Preface Breathes there a man with soul so dead, Who Borer to h in s e lf hath said This i s my own, my n ative land? S ir V a lter Scott Laksheinath Bezbaroa had perhaps said many a tin e * 0* Mor Aponar Dee* (Oh, my Bother land) not by way o f s o lilo q u y a lo n e , but lo u d ly , to In sp ire innuaerable people t o u tte r the sane on cou n tless o cca sio n s. My f i r s t acquaintance with Lakshnrinath Bezbaroa was when I was a school g i r l , and i t was a ffe c te d through '0 Mor Aponar Des*. The sweet p a t r io t ic sentinents o f the song had in sp ired ne profoundly, and I unconsciously nurtured the a sp ira tion to know t h is great p erson a lity o f Lakshninath Bezbaroa a b i t nore in t ia a t e ly and more e la b o ra te ly . perhaps r is in g in bo The a sp ira tion was with passage o f t in e . A fte r aany years l a t e r a ft e r I took the M aster's degree frow the U niversity o f Gauhati, with great tre p id a tio n I revealed my atf>ition to P rofessor Maheswar Neog, the fo r a e r Jawaharlal Nehru Professor and Bean, Faeulty o f A rts, Gauhati U n iversity. In h is usual in s p irin g tone P rofessor Neog sm ilin g ly advised Be t o read sobs books on o re a tiv e lit e r a tu r e w ritten by Lakshminetb Bezbaroa. my BOBory. That aoaent sh a ll ever remain a memorable one in I had never expected such a p o s it iv e ly con stru ctiv e response, and that to o so in s t a n tly , fr o a such a ii stalwart lik e Professor Neog. I began ny research under the guidance of Professor Neog^of course, in ay own hunfcle way. I read quite a good ntuber o f books as recousended by sy guide, but oould not sake any headway in the research project. How to begin, how auch to w rite, what to write and scores o f lik e dllennas had constantly kept ne in a state of bewilderment. Moreover, the chars of an Indian housewife were already there not to allow ne the speed I eontenplated. However, I did not lose heart. As i f the towering personality of Beabaroa had a ll along been beckoning ne frow afar not to despair! In the socio-cultural and litera ry fie ld o f Assam, Lakshninath Beabaroa*s position is that of the Pole Star) and to enquire into the contributions of such a stalwart was indeed an uphill task fo r an incognito like ne. However, Professor Neog*s constant inspiration was invaluable to ne and it had a ll along been encouraging ne to go on holding the ring. But fo r his lovingly inspiring guidance, th is work would not have seen the ligh t o f the day. I have no words to thank Professor Neog adequately fox^^this act of paternal kindness on his part. I deen myself 1 ucky tb have the privilege o f being guided in my research e ffo rt by a v ersa tile scholar lik e Professor Neog. Lakshninath Bezbaroa*s v e r s a tility is Indeed unfathonable. He was the founder of the second era of I ll Renaissance o f Assamese lit e r a t u r e . B ezbaroa's achievement In ereatlng the lin k between the s p ir itu a l valu es o f the Vaishnava lit e r a tu r e o f Assam and the humanistic approach o f the western w rite rs in forming the composite modern Assamese lit e r a tu r e o f to-day i s indeed praisew orthy, and i t sh all keep i t s mark f o r a l l tim es to come. Bezbaroa*s p atriotism was profound and t h is Immense lo v e f o r h is mother land had in sp ired him t o shine v ir t u a lly In every braneh o f Assamese lit e r a t u r e . His marriage Into the illu s t r io u s fam ily o f the Tagores o f Jorasanko f a c i li t a t e d h is gaining fu rth e r in sigh t into the s o c io - llt e r a r y h eritage o f Bengal. But, at the same tim e, th is had a lso ig n ite d -fll S f c th e p a t r io t ic fe rv o u r in him and kindled the urge t o do something worthwhile to give the s o o lo -e u ltu ra l and lit e r a r y h erita g e o f Assam the n ation al g lo r y which i t deserved. In t h is noble a sp ira tion o f h i s , Lakshminath Bezbaroa attained tremendous su ccess. Unlike the frequent p a t r io t ic outbursts o f to -d a y , Bezbaroa*s p a triotism was s o lid and i t was not confined to mere conceptual r h e t o r ic s . Bezbaroa b e lie v e d In ap p lied p a triotism , and he bore the p a t r io t ic o b lig a tio n s by d eed s, not by the movement o f the l i p s alon e. Lakshminath Bezbaroa had shined b r i l l i a n t l y as a lit t e r a t e u r o f the f i r s t o rd e r, as a businessman o f high o a llb re and as an o r a to r o f e x ce lle n ce in n ation al assem blies o f sch olars and academ icians. In 1933 Lakshminath Bezbaroa was in v ite d by the Maharaja o f Bo rods to d e liv e r le c tu r e s on Yaishnavism. ft iV I t was a rare honour which was given formerly to p e rso n a litie s lik e Rabindranath Tagore, Dr. S. Radhakrisbnan, S ir C.V. Raman and Dr. R. G, Bhandarkar. The two le ctu re s d elivered by Besbaroa were h igh ly penetrating and they are t i l l now deemed Masterpieces on