Last Part. Rahul Sankrityayan an Indologist, a Marxist theoretician, and a creative writer.

                                          Rahul with PM  India Nehru
   

                                               Book by Rahul

Rahul Sankrityayan did many more stunning achievements in the fields of exploration, literature and learning. 

We are grateful to Rahul Sankrityayan.

But unfortunately many are bundled in the back room of Old Museum, Patna in Bihar, which was gifted by him to Bihar Government. 

Little work was done to preserve them and to know what is written in it. 

Most of these were a part of the libraries of Ancient Vikaramshila and Nalanda (Visvadalaya) Universities.

These objects had been taken to Tibet by fleeing Buddhist Monks during the twelfth (12th) and subsequent centuries when the invading Bakhityar Khilji’s Muslim invading army had destroyed universities in India.

Nalanda was burnt and Udvantnagar and Vikaramshila Universities were destroyed.

Some accounts state that Rahul Sankrityayan employed twenty-two mules to bring these materials from Tibet to India. 

Patna Museum, Patna, Bihar has a special section of these materials in his honour, where a number of these and other items have been displayed. 

Many of Rahul's personal collections including the ones he gathered from his multiple trips to Tibet were distributed across to multiple Universities and Museums. 

Patna Museum has an extensive collection of Buddhist scrolls which he assimilated through his journeys across Tibet. 

Many of these are considered rare gems of Indian scriptures translated into Tibetan.

Although he had little formal education, in view of his knowledge and command over the subject, University of Leningrad appointed him Professor of Indology in 1937–38 and again in 1947–48.

Sankrityayan was both a polymath as well as a polyglot.   

 He wrote 140 books of high scholarly value. He wrote in five languages – Hindi, Sanskrit, Bhojpuri, Pāli and Tibetan. 

He learned how to read, write and speak in nearly 30 languages. He was well versed in several languages and dialects including Hindi, Sanskrit, Pali, Bhojpuri, Magahi, Urdu, Persian, Arabic, Tamil, Kannada, Tibetan, Sinhalee, French and Russian.

He was also an Indologist, a Marxist  theoretician, and a creative writer.

He started writing during his twenties and his works covered a variety of subjects, including Autobiography, Biography, sociology, History, Philosophy, Buddhism, Tibetology, Lexicography, Grammar, Textual editing, Folklore, Fiction, Essays, Pamphleteering, Science, Drama and Politics.

Many of these were unpublished.  

He translated Bodh Dhamma book Majjhim Nikaya from Prakrit to Hindi. 

He is referred to as the 'Greatest Scholar' (Mahapandit) for his scholarship.

The Government of India awarded him the civilian honour of the Padma Bhushan  in 1963.

The historian Kashi Prasad Jayaswal compared Rahul Sankrityayan with Buddha.

Rahul's personality was as impressive and memorable as are his achievements.  

Personal Life marriage and Family:-

Rahul was married when he was very young and never came to know anything of his child-wife, Santoshi. Probably he saw her only once in his 40s as per his autobiography: Meri Jivan Yatra.

During his stay in Soviet Russia a second time, accepting an invitation for teaching Buddhism at Leningrad University, he came in contact with a Mongolian scholar Lola (Ellena Narvertovna Kozerovskaya). 

She could speak French, English, and Russian and write Sanskrit. She helped him in working on Tibetan- Sanskrit dictionary. 

Their attachment ended in marriage and birth of son Igor.

Mother and son were not allowed to accompany Rahul to India after completion of his assignment due to restrictions imposed by Stalin regime.

Late in life, he married Dr. Kamala, an Indian Nepali lady and had a daughter (Jaya), two sons Jeta and Jayant.

Rahul accepted a teaching job at a Sri Lankan University, where he fell seriously ill. Diabetes, high blood pressure and a mild stroke struck him. 

Most tragic happening was the loss of memory. He breathed his last in Darjeeling in 1963.

His last residence at Darjeeling was at 21 Kacheri Road: Rahul Nivas.

Rahul Sankrityayan was a rare genius who did not let his lack of formal education come in his way to reach greater heights. 

He gained knowledge through self-study and extensive travelling. 

He learnt to speak and write in several languages. 

