Pushpa Ratna Sagar ( ne, पुष्प रत्न सागर) (born Pushpa Ratna Tuladhar) (29 October 1922 – 11 November 2011) was a Nepalese merchant, grammarian,

lexicographer Lexicography is the study of lexicons, and is divided into two separate academic disciplines. It is the art of compiling dictionaries. * Practical lexicography is the art or craft of compiling, writing and editing dictionaries. * Theoreti ...

and pioneer pressman. Born Pushpa Ratna

Tuladhar Tulādhar (Devanagari: तुलाधर) is a Nepali/Nepalese caste from the Newar community of the Kathmandu Valley in Nepal. The name Tuladhar is derived from the Sanskrit words "tula" (weighing scale) and "dhar" (possessor), thus meaning scale ...

Asan Asan () is a city in South Chungcheong Province, South Korea. It borders the Seoul Capital Area to the north. Asan has a population of approximately 300,000. Asan is known for its many hot springs and is a city of spas. Asan has grown into th ...

Dhalasikwa,

Kathmandu , pushpin_map = Nepal Bagmati Province#Nepal#Asia , coordinates = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = , subdivision_type1 = Province , subdivision_name1 = Bagmati Prov ...

, he acquired the nickname Sagar in his childhood during a pilgrimage to Ganga Sagar (

Sagar Island Sagar Island is an island in the Ganges delta, lying on the Continental Shelf of Bay of Bengal about 100 km (54 nautical miles) south of Kolkata. This island forms the Sagar CD Block in Kakdwip subdivision of South 24 Parganas district ...

) in India. He was the third and youngest son of trader

Pushpa Sundar Tuladhar Pushpa Sundar Tuladhar ( ne, पुष्पसुन्दर तुलाधर; 1885-1935) was a prominent merchant of Kathmandu and one of the chief donors to the restoration of the Swayambhu stupa in 1918. Swayambhu, a UNESCO World Heritag ...

and his wife Dhan Maya.

Early life

Sagar received primary education at a neighbourhood school conducted at the home of teacher Jagat Lal Master. He was married to Lani Devi Bania of Itum Bahal on 12 January 1942. In 1943, he left for

Lhasa Lhasa (; Lhasa dialect: ; bo, text=ལྷ་ས, translation=Place of Gods) is the urban center of the prefecture-level city, prefecture-level Lhasa (prefecture-level city), Lhasa City and the administrative capital of Tibet Autonomous Regio ...

Tibet Tibet (; ''Böd''; ) is a region in East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are some other ethnic groups such as Monpa people, ...

to join his ancestral business house Ghorasyar.

Career

While in Lhasa, he was stirred by the activism in Nepal against the suppression of

Nepal Bhasa Newar (), or Newari and known officially in Nepal as Nepal Bhasa, is a Sino-Tibetan languages, Sino-Tibetan language spoken by the Newar people, the indigenous inhabitants of Nepal Mandala, which consists of the Kathmandu Valley and surro ...

and imprisonment of writers by the

Rana Rana may refer to: Astronomy * Rana (crater), a crater on Mars * Delta Eridani or Rana, a star People, groups and titles * Rana (name), a given name and surname (including a list of people and characters with the name) * Rana (title), a histori ...

regime. He thought of doing something for his mother tongue, and started writing a grammar of the language that would be useful to students. In 1949, he returned to Kathmandu where he completed the manuscript. The grammar, entitled ''Subodh Nepal Bhasa Vyakaran'', was published in 1952. In 1951, ''

Thaunkanhe ''Thaunkanhe'' () is the first magazine in Nepal Bhasa to be published from Nepal. The monthly magazine began publication on 21 May 1951 (Nepal Era 1071 Bachhala), coinciding with the festival of Swanya Punhi, the "full moon day of flowers" marki ...

