Ishwar Chandra
Bandopadhyaya, was a Bengali polymath, Sanskrit pundit, educator, social
reformer, writer and philanthropist. He was one of the greatest intellectuals
and activists of the 19th century and one of the pillars of the Bengal
Renaissance. He was born at Birsingha in Midnapur on
September 26, 1820. Son of poor Brahmin parents, Thakurdas Banerjee and
Bhagabati Devi. He spent his childhood in extreme poverty. But
this did not deter him from his chosen path of achieving his life's goals.
Ishwar started primary education at the village school – pathshaala -
an indigenous Indian school. After the completion of elementary
education, his father took him to Calcutta (Kolkata). It is believed that he
learned English numbers by following the mile-stones labels on his way to
Calcutta at the age of eight years. He was a brilliant student. His quest for
knowledge was so intense that he used to study on street light as it was not
possible for him to afford a gas lamp at home. He cleared all the examinations
with excellence and in quick succession. He was rewarded with a number of
scholarships for his academic performance. To support himself and the family
Ishwar Chandra also took a part-time job of teaching at Jorashanko. In the year
1839, he successfully cleared his Law examination. In 1841, at the age of
twenty one years, Ishwar Chandra joined the Fort William College as a head of
the Sanskrit department.
His
social works
Ishwar Chandra
Vidyasagar initiated the concept of widow remarriage and raised concern for the
abolition of child marriage and polygamy. He also opened the doors of the colleges
and other educational institutions to lower caste students, which was earlier reserved
only for the Brahmins. For his immense generosity and kind-heartedness, people started
addressing him as "Dayar Sagar" (ocean of kindness).
Though he was very
outspoken and blunt in his mannerisms, yet he had a heart of Gold - full of
mercy and kindness. He always reflected and responded to distress calls of the
poor, sufferings of the sick and injustice to humanity. While being a student
at Sanskrit College, he would spend part of his scholarship proceeds and cook
paayesh (rice pudding) to feed the poor and buy medicines for the sick. Later
on, when he started earning, he paid fixed sums of monthly allowances to each
member of his joint family, to family servants, to needy neighbors, to
villagers who needed help and to his village surgery and school. This he
continued without break even when he was unemployed and had to borrow substantially
from time to time.
He did not believe that
money was enough to ease the sufferings of humanity. He opened the doors of the
Sanskrit College to lower caste students (previously it was exclusive to the
Brahmins), nursed sick cholera patients, went to crematoriums to bury unclaimed
dead bodies, dined with the untouchables and walked miles as a messenger-man to
take urgent messages to people who would benefit from them.
When the eminent Indian
Poet of the 19th century, Michael Madhusudan Dutta, fell hopelessly into debts
due to his reckless lifestyle during his stay in Versailles, France, he
appealed for help to him, he labored to ensure that sums owed to Michael from
his property at home were remitted to him and sent him a large sum of money to
France. As a social reformist his contributions are describe below –
Education:
Vidyasagar travelled all
over Bengal in the capacity of Inspector of Schools. This gave him the opportunity
to witness the pervading darkness and superstition amongst the illiterate,
uneducated masses of Bengal. He was so distressed by all the malpractices he
saw and esp. the exploitation of women in the name of religion that he
hurriedly established 20 Model schools in a short period of only 2 months.
He realized that unless
women of the land were educated, it was impossible to emancipate and liberate them
from the terrible burden of inequalities and injustice imposed on them by the
oppressive Hindu society blinded by false beliefs and derelict customs. He
worked relentlessly and opened 30 schools for girls in Bengal. In order to
promote the education of girls, he made door to door calls, requesting parents
to send their daughters to schools.
As Special Inspector of
Schools, he also used his position to encourage landholders and other wealthy
people to establish educational institutions. Within his inspection zone, he
was instrumental in founding many schools, several of which were for girls.
Some schools were established at his own initiative and with his financial
support. He’s philanthropy was proverbial. It is said that half the money that
he got from his salary and the royalties of his published books was kept
reserved for helping the distressed.