His life’s credo is reflected in one of his inspirational quote,

“Oh! Ignorant, go and travel all over the world. You will not get this life again. Even if you live long, youth will never return.”

Rahul's Tomb stone is situated at Darjeeling. This tombstone is established at a place called "Murda Haati" which is a cremation ground downtown in the lower altitudes of Darjeeling around 25 minutes drive from the Chow Rasta.

The same place also has the tombstone of Sister Nivedita or Bhagini Nivedita of Vivekananda fame. 

In Hindi

Novels

·       Baaeesween Sadi – 1923

·       Jeeney ke Liye – 1940

·       Singha Senapathi – 1944

·       Jai Yaudheya – 1944

·       Bhago Nahin, Duniya ko Badlo – 1944

·       Madhur Swapna – 1949

·       Rajasthani Ranivas – 1953

·       Vismrit Yatri – 1954

·       Divodas – 1960

·       Vismriti Ke Garbh Me

Short Stories

·       Satmi ke Bachche – 1935

·       Volga Se Ganga – 1944

·       Bahurangi Madhupuri – 1953

·       Kanaila ki Katha – 1955–56

Autobiography

·       Meri Jivan Yatra I – 1944

·       Meri Jivan Yatra II – 1950

·       Meri Jivan Yatra III, IV, V – published posthumously

Biography

·       Sardar Prithvi Singh – 1955

·       Naye Bharat ke Naye Neta (2 volumes) – 1942

·       Bachpan ki Smritiyan – 1953

·       Ateet se Vartaman (Vol I) – 1953

·       Stalin – 1954

·       Lenin – 1954

·       Karl Marx – 1954

·       Mao-Tse-Tung – 1954

·       Ghumakkar Swami – 1956

·       Mere Asahayog ke Sathi – 1956

·       Jinka Main Kritajna – 1956

·       Vir Chandrasingh Garhwali – 1956

·       Simhala Ghumakkar Jaivardhan – 1960

·       Kaptan Lal – 1961

·       Simhal ke Vir Purush – 1961

·       Mahamanav Budha – 1956

Some of his other books are:-

·       Mansik Gulami

·       Rhigvedic Arya

·       Ghumakkar Shastra

·       Kinnar desh mein

·       Darshan Digdarshan

·       Dakkhini Hindi ka Vyaakaran

·       Puratatv Nibandhawali

·       Manava Samaj

·       Madhya Asia ka Itihas

·       Samyavad hi Kyon

In Bhojpuri ]

·       Teen Natak – 1942

·       Panch Natak – 1942

In Nepali (Translation).

·       Bauddhadharnma Darshan – 1984

Related to Tibet.

·        Tibbati Bal-Siksha – 1933

·       Pathavali (Vol. 1,2 & 3) – 1933

·       Tibbati Vyakaran (Tibetan Grammar) – 1933

·       Tibbat May Budh Dharm-1948

·       Lhasa ki or

·       Himalaya Parichay Bhag 1

·       Himalaya Parichay Bhag 2

                      

                                  End

Part 1 RAHUL Sankrityayan a polymath, polyglot, Indologist, Marxist theoretician, creative writer, Buddhist

                                          Rahul Sankrityayan

                                               Rahul's book

                                            Rahul's Tomb in Dargling, India

Rahul Sankrityayan is called the Father of Indian Travelogue Travel literature. 

He is the one who played a pivotal role to give travelogue a 'literature form', was one of the most widely travelled scholars of India, spending forty-five years of his life on travels away from his home.

Rahul was born in a traditional Hindu Brahmin family in Pandaha village in Azamgarh district in Eastern Uttar Pradesh in India on 9 April 1893. 

His name is Kedar Pandey. 

His father Govardhan Pandey was a farmer. His mother Kulawanti Devi was a house wife.  

His schooling was not proper. He got education till middle school. 

Later he left home and settled in Varanasi and learnt Sanskrit.

His life took a different turn after meeting with the Mahant (Head Priest of a Temple) of a wealthy Hindu monastic order from Bihar, who took Sankrityayan under his wing. 

Here he acquired extensive knowledge of Sanskrit and the major cannons of Hindu traditions. 

