Baldev Upadhyaya


Baldev Upadhyaya was a Hindi, Sanskrit scholar, literary historian, essayist and critic. He wrote numerous books, collections of essays and a historical outline of Sanskrit literature. 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 district of Uttar Pradesh, British India. 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, Ballia, except for a session 1911–1912, when he was admitted to the 6th standard at Bengali Tola Inter College, Benares. He passed his M.A. from Banaras Hindu University and Sahityacharya from Govt. Sanskrit College, Benares.
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.
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, Vidya Niwas Mishra, Vibhuti Narayan Singh, Sitaram Chaturvedi, Kalu Lal Shrimali, Rewa Prasad Dwivedi, J. N. Chaturvedi, Triloki Nath Chaturvedi, and Vishnu Kant Shastri.

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. He also served as president, Uttar Pradesh Sanskrit Academy, Lucknow.
When he was director of the Research Institute, he was the chief editor of the book series, Sarasvati Bhavana Granthamala, and the Sanskrit journal Sarasvati Sushama. He wrote many books which are the outcome of original studies and are authoritative in the respected fields. He also edited about 25 books.

Awards and honours

Upadhyaya had chosen Hindi as his medium for writing books. There were no authoritative books on all branch of Sanskrit literature.
Name of BookPublisherYear
Rasika Govinda Aur Unki KavitaHindi Nagari Pracharini Sabha, Ballia.1926
Sukti MuktavaliHaridas Company, Mathura1932
Sanskrit Kavi CharchāMaster Khedilal, Varanasi1932
Bhartiya DarshanaSharda Mandir, Varanasi1942
Sanskrit Sahitya Ka ItihasSharda Mandir, Varanasi1944
Dharma aur DarshanaSharda Mandir, Varanasi1945
Sanskrit VangmayaSharda Mandir, Varanasi1945
Vaidika KahaniyaSharda Mandir, Varanasi1946
Bauddha Darsana MimansaSharda Mandir, Varanasi1946
Arya Sanskriti Ke MuladharaSharda Mandir, Varanasi1947
Bhartiya Sahitya ShastraPrasad Parisad, Varanasi1948
Bhagvata SampradayaNagari Prachatini Sabha, Varanasi1954
Vaidika Sahitya Aur SanskritiSharda Sansthan, Varanasi1955
Sanskrit AlochanaU.P. Sanskrit Sansthan, Lucknow1956
KavyanushilanaRamesh Book Deopt, Jaipur1956
Bhartiya Vangmaya Mein Sri RadhaBihar Rastrabhasha Parishad, Patna1963
Sanskrit Sukavi SamikchhaChaukamba Vidya Bhavan, Varanasi1963
Purana VimarshaChaukamba Vidya Bhavan, Varanasi1965
Sanskrit Shashtron Ka ItihasChaukamba Vidya Bhavan, Varanasi1969
Bhartiya Dharma Aur DarshanaChaukamba Vidya Bhavan, Varanasi1977
Sanskrit Sahitya Ka Sanksipta ItihasSharda Sansthan, Varanasi1978
Kashi Ki Panditya ParamparaSharda Sansthan, Varanasi1985
Bhartiya Dharma aur Darshana Ka AnushilanSharda Sansthan, Varanasi1985
VimarshachintamanihSharda Sansthan, Varanasi1987