Vaishnava philosophy and Krishna c u lt . These two le c tu r e s were la t e r edited and published in book fo r a by Professor M. Neog in 1968 with the t i t l e t The Religion of Love and Devotion. An attempt has been node to dwell upon the cre a tiv e w ritin g s of Lakshainath Bezbaroa in the various lit e r a r y spheres lik e dretoa, noVel, p o e ify , short sW rles and eftsays. [It i s not an a n a ly tic a l assessment of Bezbaroa*s lit e r a r y orks, i t i s only an attempt to portray him in t o t a l i t y in he rays o f h is own cre a tio n s. The th e s is has been s p l i t in to e ig h t chapters, tepter I I s Introduction which g iv e s a general review of the lite r a r y c h a r a c te r is tic s of th e a g e -o f Bezbaroa, p a r tic u la r ly the Jonaki age.L-'tShapter II i s e n title d as The ■ ------- ■>, Impact of Environment. This chapter describes the lite r a r y environment and i t s impact on the l i f e of Bezbaroa; Besbaroa*s e a rly l i f e , h is student l i f e in Assam and C alou tta, the New Awakening at C alou tta, h is marriage in to the Tagore fam ily and h is l i f e at Sambalpur. Bezbaroa*s main lit e r a r y output has also been enumerated in the chapter. ^^Sapter I I I i s Bezbaroa as a Dramatist. The dramatic genius of Bezbaroa has been examined in t h i s chapter. Types of h is dramas, h is V fa r c e s , c h r o n ic le s , plays and funny s to r ie s have been d e scrib ed , Bezbaroa *s s k i l l in p lo t con stru ction and ch a ra cterisa tion have a lso been dwelt upon. The in flu en ce o f Shakespeare and Bengali dram atists on Bezbaroa has a lso been examined. Chapter IV i s Bezbaroa as a Poet. Themetic a n a ly sis o f Bezbaroa*s poefxsy~has been made in the chapter. A broad o l a s s i f i oat ion o f h is poetry has a lso been shown here. ^Chapter V i s Bezbaroa t h c N o v e lls t . Bezbaroa wrote only(^one /n o v e l s but i t s " s t y le w asoutrtniiaing and pred icted a masterly ir r tte r ". Hie h is t o r ic a l background o f the novel has been described in the chapter. P lot c r e a tio n , ch a ra cterisa tion and s o c ia l r e fle c t io n in the novel have been examined h ere. The s ty le o f expression i s a lso appreciated In th is chapter. Chapter VI i s Bezbaroa the Pioneer Short Story W riter. The elements o f f o l k ta le s and modern short s t o r ie s in Bezbaroa*s s to r ie s have been examined in th is chapter. The c la s s if i c a t i o n o f h is short s to r ie s has been shown h ere. The technique o f Bezbaroa and the s o c ia l r e fle c t io n s in h is short s to r ie s have been e la b o ra te ly described in the chapter. Short s t o i l e s f o r children are a ls o included in the n arra tive o f the chapter. Chapter VII i s The Essays o f Bezbaroa. The autobiography, b iog ra p h ies, personal e ssa y s, formal essays and m iscellaneous essays o f Bezbaroa have been described in t h is chapter. la s t ch apter, i . e . , ( ^ a p t e r V I I I i s t o n c l u b f o n . The Bezbaroa's c r e a t iv it y and h is t(Ttal~ per s ona11ty have been portrayed in t h i s ehapter. Bezbaroa*s r o le as a jo u r n a lis t and ca rto o n ist have a lso been touched in t h is chapter. vi At the va riou s stages of w ritin g the chapters o f the t h e s is , I had been receivin g valu ab le assistan ce and guidance from the lib r a r y s t a f f o f Krishna Kanta Handlqul Library o f Garibatl U n iv ersity , Pandu College L ibrary, and the Central Library o f Gauhati. deep re sp ect. I o f f e r them my hearty gra titu d e and I r e c a ll with pride and pleasure the sympathy and valuable suggestions that I had reoeived from Dr. P. C, Sbarma, P rin cip a l, Pandu C ollege) Dr, N.N. Acharya o f Gaubati U n iversity and Dr. A.K. Dutta Choudhury, Principal o f Pailapur C o lle g e , S ilch a r. I o f f e r them my most h e a r tfe lt regards. My ch ild ren Sanjiv, Sharmlla and Sumita were constant sources of in sp ira tio n and encouraging companies f o r me in t h is research pu rsu it o f mine, I give them my b le s s in g s f o r high attainment in t h e ir educational ca reer. But f o r the high moral support o f my husband P rofessor Anil Kumar Sarma, t h is work would have perhaps remained a mere contem plation. Shrl Bhaben Das deserves high c r e d it f o r the m asterly and quick way he had typed the pages o f the t h e s is , and I unhesitatingly g iv e i t to him. I t sh a ll perhaps be a fla g ra n t case o f Ingratitude i f I do not th an k fu lly r e c a ll with a wet-tongue the sweet ta s te o f the sumptuous dish es prepared by dear Sulekha while fin a lis in g the chapters at the residence o f P rofessor Neog. I sh a ll deem my labou r f u l l y rewarded i f my an alysis o f the st* ject-m nt ters are found ra tion a l and convincing by the learned readers. Gauhati 7S101A May 7 , 1985 ( Minoti Sarma)
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