A Parallel History of Maithili Literature- Introduction- Gajendra Thakur
Gajendra Thakur
A Parallel History of Maithili Literature- Introduction
Issue No. 88 (November-December 2019) of Muse India at http://museindia.com/ displays Maithili literature in an extremely poor light. Moreover, it wrongly claims to be a representative review of Maithili Literature, whereas it was only in line with the Sahitya Akademi, Delhi; a mere representation of the so-called "dried main drain". It is expected that Muse India will correct itself by announcing an issue exclusively devoted to the parallel tradition of Maithili literature.- Editor
T.K. Oommen writes in the "Linguistic Diversity" Chapter of "Sociology", 1988, page 291, National Law School of India University/ Bar Council of India Trust book: "... the Maithili region is found to be economically and culturally dominated by Brahmins and if a separate Maithili State is formed they may easily get entrenched as the political elite also. This may not be to the liking and advantage of several other castes, the traditionally entrenched or currently ascendant castes. Therefore, in all possibility, the latter groups may oppose the formation of a separate Maithili state although they also belong to the Maithili speech community. This type of opposition adversely affects the development of several languages."
T.K. Oomen further writes: "... even when a language is pronounced to be distinct from Hindi, it may be treated as a dialect of Hindi. For example, both Grierson who undertook the classic linguistic survey of India and S. K. Chatterjee, the national professor of linguistics, stated that Maithili is a distinct language. But yet it is treated as a dialect of Hindi". (ibid, page 293)
Do not judge each day by the harvest you reap but by the seeds that you plant. - Robert Louis Stevenson
...
Videha: Maithili Literature Movement
Vidyapati of Parallel Tradition- Sketch by Videha Samman recipient Sh. Panaklal Mandal
A Parallel History of Maithili Literature
I
Introduction
FESTIVAL OF LETTERS OR FESTIVAL OF SHAME
SAHITYA AKADEMI AND the DOWNFALL OF INDIAN LANGUAGES (IN SPECIAL CONTEXT OF MAITHILI LANGUAGE)
When Maithili was recognised by the Sahitya Akademi (National Academy of Letters- of India) way back in 1965, Late Ramanath Jha stated that his Maithili language is saved now (Maithilik Vartman Samasya, Ramanath Jha).
He was wrong on this on two counts. What he referred to as applicable, if it applied at all, only to the part of Maithili speaking area, geographically located in India. Maithili is spoken, natively, in India and Nepal. After the treaty of sugauli (ratified in 1816), which was in the aftermath of the Anlo-Nepalese war of 1814-16, the hilly regions were incorporated in British India, including the Nepalese-speaking Darjeeling Area. Similarly in 1816 and 1860, the Britishers ceded some Terai region to Nepal. As a result, part of Maithili speaking Area, which was earlier ruled by Malla Kings (when Maithili was an official language of the region), was ceded to Nepal. Even today some Maithili scholars (!!) refer to the golden period of Maithili as the period of "Nepali (!!)" Malla Kings (Ramanath Jha, Introduction to Maithili Sahityak Itihas by Dr Durganath Jha "Shreesh").
Ramanath Jha himself admits that during his visit to "Vir Library" of Nepal (Kathmandu) he came to know about the Nepal legacy (his monograph on kirtaniya Natak, which he wrongly presents as Kirtaniya Nach) in respect of Maithili. So, he cannot be blamed for his lack of knowledge in this respect. He was wrong on the second count also, and this second count was an artificial creation. He began a tradition of elitism and conservatism in Sahitya Akademi, as the first convener of the Maithili language. The tradition got stronger and stronger in the last 55 years of the Existence of Maithili in that Akademi. So, he ensured that liberal writers, like Sh. Harimohan Jha, attacking casteism and conservatism did not get the award, even though the year 1967 went unrewarded and the Ist award in 1966 was given to a non-literary book in Maithili (academic book of Philosophy!!!).
He was casteist, conservative and confused. The inter-caste marriage in Panji was well known to him, and it was apparent that the great navya-nyaya philosopher Gangesh Upadhyaya married a "Charmkarini" and was born five years after the death of his father. But he informed Sh. Dinesh Chandra Bhattacharya in a distorted way. Sh. Dinesh Chandra Bhattacharya writes in the "History of Navya-Nyaya in Mithila".
"The family which was inferior in social status is now extinct in Mithila-Gangesha's family is completely ignored and we are not expected to know even his father's name.", and he writes further that all this information was given to him by Prof. R. Jha. So how would this casteist-conservative-confused allow the award to be given to Sh? Harimohan Jha. So, the Sahitya Akademi saved the Maithili Language by recognizing it, as asserted by Prof. R. Jha, was wrong on those two counts.
Now come to Nepal, the Prajna Pratisthan and other organizations often recognize Indian Maithili writers, but Sahitya Akademi of India does not recognize Nepalese Maithili writers, be it the Seminars or the poets meet, be it an anthology of poems or prose published by the Akademi. Regarding the treatment of Nepalese Maithili writers by Sahitya Akademi Sh. Ram Bharos Kapari "Bhramar" laments that there is demand in Nepal that they should also not award Indian Maithili writers/ publish them in their anthologies as reciprocity demands this.
The narrow-mindedness of the Maithili advisory board of the Indian Sahitya Akademi has its origin in the organizations that are recognized by the Sahitya Akademi, the basis of which is extra-literary credentials. These are pseudo-organizations running on paper, political organizations or casteist organizations pocket-run by a few. The complete list is:
MAITHILI LITERARY ASSOCIATIONs (!!!) RECOGNIZED by SAHITYA AKADEMI
1. The Secretary, All India Maithili Sahitya Samiti, Tirbhukti, 1/1B, Sir P.C. Banerjee Road, Allahabad-211 002.
2. The General Secretary, Akhil Bharatiya Maithili Sahitya Parishad, C/o Dr. Ganapati Mishra, Lalbag, Darbhanga-846 004.
3. The Secretary, Chetna Samity, Vidyapati Bhawan, Vidyapati Marg, Patna-800 001.
4. The Secretary, Mithila Sanskritik Parishad, 6 B, Kailash Saha Lane, Kolkata-700 007.
5. The Secretary, Vidyapati Seva Sansthan, Mithila Bhavan Parishar, Darbhanga-846 004.
6. The Secretary, Centre for the Study of Indian Traditions, Tantrabati Geeta Bhavan; Ranti House, Ranti, Madhubani-847 211
Now the Literary Association lists read as under. Serial no. 1 & 6 above have been derecognised and has been replaced by other non-literary associations at sr no 5, 6 & 7 below.
(1) The General Secretary, Akhil Bharatiya Maithili Sahitya Parishad, Professors' Colony, Digahi West, Opp. of Primary School, Darbhanga-846 004, (Bihar)
2) The Secretary, Chetna Samiti, Vidhya Pati Bhavan, Vidyapati Marg, Patna-800 001 (Bihar)
3) The Secretary, Mithila Sanskritik Parishad, 6B, Kailash Saha Lane, Kolkata-700 007, (West Bengal)
4) The Secretary, Vidhya Pati Sewa Sansthan, Mithila Bhavan Parishar, Darbhanga-846 004, (Bihar)
5) The Secretary, Anand, Samajik Sanskritik Sahityik Manch, Rajkumarganj (Mirzapur Chowk), Darbhanga-846 004, (Bihar)
6) The General Secretary, Mithila Sanskritik Parishad, Rosebery 5032, Sahara Garden City, Adityapur-2, Jamshedpur-831 014, (Jharkhand)
7) The General Secretary, Akhil Bharatiya Mithila Sangh, G-6, Hans Bhavan, Wing 2 I.T.O., Bahadurshah Zafar Marg, New Delhi-110 002, (Delhi)
What is the literary credential of the Centre for the Study of Indian Traditions (now recognised and replaced by another pocket association)? Chetna Samiti and Vidyapati Seva Sansthan are casteist political outfits, vehemently displaying the casteist attire of a great ancient poet, whose caste is still uncertain (VIDYAPATI), but who was certainly not Brahmin. All India Maithili Sahitya Samiti (now derecognised and replaced by a non-literary association) became non-existent even during the lifetime of the Late Jaykant Mishra, same is the case with Akhil Bhartiya Maithili Sahitya Parishad. Mithila Sanskritik Parishad has done a crime through an investiture ceremony of the great Vidyapati, they tried to convert Vidyapati and "Maithili" language to the language of only the Brahmins (the name of the artist who sketched the Vidyapati has still not been disclosed by this organisation). When these non-existent organizations exercise voting powers granted by Sahitya Akademi and chose a convener, it is not a coincidence that for successive times only conservative people among the Maithil Brahmin caste, are chosen. The complete list is:
1. Ramanath Jha, 2. Jaykant Mishra, 3. Surendra Jha Suman, 4. Sureshwar Jha, 5. Ramdeo Jha, 6. Chandranath Mishra Amar, 7. Vidyanath Jha Vidit, 8. Veena Thakur, 9. Prem Mohan Mishra, 10. Ashok Avichal.
