Gajanan Madhav Muktibodh


Gajanan Madhav Muktibodh was one of the most prominent Hindi poets, essayist, literary and political critic, and fiction writers of the 20th century. He also remained assistant-editor of journals like, Naya Khun and Vasudha.
He is widely considered one of the pioneers of modern poetry in India, and doyen of Hindi poetry after, Surya Kant Tripathi 'Nirala', and known as being a pioneer, the mainstay of Prayogvaad Experimentalism movement of Hindi literature and it was also his work, which also marked the culmination of this literary movement and its evolution into the Nayi Kahani and Nayi Kavita Modernism in 1950s, his presence is equally important in the rise of 'New Criticism' in Indian literature.
Muktibodh was born in Sheopur, Madhya Pradesh. He started out as an important poet, being published in the first three volumes of Tar Saptak, series of anthologies, which marked a transition in Hindi literature, from the prevalent Chhayavaad movement; this led to the initiation of Prayogvaad Experimentalism in Hindi poetry, and developing along with Pragativaad Progressivism, eventually led to the creation of the 'Nayi Kahani' movement, Modernism.
Brahmarakshas is considered his most influential work in experimental poems, noted for the use of archetypal imagery, and the stark depiction of the contemporary intellectual, who gets so lost in his own sense of perfectionism, unending calculations, and subjective interpretation of the external reality that soon he loses touch with the reality itself, and eventually dies and fades away like dead bird.
His work was deeply influenced by his viewpoints of Marxism, Socialism and Existentialism, and carried an innate expression of his deep discontent, heightened by his virulent imagery. He continued to show his progressive streak even after the disintegration of the Progressive Writers' Movement after 1953; and, through the rest of his career, he along with writers like, Yashpal, continued his ideological fight against modernist and formalist trends in Hindi literature.
He is best known for his long poems:Brahma-rakshasa, Chand ka Muh Teda hai , Andhere Mein and Bhuri Bhuri Khak Dhul ; his complete works extending to 6 volumes, were published in 1980, as Muktibodh Rachnavali.
Sharadchandra Madhav Muktibodh, a Marathi poet, novelist, and Marxist critic, winner of Sahitya Akademi Award in Marathi, was the younger brother of Muktibodh

Works

His first individual book was published in 1964, when he was on his death-bed: . Although Muktibodh could not manage to get his works published, as a book in his lifetime, he was one of the contributing poets to the first three volumes of Tar Saptak, a series of path-breaking poetry anthologies, edited by Ajneya."Bhoori Bhoori Khak Dhool"is the collection of his remaining poems.His complete work is available as 'Muktibodh Rachnavali"edited by Nemichand Jain.
He is today considered a bridge between the Progressive movement in Hindi poetry and the Nayi Kavita movement.
Muktibodh made a name for himself in the field of criticism as well, with his strong views on the upper caste influence on the disintegration of Bhakti movement in India, which he viewed a lower caste uprising against the hegemony upper caste. In literary criticism, he wrote a critical work on Kamayani of literary doyen, Jaishankar Prasad titled: Kamayani, Ek Punarvichar.
Ek Sahityik ki Diary, first written for his column in the weekly Naya Khun, and later continued in the journal Vasudha, published from Jabalpur, offers a glimpse of his literary and socio-political criticism, and insights into his way of thinking, and was first published in 1964. It is most noted for the article, Teesra Kshana, where he shows his preference for the hypothesis of three successive stages in the creative process, of inspiration, impersonalisation and expression, rather than a single moment of inspiration

Media

A Hindi feature film, Satah Se Uthata Aadmi, with script and dialogues by him, was directed by veteran film director, Mani Kaul, and shown at Cannes Film Festival in 1981. In 2004, "Brahmarakshas ka Shishya", a dramatization of Muktibodh's story, was presented in New Delhi by Soumyabrata Choudhury.
His novel, Vipatra has also been made into an audio book for the blind.

Legacy

His brilliance was recognised by the literary world after the posthumous publication of Chand Ka Munh Tedha Hai, the first collection of his poems, in the early 1960s. Ever since, the book has run into several editions, and is recognised as a modern classic. In his memory, Madhya Pradesh Sahitya Parishad, has instituted the annual MuktiBodh Puraskar.
In 2004, 'Muktibodh Smarak', a memorial was set up at the 'Triveni Sangrahalaya' in Rajnandgaon in Chhattisgarh, along with fellow poets of Chhattisgarh, Padumlal Punnalal Bakshi and Baldeo Prasad Mishra.