Isvar Chandra Vidyasagar, a story of his life and work/Chapter 5
CHAPTER V.
MARRIAGE AND SUBSEQUENT STUDIES.
While still in the Belles-lettres class, little Isvar Chandra had acquired a great proficiency in grammar and language. He could at this early age, for he was then only thirteen years old, compose beautiful verses, elegant both in style and rhetoric. His slokas won admiration from all classes. On occasions of his visits to his native village, Birsingha, during College-vacations, he used to compose Sraddha slokas (invitation letters in Sanskrit verse). On one of these occasions, at the Sraddha of a rich man, Isvar Chandra was asked to compose an invitation sloka for the householder. The sloka, he composed, was so beautiful that the Brahman pundits from different parts of the country, assembled on invitation, admired the sloka, and wondered who the writer was. And when little Isvar Chandra, who was also present in the assembly, was pointed out as the author of the sloka, their wonder waxed hundred-fold. They blessed the lad with all their heart, and remarked, that the boy, in time, would be the best pundit, surpassed, nay equalled, by none.
Was not Isvar Chandra gifted with genius? Milton was considered a genius, because at an
Dinamayi Devi, Vidyasagar's wife.
early age, he simply attempted at poetical composition in English, his mother language, and a language spoken in nearly every part of the world.[1] But young Isvar Chandra wrote elegant poetry in a dead, classical language, spoken nowhere. Which of the two was greater, we leave the readers to decide.
The fame of Isvar Chandra's extraordinary talents, uncommon powers, and great proficiency in Sanskrit, soon spread throughout the length and breadth of the country, and many persons came forward with proposals of marriage, offering their daughters as brides to Isvar Chandra. At last, the marriage was definitely settled with a daughter of one Satrughna Bhattacharya, a well-to-do Brahman of Khirpai. It was at that time an important village. It was a great market of country-made cloth. Dealers in cloth from different parts of Bengal, nay from remote corners of western and north-western India, resorted to this mart. Satrughna Bhattacharya was one of the most respectable men of this large village. He considered Isvar Chandra the best bridegroom for his daughter, and he resolved on marrying her to him. Isvar Chandra was thus married, at the early age of fourteen, to Satrughna Bhattacharya's daughter. Dinamayi Devi, a most beautiful girl of eight years.[2] Satrughna said to Thakurdas:—'You see, Bandyopadhyay, I present my daughter to your son, not for the sake of your riches, for you are not a rich man, I know, but simply because your son, Isvar Chandra, has won a great reputation for his profound erudition. At first, Isvar Chandra had had no mind to enter into such an early marriage, but he had to yield to his father's requisition, for fear of his parent's great disappointment and displeasure. We have already said, that Isvar Chandra had always a great reverence for his father, and he now unhesitatingly submitted to his direction. Isvar Chandra must have considered himself fortunate in having Dinamayi for his wife. Without her aid, much of his future noble deeds might have remained undone. She was as noble-minded and generous, as she was kind and forgiving. To understand her character fully, the reader should be acquainted with her father.
Satrughna Bhattacharya was a robust Brahman of great strength, both of body and mind, and of irritable temper, but, at the same time, generous, liberal and forgiving. His co-villagers dreaded him for his uncommon prowess and strength, but he won their hearts by his benevolence and generosity. Many stories are told of his extraordinary strength and valour displayed with magnanimity.
At the time, of which we are speaking, the Gajan[3] festival was performed annually with great pomp, in Khirpai. The Gajan procession used to circumambulate the whole village. Satrughna Bhattacharya was the leader of the processionists, and accompanied them all through. Unfortunately, on one occassion, the people of one part of the village rose against Satrughna, and were determined not to allow the processionists to enter their quarter. Satrughna was apprised of their conspiracy, and the intrepid Brahman was firmly resolved, that in spite of all obstacles, the procession must be proceeded with. As he led the procession towards that part of the village where his opponents lay in wait, he found that the enemy had stationed a huge elephant as front guard, followed by a large car, behind which the men of the other party were stationed in large numbers. Satrughna saw, in a moment, that this was the arrangement the enemy had made to hinder his progress. Not daunted in the least, he picked up a brick-bat, and seizing the elephant by its trunk, began striking it with all his force with the brick-bat. The huge beast, unable to bear the pain, roared aloud and made good its escape. Satrughna then caught hold of the car, and, with a sudden jerk, overturned it, and threw it aside, thus clearing the way for the procession. The enemy, daunted at the sight of his prowess, dispersed and ran with their lives. Satrughna was, by this time, greatly enraged, and he followed the enemy, unaccompanied by his followers. The leader of the antiparty, Haldar, ran into his house and shut the outer gates. Satrughna began to kick violently with his bare legs against the spiked doors, which, unable to bear the heavy blows, gave way, and he entered the house of his enemy. He then went in search of his rival, upon which some of his opponents struck him with brick-bats in the delicate parts of his body, which deprived him of his senses. He was then carried off, from the scene, by his followers.