The result is now for everybody to see. The complete list of Sahitya Akademi awards (till 2019) is:
Total booty distribution- 50 times, Maithil Brahmins- 42 times, Kayasthas- 6 times, Rajpoots- 3 times; Others- 0 times!!! (Now in 2021 Sh. Jagdish Prasad Mandal has been awarded this prize for his novel "Pangu", so the count is now not zero but one.
The result is not based on the quality of the books but solely upon the caste-based other considerations and the disease has its root in the faulty seedling that the Sahitya Akademi of India found through the faulty literary associations.
What were the objectives of the setting of this Akademi?
Sahitya Akademi was established (National Academy of Letters to be called Sahitya Akademi) by Government of India resolution No F-6-4/51G2(A) dated December 1952 "to set high literary standards, to foster and co-ordinate literary activities in all the Indian languages and to promote through them all the cultural unity of the country; to promote good taste and healthy reading habits, to keep alive the intimate dialogue among the various linguistic and literary zones and groups through seminars, lectures, symposia, discussions, readings and performances, to increase the pace of mutual translations through workshops and individual assignments and to develop a serious literary culture through the publications of journals, monographs, individual creative works of every genre, anthologies, encyclopedias, dictionaries, bibliographies, who's who of writers and histories of literature."
The Akademi boasts of publishing "one book every thirty hours" and holding "at least thirty seminars every year" at regional, national, and international levels, " along with the workshops and literary gatherings-about two hundred in number per year".
The Akademi recognises " Besides the twenty-two languages enumerated in the Constitution of India", English and Rajasthani as languages. Sahitya Akademi has constituted twenty-four language Advisory Boards "to render advice for implementing literary programmes in these 24 languages".
The Akademi gives prizes in twenty-four languages recognised by it for original and translated works. It gives " special awards called Bhasha Samman to a significant contribution to the languages not formally recognized by the Akademi as also for contribution to classical and medieval literature"; "It has also a system of electing eminent writers as Fellows and Honorary Fellows and has also established a fellowship in the names of Dr Anand Coomaraswamy and Premchand".
FESTIVAL OF LETTERS (SHAME)!!!!
In February every year, Sahitya Akademi "holds a week-long Festival of Letters; It begins with the ceremony to present the Akademi's Annual Awards for creative writing".
In February every year, there is a need to examine whether Sahitya Akademi is fulfilling its objective and whether Sahitya Akademi is aware of the rich cultural and linguistic variety prevalent in India.
On scrutiny it is revealed that Sahitya Akademi believes in "forced standardisation of culture through a bulldozing of levels and attitudes" and it is not "conscious of the deep inner cultural, spiritual, historical and experiential links that unify India's diverse manifestations of literature".
The Akademi boasts of publishing "one book every thirty hours" and holding "at least thirty seminars every year" at regional, national, and international levels, "along with the workshops and literary gatherings-about two hundred in number per year". If we see the data in respect of Maithili it comes out that every year around twelve books should have been published in Maithili and the Maithili writers might have attended thirty seminars every year at regional, national, and international levels and might have participated in eight literary gatherings every year. The number of Maithili books published by the Akademi is pathetically low, and when we see the assignments, through which these books get artificially prepared (be it translation, anthology or monograph), then the people getting these assignments are often related to the members of the advisory board (as the answer to RTI application by Sh. Vinit Utpal brings forth). The quality suffers, and as a result, there is no readership.
How this Akademi failed? And why this Akademi failed? And what action should be taken against Akademi for its intentional failure?
Firstly, Akademi is not the name of a man or woman. Akademi or its member of the Advisory Board consists of persons, and if the group of persons is failing the Akademi, that language itself is to blame! But again, the language is not the name of a man or woman. So, the people speaking that language are to be blamed for the failures of the Akademi. Really!!
Even if it is partially true, the Sahitya Akademy cannot shirk its responsibilities. How an advisory committee can be considered representative of Maithili-speaking people (even that of India), when the Convener of that language is nominated by six organisations (recognised by the Sahitya Akademi for reasons best known to it), having no remote connection with literature? Sahitya Akademi sowed seeds of Acacia and expected Mango fruit. Having said that it is also true that the Akademi or any organisation can transform itself, but only when the conservative people representing these find pressure from the literary fraternity, change themselves or are replaced.
What is the solution?
The literary fraternity has already taken initiative by establishing parallel Sahitya Akademi awards and parallel literary meets. It should be taken further. All legal means should be explored to take the Akademi to the task. On all available forums, the fact is made clear that the literature being prepared by Sahitya Akademi through assignments is not grammatically correct, that it is not up to mark and is of inferior quality. On all available forums, it should be made clear that the thin, casteist-looking (quantitatively and qualitatively) and pale Maithili literature, which is being shown by the Sahitya Akademi of India to the world, has no readership or respect in its native speaking area of India and Nepal. And that Maithili has moved not because of Sahitya Akademi but despite it.
Demand
The six organisations representing Maithili should be derecognized with immediate effect and an inquiry initiated to ascertain their genuineness. A committee should be set up to scrutinize the work done by the Sahitya Akademi (in respect of Maithili) in the last 55 years. The awards should be kept in abeyance till the results of the inquiry are made public and corrective steps are taken.
II
THE CELEBRATION BEGINS
Videha Ist Maithili Fortnightly International e-journal has e-published more than three hundred issues to date. Meanwhile, we will enumerate the problems faced and the solutions found by us. The Journey began in the year 2000 at yahoo Geocities- the first words on the internet in Maithili were written by me on the yahoo Geocities sites (now yahoo has discontinued Geocities) towards the end of 2000 when I suffered a major accident which kept me confined to crutches for one and a half years. But that shaped my destiny. I could concentrate on my Maithili writings and my research on Tirhuta Manuscripts. On 5th July 2004, the first blog in Maithili came (gajendrathakur.blogspot.com) as "Bhalsarik Gachh", which was rechristened as Videha ejournal from 1st January 2008. From Ist January 2008 it came to be published as a fortnightly journal. The first rechristened issue brought the story of the life and creations of a forgotten Maithili poet Late Ramji Choudhary (1878-1952).
Till the eighth issue of Videha the columns on Music, Mithila Painting, Children column, learn samskrit through Maithili got strengthened. Moreover, the projects on digitalisation of Maithili Classics and Panji Manuscript-leafs got started. The searchable dictionary (Maithili-English_Maithili) was designed and strengthened. From the eighth issue, a latest unpublished Maithili Play of Nachiketa "No Entry Maa Pravish" began its e-publication in Videha. Nachiketa, the greatest dramatist of Maithili Literature was silent for the last 25 years, as far as the drama was concerned.
Technology has two aspects, bad (its chances of misuse) and good (its effective use). It is a great leveller; it challenges status quo forces. It is applicable in all areas of knowledge. So, school-going children today have a clearer understanding of the universe and atoms than the Aryabhata or Sir Issac Newton had. After mass-scale use of printing education and literature expanded its wings, but only after the "Internet and electronic transformation of tools of knowledge", it has become universal, it has jumped geographical boundaries. All shackles unfurled, the weak links of the chain were identified, and the chain which tried to capture knowledge, which tried to thwart its expansion, started breaking down. And the greatest beneficiary became the Maithili Literature. What is Videha, nothing, it is only its commitment to the Maithili Language, which helped it expand its base, and Videha became the means that were able to bind together the Maithili-speaking areas in both parts of the boundary (India & Nepal). Videha gave Maithili a batch of committed writers and a batch of committed readers. It challenged the status quo and casteist forces. It challenged confused writers, who were using Maithili as a tool to ride the ladder of Hindi. The lack of criticism, the lack of teeth in criticism was the reason that some writers and dramatists were using Hindi-Mix Maithili for cheap popularity, they were using derogatory language for the so-called lower castes of their society (some were finding plea in Natyashastra- when even the modern-day Samskrit Drama is not using Prakrit etc.!!), and for their mimicry, those castes started keeping distance with this kind of literature. And once the confusion of the confused thinned, a new type of awakened literature, stage, and drama (top-class) became the norm.
