Rahul Sankrityayan

Rahul Sankrityayan राहुल सांकृत्यायन
Rahul Sankrityayan महापंडित राहुल सांकृत्यायन
Occupation	Writer, Essayist, Scholar, sociology, Indian Nationalist, History, Indology, Philosophy, Buddhism, Tibetology, Lexicography, Grammar, Textual Editing, Folklore, Science, drama, Politics, Polymath, Polyglot
Nationality	Indian
Notable awards	1958: Sahitya Akademi Award 1963: Padma Bhushan
Website
http://www.rahul-sankrityayan.co.nr

Rahul Sankrityayan (महापंडित राहुल सांकृत्यायन) (April 9, 1893 - April 14, 1963) who is called the Father of Hindi Travel literature (यात्रा वृतांत) was one of the most widely-traveled scholars of India, spending forty-five years of his life on travels away from his home. He became a buddhist monk (Bauddha Bhikkhu) and eventually took up Marxist Socialism. Sankrityayan was also an Indian nationalist, having been arrested and jailed for three years for creating anti-British writings and speeches. He is referred as the Greatest Scholar (Mahapandit) for his scholarship. He was both a polymath as well as a polyglot.

Childhood

He was born Kedarnath Pandey on 9 April, 1893 to an Orthodox Hindu- Brahmin family in Azamgarh district, in Eastern Uttar Pradesh. His father, Govardhan Pandey, was a religious-minded farmer, a typical profession of Bhumihar Brahmins, from the village Kanaila of Azamgarh district in Uttar Pradesh. His mother, Kulawanti, used to stay with her parents at the village of Pandaha, where Kedar was born. He was the eldest of four brothers. He spent part of his childhood in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar states of India. As his mother died at the age of twenty-eight and his father at the age of forty-five, he was brought up by his grandmother. His earliest memories as recorded by him were of the terrible famine in 1897. At age 9, he ran away from home in order to see the world, but later returned.

Sankrityayan only ever received formal schooling at a local primary school, though he later studied and mastered numerous languages independently, as well as learned photography.

Personal life

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Rahulji's sketch

Sankrityayan was married to Ram Dulari Devi when very young and never came to know anything of his child-wife. Accepting an invitation for teaching Buddhism at Leningrad University during his stay in Soviet Russia a second time, 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.

Late in life, he married Dr. Kamala, an Indian Nepali lady and had a daughter (Jaya) and a son (Jeta). He accepted a teaching job at a Sri Lankan University, where he fell seriously ill. Memory loss, diabetes, high blood pressure and a mild stroke struck him. He died in Darjeeling in 1963.

Rahulji's Tombstone at Darjeeling.

Travels

His travels took him to different parts of India, including Ladakh, Kinnaur, and Kashmir. He also covered several other countries including Nepal, Tibet, Sri Lanka, Iran, China, and the former Soviet Union. While traveling, he mostly used surface transport, and he went to certain countries clandestinely, like Tibet where he went disguised as a Buddhist monk. He made several trips to Tibet and brought from there valuable manuscripts of Pali and Sanskrit, several books and paintings. Most of these formed a part of the libraries of Vikramshila and Nalanda Universities and were taken to Tibet by fleeing Buddhist monks during 12th century and onwards when the invading Muslim armies had destroyed these universities. Some accounts state that Rahul Sankrityayan employed twenty-two mules to bring back the loads of part of these materials, from Tibet to India. He started touring all pilgrim-centers of India. He stayed at Madras, and learnt Tamil. He visited Tirupati in Andhra Pradesh and visited Bangalore, Hampi and Bagalkot in present day Karnataka.

He returned to monastic life and stayed at Arya Musafir Vidyalaya at Agra and mastered Sanskrit language, and started reading books on Christianity, Islam and various sects of Hinduism. His writing career started in his twenties; he mainly wrote in Sanskrit and Hindi for periodical. The Jallianwalah Holocaust (1919) turned him into a strong nationalist and he plunged into India's independence struggle. He was arrested for anti British writings and speeches. He was jailed for three years, wherein he translated the Quran into Sanskrit. He studied Pali and Sinhalese languages and started reading Buddhistic texts in the original. He was slowly drawn to Buddhism and changed his name to Rahul (after Buddha’s son) Sankrityayan (Assimilator). After his release, he went to Bihar and worked with Dr. Rajendra Prasad (later President of free India) who became a close friend. In those days social service was part of freedom struggle and he engaged himself in constructive activities laid down by Gandhiji. He became President of Azamgarh District Congress as well.

