwivedi, who himself was a stalwart in the Hindi modern literature segment who influenced his interest in Hindi literature to a great extent.
Even though this literary genius of a man, Maithili Sharan Gupt did not have a formal schooling, he still managed pretty well to make his name in the Hindi literature circuit of his times and also in the current times due to his profound knowledge in the Hindi language, the Khari Boli dialect became his medium via which he wrote innumerous drama, poetry and translations from other languages with utter ease.
The literary life of this great icon and hero of modern Hindi literature started off pretty well when he started off writing Hindi poems in the well known and renowned Hindi magazines such as Saraswati. While writing the poetry in the Hindi dialect, the first time his name was recognized to the masses and the classes’ when his work, “Rang Mein Bhang” was published in the year 1910 by the Indian Press.
While most of the subjects his poetry and the plots of his plays were inspired from mythology like the Ramayana and the Mahabharata, he also took extreme interest in dealing with the times and lives of various great religious leaders from across the world, leave alone India. In these lines, he have published and written various poems revolving around the characters in the life of Gautama Buddha, like the one he wrote about Yashodhara, the wife of Gautama Buddha in his story “Yashodhara” in the year 1932. Another of his literary genius can be seen in “Saket” which deals with the story of Lakshmana’s wife in Ramayana, Urmila penned down by him in the year 1931.
In his time, Maithili Sharan Gupt along with bringing the Khari Boli dialect of Hindi in his writing, he also brought back the epic tradition with his long narrative poems, traces of which are found in all his major work along with others such as Jayadrath Vadh written in the year 1910 and Panchavati which he wrote in the year 1925.
In case the general impression of this man in your minds has only been this that he had only written about religion and religious characters and subjects throughout his life, you would be gravely mistaken. Where his interests lied in religion, his role in the still British dominated India was nowhere to be excused. This great man was well aware of the times his country was going through which may have compelled him to pen down a collection of poems published in British dominated India named “Bharat Bharati” which spoke of his nationalistic spirit and support to the freedom fighters of the nation whjo were toiling hard to achieve independence in the nation.
“Bidya Bharti” was one of the most popular nationalist work of this poet, Maithili Sharan Gupt which served as a medium of inspiration to the freedom fighters of the times and was also one to be widely circulated across the country too. This was the man you might fail to judge, if you did not know of his patriotic spirit.
Along with poetry and drama, Maithili Sharan Gupt as a writer was also associated with translations to a large extent. The most noticeable of his translation work included the likes of “Swapnavaasavdatta” and the “Rubaiyat”, both of which were translated by him in Hindi language from Sanskrit.
While most of us know about this man as the “National Poet”, an honorary title bestowed upon him for his literary work in the terms of Hindi poetry whose career spanned up till more than fifty seven years, some of his time had also been dedicated to the nation.
While this man never failed to impress with his writing skills, he also joined the politics of India after the nation gained independence in the year 1947. This was during this time that Maithili Sharan Gupt was appointed as the honorary member of the Rajya Sabha in the Indian Parliament. Even when he was actively a part of the Indian political system, this gem of a man did not leave writing where he had been quoted to be presenting his opinions in the parliament in terms of poetry.
A member of the Parliament, an avid Hindi literature reviver, a writer, a poet, a translator, a reformer, a freedom activist supporter and a playwright, Maithili Sharan Gupt have given the world some of the works that we would never forget.
Salute to the man who was everything and so much more.
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