Videha is regularly getting some excellent brains. Since its inception, Videha, the idea factory, is dependent upon them. As far as their versatile qualities are concerned, people associated with Videha are different. All are known for their perseverance and resilience. All are known for their arduous work. All are known for their quality work. All are known for their discipline. And all are committed; committed to Maithili and the Mithila. The cumulative force resulted in a natural revolution. A revolution in the field of Maithili Literature, art, music, craft, stage, and drama. The only international e-journal in Maithili started this quality movement in Maithili. Nothing less than world standard was acceptable. The awards were instituted to recognize the parallel field of Maithili Literature, art, music, craft, stage, and drama. Only the best was selected, there was no scope for the second best. The participation of readers in the decision-making processes was encouraged. The readers got full access to the digitalised Maithili Literature. More than five hundred Maithili books and around 11000 palm-leaf mithilakshar manuscripts were digitalised and made available online under the "Videha Archive" section of www.videha.co.in (and the number is increasing every day). The audio-video-paintings-photographs were archived, and all these archived "art and lifestyle" of the people of Mithila were then placed online. The Videha Archive is a unique gift to the world.
So, what is the ideology of people associated with Videha? Is it collective thinking? No, of course not. In Videha all are welcome. Here all are welcome to discuss their respective ideology. Having said this, it needs emphasis that there are some basic human principles where no compromise is possible. The casteists, those having genetic superiority complex (which is another name for an inferiority complex), the practitioners of plagiarism, those who are unable to take part in a healthy discussion and persons who are not able to withstand the criticism of their creation, Videha is not a platform for them. The ideology of people associated with Videha may have different tinges, not all need to toe the line taken by any member of the editorial board. Videha believes in the individuality of ideas and the editorial board never imposes its ideology upon its members. At the same time, it is being emphasized that each member of the Videha editorial board has a strong ideological leaning, the ideology of humanism is practised by all.
Videha-Maithili Literature Movement has its roots in the year 2000 when I started making Maithili Websites on Yahoo Geocities. After Yahoo Closed Geocities these sites were automatically deleted. However, the early form of Videha "Bhalsari Gachh" was started on 5 July 2004, and it is the earliest presence of Maithili on the internet. Videha and its vibrant members did their utmost in translating lacs of words on Wikipedia, and they successfully opposed the nomenclature "Bihari Languages" (Gerard M accepted the role of Umesh Mandal, the co-editor of Videha, go to Gerard M's blog and click the Dasipat Aripan photo from Videha archive (Preeti Thakur) placed at his blog, you will reach http://videha.co.in/). In Google translate/Wikipedia localisation drive, in Tirhuta and Kaithi script research and the localisation of Braille in consonance with the Maithili Language, Videha shouldered the responsibility as a pioneer in technology viz-a-viz Maithili Language. It was a pioneer in many respects. It started for the first time a Maithili Websites Aggregator at http://videha-aggregator.blogspot.com/, the first braille site in Maithili, the first mithilakshar site in Maithili among others (total list).
Videha has organised several dozen Maithili book fairs to date. The 16th Videha Maithili book fair was held at Sagar Rati Deep Jaray, Patna on 10-11th December 2011 and the 17th Videha Maithili book fair was held at Guwahati, on 22-23 December next year at the Vidyapati Parv organised by Mithila Sanskritik Samanvay Samiti. The detailed list of all the venues (datewise). Videha also organised a parallel Sahitya Akademi Kavi Sammelan, besides awarding parallel Sahitya Akademi prizes, as corrective measures, as the awards and Kavi Sammellans of Sahitya Akademi were awarded/ organised in a unilateral manner where merit took a beating. Videha has, thus, fulfilled its obligation by interfering in the murky affairs of government organisations. Videha cannot remain a silent spectator, be it plagiarism or copyright violations. So, the authors like Pankaj Parashar, and Ashok Sahu, who were engaged in lifting other articles/ stories/ poems were banned after verifying the sources and target writings.
Literature in translation is a major issue with Videha. Lack of translation in America resulted in Americans lagging in quality literature. We practise literature in translation in both directions- from Maithili into English and from other languages into Maithili. As far as translations from other languages into Maithili are concerned English, Nepali, Sanskrit and Hindi function as buffer languages in the process. Direct translations into Maithili are limited; and it is done directly only from English, Sanskrit, Hindi, Nepali and Bengali, although there are some exceptions. As far as the question of translations from Maithili into other languages is concerned, directed translations are again limited; and it is again done directly only into English, Hindi, Sanskrit, Bengali and Nepali, barring some exceptions. Videha contacted some notable personalities of class literature, took permission, and translated that literature into Maithili. Most of the time English was used as a buffer language and translation work from English, Hindi, Konkani, Telugu, Gujarati, Odia, Kannada, Nepali and Telugu into Maithili was completed; and these works were regularly published in Videha. Maithili novels, poems, and short stories, on the other hand, were translated from Maithili into English and were published regularly in Videha.
VIDEHA became a Maithili Literature movement. No, VIDEHA was from day one of the Maithili Literature movement. Many established misconceptions got cleared through VIDEHA. The well-known facts, the not-so-obvious plot of some people to kill Maithili through its twin institutions the Sahitya Akademi and the CIIL was unearthed. The Right to Information came in handy. Sri Vinit Utpal asked for information from Sahitya Akademi through his RTI application dated 23.09.2011 (file no. RTI-125) and sought information on "Assignment assigned by Maithili Advisory Board, Sahitya Akademi under the convener ship of Sri Vidyanath Jha 'Vidit'". The information included a proposal received, a proposal rejected, and a proposal kept in abeyance." The statutory mandatory information supplied by the Sahitya Akademi unearthed a vicious circle of Maithili-speaking so-called litterateurs, hell-bent upon making Maithili a language- "of the Maithil Brahmin, for the Maithil Brahmin and by the Maithil Brahmin". More than 90% of the assignments went to the friends, relatives, and acquaintances of the 10-member Maithili Advisory Board. No assignment to Sh. Jagdish Prasad Mandal, Sh. Rajdeo Mandal, Sh. Bechan Thakur (the greatest Short-story-novel writer of Maithili, the greatest living poet of Maithili and the greatest living Maithili dramatist; respectively), Sh. Umesh Paswan, Sh. Umesh Mandal, Sh. Ramdev Prasad Mandal "Jharudar", Sh. Durganand Mandal, Sh. Sandeep Kumar Safi or to Sh. Anand Kumar Jha. When every member of the Maithili advisory board is hand in glove with the Sahitya Akademi to kill the Maithili language then where lies the hope? The demand for Mithila state by these people will see that 10 Maithil Brahmin families would loot the Mithila state. Then where lies the hope? Here lies hope. Sh. Bechan Thakur has created a parallel Maithili stage and theatre, a slap on the existing slapstick humouristic Maithili theatre. Sh. Umesh Paswan is a discovery of the Parallel Sahitya Akademi Poetry festival organised by Videha. Sh. Jagdish Prasad Mandal, Sh. Rajdeo Mandal, Sh. Jharudar, Sh. Sandeep Kumar Safi and Sh Umesh Mandal have pumped their energy, wealth, and time into our Maithili Language. This language will live...proofs are given below: -
Google Translate:
http://www.google.com/transconsole/giyl/chooseProject
then Wikipedia translate:
http://translatewiki.net/wiki/Special:Translate?task=untranslated&group=core-mostused&limit=2000&language=mai
http://translatewiki.net/wiki/Project:Translator
http://translatewiki.net/wiki/Project:Translator http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Requests_for_new_languages/Wikipedia_Maithili
http://translatewiki.net/wiki/Special:Translate?task=untranslated&group=core-mostused&limit=2000&language=mai http://incubator.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wp/mai http://translatewiki.net/wiki/MediaWiki:Mainpage/mai
http://ultimategerardm.blogspot.com/2011/05/bihari-wikipedia-is-actually-written-in.html)
[Monday, May 09, 2011
The #Bihari #Wikipedia is written in #Bhojpuri
This is the kind of article that has many people's eyes glazed over. It is about standards and scientific documents, and it is about languages most of my readers have never heard about. For the people that do speak one of the languages that are considered Bihari, it is extremely relevant, and it has implications for Wikipedia.
