Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar

Great people are born to make an impact on society. One such personality, who was so
humble but lived his complete life with determination and purpose to fulfill certain
objectives, was Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar. He was a great social reformer, writer,
educator, and entrepreneur who worked endlessly to transform society.

Early Life
Ishwar Chandra Bandopadhyaya was born in Birsingha village of Midnapore district in
Bengal on September 26, 1820. His father, Thakurdas Bandyopadhyay and mother
Bhagavati Devi were very religious persons. The economic condition of the family
was not well so Ishwar had to spend his childhood amidst scarcity of basic resources.
Amidst all this, Ishwar Chandra was an obstinate boy with a brilliant mind and he
focused his obstinacy in his studies. He learned basics of Sanskrit at the village
pathshaala after which he set out for Calcutta with his father in 1826. There are several
myths regarding his brilliance and dedication as a student. It is said that Ishwar
Chandra Vidyasagar learned English numerals by following the mile-stones labels on
his way to Calcutta. His father Thakurdas stayed at Burrabazar area in Calcutta along
with his sons and money was scarce so Ishwar Chandra used to help in household
chores after school hours, and at night he used to study under the gas lit street lamps to
save oil for cooking the next day.
Education

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. Ishwar Chandra joined the Sanskrit College, Calcutta and studied there for
twelve long years and passed out of the college in 1841 qualifying in Sanskrit
Grammar, Literature, Dialectics [Alankara Shastra], Vedanta, Smriti and Astronomy
[1] As was the custom then Ishwar Chandra married at the age of fourteen. His wife
was Dinamani Devi. Narayan Chandra Bandyopadhyaya was their only son.
In the year 1839, Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar successfully cleared his law
examination. In 1841, at the age of twenty-one years, Ishwar Chandra joined Fort
William College as head of the Sanskrit department.

“Vidya sagar” title

Because of his vast knowledge on different subjects, the title Vidyasagar was given to
him by the people of his village. Vidyasagarmeans an ocean of learning (“vidya” –
learning, “sagar” – ocean). He became a Sanskrit pundit and acquired an extremely
high proficiency in this subject. Till his retirement, he worked as a Sanskrit professor
in Sanskrit College, Calcutta. While he was the principal of the college, the college
became a place of reform. Not only this, Vidyasagar was a great writer and also known
as the father of modern Bengali language. Many Bengali alphabets were revised by
him. He also wrote a book on grammar rules of Sanskrit that is used till date.

Career
In 1841, at the age of twenty-one, Ishwar Chandra joined the Fort William College as
the Head Pandit in the Sanskrit department. The brilliant mind that he was, he soon
became proficient in English and Hindi. After five years, in 1946, Vidyasagar left Fort
William College and joined the Sanskrit College as 'Assistant Secretary'. But just after
a year he entered into serious altercation with the College Secretary, Rasomoy Dutta,
over administrative changes he recommended. Since Vidyasagar was not someone
who would bow down to power, he resigned from the post on being refused by the
college authorities and resumed employment at Fort William College but as a head
clerk. He came back to Sanskrit College as a Professor on the request of the college
authorities but imposed a condition that he be allowed to redesign the system. He
became Principal of Sanskrit College in 1851. In 1855, he assumed the responsibilities
as a special inspector of schools with additional charges and travelled to remote
villages in Bengal to oversee the quality of education.

Contribution
His contribution towards education and changing the status of women in India was
remarkable. Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar strongly protested against polygamy, child-
marriage and favoured widow remarriage and women’s education in India. Because of
his contribution towards such issues, the Widow Remarriage Act was passed in 1856,
making the marriage of widows legal. Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar worked towards
providing education to women. He opened and ran many schools for girls at his own
expense. He was also known as “Daya-r Sagar” or “Karunar Sagar” (literally, “ocean
of kindness”) because of his charitable nature and generosity.