The antiparty now fancied, that Satrughna would prosecute them, and take the matter into law-court, for the unwarranted heavy assault and outrage, he had received at their hands. They, therefore, sent a messenger to him, the next morning, to ascertain the truth. Satrughna said:—'I see, why you have come. Haldar fancies, I shall sue him; does he? O! no, I am not so fool as to fill the pockets of lawyers and bailiffs with my money. This year he has beaten me, the next year I shall beat him. If we resort to law-court, our Gajan festival, for which we have been so much at daggers, will come to an end for ever.' So saying, he dismissed the messenger, who delivered the message faithfully. The antiparty were touched at their enemy's generosity, and at once repaired to his house, and earnestly prayed for his forgiveness. Haldar said:—'Bhattacharya, I did all this simply to put your prowess to test. It has been proved beyond doubt, that you possess not only strength, but also manliness. Your valour is equal to your forethought. I crave your forgiveness. Will you not forgive me?' Bhattacharya replied:—'You need not talk in this fashion. But none of you shall leave my house, without partaking of my poor meal. I invite you to-day to dinner.' The other party gladly accepted the invitation. The reconciliation was perfect.
On another occasion, as he was sitting, one day, with some of his co-villagers in a grocer's shop, a dealer appeared with a sack of pulse, weighing four maunds, for sale. His compatriots said:—'Bhattacharya, if you can carry the sack of pulse home, it is yours; we make you a present of it'. Satrughna replied:—'No doubt, I can carry it, but not walking erect; to carry the sack, I must walk on all fours, like a beast of burden; you will only place a quilt on my back, and then lay the sack upon it.' The heavy sack was laid on his back as directed, and Satrughna, to the utter astonishment of all present, walked on all fours, with the sack of pulse on his back, to his home, a distance of more than a mile. Some two or three hundred spectators followed him to his house, enjoying the sight. On being offered the sack of pulse, Satrughna Bhattacharya declined to accept it as a bet won. He said that he had nothing to do with the pulse, but that if they would procure the necessary fish and other vegetables, he was ready to feed the whole assembly with rice and Dal, prepared front the staked pulse. This was accordingly done.
A certain Ghosh of Khirpai of the Sadgop caste had taken to robbery. He lay in ambush in a thicket of reed or other long grass by the side of a canal, and, as opportunity presented itself, waylaid and plundered wayfarers, whom he sometimes killed, when necessity arose. He was a man of considerable physical strength, and the residents of Khirpai stood in terror of this dreadful robber. Once on a time, Satrughna Bhattacharya's elder brother said to him:—"Satu, it is strange indeed, that Ghosh is still a terror to the village, and you do not bring him to his senses;" at which, Satrughna promised to his brother to bring round Ghosh in a very short time. One morning, Satrughna went out in the direction of the canal, and hid himself in a thicket, lying in wait for the robber. Presently he heard a rustling sound, and saw a movement of the thicket on the other side. He guessed that Ghosh had caught his prey. And he was right, for the robber had fallen on an up-country man, who was not much inferior to Ghosh in strength. Both of them were engaged in deadly struggle. Satrughna Bhattacharya now issued from his covert, and suddenly appeared before them. No sooner did the robber recognise the Herculean Bhattacharya, than he ran for his life, and ascended on the top of a big Simul tree. The wayfarer had lost his sense, and Satrughna applied himself first to revive the man by sprinkling water on his face and head. He then went to the tree, where the robber had taken shelter, but could not ascend it, as he was a plump man himself, and the tree was thorny. He lay waiting below the tree for the robber, whom he asked to come down. But the robber dared not do his bidding. When Satrughna saw, that Ghosh would not descend from the tree, he thus addressed him:—'Come down, Ghosh, swear by my feet, that you will not commit robbery any more, and I will forgive you this time.' Ghosh replied from the top of the tree:—'If you swear by your holy thread, that you will not molest me if I come down, I may do your bidding.' Bhattacharya smiled and rejoined:—'Will you believe me, if I say that I swear by my holy thread?' Ghosh answered:—'You are prepared to believe me, if I swear by your feet; and is it possible, that I shall not believe you, when you, a Brahman, will swear by your holy thread?' At this Satrughna swore by his holy thread that he would not molest the robber; whereupon the latter came down from the tree, and swore by the Brahman's feet, that he would never more engage himself in robbery. Satrughna now forgave the robber, and dismissed him. He then returned home with the up-countryman, whom he had saved from the hands of the robber. He fed the wayfarer with kind care, and then let him go on his way.
