) , birth_date = , birth_place =

Porbandar Porbandar is a city in the States and territories of India, Indian state of Gujarat, perhaps best known for being the birthplace of Mahatma Gandhi and Sudama. It is the administrative center of the Porbandar District and it was the former capi ...

, Gujarat , death_date = , death_place = , body_discovered = , resting_place = , resting_place_coordinates = , monuments = , other_names = Himachal ( gu, હિમાચલ), Soham ( gu, સોહમ્), Chanakya ( gu, ચાણક્ય), Muktanand VishwaYatri ( gu, મુક્તાનંદ વિશ્વયાત્રી), Pandit Kaushik Sharma ( gu, પંડિત કૌશિક શર્મા), V. M. Vasu ( gu, વિ. મુ. વાસુ), Goswami Shree Vijayraiji ( gu, ગોસ્વામી શ્રી વિજયરાયજી), Vijaytung ( gu, વિજયતુંગ), Vachaspati ( gu, વાચસ્પતિ), Indradhanu ( gu, ઇન્દ્રધનુ), VasantVijay ( gu, વસંતવિજય) , education = Bhavsingh High School,

;

Mumbai University The University of Mumbai is a collegiate, state-owned, public research university in Mumbai. The University of Mumbai is one of the largest universities in the world. , the university had 711 affiliated colleges. Ratan Tata is the appointed ...

, occupation = Journalist and author , years_active = 1945–1991 , employer = Janmabhumi, Parkruti Magazine , organization = , agent = , known_for = Pioneering science journalism in Gujarati , notable_works = , spouse = , partner = , father = Murarji , mother = Motibai , children = Nagendra Vijay, Bhardvaj Vijay , awards = , website = , footnotes = Vijaygupta Maurya was a pioneer science writer in Gujarati. He wrote thousands of articles popularising science as well as several books.

Life

Early life

Vijaygupta Maurya was born Vijayshankar Murarji Vasu in

(now in Gujarat, India) in 1909. He completed his high school education at Bhavsingh High School in Porbandar. He studied law in Bombay (now Mumbai) and returned to Porbandar in 1933 to start his legal practice. Four years later, he was elevated to the position of a judge. Due to his passion for bird watching, he wrote articles on birds for ' magazine. In 1944, Indian independence activist Vasant Avsare came to Porbandar and asked Vijaygupta Maurya to fight his case. However, as Vijaygupta Maurya was already at the position of judge, he could not do so. This prompted Vijaygupta Maurya to resign from his position and took Avsare's case as a lawyer. This ended Vijaygupta Maurya's career as judge and he decided to stay in Mumbai. He found a job as a typist for the salary of Rs. 0.75 per month at .Pushkarna, Harshal
"Vijaygupta Maurya"
'' gu, એક નજર આ તરફ...'', 22 March 2009, accessed 7 December 2010.

Career as Journalist and Writer

Between financial struggles, he wrote for ''Prakriti'' magazine. Few years later, he was invited to write for a Gujarati newspaper '' Janmabhumi''. He wrote articles on birds and animals printed on the last page of ''Janambhumi Pravasi'' with limited space and eventually became an editor and writer of the whole page. He wrote on varied subjects including science, astronomy and biology. In 1973, he left ''Janmabhumi Pravasi'' and became a freelancer writing for various magazines. He wrote several books during that time that included the theme of serving interesting information rolled up in stories as well as books based on true events. His career as a writer spanned over 46 years but he continued to struggle financially. During last years, he had several ailments including poor vision, back pain and the Parkinson's disease. After a long illness, he died on 10 July 1992.

Personal life

His sons, Nagendra Vijay and Bhardvaj Vijay, were also popular science writers. Nagendra Vijay started writing at the age of 14 and pioneered the first Gujarati science magazine ''Scope'' and later ''

Safari A safari (; ) is an overland journey to observe wild animals, especially in eastern or southern Africa. The so-called "Big Five" game animals of Africa – lion, leopard, rhinoceros, elephant, and Cape buffalo – particularly form an importa ...

''. His grandson, Harshal Pushkarna, is also popular science writer and currently heads ''Safari''.

Selected books

Some of the Gujarati books authored by Vijaygupta Maurya * ''Sherkhan'' (શેરખાન) * ''Kapina Parakramo'' (કપિનાં પરાક્રમો) * ''Sinh Vaghni Sobatma'' (સિંહ વાઘની સોબતમાં) * ''Shikarini Tarap'' (શિકારીની તરાપ) * ''Kimiyagar Kabir'' (કીમિયાગર કબીર) * ''Hathina Tolama'' (હાથીના ટોળામાં) * ''Kutch thi Kashmir Sudhi Ladi Janyu Jawanoe'' (કચ્છથી કાશ્મીર સુધી લડી જાણ્યું જવાનોએ) * ''Kashmirnu Agnisnan'' (કાશ્મીરનું અગ્નિસ્નાન) * ''Zagmagtu Zaverat'' (ઝગમગતું ઝવેરાત) * ''Samudrani Ajayab Jeevshrishti'' (સમુદ્રની અજાયબ જીવસૃષ્ટિ) * ''Prakrutina Ladakvya Pankhio'' (પ્રકૃતિનાં લાડકવાયાં પંખીઓ) * ''Jindagi Jindagi'' (જિંદગી જિંદગી) * ''Manas Jem Boline Superstar Baneli Ek Hati Mena'' (માણસ જેમ બોલીને સુપરસ્ટાર બનેલી એક હતી મેના) * ''Circus Jeevanna Jivsatosatna Sahaso'' (સરકસ જીવનના જીવ સટોસટનાં સાહસો) * ''Samudrani Sahaskatha'' (સમુદ્રની સાહસકથા) * ''Prithvidarshan'' (પૃથ્વીદર્શન) * ''Hawamannu Gyan Sha Mate?'' (હવામાનનું જ્ઞાન શા માટે?) * ''Galápagos'' (ગાલાપાગોસ) * ''Aa Chhe Russia'' (આ છે રશિયા)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Maurya, Vijaygupta Gujarati-language writers Gujarati people 1909 births 1992 deaths People from Porbandar Indian male novelists 20th-century Indian novelists Novelists from Gujarat People from Porbandar district Journalists from Gujarat 20th-century Indian journalists Indian popular science writers 20th-century Indian male writers