'', the first Nepal Bhasa monthly magazine to be published from Nepal, began publication with Sagar as the deputy editor. In a bid to promote publishing in Nepal Bhasa, Sagar formed a partnership with two like-minded former Tibetan traders,

Purna Kaji Tamrakar Purna Kaji Tamrakar ( ne, पूर्णकाजी ताम्रकार) (1920 - 2009) was a Nepalese merchant, author and journalist who worked to develop Nepal Bhasa at the time when writers were being persecuted by the government. Pages ...

and Ratna Man Singh Tuladhar, and in 1952 established Nepal Press at his home at 11/122 Asan Tyouda Tol, Kathmandu. Their equipment consisted of second-hand Vicobold letterpress machines imported from

Kolkata Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, comme ...

. Sagar was also active in a number of associations. He was a member of Dharmodaya Sabha (Society for the Rise of the Teaching), a Buddhist organization founded in 1944 in

Sarnath Sarnath (Hindustani pronunciation: aːɾnaːtʰ also referred to as Sarangnath, Isipatana, Rishipattana, Migadaya, or Mrigadava) is a place located northeast of Varanasi, near the confluence of the Ganges and the Varuna rivers in Uttar Pr ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

by exiled Nepalese monks and dedicated to promoting

Theravada Buddhism ''Theravāda'' () ( si, ථේරවාදය, my, ထေရဝါဒ, th, เถรวาท, km, ថេរវាទ, lo, ເຖຣະວາດ, pi, , ) is the most commonly accepted name of Buddhism's oldest existing school. The school' ...

. In 1957, he was secretary of the Kathmandu chapter of the

Nepalese Chamber of Commerce, Lhasa The Nepalese Chamber of Commerce, Lhasa opened in 1943, the first ever organization of businesses formed by Nepalese traders based in the Tibetan capital. The Newar merchants conducted trade between Lhasa and Kolkata transporting goods over the H ...

when it hosted a reception to honour visiting Chinese Premier

Zhou Enlai Zhou Enlai (; 5 March 1898 – 8 January 1976) was a Chinese statesman and military officer who served as the first Premier of the People's Republic of China, premier of the People's Republic of China from 1 October 1949 until his death on 8 J ...

. In 1960, Sagar set up Nepal Printing Press and continued his service to Nepal Bhasa. He compiled a dictionary of original words with meanings in Nepal Bhasa, Nepali and English, and in 1998, published it under the title ''Nepal Bhasaya Maulik Sabdakosh''.

Honors

On 31 October 1994, Nepal Bhasa Parishad decorated Sagar with the title Bhasa Thuwa (Patron of the Language). He was made a patron of Nepal Lipi Guthi, an organization dedicated to preserving

Nepalese scripts Nepalese scripts ( Nepal Lipi: 𑐣𑐾𑐥𑐵𑐮 𑐁𑐏𑐮, Devanagari: नेपाल आखल) are alphabetic writing systems employed historically in Nepal Mandala by the indigenous Newars for primarily writing Nepal Bhasa. It is also ...

. In 2008, chairman of the Constituent Assembly Subash Nemwang presented Sagar with a letter of felicitation to honour his contribution to

Buddhism in Nepal Buddhism in Nepal started spreading since the reign of Ashoka through Indian and Tibetan missionaries. The Kiratas were the first people in Nepal who embraced Gautama Buddha’s teachings, followed by the Licchavis and Newar people. Buddha was b ...

at a function organised by Dharmodaya Sabha.

Published works

*''Subodh Nepal Bhasa Vyakaran'' (''Understandable Nepal Bhasa Grammar''), 1952 *''Nepal Bhasaya Maulik Sabdakosh'' (''Original Dictionary of Nepal Bhasa''), 1998

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sagar, Pushpa Ratna 1922 births 2011 deaths People from Kathmandu Linguists from Nepal Nepalese journalists 20th-century linguists Lexicographers Newar-language writers Nepalese merchants Nepal Bhasa movement

Early life

Career

Honors

Published works

See also

References