Satrughna had once a painful, carbuncle, which required surgical operation. The surgeon in attendance was ready with chloroform for his inhalation to induce his insensibilty. But the patient very composedly said to the doctor:—'you need not apply chloroform; you may operate upon me, and take it for granted that I am insensible.' The surgeon threw aside the phial of chloroform and applied lancet. At the first attempt, the instrument broke in two, so tough was the patient's skin. The operation was carried through with a second instrument, and the patient bore it with perfect composure.
Such was Satrughna Bhattacharya, the father of the fair girl, Dinamayi, who was married to Isvar Chandra. But we have digressed too long, and it is now proper, that we should resume the thread of our narrative.
At the age of fifteen, Isvar Chandra entered the Rhetoric class. Premchand Tarkavagis was the teacher of this class. He was equally erudite in grammar, language, and rhetoric, and taught the three subjects equally well. Most of his pupils attained great proficiency in Sanskrit. Of all the Students of this class, Isvar Chandra was the youngest in age, but the best in proficiency. He won the admiration of all. In one year, he finished the Sahityadarpana, Kavyaprakasa, Rasagangadhar, and other works on rhetoric. At the annual examination, he stood first and won the highest prizes, both in books and money.[4] The Raghuvansa, Sahityadarpana, Ratnabali, Malatimadhava, Mudrarakshasa, Vikramorvvasi, Mrichchatika,—these were the prize books, he was awarded this year.
But, for this examination, he had to work very hard. He had to sit up night after night, and read his books, for in the day-time, he had to do everything of the household work, as we have said before. He had not a wink of sleep for several nights in succession. After the examination was over, he fell ill with acute dysentery of a very severe type. The stools were very frequent and bloody. All sorts of treatment in Calcutta failed, and he was removed to Birsingha, as on the former occasion. No sooner did he recover from his illness, than he again returned to Calcutta, and took over charge of the usual household duties.
Previous to this, Isvar Chandra, on his way home from the College, used daily to visit Pandit Taranath Tarkavachaspati's house, and there read the Sahityadarpana. One day, the then famous philosopher, Jaynarayan Tarkapanchanan, who had called there, saw Isvar Chandra reading the rhetorical book The philosopher asked the boy if he understood the book, and at once began to examine him. He was greatly surprised that the little boy had mastered the book thoroughly, and remarked that the boy would, in time, be the best pundit in Bengal. Such was the praise young Isvar Chandra won, at an early age, from the greatest philosopher of the day.
At this time, Isvar Chandra got a monthly scholarship of eight rupees, which he made over to his father every month. As has been said before, Thakurdas had a great mind from the beginning to set up a tol, in his native village, with Isvar Chandra as professor. He therefore laid out a part of his son's scholarship funds in purchasing lands for the site of the tol and for the maintenance of students.[5] After the acquisition of the lands, he would not receive Isvar Chandra's stipend money, but directed his son to spend a portion of it in buying manuscript copies of rare and valuable Sanskrit books. Isvar Chandra procured many such manuscripts, and they are still to be found in his library.
Nor was this all. The heart of Isvar Chandra was as soft, as his mind was strong. He was kind and sympathetic, and always eager to relieve the distrest. He was a lover of mankind. His small heart was the seat of unbounded love and kindness. The slightest mention of affliction and suffering was sure to awaken his universal benevolence. Even at this early age, whenever he saw, or heard of, any fellow-creature in distress, he ran forward with eagerness with a helping hand. He had not much means at his command, but still he spent his last pice in succouring the poor and afflicted. What remained after his charities, he spent in a little tiffin after the school hours. When there were others present at his tiffin, he was sure to divide it with them. If he saw a poor man with ragged clothes, and happened not to have sufficient funds at his disposal at the time, he would borrow the required money from the porter of the College, and give the poor man a new piece of cloth. Whenever any of his school-fellows fell ill, Isvar Chandra was always at his bedside, attending and nursing him with great care and affection. If anybody had a contagious disease, and no one dared approach him, Isvar Chandra at all hazards was sure to attend his sick-bed, and nurse him gladly and fearlessly.
Whenever young Isvar Chandra visited his native village Birsingha, he, first of all, went to his former teacher, Kalikanta Chattopadhyay, and paid him his best respects. He then called at the houses of all his neighbours, one after the other, and enquired after their health and affairs. When any of them was ill, he never failed to attend the sick-bed. He thus endeared himself to his villagers, who looked upon him as their best friend and benefactor. Even the sufferings of such lower animals, as cats and dogs, drew tears from his eyes. What a fountain of universal love and sympathy was hidden in the small heart of the young boy.