But the travel bug never left him. He undertook hazardous journey to the forbidden land of Tibet. There were practically no roads. Only nomads and petty merchants traveled with loads on mules. Disguised as a Buddhist bhikku (mendicant), He entered Tibet via Kashmir, Ladak, Kargil and started his journey on foot. Rahul's main purpose was to collect lost works in Sanskrit on Indian culture in general and Buddhism in particular. After Bakhtiyar Khilji’s burning the libraries of Nalanda and Vikramshila universities in the 13th century C.E, not many ancient texts in Sanskrit survived in India. Some were smuggled out on time to Tibet. There was general belief among Indian scholars that these were well preserved in Tibetan monasteries, but not explored. But Rahul found out most of these had disappeared. With great difficulty, he could salvage some from the ruins of a monastery, which were all in Bhot language and not in Sanskrit. He returned with the valuable manuscripts and some Thanka paintings which are preserved in Patna museum. Rahul visited Tibet, three more times. He mastered Tibetan language, wrote Tibetan primers, grammar and Tibetan-Hindi dictionary. Only first part of the last was published posthumously. He again took to travel and visited Sri Lanka (where he taught Sanskrit), Japan, Korea, China, Manchuria and proceeded to Soviet Russia. He saw a fire temple in Baku and discovered an inscription in Devanagri script. From there he went to Tehran, Shiraz and Baluchistan and finally came to India.

In honour of him, Patna Museum, Patna, has a special section, where a number of these and other items have been displayed.

Books

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राहुल जी द्वारा हिंदी पर उनके विचार।

Sankrityayan was a multilingual linguist, well versed in several languages and dialects, including Hindi, Sanskrit, Pali, Bhojpuri, Urdu, Persian, Arabic, Tamil, Kannada, Tibetan, Sinhalese, French and Russian. He was also an Indologist, a Marxist theoretician, and a creative writer. He started writing during his twenties and had written around 150 books and dissertations covering a variety of subjects, including sociology, history, philosophy, Buddhism, Tibetology, lexicography, grammar, textual editing, folklore, science, drama, and politics, many of which were unpublished. He had translated Majjhima Nikaya from Prakrit to Hindi.

One of his most famous books in Hindi is named Volga se Ganga, meaning “(A journey) from Volga to Ganga” and is an attempt to present a fictional account of 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 from 6000 BC and ends in 1942, the year when Mahatma Gandhi, the Indian nationalist leader has given a call for quit India movement. The book is remarkable for its historical elements interwoven with fiction. This book has been translated by K.N.Muthiya-Tamilputhakalayam in Tamil language as Valgavil irundu gangai varai and is still considered a bestseller and also translated in Telugu it inspiried many telugu people."Volga muthal Ganga vare",the Malayalam translation of this book,became immensely popular among the young intellectuals of Kerala and it continues to be one of the most influential and one of a kind hi"storic" book of its times. More than ten of his books have been translated and published in Bengali. Mahapandit was awarded Padmabhushan in 1963 and Sahitya Akademi Award in 1958 for his book Madhya Asia ka Itihaas.

He maintained daily diaries in Sanskrit which were utilized fully while writing his autobiography. In spite of profound scholarship, he wrote in very simple Hindi, so that a common man 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. He wrote 146 books, some of which are voluminous. Many works remain unpublished. The well known historian Kashiprasad Jaisawal compared Rahul Sankrityayan with Buddha. Rahul's personality was as impressive and memorable as are his achievements. He travelled widely and wrote in five languages-Hindi, Sanskrit, Bhojpuri, Pāli and Tibetan. His published works include autobiography, biography, travelogue, sociology, history, philosophy, Buddhism, Tibetology, lexicography, grammar, textual editing, folklore, science, fiction, drama, essays, politics, and pamphleteering.

Soviet Union

Although he did not have any 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.

Awards In His Honor

Awards	About	Awarded By
Rahul Sankrityayan National Award	Contribution to Hindi travel Literature (also called Travel Litterateur's Honour).	Kendriya Hindi Sansthan, Government of India
Mahapandit Rahul Sankrityayan Paryatan Puraskar	Awarded for contributing significantly in the field of travelogue and Discovery and Research in Hindi, for books written originally in Hindi on Tourism related subjects.	Ministry Of Tourism, Government of India

Gallery

Rahulji's Museum Picture Gallery at his Birthplace Pandaha.

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Works by Rahul Sankrityayan

Novels

• Baisvin Sadi - 1923
• Jine ke Liye - 1940
• Simha Senapathi - 1944
• Jai Yaudheya - 1944
• Bhago Nahin, Duniya ko Badlo - 1944
• Madhur Svapna - 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
• Atit 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

In Bhojpuri

• Teen Natak - 1942
• Panch Natak - 1942

Related to Tibetan

• Tibbati Bal-Siksha - 1933
• Pathavali (Vol. 1,2 & 3) - 1933
• Tibbati Vyakaran (Tibetan Grammar) - 1933
• Tibbat May Budh Dharm-1948
• Lhasa ki or

Himalaya Paruchay Bhag 1 Himalaya Parichay Bhag 2 these are two of his books descrbing about the people and their orginal places of migration in the Himalayas

See also

• Hindi literature

References

• Ram Sharan Sharma, Rahul Sankrityayan and Social Change, Indian History Congress, 1993.
• Ram Sharan Sharma, Rethinking India's Past, (Oxford University Press, 2009, ISBN 978-0195697872).
• Himalayan Buddhism, Past and Present: Mahapandit Rahul Sankrityayan centenary volume by D. C. Ahir (ISBN 81-7030-370-2)
• Prabhakar Machwe: "Rahul Sankrityayan" New Delhi 1978: Sahitya Akademi. [A short biography including a list of Sankrityayan's works]