This is information provided by Umesh Mandal that explains the "Bihari group of languages" with the Maithili language:
Kellogg (1876/1893) and Hoernle (1880) regarded Maithili as a dialect of Eastern Hindi; Beames (1872/reprint 1966: 84-85), regarded Maithili as a dialect of Bengali, Grierson has done a great service to the Maithili language, however, he erred when he gave a false notional term of "Bihari" language after that western linguists started categorizing Maithili as a dialect of "Bihari" language; although there is nothing known as "Bihari Language" and both Maithili and Bhojpuri are spoken in Bihar (of India) as well as in Nepal.
Umesh is working on the localisation of MediaWiki for the Maithili language and as this language is currently in the Incubator, the language committee does its due diligence and trying to understand if Maithili can have a place in the Bihari Wikipedia. The information provided by Umesh makes it quite clear: "no".
This still leaves us with the misnomer that is the Bihari Wikipedia. The language used for the localisation and the articles is Bhojpuri. Bhojpuri has the ISO-639-3 code "bho".
Are you still following all this? Ok, there is one question I am not asking: How about the Kaithi script?
Thanks, GerardM]
Excerpt from a Maithili e-journal published as PDF (from Videha 2011: 22; Videha: A fortnightly Maithili e-journal. Issue 80 (April 15, 2011), Gajendra Thakur [ed]. http://www.videha.co.in/."Gajendra Thakur of New Delhi graciously met with me and corresponded at length about Maithili, offered valuable specimens of Maithili manuscripts, printed books, and other records, and provided feedback regarding requirements for the encoding of Maithili in the UCS."-Anshuman Pandey.] ।
TIRHUTA UNICODE See the final UNICODE Mithilakshara Application (May 5, 2011) by Sh. Anshuman Pandey at Page 23 of the Videha 80th issue (Tirhuta version) is attached"Figure 11: Excerpt from a Maithili e-journal published as PDF (from Videha 2011: 22" and at Page 12 Videha is included in References Videha: A fortnightly Maithili e-journal. Issue 80 (April 15, 2011), Gajendra Thakur [ed]. http://www.videha.co.in/. and role of Videha's editor is acknowledged on Page 12 "Gajendra Thakur of New Delhi graciously met with me and corresponded at length about Maithili, offered valuable specimens of Maithili manuscripts, printed books, and other records, and provided feedback regarding requirements for the encoding of Maithili in the UCS."]
The Maithili Speaking area is shrinking. It is shrinking due to a conscious-subconscious policy of the Governments of India and Nepal, and the situation became critical due to the invasion of Hindi and Nepali media and the biased educational system in Maithili-speaking areas, and due to the large-scale migration, which has happened in one single generation. The question of Hindi saw to it that Vajjika, Angika and now Thethi, Surjapuri etc. languages should get the tacit support of supporters of Hindi, first in the name of religion and second in the name of caste. Through this they did not support Vajjika, Angika, Thethi or Surjapuri; but they tried to weaken Maithili, which resulted in the weakening of Vajjika, Angika, Thethi and Surjapuri. For all this, the Maithili-speaking people, more so the officials (I will explain it later), are also responsible, as they tried to delimit Maithili within the two castes and four districts. All other people and areas, than these, were considered northern, southern, eastern, and western deviations of so-called pure Maithili, which was fictitiously considered as being spoken by these Maithil Brahmins/ Karna Kayasthas of Madhubani, Darbhanga, Saharsa and Supaul districts. For the last 45 years the officials, yes, I call them officials, the officials of the Maithili Department of Sahitya Akademi, did not try to accommodate the people outside this fictitiously delimited domain. But the major problem lies somewhere else. The slow poisoning was given in many disguises, be it the faulty top-heavy education system, which neglected primary and middle school education through the Mother Language Maithili, or be it through the concept of dialect, which initially conveniently declared languages like Maithili as dialects. Elementary education through Maithili was a non-starter because the Maithili books published by the Bihar State Textbook Publishing Corporation Limited seemed to be in Avahatt, it was not fit for children. Further, the authors and subjects selected for these books had a casteist bias. Maithili became a tool for caste-based politics, as once Hindi had been a tool for religion-based politics. Still, these officials, of the Maithili Department of Sahitya Akademi, are residing in their own built ghetto, bereft of any thinking or vision. Another reason for the present plight of Maithili is the policy undertaken by the tax collectors of Mithila (permanent settlement Zamindars of Cornwallis), whom the sycophants call King or the great king (Raja/ Maharaja) or Mithilesh (King of Mithila) these were mere tax collectors, the right for which were given to the highest bidders permanently; and there was not one such Mithilesh (tax collectors), but many within the borders of Mithila. These tax collectors employed mostly those two castes from four districts in their merchandise venture, and as the selection was based on sycophancy, so the work suffered. So, they imported the lathiyals from outside the Mithila region. The masses of Mithila suffered a blow from the double-edged weapon. First, from their people who did not consider them as their own and second, the outsiders looted them. Now after some time these outsiders, the non-Maithili speaking people, found it convenient to declare the masses (not belonging to the two castes from four districts) as non-Maithili speaking people, and the officials/ sycophants from those two castes from four districts tacitly agreed to it. Now these outsiders, the non-Maithili speaking people, formed a majority in many places of Mithila, and they led the rumour that Maithili, like Samskrit, is an upper-caste phenomenon, and thus they legitimized their anti-Maithili stance (all these facts have been brilliantly dealt with in the Maithili Novels of Sh. Jagdish Prasad Mandal) and they propagated the case of Hindi, first based on religion and second based on caste. But why our people fell into their trap, why these tax-collector Maharajas did not consider the masses of Mithila as their own and imported the perpetrators to loot their masses? The simple answer is that merit took a downward leap in auction-based tax collection rights allocation.
We started from one and reached number three, then thirty and now three hundred!! and we are growing-... and are three hundred not out and are creating a grand history. http://www.videha.co.in/ Videha Ist Maithili Fortnightly e-Journal ISSN 2229-547X has e-published its 300th issue recently. When I began this venture in the year 2000 with a Samsung TV net appliance, and when the existing was posted on 5th of July 2004, I moved all alone. Then on 31st January 2007, I suddenly thought to include the public, as after some groundwork I was ready for it. I decided to e-publish Videha and did publish it, on a fortnightly basis, the first issue that came on 1st January 2008 tried to include all the previous posts.
From all corners of this planet earth, the people tried to change the destiny of Mithila and Maithili. Now Sh. Ashish Anchinhar, Sh. Munnaji (Manoj Kumar Karn), are part of our team; and together we are three hundred not out now. With three hundred plus issues, 30,000 pages of Maithili literature (one hundred lac words corpora) creation and 11000 Tirhuta manuscript transcription we maintained a 50000-word Maithili-English vocabulary database. Now we are 350 strong, with 350 authors.