Isvar Chandra always regarded his elders with great esteem. His respect for them deepened with his age. Even in later years, when he had attained great knowledge and eminence, he never treated them with arrogance or disrespect, though they were much inferior to him in every respect. On the contrary, if his elders tried to forget their former tender love for him and to show signs of honour to him, he shrank from them with bashfulness. When he rose to be the Principal of the Sanskrit College, the then clerk of the College, Babu Ramdhan Gangopadhyay, who loved Isvar Chandra dearly, and to whom he had, one night, fled from his father for protection, as has been narrated before, rose from his seat, in honour of Isvar Chandra, at which the latter was greatly abashed, and said:—'You see, my dear sir, I am still your beloved Isvar Chandra; please do not put me to shame in this way.' Ramdhan Babu was quite astonished at his superior's goodness and modesty.
The reader may remember that, soon after his recovery from the severe dysentery, he was ill with, Isvar Chandra had returned to Calcutta and taken over the charge of his usual domestic duties. But being still too weak, his younger brother, Dinabandhu, helped him now and then. One evening, Dinabandhu having gone out to market, did not return till ten O'clock in the night. Isvar Chandra was greatly anxious for his brother, and began to search for him from one bazar to the other. At last, he was found sleeping in the veranda of a small shop in Nutanbazar. The elder brother gently awoke him, and brought him back. It is said, that Dinabandhu was never afterwards allowed to go out by himself.
After finishing the Rhetoric course, Isvar Chandra entered the Smriti (Law) class in the year 1837. The general practice, at that time, was that students had to pass through the Philosophy and Vedanta classes before they could be admitted into the Smriti class. But Isvar Chandra resolved to study Smriti first, for he had a great mind to pass the Law committee examination and become a Judge-Pandit,[6] and unless one passed this examination one could not aspire to that post. He had, therefore, applied to the authorities and obtained permission from them to study Smriti before Philosophy and Vedanta. So difficult was the subject, that ordinary students, who had already passed through the Philosophy and Vedanta classes, took two to three years to study such books, as the Mitakshara, Dayabhag, and Manusanghita, and then to obtain a tolerable knowledge of Smriti. But how wondrous! Young, unbearded Isvar Chandra, for he was then a mere lad of seventeen years, mastered the subject in six months' time; at the end of which, he underwent the Law-Committee Examination, and came out successful. Of course, these six months he neither cooked his food, nor performed other functions of a domestic, and slept daily for two or three hours only. So powerful were his memory and intellect, that in six months he learned the whole Smriti by heart, and could easily repeat, and give a lucid explanation of, every line in it. All his teachers, colleagues, and contemporary pundits were wonder-struck at his extraordinary abilities. Was not Isvar Chandra a genius?The wonderful talents of Isvar Chandra remind us of what the great Indian poet Bhava Bhuti has very justly sung on the subject:—
"বিতরতি গুরুঃ প্রাজ্ঞে বিদ্যাং যথৈব তথা জড়ে
ন তু খলু তয়োর্জ্ঞানে শক্তিং করোত্যপহন্তি বা।
ভবতি চ তয়োর্ভূয়ান্ ভেদঃ ফলং প্রতি তদ্যথা
প্রভবতি শুচির্বিম্বগ্রাহে মণির্ন মৃদাং চয়ঃ॥" i.e.
'The preceptor imparts instructions equally to the sharp and the dull; but he can neither increase nor decrease their powers of comprehension. The great difference in the extent of their knowledge is due to their own merits. It is a pure, transparent gem, and not a lump of clay, that has the power of reflection.'
- ↑ His first attempts at poetry were made as early as his thirteenth year, so that he is as striking an instance of precocity as of power of genius:—Shaw's students of English Literature.
- ↑ According to the Hindu Sastras, eighth year is the best time for a girl to marry:—
"অষ্টবর্ষে ভবেদ্ গৌরী নবমে চ রোহিণী।
দশমে কন্যকা প্রোক্তা অত ঊর্দ্ধং রজস্বলা॥" - ↑ Gajan, otherwise known as Charak is an annual Hindu festival, held in the month of April, in honour of the god Siva.
- ↑ At this time, prizes were awarded to the best, meritorious boys in the shape of books, as well as of money in hard cash.
- ↑ In tols of this country, pupils get, free of cost, both instruction and food.
- ↑ Before the foundation of the Calcutta University, one intending to be a pleader of the Sudder Court (the present High Court) had to pass an examination conducted by the Law Committee, which was then under the Sudder Court. The Law Committee is not yet wholly extinct, its present functions being to conduct the Pleadership and Mukteraship examinations. Since 1857, when the University came into existence, it was ruled that the would-be pleaders of the Sudder Court must pass a Law examination under the University, before they could enter that honourable Court. In the early days of the English rule, there was a Pandit appointed in every district to give legal advices to the presiding judge on points of Hindu Law, in accordance with the Sastras. These Pandits were generally called Judge-Pandits.