His well-documented
protests against the then Education Department officials testify the degree of intensity
with which he pursued the course of educational reforms. He favored English and
Bengali as a medium of learning alongside Sanskrit and wanted to offer students
a wide range of subjects. He wanted to broaden their horizons in studying and analyzing
European and Indian conceptual practices so that they could judge for
themselves and discover the ultimate truth.
He was not afraid of
discarding erroneous beliefs of Indian Shastra’s and preferring European
science wherever appropriate. But he also did not blindly accept everything
European just by its virtue of being a western concept. He had an open mind for
discovering the truth and truth alone, with an unshakable determination.
Vidyasagar reconstructed
the Bengali alphabet and reformed Bengali typography into an alphabet (actually
abugida) of twelve vowels and forty consonants. He contributed significantly to
Bengali and Sanskrit literature. Rectitude and courage were the hallmarks of his
character, and he was certainly ahead of his time.
Women’s
Liberation:
The enactment of the Act
of 1856, legalizing widow remarriage and the Civil Marriage Act of 1872, abolishing
polygamy and child marriage and encouraging widow remarriage, owed a great deal
to Vidyasagar, whose writings and activities had helped to create public opinion
in favor of these social issues.
Perhaps he’s greatest
legacy is his unflinching resolve to change the plight of Indian women, especially
in his native Bengal. Being a devout Hindu himself, he sought transformation of
orthodox Hindu society from within. As the principal of the Sanskrit College,
he encouraged scholars to study ancient sacred texts and interpret them for
contemporary usage. His study of ancient texts convinced him that the
debilitating status of women in 19th century Hindu society had less legitimacy
according to the scriptures, but had more to do with the existing power
relations in society.
The prevailing social
custom of Kulin Brahmin polygamy ensured that aged persons (often on the verge of
death) married teenage girls and even children. The ill-fated girl used to be
widowed very soon because her elderly husband died in old age. The life of such
girls for the rest of their lives was full of woes and miseries like
abstinence, torture, discrimination and deprivation.
These hapless widows were
prohibited (as spiritual sanction) to abstain from consuming meat, fish, onion
and garlic. Every day, they had to rise before dawn to conduct their diurnal
religious rituals, bathe in icy cold water and wrap a clean white sari around
their wet bodies without drying themselves, and pick fresh flowers with
dew-drops, to offer prayers to God. By custom, they were the last ones to eat
in the household, or went without food observing various religious fasts.
They had to dress in
plain white cotton saris and remain with their shaved off, hairless heads for
the rest of their lives to render them unattractive to other men. They were usually
abandoned soon after their husband’s demise and dispatched to their parental
homes, with their parents bearing the entire expense of their upkeep in
addition to the financial burden of the wedding and dowry.
Some widows would even be
thrown out of their houses or sent to religious places like Varanasi or Vrindavan
in India, supposedly to pray and purify themselves, but in reality, they
frequently ended up as prostitutes, rape victims and unsupported mothers. He
was very deeply moved by the plight of these hapless widows. He’s heart melted
at the pain and suffering imposed by the society, often in the name of religion,
on Indian women. Polygamy, ban on widows from remarrying, child marriage,
gender inequalities, keeping women away from the light of education, depriving them
from property rights, etc. All these malpractices deeply distressed him.
He took up his pen,
called discussion meetings, ran seminars and saw Government officials. All
these efforts were directed to wipe out the evil traditions of the nation. But
his call fell on deaf ears. On every instance, dictates from Hindu Shastra’s
were forwarded by the clergy as an excuse. So he set out to prove them wrong.
He conducted extensive
research into Hindu scriptures and puranas and tried to explain that there was nothing
against widows marrying a second time and why polygamy was an evil and hence
unacceptable. As the principal of the Sanskrit College, he encouraged scholars
to study ancient sacred texts and interpret them for the times. His study of
these texts convinced him that the debased status of women in 19th century
Hindu society, the bias in law against female inheritance, wealth and property,
and the social prejudice against female autonomy and education was not sanctioned
by the scriptures, but had more to do with the prevalent power relations in
society.
He published two volumes
of books on remarriage of widows and another two volumes on polygamy citing
quotes from scriptures and explaining the validity of his arguments. He compiled
a list of 'distinguished' polygamous Calcuttans who unable to control their
boundless lust for sex, had married up to 80 times, often marrying under-age
girls.
