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चन्द्रगुप्त

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This is a Hindi literary classic.

153 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1994

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About the author

Jaishankar Prasad, a most celebrated personality related to the modern Hindi literature and Hindi theatre, was born at 30th January in the year 1889 and died at 14th January in the year 1937. He was a great Indian poet, novelist and dramatist, born in the simple madheshiya Teli Vaisya family of the Varanasi, UP, India. His father (named Babu Devki Prasad, also called as the Sunghani Sahu) has his own business related to the tobacco dealing.

Jaishankar Prasad had to face some financial problems in his family as he has lost his father in his young age. Because of such financial problems, he could not study further than 8th class. However, he was so keen to know many languages, past histories and Hindi literature, that’s why he continued his study at home. As he continued his study, he was influenced much from the Vedas which imitated him in the deep philosophical rival.

He has started writing poetry from his very early age. He was also fond of playing chess and doing gardening work at his home. He was interested in the Vedas to a great extent which influenced him extremely for writing his own poetry, plays, stories and novels. He has written his first book of poem collections known as the Chitraadhar in the Braj vernacular of Hindi which was widely used in Uttar Pradesh state at that time. His poems were liked too much by the people as they were heart touching, soft, simple language and emotional.

He had paid much attention towards the language of poems as well as the philosophic content. That’s why he is known as a world-class Hindi litterateur, philosopher and great writer. He wrote his poetry in a range of varieties from the romantic to the patriotic. His most prominent patriotic poem of his career is known as the ‘Himadri Tung Shring Se’ which he had written before the independence of country from the British.

He spent his middle career of his life by writing the novels, plays and poetries. He got himself exceedingly influenced by the Sanskrit and other languages related to the Sanskrit. He had written his some of the dramas in the Persian and Bengali languages.

Career

He has written his first poetry (known as the Chitradhar collection) into Braj language but soon after he has changed writing language to the Khadi and Sanskrit. He has started writing dramas into the Sanskrit language but later he has started writing dramas into the Bengali as well as Persian languages. Some of the famous dramas written by him are Chandragupta, Skandagupta and Dhruvaswamini.

He is the famous personality in the field of Hindi literature and Hindi theatre. He was the one who make the world romantic with his great and heart touching writings. He had mixed up the art and philosophy in his writings. He has chosen the title of his writings of different names which ranges from the romantic to the nationalistic. Through his great writings, he had described the essence of the classical Hindi poetry. ‘Himadri Tung Shring Se’ is the nationalistic poem written by him, became famous in the market which lead him to won so many awards in the period of Indian independence movement. Kamayani is another written poem by him which was also the best creation of him.

He has shown the life history of many great personalities and stories of the ancient India through his Dramas and other writings. His written dramas were proved to be the most pioneering ones in the Hindi. Around 1960s, his plays were selected by the ancient Indian Drama’s Professor, Shanta Gandhi for the modern Indian theatre. He has written the Skandagupta, his most important writing in the year 1928.

He also has written the many interesting short stories, titles of which are ranges from the historical to the mythological related to both contemporary and social. One of his short stories named, Mamta described the motherly love and the story of the Mughal Badshah. Another short story is the Chhota jadugar tells the life history of the child who has learned to earn the money

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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
Profile Image for Ashish Iyer.
870 reviews633 followers
April 11, 2021
यह जय शंकर प्रसाद द्वारा लिखित उत्कृष्टता की पुस्तक है। मौर्य काल का विवरण इतना अच्छा है कि आप पुस्तक को एकल बैठक में ही समाप्त हो जायेगीै। यह पुस्तक कथा और इतिहास के मेल से लिखी गई है। यह भारतीय दर्शनशास्त्र के साथ खूबसूरती से मिश्रण है। लेखक ने क्षत्रिय राजाओं की लालची प्रवृत्ति और विकृत सोच का भी खुलासा किया, जिन्होंने भवर पर हमला करने वाले यवन आक्रमणकारियों की मदद की। मुझे इस पुस्तक ही शुद्ध हिंदी बहुत पसंद आयीै। यह पुस्तक समावेशीता के मूल सिद्धांतों, आत्मा से लड़ने के लिए सम्मान, साहस और विनम्रता के साथ हमारे महान पूर्वजों की याद दिलाती हैै।
Profile Image for Nidhi P.
51 reviews186 followers
February 22, 2022
What a work of literature! I have read this 'natak' twice and yet I enjoy it more. The prose style of Jaishankar Prasad is unmatchable and you must not miss it!
Profile Image for Rao Kuldeep Singh.
2 reviews2 followers
May 6, 2018
जीवंत