The mahant (head of a monastery) rechristened him “Sadhu” Ram Udar Das, and anointed him to take over the monastic order.

However, the explorer in him shunned the idea and decided to travel south to Tamil Nadu, where he not only explored all the major religious institutions but also acquired further knowledge of the Vedantic traditions and learnt Tamil and Kannada.

In 1915, he joined the Arya Musafir Vidyalaya in Agra, where he learnt Arabic and works of Swami Dayanand Saraswati.

Later he became a Buddhist monk and studied Pali and worked at Buddhist text in Sri Lanka. 

Here he adopted the moniker of Rahul Sankrityayan. 

He chose Rahul as it was the name of Mahatma Buddha’s son. Sankrityayan means accumulation.

He later gave up Buddhism after being influenced by Marxist Socialism. 

He became an atheist and no longer believed in reincarnation and after life.

He travelled to many places and wrote many travelogues approximately in the same ratio. 

He is also famously known for his authentic description about his travels experiences, for instance- in his travelogue "Meri Laddakh Yatra". 

He presents overall regional, historical and cultural specificity of that region judiciously.

Sankrityayan was also an Indian nationalist, having been arrested and jailed for three years for creating anti-British writings and speeches during the independence movement.  

One of his most famous books in Hindi is Volga Se Ganga (A journey from the Volga to the Ganges) – a work of historical fiction concerning the migration of Aryans  from the Steppes  of the Eurasia  to regions around the Volga River.  

Then their movements across the Hindukush  and the Himalayas  and the sub-Himalayan regions; and their spread to the Indo- Gangetic plains  of the Subcontinent of India. 

The book begins in 6000 BC and ends in 1942, the year when Mahatama Gandhi, the Indian nationalist leader called for the ‘Quiet India Movement’.  It was published in 1942.

A translation into English of this work by Victor Kiernan was published in 1947 as From Volga to Ganga.

It was translated by K.N. Muthiya-Tamilputhakalayam in Tamil  as Valgavil irundu gangai varai and is still considered a best-seller.

The Kannada translation was done by B.N Sharma as "Volga Ganga”.

The Telugu translation (Volga nunchi Ganga ku) inspired many readers. 

Volga muthal Ganga vare, the Malayalam translation, became immensely popular among the young intellectuals of Kerala and it continues to be one of the most influential books of its times.

The Bangla  version is Volga Theke Ganga [ভল্গা থেকে গঙ্গা], which is still acclaimed by the critics.

His most important travelogue literature is- "Tibbat me Sava varsha(1933), "Meri Europe Yatra" (1935), "Athato Ghumakkad Jigyasa", "Volga se Ganga", "Asia ke Durgam Bhukhando Mein", "Yatra Ke Panne" and "Kinnar Desh Mein".

More than ten of his books have been translated and published in Bangala.

He was awarded the Padma Bhushan in 1963 and he received the Sahitya Akademi Award in 1958 for his book Madhya Asia ka Itihaas ‘ History of Central Asia’.

He maintained daily diaries in Sanskrit which were used fully while writing his autobiography.

In spite of profound scholarship, he wrote in very simple Hindi that a common person could follow. 

He wrote books of varied interest. He was aware of limitations of Hindi literature and singularly made up the loss in no small measure.

Sankrityayan’s travel took him to different parts of India including Ladakh, Kinnaur valley, and Kashmir. 

He also travelled to several other countries including Europe, Nepal, Tibet, Sri Lanka, Iran China, and the former Soviet Union.

He spent several years in the "Parsa Gadh" village in the Saran District, Bihar. 

The village's entry gate is named "Rahul Gate". While travelling, he mostly used surface transport, and he went to certain countries clandestinely.

Rahul Sankrityayan was funded by Kashi Prasad Jayswal, an eminent historian from Patna to travel to Tibet. 

He entered Tibet as a Buddhist Monk, which he was, and made several trips to Tibet and brought hundreds of precious manuscripts, written in palm leaf with gold and silver powder, valuable paintings and Pali and Sanskrit Manuscripts back to India. It was a treasure trove of Buddhist literature of a kind perhaps never before seen here.

And with the subsequent destruction of Tibetan culture by China, perhaps such a trove will never be seen again. 

                         In Next Part..............