For his stern stand
against polygamy, he was virulently attacked by the conservative Hindu religious
groups and also received threats of physical violence and death. But nothing
stopped him from what he had set out to do. His iron-will prevailed till the
very end. On 26th July 1856, widow re-marriage was legalized by the then
Government of India. Due to his courageous entrepreneurship, widow-remarriage
was ushered in the conservative Hindu Brahmin society of Bengal.
To prove that his
compassion for widows was not empty rhetoric as some might have assumed, he
even encouraged his son to marry a widow. He also established the Hindu Family
Annuity Fund to help widows who could not remarry. He financed many such widow
re-marriage weddings, often getting into debts himself.
Widow
Remarriage:
Vidyasagar championed the
uplift of the status of women in India, particularly in his native Bengal.
Unlike some other reformers who sought to set up alternative societies or
systems, he sought, however, to transform orthodox Hindu society from within.
With valuable moral
support from people like Akshay Kumar Dutta, Vidyasagar introduced the practice
of widow remarriages to mainstream Hindu society. In earlier times, remarriages
of widows would occur sporadically only among progressive members of the Brahmo
Samāj. The prevailing deplorable custom of Kulin Brahmin polygamy allowed
elderly men — sometimes on their deathbeds — to marry teenage or even
prepubescent girls, supposedly to spare their parents the shame of having an
unmarried girl attain puberty in their house. After such marriages, these girls
would usually be left behind in their parental homes, where they might be
cruelly subjected to orthodox rituals, especially if they were subsequently
widowed. These included a semi starvation diet, rigid and dangerous daily
rituals of purity and cleanliness, hard domestic labor, and close restriction
on their freedom to leave the house or be seen by strangers. Unable to tolerate
the ill treatment, many of these girls would run away and turn to prostitution
to support themselves. Ironically, the economic prosperity and lavish
lifestyles of the city made it possible for many of them to have quite
successful careers once they had stepped out of the sanction of society and
into the demi-monde. In 1853 it was estimated that Calcutta had a population of
12,718 prostitutes and public women. He took the initiative in proposing and
pushing through the Widow Remarriage Act XV of 1856 in India.
Thus, Ishwar Chandra
Vidyasagar was a legendary figure who played a significant role in all aspects
of Indian life - be it education, culture, religion, ethics or literature. He
struggled relentlessly against all forms of corruption, blind superstition,
prejudices and malpractices. He tried his best to emancipate the Indian women
from the shackles of the biased, patriarchal society and didn’t want them to
live like second class citizens of the country. He wanted them to be strong individuals
with dignity and self-esteem. He was literally a 'modern' man with refined
ideas. He fought with the conservative society in the 19th century and influenced
the Government to enact the Widow Remarriage Act. He also fought relentlessly
to abolish the practice of polygamy in the Indian Society. His acts of supreme
kindness and generosity, his fierce determination and courage, his education
and social reform publications and activities have made him Immortal. The
English writer, Dr. Samuel Johnson remarks that Vidyasagar lived all his life
as a very modest man, a simpleton, but with a generous heart, as he contributed
so much to society by dedicating his whole life to the upliftment of the poor
and downtrodden.
Towards the later part of
his life, there was considerable deterioration in his health because of all the
struggles he had gone through those many years of perseverance, in order to
bring about social reform and justice. Disgruntled with some of his own family
members’ petty-mindedness and selfishness, he severed all relations with them
and lived amongst the tribal people in his last years.
Ishwar
Chandra Vidyasagar would start crying in distress whenever he saw poor and weak
people lying on the footpath and street. He used to spend a part of his
scholarships and salary for the welfare of those poor people. He would also buy
medicine for the sick. Vidyasagar, the great scholar, academician and reformer
passed away on 29 July, 1891 at the age of 70 years. Vidyasagar's
stature as an educator, reformer, writer, scholar and philanthropist grew to
such great heights that the whole nation, irrespective of race, religion and
caste, mourned his sad demise. After his death
Rabindranath Tagore said, "One wonders how God, in the process of
producing forty million Bengalis, produced a man!"