Isvar Chandra Vidyasagar, a story of his life and work/Finis
FINIS.
Character.
We have done our best to delineate the principal traits of Vidyasagar's character. No one can deny his greatness and superiority. There can be no doubt that Vidyasagar was truly great. He was great in kindness, great in broad sympathy, great in benevolence, great in parts; in short, he was greater in every respect than men of ordinary rank. It was this singular superiority of his, that enabled him to struggle manfully with difficulties—to rise to such dignified eminence. This extraordinary peculiarity of his character was manifest in all his deeds, however good or evil results they might have been productive of.
Vidyasagar was born at a time when this land of ancient civilisation urgently required the services of a great man like him. Whenever a country needs revolution of any kind, it gives birth to a man of extraordinary powers to accomplish the end. History furnishes us with plenty of instances to illustrate the truth of this fact. Vidyasagar was born at a time, when the Kali Yuga was exercising its deteriorating influence on the scientific religion of the saintly Rishis. Vidyasagar with his uncommon parts and abilities was only the medium through which the influence was exercised. He consummated what his predecessor, Ram Mohan Ray, who had gone to the eternity six decades before him, had begun. The Hon'ble Dr. Gurudas Banarji, the president of the memorial meeting held at the Metropolitan Institution, in his presidential speech, said;—'He (Vidyasagar) was second to none except one—the great Ram Mohan Ray.' In fact, Vidyasagar followed the footsteps of his predecessor; he pursued the course dictated by the Age. Had he been born a century before or after his epoch, it is very doubtful whether he would have been able to win such universal respect and reputation. A man wins honour and celebrity in society, when he pursues the course indicated by the Age. Vidyasagar did it, and his reputation soon rose to its highest eminence. Or else, why should he, being born in an orthodox Hindu family, surrounded from his early years by devout followers of the religion of the Rishis, himself vastly erudite in the different branches of the Sanskrit Literature, thus lose his regard for the religious usages and practices of his forefathers, and be deprived of the power of casting an insight into the true import of the sacred Sastras of his ancestors? It was God's dispensation. The merciful Father, with a view to the prevalence of the influence of the Age, implanted in his heart the germs of broad sympathy and kindness so deeply and strongly, that his knowledge of the Sastras and the religion of his fathers disappeared wholly; no vestige of it remained to guide him in the right direction. His naturally tender heart was moved at the apparent distress of Hindu widows. To remove the ostensible miseries of Kulin women, he petitioned the alien Government for legislation preventing the old practice of polygamy. But alas! he did not stop for a moment to reflect that Hindu marriage was not a legal contract but a religious alliance or what was the ultimate end of Brahmacharyya or from what source and with what view it was prescribed, or how his innovation would hinder the fulfilment of that end and materially undermine the basis of the Hindu Society; his infinite natural tenderness of heart would allow him no time to reflect on these points. It was this tenderness and kindness that made him forget the true import of the holy Sastras and the religion of his fathers. So it is unmistakably clear, that excessive kindness and self-reliance were the principal elements of his character; everything else vanished before them. Vidyasagar was a man of the Age; he followed the course indicated by it. No doubt, this course has brought on a great mischief to the real Hindu, has materially injured the Hindu religion, has propelled the Hindu Society with great force in the direction of disorganisation; but Vidyasagar ought not to be blamed for it. God alone, Who made him with such materials, knows why he did so.
This is the essence of Vidyasagar's character. Sincerity and earnestness were the fundamental bases of that character. We would earnestly pray that every one should endeavour to acquire this sincerity and earnestness, and with this sincerity and earnestness apply himself diligently to follow in the footsteps of his forefathers according to the dictates of his own Scripture, and thereby achieve his own end.
The Hon'ble C. E. Buckland, speaking of Vidyasagar in the appendix to his 'Bengal under the Lieutenant-Governor,' says;—"The life of this eminent Bengali was remarkable on several grounds, and may be studied from different aspects; (1) as an educational officer, (2) as author and editor of various publications in Bengali, Sanskrit and English, chiefly of an educational character, (3) as a social reformer, and lastly (4) as a philanthropist. He combined a fearless independence of character with great gentleness and the simplicity of a child in his dealings with people of all classes. A stern disciplinarian, he could yet forgive the shortcomings of others less gifted and less exact than himself. He was a model of patience and perseverance in literary work." Sir Roper Lethbridge says;—"Vidyasagar was the very ideal of a high-minded, intelligent and benevolent Brahmin of the old school."