जयशंकर प्रसाद जी की सशक्त लेखनी ने तथ्यों की सप्रमाण पुनर्स्थापना करते हुए सदियों पूर्व घटे इतिहास को समक्ष उपस्थित कर दिया है! नाटक पढ़ते हुए ऐसी अनुभूति होती है मानो इतिहास के सभी पात्र जीवंत हो कर समक्ष हो गए हों!
1 review
November 10, 2018
Classic work - A must read by every Indian!

This book reminds of basic tenets of inclusiveness, respect for fighting spirit, courage and humbleness our great ansistors carried. A reader can clearly view and understand the qualities a aspiring "Human Being" should carry.
Profile Image for Vidhi Rastogi.
21 reviews6 followers
December 28, 2020
Bilingual Review. English Version given Below.
.
जयशंकर प्रसाद जी की लेखनी की जितनी तारीफ़ करी जाये वह कम है । वर्षों बाद हमने इनकी पुस्तक उठायी थी । लगभग २०-२५ साल से हम हिंदी साहित्य से दूर ही रहे, और इसकी बहुत वजह थीं । अंग्रेज़ी माध्यम के स्कूल में हिंदी साहित्य के प्रति एक उदासीनता तो व्याप्त है , इससे इंकार नहीं किया जा सकता है । पर हमारी वजह केवल यह न थी । दिल्ली आने के बाद यहाँ मॉल के पुस्तकालय में अंग्रेज़ी ही ज़्यादातर मिलती थीं ; उनमें भी कालजयी रचनाएँ तो बहुत कम पुस्तकालय में होतीं थीं । फिर एक दौर ऐसा भी आया कि हम पुराणों एवं रामायण महाभारत पर आधारित फ़ालतू “Bestsellers” का चयन करने लगे । इनके और अंग्रेज़ी “Historians” (नये वाले, पुराने नहीं) ने हमें वापस हिंदी साहित्य के रस में धकेला ।
सिर्फ़ पुस्तक की प्रस्तावना मात्र बेहद रोमांच जगाने वाली थी । प्रसाद जी की लेखन शैली रोमांच का सृजन करती है (Powerful style of writing). इस पुस्तक की प्रस्तावना मात्र से पता चला कि वह इतिहास के रसिक भी थे ।
नाटक तो ख़ैर अच्छा था ही, पर हमें इसकी नायिकाओं का चित्रण बेहद लोमहर्षक लगा । मालविका, अल्का , कल्याणी - यह हैं आदर्श स्त्री रूप जिनमें देश प्रेम व स्वतंत्र विचारधारा है जो देश हित की राह पर है ।
लेकिन अब अच्छे के साथ एक ऐसी बात भी जो हमें शायद कम समझ आयी ।
यूँ तो प्रसाद जी के लेखन में त्रुटि निकालना धृष्टता ही है , परंतु हमें हिंदी साहित्य से यह एक शिकायत रही है कि वह बेहद भावुक या भावनात्मक रौ में होता है । यह कुछ ज़रूरत से ज़्यादा ही लगता है, और मूल कथा से भटका देता है । यही वजह है कि युवा अंग्रेज़ी माध्यम वर्ग इस से दूर हो जाता है । ऐसा नहीं कि हर कोई हिंदी साहित्य पढ़ना न चाहता हो , पर यह अती भावुकता थोड़ा स्वाद किरकिरा कर देती है । जैसे अगर हम इन्हें अंग्रेज़ी के समकालीन लेखन/पुस्तकों के मुक़ाबले रखें तो भी पुरानी भाषा प्रणाली के बावजूद यह इतने भावुक नहीं होते की हास्यास्पद बन जायें और इसलिए आज तक पढ़े जाते हैं । हिंदी साहित्य में हमें हमेशा यह एक कमी लगी है ।
इसके अलावा नाटक कालजयी और पढ़ने योग्य है ।
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The more you write on the beauty of Jaishankar Prasad ji’s writing style, the more disservice it will be to that great legend of Hindi Literature.
I picked up his work now after school years (would be 20-25 years or so). For years i was sort of away from Hindi Literature, and amongst the many reasons, one certainly is the disdain that English Medium education holds for Hindi Literature in general. However that was not the only factor that kept me away from Hindi Literature. Once i came to Delhi, the avenues of book reading were the bookstores in shiny malls. Mostly they stocked English books (out of which even English classics were properly stocked in very few). Then a phase came when this “Bestseller” vibe even in books swept almost all of us. But after reading a few half baked or rather badly baked versions of Ramayan/Mahabharat or Puranic Tales, and poring through modern age “Historians”, i was pushed back in the comfort of old Hindi Classics.
The Preface of the Book in itself set the tone in the right direction. Any Prasad writing lover would agree that his writing style is extremely powerful and induces an excitement for National Interest. However this Preface also told me that he was indeed a connoisseur of History.
The play was very good. I especially admired the Heroines or Female Characters of the play. Malavika, Kalyani and Alka are the ideal women who take charge independent of their fathers or brothers to pursue and push National Interest when/if they have lost their path. This is the portrayal of an ideal Indian Woman - Fearless and Independent for the right cause.
However i do have one point of concern that is largely addressed towards Hindi Literature in itself.
Although pointing out a mistake in Prasad ji’s work is a sacrilege, yet i will say that Hindi Literature by and large is outlandishly emotional. This over flow of emotional tirade is what deters many to pursue the Hindi space, and to be honest it also takes away the magic of the actual plot.
If i compare any Hindi work to its contemporary Western Literature, the latter despite language style of an era is not so outlandish in talking style and approach towards life that it becomes laughable to read (even something like Shakespeare that has very detached English pertaining to another era).
This is what i always found lacking in Hindi Literature, this over the top emotional tirade. Maybe there is a reason to it.
Other than that the play is certainly a Classic and a Must Read.
Profile Image for Himanshu namdev.
20 reviews1 follower
May 26, 2013
The books is a play about famous Indian king Chandragupta Maurya.In the preface
Prasad introduces rare facts about the time of Chandragupta and his region.Good
book for Indian history lovers .
1 review2 followers
November 10, 2017
Awesome

