Baldev Upadhyaya (10 October 1899 – 10 August 1999) was a

Hindi Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been de ...

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...

scholar, literary

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the stu ...

essayist An essay is, generally, a piece of writing that gives the author's own argument, but the definition is vague, overlapping with those of a letter, a paper, an article, a pamphlet, and a short story. Essays have been sub-classified as formal a ...

and

critic A critic is a person who communicates an assessment and an opinion of various forms of creative works such as art, literature, music, cinema, theater, fashion, architecture, and food. Critics may also take as their subject social or governmen ...

. He wrote numerous books, collections of essays and a historical outline of

Sanskrit literature Sanskrit literature broadly comprises all literature in the Sanskrit language. This includes texts composed in the earliest attested descendant of the Proto-Indo-Aryan language known as Vedic Sanskrit, texts in Classical Sanskrit as well as s ...

. He is noted for discussing Sanskrit literature in the Hindi language. Earlier books related to Sanskrit literature were often written either in Sanskrit or in English.

Life

He was born on 10 October 1899 in the village Sonbarsa in the

Ballia Ballia is a city with a municipal board in the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Uttar Pradesh. The eastern boundary of the city lies at the junction of two major rivers, the Ganges River, Ganges and the Ghaghara River, Gh ...

district of

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh (; , 'Northern Province') is a state in northern India. With over 200 million inhabitants, it is the most populated state in India as well as the most populous country subdivision in the world. It was established in 1950 ...

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

. His father was Pt. Ram Suchit Upadhyaya, who was a great scholar of the '' Bhagavata Puraṇa'', and his mother was Murti Devi. He had two brothers. Upadhyaya's early education was in Govt. High School,

, except for a session 1911–1912, when he was admitted to the 6th standard at Bengali Tola Inter College,

Benares Varanasi (; ; also Banaras or Benares (; ), and Kashi.) is a city on the Ganges river in northern India that has a central place in the traditions of pilgrimage, death, and mourning in the Hindu world. * * * * The city has a syncretic tr ...

. He passed his M.A. from

Banaras Hindu University Banaras Hindu University (BHU) IAST: kāśī hindū viśvavidyālaya IPA: /kaːʃiː hɪnd̪uː ʋɪʃwəʋid̪jaːləj/), is a collegiate, central, and research university located in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India, and founded in 1916 ...

(1922) and Sahityacharya from Govt. Sanskrit College,

. He married Shivmuni Devi, daughter of Pt. Dev Krishna Ojha, granddaughter of Pt. Yogesh Dutt Ojha, a Sanskrit scholar and author of ''Paribhashendu Shekhar'', which was published from Sampurnanand Sanskrit Vishwavidyalaya,

Varanasi Varanasi (; ; also Banaras or Benares (; ), and Kashi.) is a city on the Ganges river in northern India that has a central place in the traditions of pilgrimage, death, and mourning in the Hindu world. * * * * The city has a syncretic t ...

. He died on 10 August in his centenary year 1999 at Varanasi. He had two sons. One of his son named Dr. G. S. Upadhyaya is retired from IIT Kanpur, where he was a professor in Department of Materials and Metallurgical Engineering. Dr. G. S. Upadhyaya also have been the head of department. The grandson of Baldev Upadhyaya named Dr. Anish Upadhyaya is currently professor in Department of Materials and Metallurgical Engineering, IIT Kanpur, Kanpur, UP.

Students

His students include

Hazari Prasad Dwivedi Hazari Prasad Dwivedi (19 August 190719 May 1979) was a Hindi novelist, literary historian, essayist, critic and scholar. He penned numerous novels, collections of essays, historical research on medieval religious movements of India especially K ...

Vidya Niwas Mishra Vidya Niwas Mishra (28 January 1926 – 14 February 2005) was an Indian scholar, a Hindi-Sanskrit littérateur, and a journalist. He was honoured with Padma Bhushan. Life He was born on 14 January 1926 at Pakardiha in Gorakhpur district of Utta ...

Vibhuti Narayan Singh Maharaja Vibhuti Narayan Singh (5 November 1927 – 25 December 2000) was the king of Benares, a city considered holy, located in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. He was the last Bhumihar king of the Kingdom of Kashi. Childhood Vibhuti Naraya ...

, Sitaram Chaturvedi,

Kalu Lal Shrimali Kalu Lal Shrimali (December 1909 – 5 January 2000) was the Union Education Minister for the Government of India and also a distinguished parliamentarian and an educationist. He was born in December 1909 at Udaipur and had his education at Ba ...

