Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar was a famous scholar who was born to make an impact on society. He was so humble, lived his entire life with determination and purpose to fulfill certain objectives, Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar.
He was a great social reformer, writer, teacher, and entrepreneur who worked endlessly to change society. Her contribution to changing the status of education and women in India was remarkable. Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar strongly opposed polygamy, child marriage, and widow remarriage and the education of women in India.
Due to their contribution towards such issues, the Widow Remarriage Act was passed in 1856, making the marriage of widows legal. Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar worked towards providing education to women. He opened and ran several schools for girls at his own expense. He was also known as Daya-Sagar or Karuna Sagar, the ocean of mercy because of his compassionate nature.
Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar was born on 26 September 1820 in a conservative family in Bengal. From childhood, he was keen to get more and more knowledge. Since his family was not well, he studied under street lights at night. Due to his vast knowledge of various subjects, the title of Vidyasagar was given to him by the people of his village. Vidyasamargya is an ocean of learning which means lore, and Sagar means ocean. He became a Sanskrit scholar and achieved high proficiency in this subject. Till his retirement, he worked as a Sanskrit professor at Sanskrit College, Calcutta.
When he was the principal of the college, the college became a place of reform. Not only this, Vidyasagar was a great writer and was also known as the father of the modern Bengali language. Many Bengali alphabets were modified by him. He has also written a book on grammar rules of Sanskrit which is used to date.
Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar was a very humble personality and at times it was part of his nature that inspired others. Many stories in his life attest to his simplicity and are very inspiring to readers as well. Apart from his contribution to society, it was his humility that made him a well-known and respected personality throughout India.
Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar along with some of his friends were working on a mission to start the University of Calcutta and therefore asking for donations. Although restrained by his fellow members, he went to the palace of the Nawab of Ayodhya to fulfill the same mission. Although the Nawab was not a kind man, Vidyasagar met the Nawab and presented the whole situation to him. Hearing this, the arrogant Nawab took off his shoes in the donation vessel of Vidyasagar. Vidyasagar did not respond to this but only thanked him and left.
The next day, Vidyasagar organized an auction of the Nawab’s shoes right in front of the Nawab’s palace. People came forward and started bidding to impress the Nawab officials. The shoes were sold for Rs 1,000. On hearing this, the Nawab was pleased and donated the same amount. So eventually he used those shoes as an opportunity to carry out his mission and not only get the money but also pleased the Nawab and as such, he always showed above his personal feelings and a goal Worked towards Eventually, his dream of opening the University of Calcutta came true.
Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar died at the age of 70 on 29 July 1891. After his death, Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar’s house was sold by his son to the Mallik family of Kolkata, which was later bought by the Bengali Association, Bihar on March 29, 1974. . She maintained the house in its original form and also started a girls’ school and a free homeopathic clinic. Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar actually brought reforms by removing distortions prevalent in the education system of Bengal.
He was a great social reformer and wanted to change the traditional beliefs of Hindu society from within. Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar introduced the practice of widow remarriage and worked against polygamy.
During his lifetime, Vidyasagar had written many books and thus greatly enriched the Bengali education system.
Today India needs such dedicated, humble, and determined personalities who can bring all kinds of necessary reforms for the betterment of society.