Great story and language loved it. It is a masterpiece of a master pen man. Jai जयशंकर. Thanks a lot
Profile Image for Ravinder Singh Dhull.
9 reviews2 followers
February 14, 2015
An ever green classic. This book has been here for decades and yet it is fresh and worth reading. A person with limited Hindi knowledge shall find this book very tough to read. But for a person having sufficient literary knowledge; this book is a paradise. Must read book who want to get idea of the era of Great Chandragupt.
22 reviews11 followers
July 29, 2020
A story set in the time of Chankya and Chandragupta Maurya. This book also gives glimpse of history and some major wars.
This book revolves around the strong characters such as Chandragupta, Chankya, King Poras from Kaling, Alexander and Greek army.
Profile Image for Rahul Chaudhary.
8 reviews
July 22, 2020
good one

written in not so in easy lang, but described good and yeah chandragupta is really a good story to read tho
20 reviews2 followers
May 22, 2021
I had this for my exam. Its a really tough books for those who are studying for the Hindi language.
Would recommend
Profile Image for Girish Deshpande.
1 review
Read
October 12, 2023
Very good account of the era of the Chanakya and Chandragupt Maurya.
Language is classical Hindi. Introduces with almost all attributes of the king Chandragupta.
Profile Image for Naveen Sharma.
48 reviews1 follower
October 23, 2023
"चंद्रगुप्त" पुस्तक नाटक शैली में लिखी हुई है। नाटक प्रारंभ होने से पूर्व प्रसाद जी ने 7–8 पृष्ठों में नाटक की भूमिका और ऐतिहासिकता की है। पुस्तक प्रारंभ करने के पश्चात पूर्ण करने के लिए बाध्य करती है। सुंदर चित्रण
1 review
Want to read
March 8, 2017
I heard about this book it's really fantastic
I want to read this book if anyone has this book please let me know.
you can send PDF file to my id techkumar11@gmail.com
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews

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