Videha has faced challenges and has withstood them. We never shirk from any question and/ or problem. The question of the state of Mithila is one such question which often comes calling. We are in favour of the states of Mithila within the sovereign borders of India and Nepal. We are in favour of Mithila. But which type of Mithila, that type that we had during the Zamindari Raj, where means of sustenance and avenues of existence remained limited for a few castes? Or that culture that existed within "Aryavarta-Indian Nation newspaper" and other Industries during that Raj. A dozen families of Mithila galloped all these mostly from a single caste!! No, we are not in support of that Mithila, that Mithila where Maithili would be swallowed, as it is being swallowed by the Sahitya Akademi and the CIIL, swallowed by another dozen families. We are not in favour of that Mithila where the proceeding of the legislative assembly would be held in a language other than Maithili. Till the misgivings of the people of Mithila are addressed, we cannot support any Mithila state movement. So the people striving hard for Mithila state should sit on a protest before the advisory board members of the Sahitya Akademi/ CIIL and sing patriotic songs in front of their houses, and pressurise them not to misuse government funds by unscrupulously awarding functions of Akademi outside Mithila and not to misuse the power of assigning translation and other rights to themselves and to those people who are hell-bent upon destroying our language. The RTI application by Sh. Vinit Utpal has thwarted an attempt to strangulate Maithili, but if the supplementary work is not done the sinister design would resurface again. We request the Maithili advisory board members of Sahitya Akademi immediately return their assignments taken in their name and the name of the members of their family. Otherwise, pressure should be mounted to force these 10-member Maithili Advisory Board members to voluntarily resign from their membership in the larger interest of Maithili. So, what is our answer viz-a-viz demand of Mithila state: it is a categorical Yes.
The technology-centric venture called Videha became a success. The native speakers of Maithili reside in Bihar (of India) and South-East Nepal. The net connectivity had been extremely poor in these areas. Then how the authors, new and old, started using Unicode for writing for Videha. The Nepal Side of Mithila had been using Preeti, Kantipur, Himala etc. fonts, the Kolkata Maithili-speaking population had been using the Marathi fonts and the rest had been using the fonts based on the old Remington keyboard. All these three types of fonts are ASCII fonts. We researched these fonts and provided font converters to our Nepal-based authors. We also provided phonetic and Remington-based Unicode writers to all Maithili authors, who asked for them. We asked the authors if they may send their creations in any font, but at the same time, we encouraged them to use Unicode fonts. The technical support that we provided resulted in numerous receipts of typed entries from persons like Sh. Gangesh Gunjan, who in earlier stages had been sending their creations in their handwritings. As Sh. Gangesh Gunjan was well versed in Remington keyboard typing, so he made wonderful use of the Remington Unicode typewriter. He sent that software to some of his friends too and he was courteous enough to intimate about this to us, although there was no need for that. Sh. Saketanand also used that software and sent his short story कालरात्रिश्च दारुणा in Unicode, and it was published in one of the issues of Videha. The technology-centric venture called Videha became a success because we made it simple and intelligible at a time when even the technologists were not sure about the future of this Unicode. The virtual medium was being seen with anxiety by the literary fraternity, and the copy-paste system of theft was rampant in those days. But we assured the authors that with Videha they may rest assured that the copyright thieves would not be spared, while at the same time we were firm, that only for fear of misuse of technology we should not stop our venture midway. With the internet and technology, the geographic barrier became non-existing. The end of the problem of distribution in Maithili literature became possible due to our technology-friendly attitude and it proved a boon for our Maithili language. And it made the technology-centric venture called Videha a success... It is the success of the parallel Maithili literature movement.
III
HONOUR KILLING OF GANGESH UPADHYAYA (FIRST BY RAMANATH JHA, THEN BY UDAYANATH JHA 'ASHOK' (A PARALLEL HISTORY OF MITHILA AND MAITHILI LITERATURE, WHY TODAY ITS NEED BEING FELT MORE INTENSELY?)
I was not surprised, though I must have been when I saw a monograph on Gangesh Upadhyaya, whose copyright is being held by Sahitya Akademi, the author of the monograph is Udayanath Jha ' Ashok'. I thought that Udayanath Jha ' Ashok', who has been given Bhasha Samman also, by the same Sahitya Akademi, would do some justice. But truth and research seem elusive in Sahitya Akademi monographs, at least that I found in this monograph.
I searched and searched through chapters, that now the author will show courage. But the author like Ramanath Jha seems ashamed of the roots and offspring of Gangesh Upadhyaya. He tries to confuse the issue, but there is no confusion now at least since 2009. But in 2016 Sahitya Akademi seems to carry out the casteist agenda. Udayanath Jha mockingly pretends to search his name, lineage etc, where nothing is there to search for, yet he could not muster the courage, to tell the truth, and ends up just repeating the facts in 2016 that Dineshchandra Bhattacharya already has published way back in 1958.
The honour killing of Gangesh Upadhyaya by Prof. Ramanath Jha is being taken forward by Sahitya Akademi, Delhi in a most hypocritical way.
Ramanath Jha's obscurantism vis-a-vis Panji is evident from one example. The inter-caste marriage in Panji was well known to him (but he chose to keep the Dooshan Panji secret- which has been released by us in 2009), and it was apparent that the great navya-nyaya philosopher Gangesh Upadhyaya married a "Charmkarini" and was born five years after the death of his father (see our Panji Books Vol I & II available at http://videha.co.in/pothi.htm ). Sh. Dinesh Chandra Bhattacharya writes in the "History of Navya-Nyaya in Mithila". (1958)
"The family which was inferior in social status is now extinct in Mithila----- Gangesha's family is completely ignored and we are not expected to know even his father's name-----...As there is no other reference to Gangesa we can assume that the family dwindled into insignificance again and became extinct soon after his son's death." [1958, Chapter III pages 96-99), which is a total falsehood. He writes further that all this information was given to him by Prof. R. Jha, and he seemed thankful to him.
The following excerpt from Our Panji Prabandh (parts I&II) is being reproduced below for ready reference:
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महाराज हरसिंहदेव- मिथिलाक कर्णाट वंशक। ज्योतिरीश्वर ठाकुरक वर्ण-रत्नाकरमे हरसिंहदेव नायक आकि राजा छलाह। 1294 ई. मे जन्म आ 1307 ई. मे राजसिंहासन। घियासुद्दीन तुगलकसँ 1324-25 ई. मे हारिक बाद नेपाल पलायन। मिथिलाक पञ्जी-प्रबन्धक ब्राह्मण, कायस्थ आ क्षत्रिय मध्य आधिकारिक स्थापक, मैथिल ब्राह्मणक हेतु गुणाकर झा, कर्ण कायस्थक लेल शंकरदत्त, आ क्षत्रियक हेतु विजयदत्त एहि हेतु प्रथमतया नियुक्त्त भेलाह। हरसिंहदेवक प्रेरणासँ- आ ई हरसिंहदेव नान्यदेवक वंशज छलाह, जे नान्यदेव कार्णाट वंशक १००९ शाकेमे स्थापना केने रहथि- नन्दैद शुन्यं शशि शाक वर्षे (१०१९ शाके)... मिथिलाक पण्डित लोकनि शाके १२४८ तदनुसार १३२६ ई. मे पञ्जी-प्रबन्धक वर्तमान स्वरूपक प्रारम्भक निर्णय कएलन्हि। पुनः वर्तमान स्वरूपमे थोडे बुद्धि विलासी लोकनि मिथिलेश महाराज माधव सिंहसँ १७६० ई. मे आदेश करबाए पञ्जीकारसँ शाखा पुस्तकक प्रणयन करबओलन्हि। ओकर बाद पाँजिमे (कखनो काल वर्णित १६०० शाके माने १६७८ ई. वास्तवमे माधव सिंहक बादमे १८०० ई.क आसपास) श्रोत्रिय नामक एकटा नव ब्राह्मण उपजातिक मिथिलामे उत्पत्ति भेल।
So, the Srotriyas as a sub-caste arose around 1800 CE as per authentic panji files. Sh. Anshuman Pandey [Gajendra Thakur of New Delhi provided me with digitized copies of the genealogical records of the Maithil Brahmins. The panjikara-s whose families have maintained these records for generations are often reluctant to allow others to pursue their records. It is a matter of 'intellectual property' to them. I was fortunate enough to receive a complete digitized set of panji records from Gajendra Thakur of New Delhi in 2007. [Recasting the Brahmin in Medieval Mithila: Origins of Caste Identity among the Maithil Brahmins of North Bihar by Anshuman Pandey, A dissertation submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (History) in the University of Michigan 2014].
Later these Panji Manuscripts were uploaded to Videha Pothi at www.videha.co.in and google books in 2009).
