Vrajlal Kalidas Shastri (1825-1892) was a pioneer of

philology Philology () is the study of language in oral and writing, written historical sources; it is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics (with especially strong ties to etymology). Philology is also defin ...

Gujarati language Gujarati (; gu, ગુજરાતી, Gujarātī, translit-std=ISO, label=Gujarati script, ) is an Indo-Aryan language native to the Indian state of Gujarat and spoken predominantly by the Gujarati people. Gujarati is descended from Old Gu ...

and writer who wrote books on Gujarati language.

Life

He was born on 26 November 1825 in Malataj, a village in

Petlad Petlad is a Town and a municipality "Taluka" in Anand district in the Gujarat state of India. Petlad was founded and ruled by Koli Chieftain A tribal chief or chieftain is the leader of a tribal society or chiefdom. Tribe The concept ...

Gujarat Gujarat (, ) is a state along the western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the fifth-largest Indian state by area, covering some ; and the ninth ...

. He took his primary education in his village Malataj. He had studied Sanskrit poetry and grammar in Sanskrit ''pathshala''s. He also studied

Prakrit The Prakrits (; sa, prākṛta; psu, 𑀧𑀸𑀉𑀤, ; pka, ) are a group of vernacular Middle Indo-Aryan languages that were used in the Indian subcontinent from around the 3rd century BCE to the 8th century CE. The term Prakrit is usu ...

grammar and literature. He taught Sanskrit at Jain Mandir,

Ahmedabad Ahmedabad ( ; Gujarati: Amdavad ) is the most populous city in the Indian state of Gujarat. It is the administrative headquarters of the Ahmedabad district and the seat of the Gujarat High Court. Ahmedabad's population of 5,570,585 (per t ...

. Due to Jain religious books, he became familiar with Prakrit-

Pali Pali () is a Middle Indo-Aryan liturgical language native to the Indian subcontinent. It is widely studied because it is the language of the Buddhist ''Pāli Canon'' or ''Tipiṭaka'' as well as the sacred language of ''Theravāda'' Buddhism ...

, Apabhramsa,

Ardha Magadhi Ardhamagadhi Prakrit was a Middle Indo-Aryan language and a Dramatic Prakrit thought to have been spoken in modern-day Bihar and Uttar Pradesh and used in some early Buddhist and Jain drama. It was likely a Central Indo-Aryan language, related to ...

so he wrote books on philology of Gujarati. He worked with

Gujarat Vernacular Society Gujarat Vidya Sabha, originally called Gujarat Vernacular Society, is a literary institution for the promotion of vernacular Gujarati literature and education, and for the collection of manuscripts and printed books; located in the city of Ahmed ...

and Dharma Sabha and edited their two journals, '' Buddhiprakash'' and ''Dharmaprakash''. He had a long career of twenty five years as a researcher and scholar. He died on 14 November 1892.

Works

He had written fifteen books. His books on Gujarati language include ''Gujarati Bhashano Itihas'' (1866), ''Utsargmala'' (1870), ''Gurjar Bhasha Prakash'' (1892). His ''Utsargama'' is a pioneer work in philology of Gujarati. He also compiled, with

J. V. S. Taylor Rev. Joseph van Someran Taylor (Bellary, 3 July 1820 – Edinburgh, 2 June 1881), known more commonly as J. V. S. Taylor, was a Scottish Christian missionary and writer of Gujarati language. He made the earliest attempt among westerners at writin ...

, ''Dhatusangraha'' (1870), an etymological dictionary of Gujarati roots. His ''Rasganga'' is a work on poetics. ''Chandrahas Akhyana'' and ''Muktamala'' are his other creative works. ''Yagnavalkyacharit'' is a biography of sage

Yajnavalkya Yajnavalkya or Yagyavalkya ( sa, याज्ञवल्क्य, ) is a Hindu Vedic sage figuring in the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad (c. 700 BCE)., Quote: "Yajnavalkya, a Vedic sage, taught..."Ben-Ami Scharfstein (1998), ''A comparative histor ...

in a dialogue form which is an only biography in such form in Gujarati. ''Hitopadesh Shabdartha'' (1870) and ''Vaisheshik Tarksaar'' (1898; posthumously) are also his significant works.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shastri, Vrajlal Indian male poets Poets from Gujarat Gujarati-language writers Gujarati-language poets 19th-century Indian biographers 1825 births 1892 deaths Scholars from British India Indian editors Indian philologists People from Anand district 19th-century Indian poets 19th-century Indian male writers 19th-century Indian linguists Indian male biographers