Jaishankar Prasad

Jaishankar Prasad (Hindi: जय शंकर प्रसाद) (January 30, 1889 January 14, 1937), one of the most famous figures in modern Hindi literature as well as Hindi theatre.Dimitrova, p. 15

Biography

Jaishankar Prasad was born on January 30, 1889, in an elite madheshiya vaisya family in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India. His father Babu Devki Prasad, also known as Sunghani Sahu (सुंघनी साहू), was a tobacco dealer. After, he lost his father at an early age, he had to encounter some family problems at a relatively young age, and left school after class eight. However, he remained interested in literature, languages, and ancient history, and continued studying at home; thereafter he developed a special inclination towards the Vedas and these interests are innately reflected in the deep philosophical contender/content of his works.

Jaishankar Prasad was a contemporary of some other literary greats of that time like Acharya Ram Chandra Shukla and Munshi Premchandetc..

Language and influence

His initial poetry (Chitraadhar collection) was done in the Braj dialect of Hindi, but later he switched to the Khadi dialect or Sanskritized Hindi.

In his earlier days, he was influenced by Sanskrit dramas, but later the influence of Bengali and Persian dramas is evident on his works. Prasad's most famous dramas include Skandagupta, Chandragupta and Dhruvaswamini .

Poetic style

He is considered one of the Four Pillars (Char...
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