The so-called Maharajas of Darbhanga were permanent settlement zamindars of Cornwallis, and there were so many in British India, but in Nepal there were none. In the annexure of our book (Panji Prabandh vol I&II), we have attached copies of genealogy-based upgradation orders (proof of upgradation for cash). So, before 1800 CE, there was no srotriya sub-caste in British India and there is no such sub-caste within Maithil Brahmins in Nepal part of Mithila even today. Srotriya before that referred to following some education stream in British India, in Nepal it still has that meaning.
ORIGINAL PANJI REFERENCES ARE PLACED BELOW:
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१८८/२ | चर्मकारिणी | माण्डर | वभनियाम | छादन |
तत्त्वचिंतामणि कारकगंगेश | छादनगंगेशक | नाँई | रत्नाकरक-मातृक (अज्ञात) | गंगेश |
| वल्लभा | भवाइ | माहेश्वर |
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| जीवे |
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२१//१० छादनसँ तत्व चिन्तामणि कारक जगद्गुरु गंगेश
छादनसँ तत्व चिन्तामणि कारक
गंगेशक वल्लभा चर्मकारिणी पितृ परोक्षे पञ्च वर्ष व्यतीते तत्व चिन्तामणि कारक गंगेशोत्पत्ति- चर्मकारिणी मेधाक सन्तानक लागिमे छलन्हि
छादन सँ तत्व चिन्तामणि कारक मōमō गंगेश
''तत्व चिन्तामणि कारक म. म. पा. गंगेशक विषयक लेख प्राचीन पञ्जीसँ उपलब्ध�।।
पितृ परोक्षे पंच वर्ष व्यतीते गंगेशोत्पत्तिः इति प्राचीन लेखनीय: कुत्रापि
देवानन्द पञ्जी ३९-२ छादनसँ जगदगुरू गुंरू गंगेश सुताय वभनियामसँ जयादित्य सुत साधुकर पत्नी
देवानन्द पञ्जी ३३९-३ जगदगुरू गंगेश सुत सुपन दौ भण्डारिसमसँ हरादित्य दौ.।। पुत्र सुताच गोरा जजिवाल सँ जीवे पत्नी ए सुत सन्दगहि भवेश्वर। अत्रस्थाने सुपनभ्रातृ हरिशर्म्म दारिति क्वचित् जजिवाल ग्राम
देवानन्द पञ्जी ३०=५ छादनसँ उपायकारक म.म. पा. वर्द्धमान सुताच खण्डवलासँ विश्वनाथ सुत शिवनाथ पत्नी गंगेश- म.म. वर्द्वमान/ सुपन/ हरिशर्म्म
Gangesh, the author of the Tattvachintamani, wrote one text equivalent to 12,000 texts. Now come to the fact mentioned in the Panji- it clearly states that Gangesh of Tattvachintamani was born five years after the death of his father and he married a tanner, so why did Ramanath Jha hide this from Dinesh Chandra Bhattacharya? Vardhamana, son of Gangesh, calls Gangesh sukavikairavakananenduh. But the conspiracy under which the poems of a famous scholar like Gangesh are not available today is clear from the example given above. Vasudev of Bengal was a classmate of Pakshadhar Mishra of Mithila, he came to study in Mithila, passed the shalaka examination and received the title of sarvabhaum. Vasudeva memorised the tattvachintamani of Gangesh and the nyayakusumanjali karika of Udayana. Pakshadhar and other Mithila teachers did not allow writing (copying) tattvachintamani. Raghunath Shiromani, a disciple of Vasudeva, took the right of certification after he defeated his guru Pakshadhar Mishra in a scriptural debate (shastrartha). The Navya Nyaya school was founded in Navadvipa by Vasudeva-Raghunath. Pakshadhar Mishra was a contemporary of Vidyapati (distinct from the Padavali writer who was of the pre-Jyotirishwar period) who wrote in Sanskrit and Avahatta. And the arrival of Mithila students of Bengal from Bengal stopped after Raghunath Shiromani. Gangesh Upadhyaya enjoyed 'param guru' as well as 'jagad guru' titles, the highest titles of the time and as per Panji only Vacaspati Mishra II was the other person who enjoyed the title of 'param guru'. The extinction of Navya-Nyaya School from Mithila, as described above, was a revenge of nature against the honour killing of Gangesh Upadhyaya and his family.
[Translation of the Maithili Short Story, 'Shabdashastram' (based on the true Panji records of Gangesh Upadhyaya) was done by the author Gajendra Thakur himself: published as 'The Science of Words' Indian Literature Vol. 58, No. 2 (280) (March/April 2014), pp. 78-93 (16 pages) Published By: Sahitya Akademi]
IV
Kamlanand Jha has written a book on Nagarjun (Maithili's Yatri) where he credits him with giving a new direction to Maithili literature. Chandradhar Sharma Guleri wrote 'Usne kaha tha', a marvellous short story in Hindi, the best one of its time. But his literary corpora is very little in quantity, so if anyone tried to give him credit for giving direction to Hindi short story writing would make himself a laughing stock. And Yatri's Maithili literary corpora is even thinner than Guleri's. Moreover, Rajkamal Chaudhary calls him of the medieval age (Rajkamal Monograph, Subhash Chandra Yadav, Page no 14). He wrote Chitra (25 poems). He wrote, rather hurriedly published his 'Patrahin Nagn Gachh' (44 poems) for Sahitya Akademi Award in Maithili, which he got in 1968. After that he stopped writing in Maithili, so how can he influence anybody when after getting the award one stops writing in that language? This is one example of his instability so far as his ideology is concerned. He became a Buddhist monk when he left for Sri Lanka and became a Brahmin again when he returned after a 2nd sacred thread ceremony performed in his village. This is another example of his instability so far as his ideology is concerned. Kamlanand Jha does not know Maithili literature. His comments should be exposed, as he tries to give a bad name to the great tradition of Maithili literature. There were mainstream writers, but there were writers of parallel tradition also (see below Annexures 1 & 2). He has confused the Sanskrit and Avahatt Vidyapati Thakkurah with the Padavali writer pre-Jyotirishwar Vidyapti. He should read the writing of Vijay Kumar Thakur, a leftist historian, who has given ample light on pre-Jyotirishwar Vidyapati. [My article on Vidyapati in Prabandh Nibandh Samalochna Vol.II (available in Videha Archive) covers all these, the logo of Videha is the photograph of Pre-Jyotirishwar Vidyapati, sketched by Panak Lal Mandal, recipient of Videha Samman for fine arts.]
Annexure 1
चन्दा झा (१८३१-१९०७), मूलनाम चन्द्रनाथ झा, ग्राम- पिण्डारुछ, दरभंगा। कवीश्वर, कविचन्द्र नामसँ विभूषित। ग्रिएर्सनकेँ मैथिलीक प्रसंगमे मुख्य सहायता केनिहार। कृति- मिथिला भाषा रामायण, गीति-सुधा, महेशवाणी संग्रह, चन्द्र पदावली, लक्ष्मीश्वर विलास, अहिल्याचरित आऽ विद्यापति रचित संस्कृत पुरुष-परीक्षाक गद्य-पद्यमय अनुवाद।
१
न्यायक भवन कचहरी नाम।
सभ अन्याय भरल तेहि ठाम॥
सत्य वचन विरले जन भाष।
सभ मन धनक हरन अभिलाष॥
कपट भरल कत कोटिक कोटि।
ककर न कर मर्यादा छोटि॥
भन कवि 'चन्द्र' कचहरी घूस।
सभ सहमत ककरा के दूस।
२
रतिया दिन दुरगतिया हे भोला!
गैया जगतक मैया हे भोला
कटय कसैया हाथ
हाकिम भेल निरदैया हे भोला
कतय लगायब माथ
बरसा नहि भेल सरसा हे भोला
अरसा कए गेल मेह
रतिया दिन दुरगतिया हे भोला
जन तन जिवन संदेह
मुखिया बड़ बड़ सुखिया हे भोला
अन्नबक दुखिया डोल
के सह कान कनखिया हे भोला
सुखिया बिरना टोल
३
अस्त्र शस्त्र रोक आब मामिलाक मारि।
भाइ भाइकेँ पढ़ैछ नित्य नित्य गारि॥
ठक्क लोक हक्क पाब साधु कैँ उजारि।
दैव जे ललाट लेख के सकैछ टारि?
