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)