Renowned scholar and essayist Ramendrasundara Trivedi wrote about the importance of Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar Mahasaya -
" He was a tool to make big things look small."
We have no time to deny that the emergence of a man with a bright, upright spine like Vidyasagar among the self-contradictory, weak, dysfunctional, selfish, dark-skinned Bengalis is a 'strange historical event.'
Birth and family environment:
Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar was born in 1820 AD in a poor Brahmin family in Birsingh village under Midnapore district. His real name was Ishwar Chandra Bandyopadhyay. Vidyasagar has emerged with a great legacy of humanity.
Education Life:
Ishwar Chandra's first educational career began in a village school. As a child, his father Thakurdas decided to teach him in Calcutta. At that time, Kolkata, the capital of India, was the center of education.
At the age of nine, he was admitted to the Sanskrit College in Calcutta. He had to study through hard struggle with poverty. As a student, he was very talented.
At the age of twelve, he acquired the title of "Vidyasagar" after acquiring knowledge in Sanskrit literature, grammar, Vedanta, memory, rhetoric, etc. The name is lost behind this title.
Social Reform:
We all know the introduction of "widow marriage" as the best achievement in Vidyasagar's social reform work.
At the same time, there were many marriages of men, so when a man died, many young girls became widows. The house of a Bengali was filled with the tears of widowed girls.
The widow started a movement for the introduction of marriage. In this movement some generous and compassionate people did not come forward but she was a worthy ally.
The Widow Marriage Act was enacted in 1857. Vidyasagar was a staunch opponent of polygamy and child marriage.
Authorship:
He started writing books as his own independent livelihood. He is the father of Bengali prose. He is the first "true artist of Bengali language". His best works are "Shakuntala" and "Sita's Banbas".
Notable among other texts are "Betal Pancha Bingsati" and "Bhrantibilas". Although the "autobiography" is fragmentary, it is a memorable creation. He has written many books for children, such as "Varna Parichay", "Bodhdaya", "Kotha Mala" etc.
Conclusion:
Recalling the greatness of Vidyasagar's character, Rabi Tagore wrote -
"He was a young man and became strong with the debut of youth.
This newness of his is most revered by me,
because he has paved the way for us to walk in our country."
One day the life force of this man came back according to the rules of time. Finally, on the day of his great departure, on July 29, 1892, he passed away. The Bengali nation lost one of its greatest children of all time.
Yea that person is great