चाही नहि धन, ललितवाम, पकवान जिलेबी,
मनोविनोदक हेतु अमरपति सदन न टेबी।
ई अन्तर अभिलाष हमर करुणामयि देवी
भक्ति भाव सँ सतत अहिंक पदपंकज सेवी॥
अन्न महग, डगमग अछि भारत, हयत कोना निस्तारा
उत्तर पश्चिम भूमि अगम्या पर्वत असह तुषारा।
धर्म-विरोधी सहसह करइछ, कुमत कथा विस्तारा
करथु कृपा जगजननी देवी महिसीवाली तारा॥
मिथिला की छलि की भय गेलि,
याज्ञवल्क्य मुनि, जनक नृपतिवर
ज्ञान भक्ति सौं गेलि।
वाचस्पति मिश्रादि जगद्गुरु
निर्जित बौद्ध झमेलि
से शारदा स्वर्ग जनि गेली
बढ़ल कुविद्या केलि।
वर्णाश्रम विधि ककरहु रुचि नहि
श्रुति श्रद्धाकेँ ठेलि
पूजा पाठ ध्यान वकमुद्रा
सभटा वंचन खेलि।
कह कविचन्द्र कचहरी भरिदिन
बहुत भोग कर जेलि,
कलह कराय धर्म धन नाशे
कलिक दरिद्रा चेलि।
४
मय केहन भेल घोर हे शिव!
गोधन विपति, धरम अवनति देखि कत हिय करब कठोर॥
साधु समाज राजसँ पीड़ित अति हरषित-चित चोर।
अकुलिन लोकेँ धरणि परिपूरित कुलिन समादर थोड़॥
धरम सुनीति प्रीति ककरहु नहि, खलहिक चलइछ जोर।
कन्द-मूल-फल सेहो अब दुरलभ अन्न गेल देशक ओर॥
किछु शुभ साधन बनि नहि पड़इछ थाकल मन, मति भोर।
कह कवि चन्द्र हमर दुख मेटत होयत कृपा शिव तोर॥
५
सुमरु सुमरु मन! शंकर समय भयंकर जानि।
ककर हृदय नहि कलुषित शासन कलि नृप पानि॥
केवल शिव करुणाकर सेवयित नहि जन हानि॥
भक्ति कल्पलति जानह परम परशमनि खानि॥
कतहु विषयमे न लागह त्यागह अनुचित मानि।
सुखसौँ अन्त विलसबह 'चन्द्र' चूड़ रजधानि॥
ANNEXURE 2
१
फतुरीलालक अकाली कविता/ अकाली कवित्त
फतूरीलालक फसली बर्ख १२८१ (१८७३-७४ ई. सन) सालक अकाली कविता
[ग्रियर्सन (मैथिली क्रेस्टोमैथी एण्ड वोकाबुलेरी)]
साल एकासिक वर्णन सुनू/ चौदिस पड़ल अकाल
भेल बरिसात खिन्न ऐ सालक/ कहाँ लगि वरनौँ हाल
रोहिणि आदि थीक बरिसातक/ जेहिँ एला तेहिँ गेला
म्रिगिसिरा मन पुरल मनोरथ/ दै झीसा किछु गेला
अरदड़ा आडम्बर भारी/ गरजत हैं चहु ओर
पुख रुख राखल धरती केर/ भेल बरखा केर ओर
पुनर्वसु थिक बड़ पुनीता/ ओहो बड़ा कसरेस
बिआ बिड़ारक जे किछु उपटल/ धनि बरिसल असरेस
मघा भेल मंगाहिआ कल्लर/ जगभरि के नै जान
पुरबा पूर पछ नै राखल/ ककरा करब बखान
उत्तरा आइ जाय घर बैसल/ सपतौं लै नै बून
हथिआ शृंग मुँड़ दै मूनल/ तनिकौं लागल घून
चितरा चित मित नै राखल/ ओहो भेल डाकू धाती
नाक रंगौलन्हि सभै नछत्तर/ दोम नुकौलन्हि खाती
जोतिष पढ़ि-पढ़ि जे जन ऐलाह/ साधि-साधि भूगोल
रेखागणित बीजसौँ ओआकिफ/ तनि कौँ कच्ची बोल
श्रीराम कृपागति ओहो ने जानथि/ जाहि कृपा सभ काज
पानिक प्रश्न कबौं जौं पुछिऐन्हि/ सेहो कहैत होइन्हि लाज
जेहिखन नदी नाल नै भरले/ तेहिखन रौदी सरती
बिना जले जग किछु नै उपजल/ दगध भेल छथि धरती
ते नर रौदीक आगम बूझल/ जे छल कृषि किसान
दैव बेपच्छ पच्छ नै राखल/ जड़ि कटौलक धान
कोदो मड़ुआ एको ने उपजल/ नै उपजल किछु साम
गम्भड़ी गद्दरि खेतहि सुखाएल/ भेल विधाता वाम
मर्तभुवनमे के कर रच्छा/ कहाँ जाइ केँ भागि
सुखल पताल हाल नै ओतहुँ/ सगरहुँ लागल आगि
धृक जीवन ओइ नृपति इन्द्रकेँ/ जे रोकल गहि पानि
जीवा-जन्तु विकल पुहमीमे/ ताकेँ हो नै आनि
रवी-राय एको नै उपजल/ ने खेढ़ी औ चीन
घर-घर सोच करै नर-नारी/ दुरदिन भेल अब बीन
धनिक लोक सभ मनहि मगन छथि/ राखथि बहुतो ढेरि
हसोथि रुपैया घर कै राखथि/ महगी भेल अब सेर
केओ कुरथी खेत मासु बेसाहल/ जाहि कौड़ि छल अपना
कतेक जना हरिवासर ठानल/ भात बहुत कै सपना
कतेक जना मिलि जनेर बेसाहल/ निरधन बैसल तकइ
भेल धनन्तिरि दूइ फसिल जग/ राहड़ि आओर मकइ
काल पड़ल तिरहुतिमे भारी/ तेँ ई बहि गेल हावा
घर-घर मगन करै नर-नारी/ फाँकि मकइ केर लावा
मालिक और महाजन सभकेँ/ घर-घर ढेरी अन्न
लोक बुझाओन ओहो तकै छथि/ मूँह गरीबक सन
समै देखि बनिआँ सभ सनकल/ डरेँ लगौलक टट्टी
सुन्न दोकान सहरमे परि गेल/ सुन्न भेल सभ चट्टी
सूखल गात बात भौ लटपट/ कतेक बात अब सहना
नर नारी सभ सान तेआगल/ बिकरी भेल अब गहना
मँगटीका खूटी औ तड़की/ नकमुन्नी नै नाक
कटसरि बिछिआ औ झिमझिमिआँ/ बाजूबन्द औ बाक
चन्द्रहार, हैकल औ सिकड़ी/ और घमौरिक दाना
सूति, नवग्रह औ पचखँड़ी/ लशुनी भेल निदाना
तापर दर्बजात नै बचले/ करम भेल निखट्ट
तमघैल, अढ़ैआ औ पिकदानी/ नै तसला औ तटू
बाटी, बट्टा औ पनबट्टा/ भोजन करैक थारी
माधव सीहि सहित सोबरना/ नै बचले घर झाड़ी
धन संपति घर किछु नै बचले/ सभटा पड़ि गेल बंधक
तैओ भूख छुटल नै ककरो/ एहन पेट भेल खंधक
दैब अंश अबतरल कम्पनी/ जा पर राम सहाए
मिथिलापुर बूड़न जब लागय/ से सुनि पहुँचल धाए
खरिद अनाज जहाजहिँ बोझल/ भरती करि करि बोरा
सदर तिलंगा ओआ पर भरती/ और ओलाइति गोरा
हाजीपुरमे लाख हजारम/ कै लाखन हइ पटना
बाजितपुर सुलतानपुर गोला/ नै जानत हौँ केतना
गाड़ी, बैल, छकड़, ऊँट बिहारे/ उबहत हइ सभ दाना
मिसर कन्हैआ केँ पोखरन मे/ पहिलुक अड़ी ठेकाना
श्री लक्ष्मीश्वर सिंह नृपति/ महाराज मिथिलेश
अचल राज दड़िभंगा/ श्रीपति हरहिं कलेश
गाड़ी बैल लाखन हजारन/ ताकेँ परे घड़ेर
