Ishwar Chandra Gupta

Ishwar Chandra Gupta ঈশ্বরচন্দ্র গুপ্ত
Ishwar Chandra Gupta
Born	March 1812 Kanchrapara, 24 Parganas, Bengal, British India
Died	January 23, 1859 Kolkata, Bengal, British India
Nationality	Indian
Ethnicity	Bengali
Occupation	Poet, scholar and writer

Ishwar Chandra Gupta (Bengali: ঈশ্বরচন্দ্র গুপ্ত; March 1812 – 23 January 1859) was an Indian Bengali poet and writer. Gupta was born in the village Kanchanpalli or Kanchrapara, 24 Parganas district (currently in North 24 Parganas district, West Bengal, India).

Early life

Ishwar Chandra Gupta was brought up in his uncle's house after the death of his mother. Gupta spent most of his childhood in Kolkata. At that time, poets were named Kobiwala and the kobiwalas were not so civilized in language. Sexual words and clashes were common. But Ishwar Chandra Gupta created a different style of poetry.

He started the newspaper Sambad Prabhakar with Jogendra Mohan Tagore on January 28, 1831, which finally became a daily on June 4, 1839. Many Bengali writers of the 19th century started their careers with that magazine. He reintroduced into Bengali poetry the mediaeval style with double meaning (already seen in Sandhyakaranandi and Bharatchandra):

কে বলে ঈশ্বর গুপ্ত, ব্যপ্ত চরাচর,

যাহার প্রভায় প্রভা পায় প্রভাকর।

Ke bole Ishwar Gupta, byapta charachar,

Jahar prabhaye prabha paye Prabhakar..

'Ishwar' means God, 'Gupta' means hidden and 'Prabhakar' is the sun. So a translation runs:

Who says God is hidden? He is omnipresent

From Him the Sun gets its luminescence.

Also, Ishwar (Chandra) Gupta ran the journal Prabhakar. So a second meaning of the poem, making a tongue-in-cheek reference to the author, runs:

Who says Ishwar (Gupta) is hidden? His reach touches the world

For his brilliance makes the Prabhakar luminescent.

Literary style

He brought modern era of poetry in Bengali. He did not describe the life of Gods and Goddesses, but the daily life of human beings. He also wrote biographies of many Bengali poets and musicians.

Ishwarchandra Gupta always satires the so-called modern class who blindly followed the colonial British power.

Tumi ma kalpataru

Amra shob posha goru

Shikhi ni shing bankano

Khai kebol khol-bichuli-ghash

Jano ranga amla

Tule mamla

Na bhange gamla

Ma!

Pele bhushi

Tatei kushi

Ghushi khele bachbo na!

His literary works were included in the curriculum of school level, secondary and higher secondary Bengali Literature in Bengali speaking states like West Bengal, Tripura etc. of India and country Bangladesh.

Political views

In the early days he was a conservative, opposing the Young Bengal movement as well as frowning on widow remarriage. His views on widow remarriage put him at odds with Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar. He was one of the earliest advocates of a Hindu view of Indian society. Later in his life, his views began to change and he championed the cause for the remarriage of virgin widows and women's education.

Important works

• Life of Bharat Chandra Roy
• Probodh Pravakara
• Kobitabolir Saar Sangraha

Sources

• Bangla Sahitya (Bengali Literature), the national text book of intermediate (college) level of Bangladesh published in 1996 by all educational boards.