Rewa Prasad Dwivedi Rewa Prasad Dwivedi (22 August 1935 - 21 May 2021) was a Sanskrit scholar, poet, writer, teacher, and critic. His original works include poetry as epics and lyrics, plays, and prose. He wrote new literature under the pseudonym "sanatana", mea ...

, J. N. Chaturvedi,

Triloki Nath Chaturvedi Tirlok Nath Chaturvedi''’ (12 January 1928-5 January 2020), was a member of the 1950 batch of the Indian Administrative Service (IAS). He held several important positions in the Government of Rajasthan and the Government of India including Co ...

, and

Vishnu Kant Shastri Vishnu Kant Shastri (2 May 1929 – 17 April 2005) was an Indian politician who served as the governor of Uttar Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh. He was also an academician, scholar, poet, philosopher, author, critic, orator, editor and administrat ...

Major works

In 1922 he was appointed as a lecturer in the Department of Sanskrit at Banaras Hindu University. After serving the institution for 38 years he retired as Head of the Department in 1960. In 1968 he was again appointed as director and professor emeritus of the Research Institute at

Sampurnanand Sanskrit University Sampurnanand Sanskrit Vishwavidyalaya (IAST: ; formerly Varanaseya Sanskrit Vishwavidyalaya and Government Sanskrit College, Varanasi) is an Indian university and institution of higher learning located in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, specializing i ...

. He also served as president, Uttar Pradesh Sanskrit Academy,

Lucknow Lucknow (, ) is the capital and the largest city of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh and it is also the second largest urban agglomeration in Uttar Pradesh. Lucknow is the administrative headquarters of the eponymous district and division ...

. When he was director of the Research Institute, he was the chief editor of the book series, ''

Sarasvati Bhavana Granthamala Sārasvati Bhavana Granthamala (previously known as Sarasvati Bhavana Texts) is a series of editions of Sanskrit scholarly texts. The publication of the series began in 1920, on behalf of Sarasvati Bhawan, the Library, Government Sanskrit College, ...

'', and the

journal ''

Sarasvati Sushama Saraswati ( sa, सरस्वती, ) is the Hindu goddess of knowledge, music, art, speech, wisdom, and learning. She is one of the Tridevi, along with the goddesses Lakshmi and Parvati. The earliest known mention of Saraswati as a god ...

''. He wrote many books which are the outcome of original studies and are authoritative in the respected fields. He also edited about 25 books.Shemushi, (Ed)

, Sharda Niketan, Varanasi, 2000.

Awards and honours

* Mangla Prasad Puraskar, 1942 * Dalmia Puraskar, 1946 * Shravan-Nath Puraskara * Sahitya Varidhi, Prayag, 1972 * D.Litt., 1977 * Certificate of Honour, Awarded by

Zakir Hussain Zakir Hussain ( ur, , link=no) is the name of: * Zakir Husain (politician), an Indian politician and former president of India * Zakir Hussain (actor), Bollywood actor * Zakir Hussain (field hockey) (1934–2019), Pakistani field hockey player * ...

President of India The president of India ( IAST: ) is the head of state of the Republic of India. The president is the nominal head of the executive, the first citizen of the country, as well as the commander-in-chief of the Indian Armed Forces. Droupadi Murmu ...

1968. * Kalidas Sahitya Ratna, Ujjain, 1982 * Vishva Sanskrit Bharati Award, U.P. Sanskrit Academy, 1983. *

Padma Bhushan The Padma Bhushan is the third-highest civilian award in the Republic of India, preceded by the Bharat Ratna and the Padma Vibhushan and followed by the Padma Shri. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is given for "distinguished service ...

Awarded by

Giani Zail Singh Giani Zail Singh (, born Jarnail Singh; 5 May 1916 – 25 December 1994) was an Indian politician from Punjab who served as the seventh president of India from 1982 to 1987. He was the first Sikh and the first person from a backward caste to bec ...

, 1984. * Umaswami Award, Kunda Kunda Bharati Ch. Trust, New Delhi, 1994 * Mahamahopadhyaya, 1997 * Rama Krishna Dalmiya Sri Vani Award, Ramkrishna Dalmiya Trust, New Delhi

Books

Upadhyaya had chosen

as his medium for writing books. There were no authoritative books on all branch of

literature.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Upadhyaya, Baldev People from Ballia district Banaras Hindu University alumni Recipients of the Padma Bhushan in literature & education Indian male writers 1899 births 1999 deaths Scholars from Varanasi 20th-century Indian historians