JAISHANKAR PRASAD

HINDI LITERATURE:
JAISHANKAR PRASAD
Date of Birth: 30^th January, 1889 and Date of Death: 14^th January, 1937
Jaishankar Prasad, (30^th January, 1889 – 14^th January, 1937) one of the most famous figures in modern Hindi literature as well as Hindi theatre.

Jaishankar Prasad was born on 30^th January, 1889, in an elite madheshiya vaisya family in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India.  His father Babu Devki Prasad, also known as Sunghani Sahu was a tobacco dealer.  After, he lost his father at an early age; he had to encounter some family problems at a relatively young age, and left school after class eight.  However, he remained interested in literature, languages, and ancient history, and continued studying at home; thereafter he developed a special inclination towards the Vedas and these interests are innately reflected in the deep philosophical contender/content of his works.

Language and Influence:  His initial poetry (Chitraadhar collection) was done in the Braj dialect of Hindi, but later he switched to the Khadi dialect or Sanskritized Hindi.  In his earlier days, he was influenced by Sanskrit dramas, but later the influence of Bengali and Persian dramas is evident on his works.  Prasad’s most famous dramas include Skandagupta, Chandragupta and Dhruvaswamini.

Poetic Style:  He is considered one of the Four Pillars (Char Stambh) of Romanticism in Hindi Literature (Chhayavad), along with Sumitranandan Pant, Mahadevi Verma, and Suryakant Tripathi ‘Nirala’.  His style of poetry can at best be described as “touching”.  Art and philosophy have been exquisitely amalgamated in his writings.  His vocabulary avoids the Persian element of Hindi and mainly consists of Sanskrit (Tatsama) words and words derived from Sanskrit (Tadbhava words) – some of them made really exquisitely by himself.  By this means, he arrives at a sophisticated diction that was typical for Hindi Romanticism of the 1920s and 30s, and also, on the Urdu side, for Muhammad Iqbal.