पहिलुक गोला मधुबन, भौड़ा/ जफरा और अड़ेर
बेनीपट्टी, औ पचमहला/ कुम्हरौल औ कमतौल
हरिहरपुर, पिड़ारुछ बरनौं/ कारज केतेकाँ बरिऔल
बारि पोखरि, बिरसायर बरनौं/ पण्डौल को नै जान
नवहद, सरिसो ओ भटपुरा, ता सोँ दक्षिण उजान
झंझारपुर, महरैल, कन्हौली/ मधेपुर हइ खास
बेनीपुर, कमान, नरैहिओ/ बरनौं फूलपरास
झमना हइ जगजानित जगमे/ महथा और बछौर
दुहबी औ महिनाथपुर/ और जैनगर तक हइ दौर
बलदेबपुर औ ढंगा बरनौं/ मिरजापुर लघु हाट
सीबीपटी औ कपसीआ/ सदर गोला सौराठ
गुरबाकेँ परबरसी हाकिम/ कर तिरहुतमे आके
नै तो मरते कत नर नारी/ बाले बचे सुखा के
कत मुरदा गरदा मै मिलते/ असंख जीव चल जाता
सर समधी केँ संभा ने लम्भन/ नै बचते जलदाता
सभकेँ सभ उपछै भै गेल/ धुर पोखर औ सड़क
रहि गेल ब्राह्मण सोती पण्डित/ कायथ पछिमा ठाकुर फरक
केओ ओरसिअर नाम लिखाओल/ केओ मोहर्रिर भेँट
धर्म्मकार्यमे लुटथि रुपैआ/ तेँ भेल सभ केर भेँट
केओ जमानत दैकेँ बचलाह/ जिनका अमला नेही
ककरो मारि केँत पिठि तोड़ैन्हि/ उतरैन्हि जन्मक ठेही
ककरहुँ गारत गात सुखाओल/ बहुतो होअय चलाना
मातुपिता घर परिजन रोवय/ बाबू गेलाह जहलखाना
ककरहुँ घर भेल खानातलासी/ भेट मोहर्रिर घोँछ
केओ अदालतिमे डिड़िआइ छथि/ ककरहुँ उपरैन्हि मोँछ
एतना सुनि हाकिम रिसिआओल/ तेँ लागल जन ठीका
नाक रंगौलन्हि सभै मोहर्रिर/ लागल चूनक टीका
जोग, बिकौआ,लौकिक वंशक/ किरिआमंत सुकूल
गाछी, बाँस, बैल औ महिसि/ जगह कैल भकफूल
ताहि रुपैआ सौँ करा गजर/ लै कोरट सौँ रीन
तेँ कारन बहुतो घर झगड़ा/ भाइ भतीजा भीन
आए लाट बहादुर/ औ दड़िभंगा धाम
बाबू औ बबुआन सहित मिलि/ कीन्ह कुमैटी खान
......
......
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एह सभ संग बैठि कै/ जाय कुमैटी भेल
अजब कार सरकार के/ तिरहुत पहुँचल रेल
बाजितपुरसँ सड़क निकालै/ आये दौड़िह दौड़ी
हहेया गंडक पुल बन्हाए/ आए चौरही चौरी
धर्म्मधीर, बलबीर, कम्पनी/ जानत हइ जगदीशन
लछमी सागर के पोखरिमे/ ताहि कीन्ह इसटीसन
बड़ा लाट कलकत्तेवाले/ श्रीदुर्गा होए संग
आगरा के छोटा लाल बहादुर/ बैठे सभ एकरंग
जुटे कमिश्नर और कलट्टर/ बोलहिं बात नेअंट
एह पाचो इजलास पर बैठे/ संग जात ऐह जंट
खबरि गए अखबार मौँ/ मैथिल के एह हाल
सुनहु फिरंगी अवण दैकेँ/ मेटहु दुख के जाल
हुकुम दीन्ह दोउ लाट को/ सुनहु हमारे बैन
मदति करहु रेआआनको/ क्या बैठे हौ चैन
बड़ा लाट दोउ बीर उठाए/ साहेब औ जरनैल
मेजर मजिस्टर और कलट्टर/ संगजात करनैल
देस देससौँ अन्न मंगाओल/ दीन्ह सभनि के दाम
महामूँग, गहुम औ चाउर/ बजड़ा और बदाम
डोली, पटना औ भटसारे/ दीली औ अजमेर
आगरा और कान्हपुर ढाका/ जहाँ अन्न के ढेर
भए रमाना अन्न तिरहुतिमे/ लादि गाड़ी और बैल
गज, तुरंग, गदहा औ छकड़/ संग सिपाही छैल
छत्री औ पैठान मोगल सभ/ बाँकाबीर रजपूत
सोभा बरनि नजात हइ/ जैसे हनुमन्त दूत
आगे सफर ओ मैना/ पलटन वीर जमान
बरछी औ तरुआरि गहै/ कर गहै तीर कमान
चढ़ि तुरंग पर करै कवाइत/ जमादार होए संग
सोभा बरनि न जात हइ/ देखि तखनुक रंग
करत काम सभ धाममे/ टूट अट सभ लूट
ढाहि भीड़ गाछी सहित/ बान्धै सड़क औ पूल
जिले पटने औ भटसारे/ प्रगन्ना महिसौर
तहाँ बसहिँ एक सज्जन/ तेहि घर जा लक्ष्मी दौड़
श्री द्वारिका प्रशादित/ धर्म्मधीर बुद्धिमान
तहसीलदार कोरट के खासा/ जानहिं सकल जहान
बाबु इसरी प्रसाद दियौटी/ सो मधुबनमे आए
हुकुम दीन्ह सुपरनडेंटकेँ/ टोले टोले होए जाए
मन पँचा मनगर भै लिए/ बहुतो लिए खैरात
धन्य धन्य अंगरेज बहादुर/ सभकेँ जूटल गात
गरिब, गनी, गुरबा, करु जै, जै/ ब्राह्मण देत असीस
श्री रघुनाथ बढ़ै बदसाही/ गदी लाख बरीस
फतुर लाल कवि बरनत हैँ/ एह रौदी के हाल
गौरमिंट गौरनल बहादुर/ तिरहुति राखहिँ बहाल
२
राधाकृष्ण चौधरी (मिथिलाक इतिहास) (विदेह पेटारमे उपलब्ध)
"१७७० क अकाल मिथिलाक इतिहासमे अद्वितीय छल आ मिथिलाक जनसंख्या घटिकेँ एक दम्म कम्म भऽ गेल छल। १८७३-७४ मे पुनः एकटा ओहने अकाल मिथिलामे भेल छल जकर विवरण हमरा फतुरी लाल कविक अकाली कवित्तसँ भेटइयै, अकाली कवित्त अप्रकाशित अछि। अकालकेँ दूर करबाक हेतु आ मजूरकेँ रोजी देबाक हेतु ताहि काल रेलगाड़ीक योजना चलाओल गेल जकरा सम्बन्धमे फतुरीलाल लिखैत छथि-
'कम्पनी अजान जान कलनको बनाय शान।
पवन को छकाय मैदानमे धरायो है॥
छोड़त है अड़ादार बड़ा बीच धाय धाय।
सभेलोग हटाजात केताजात खड़ा है॥
तारकी अपारकार खबरि देत वार वार।
चेत गयो टिकसदार रेल की उवाई है॥
करत है अनोर शोर पीछे कत लगत छोर।
जोर की धमाक से मशीन की बड़ाई है॥
कम्पूसन पहरदार कोथी सब अजबदार।
कोइला भर करल कार धूआँसे उड़ायो है॥
बाजा एक बजन लाग हाथी अस।
पिकन लाग जैसा जो चढ़नदार वैसाधर पायो है॥
गंगाकेँ भरल धार उतरि गयो फतूर पार गाड़ीकी।
अजबकार कवित्त यह बनाया है॥' "
-Gajendra Thakur, editor, Videha (be part of Videha www.videha.co.in -send your WhatsApp no to +919560960721 so that it can be added to the Videha WhatsApp Broadcast List.)