Educational Reforms
Vidyasagar is credited with the role of thoroughly remodeling medieval scholastic
system prevailing in Sanskrit College and bring about modern insights into the
education system.He introduced courses of European History, Philosophy and Science
alongside of Vedic scriptures. He encouraged students to pursue these subjects and
take away the best from both worlds. He also changed the rules of admission for
students in Sanskrit College allowing non-Brahmin students to enroll in the prestigious
institution. He introduced the concepts of Admission fee and tuition fee for the first
time in Calcutta. He set up the Normal School for training teachers enabling
uniformity in teaching methods. Through his contacts at the deputy magistrate’s office
he would help his students get jobs in government offices.

Social Reforms
Vidyasagar was always vocal about the oppression that the society inflicted on women
at that time. He was very close to his mother who was a woman of great character,
who directed him once to do something to alleviate the pain and helplessness of Hindu
widows, who were forced to live a life of abnegation. They were denied basic
pleasures of life, marginalised in the society, often exploited unfairly and treated as a
burden by their family. Vidyasagar’s compassionate heart could not take their plight
and he made it his mission to improve the quality of life for these helpless women. He
faced raging opposition from orthodox society which termed the concept as something
heretic. He challenged the Brahminical authorities and proved that widow remarriage
is sanctioned by Vedic scriptures. He took his arguments to the British Authorities and
his pleas were heard when the Hindu Widows' Remarriage Act, 1856 or Act XV,
1856, was decreed on July 26, 1856. He did not just stop there. He initiated several
matches for child or adolescent widows within respectable families and even married
his son Narayan Chandra to an adolescent widow in 1870 to set an example.
Bengali alphabet and language reconstruction
He reconstructed the Bengali alphabet and simplified Bengali typography into an
alphabet (actually abugida) of twelve vowels and forty consonants, eliminating the
Sanskrit phonemes ৠ (re), and ঔ (ḹ) and a few punctuation marks, while adding three
new letters, ড় (ṛô), ঢ় (ṛhô), and য় (yô), to reflect contemporary pronunciation.
Vidyasagar also removed ৱ (wô) although native, as it had merged with ব (bô) in his
own dialect (The distinction still exists in eastern dialects even though the letter does
not). He contributed significantly to Bengali and Sanskrit literature, with one of his
works, Bôrṇ ô Pôrichôy ("Character Identification"), being considered a classic.

Achievements

He received the title "Vidyasagar" (in Sanskrit Vidya means knowledge and Sagar
means ocean, i.e., Ocean of Knowledge) from Sanskrit College, Calcutta (from where
he graduated), due to his excellent performance in Sanskrit studies and philosophy.
Noted Cambridge mathematician Anil Kumar Gain founded Vidyasagar University,
named in his honor. In 2004, Vidyasagar was ranked number 9 in BBC's poll of the
Greatest Bengali of all time.
Publications

He wrote many books on the social issues Betaal Panchabinsati (1847); Jeebancharit
(1850); Bodhadoy (1851); BornoPorichoy (1854); Sitar Bonobash (1860); Bangala-r
Itihaas (1848), Bodhadoy (1851) Upakramanika (1851) Bidhaba Bibaha Bishayak
Prostab kotha mala(1856) Sitar Bonobas(1860) ,Bengali Newspaper – Shome Prakash
started publishing in 1858, Brant'(1858).

Blessed with intellect, he was also a man with a big heart so much so that people
addressed him as "Dayar Sagar." A prolific writer, academician and scholar, he earned
respect and love from all the sections of the society. Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar, the
great scholar, academician and reformer passed away on 29 July, 1891 at the age of 70
years. After his death Rabindranath Tagore said, "One wonders how God, in the
process of producing forty million Bengalis, produced a man!"
Learning

We learn dedication, positivity from him. In spite of the all poverty and economical
situation he faced he did not loose hope rather than he took decision wisely. His
foresight and mentality were rare in that time of period in this subcontinent.
Vidyasagar was indeed a great personality and a reformer. Today, we need such
dedicated, humble and determined personalities who can bring all sorts of required
reforms by working solely for the betterment of the society, over and above their own
interest