Jagadbandhu Bhadra

Posted by Ray on January 27, 2015 in Literature | 0 comments

Jagadbandhu Bhadra (জগদ্বন্ধু ভদ্র) (1842 – 1906) was the headmaster of a government school in eastern Bengal (now Bangladesh). He retired in 1896. In the Bengali year 1310 he compiled and published Gaurapada Tarangini (গৌরপদতরঙ্গিনী), a poem comprising 1517 verses and written by 80 ancient Vaishnava sages, an act that made him famous in Bengali literature. He was a pioneer in his research on the lives of the Vaishnava poets. He published a collection of Vidyapati’s verses in the Bengali year 1280 entitled Mahajan Padavali Samgraha (মহাজন-পদাবলীসংগ্রহ).

Jagadbandhu wrote Vaishnava verses himself. Some of his other important works are: two long poems — Bharoter Hinabastha (ভারতের হীনাবস্থা) (c. 1866) and Tapati Udbaha (তপতী উদ্বাহ); two plays — Debala Devi(দেবলা-দেবী) (c. 1870) and Bijay Singha (বিজয়সিংহ) (c. 1870) and a parody in verse entitled Chhuchhundaribadh Kavya (ছুছুন্দরীবধ কাব্য) [The Death of a Mole].

(Translated from Bangiya Sahitya Parishad’s Bharat Kosh)