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Authors: Akshaya Mukul
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other journals, the weekly
Sandesh
and monthly
Kavi
, played an important role in spreading Gandhi’s message in Gorakhpur.
As for the cow-protection movement, like other towns in the United Provinces, Gorakhpur took part by setting up gaurakshini sabhas. In Gorakhpur the most notable intervention was the meeting of gaurakshini sabha in 1893 where ‘sixteen rules were drawn up’ including the ‘explicit message that chamars and others buy cows and sell them to butchers; and Musalmans and others are the very cause of the slaughter of cows. Cows shall not be sold into the hands of any such persons, and if any kind of cow dies the owner shall sell its skin to a proper person, and apply the money to cow-protection.’ 20
In purely religious terms, as spelt out in Francis Buchanan’s account of his travels across Patna, Gaya, Shahabad and Gorakhpur, ‘higher percentages of Brahmin gurus in Shahabad and, more especially, Gorakhpur districts were vaishnava in their religious outlook’. The rising influence of vaishnavas, as pointed out by Buchanan in the nineteenth century, would be ratified by ‘Jogendra Nath Bhattacharya, president of the college of Pandits in Nadia (Bengal)’ when he said, ‘Vaishnavas are very fast extending the sphere of their influence, and many of the
tantriks
are now espousing vaishnava tenets in order to have the advantage of enlisting among their followers the low classes that are becoming rich under British rule.’ 21
This was the political and religious setting when
Kalyan
shifted to the sugar-cane town where Gita Press was located. In existence since 29 April 1923, Goyandka’s brainchild Gita Press had been set up at the insistence of his friend Ghanshyamdas Jalan. 22 Before the press started, copies of the Gita would be brought from Gobind Bhawan, Calcutta, for distribution in the United Provinces. Sabhapati Mishra was appointed to take the text to villages and schools. This was when the system of rewarding any student who could recite a chapter of the Gita began. Mahavir Prasad Poddar, a business partner of Jalan’s who had some experience of publishing, joined the venture and took care of its accounts. One of the earliest associates of Goyandka, Mahavir Prasad was slowly marginalized as Hanuman Prasad took over the affairs of Gita Press.
One of the first changes that the Gita Press witnessed after
Kalyan
’s move to Gorakhpur was the inculcation of missionary feeling among the editorial staff. They were mandated to live as a family and follow the strict regimen of devout sanatanis. The remuneration and perks were not attractive, a fact Goyandka would make bluntly clear to Nandlal Joshi, a prospective employee, telling him that his salary could not be more than Rs 40 or Rs 50 per month. ‘It is impossible to imagine a life without debt working for
Kalyan
and Gita Press. If you want a debtless life think of starting a business,’ he advised Joshi. 23
The idea of working for spiritual gratification at Gita Press was not without attraction. Even in 1968, an appeal to join
Kalyan
drew a number of applications from a wide range of people; some like V.K. Roy, a retired store purchase and supplies officer of Indian Airlines, offered his services gratis but with the rider that he and his wife be given a furnished flat and free supply of tea and milk. Nemani Kameswara Rao, retired from the Cooperative Land Mortgage Bank in Yellamanchili, Andhra Pradesh, also demanded a ‘simple and heartfelt cottage and simple food twice a day, fit for a recluse’. Both were old subscribers of
Kalyan
and in the autumn of their life wanted to do something good for religion.
The relatively younger Upendra Nath Jha from Bihar was also vying for the same job, hard-selling his qualifications, the foremost of which, he claimed, was his brahmin origin and full knowledge of the working of Gita Press. Two men in their twenties, Madan Gopal, a postgraduate in English from Delhi, and Bhagwandhar Diwan, a history
Sandesh
and monthly
Kavi
, played an important role in spreading Gandhi’s message in Gorakhpur.
As for the cow-protection movement, like other towns in the United Provinces, Gorakhpur took part by setting up gaurakshini sabhas. In Gorakhpur the most notable intervention was the meeting of gaurakshini sabha in 1893 where ‘sixteen rules were drawn up’ including the ‘explicit message that chamars and others buy cows and sell them to butchers; and Musalmans and others are the very cause of the slaughter of cows. Cows shall not be sold into the hands of any such persons, and if any kind of cow dies the owner shall sell its skin to a proper person, and apply the money to cow-protection.’ 20
In purely religious terms, as spelt out in Francis Buchanan’s account of his travels across Patna, Gaya, Shahabad and Gorakhpur, ‘higher percentages of Brahmin gurus in Shahabad and, more especially, Gorakhpur districts were vaishnava in their religious outlook’. The rising influence of vaishnavas, as pointed out by Buchanan in the nineteenth century, would be ratified by ‘Jogendra Nath Bhattacharya, president of the college of Pandits in Nadia (Bengal)’ when he said, ‘Vaishnavas are very fast extending the sphere of their influence, and many of the
tantriks
are now espousing vaishnava tenets in order to have the advantage of enlisting among their followers the low classes that are becoming rich under British rule.’ 21
This was the political and religious setting when
Kalyan
shifted to the sugar-cane town where Gita Press was located. In existence since 29 April 1923, Goyandka’s brainchild Gita Press had been set up at the insistence of his friend Ghanshyamdas Jalan. 22 Before the press started, copies of the Gita would be brought from Gobind Bhawan, Calcutta, for distribution in the United Provinces. Sabhapati Mishra was appointed to take the text to villages and schools. This was when the system of rewarding any student who could recite a chapter of the Gita began. Mahavir Prasad Poddar, a business partner of Jalan’s who had some experience of publishing, joined the venture and took care of its accounts. One of the earliest associates of Goyandka, Mahavir Prasad was slowly marginalized as Hanuman Prasad took over the affairs of Gita Press.
One of the first changes that the Gita Press witnessed after
Kalyan
’s move to Gorakhpur was the inculcation of missionary feeling among the editorial staff. They were mandated to live as a family and follow the strict regimen of devout sanatanis. The remuneration and perks were not attractive, a fact Goyandka would make bluntly clear to Nandlal Joshi, a prospective employee, telling him that his salary could not be more than Rs 40 or Rs 50 per month. ‘It is impossible to imagine a life without debt working for
Kalyan
and Gita Press. If you want a debtless life think of starting a business,’ he advised Joshi. 23
The idea of working for spiritual gratification at Gita Press was not without attraction. Even in 1968, an appeal to join
Kalyan
drew a number of applications from a wide range of people; some like V.K. Roy, a retired store purchase and supplies officer of Indian Airlines, offered his services gratis but with the rider that he and his wife be given a furnished flat and free supply of tea and milk. Nemani Kameswara Rao, retired from the Cooperative Land Mortgage Bank in Yellamanchili, Andhra Pradesh, also demanded a ‘simple and heartfelt cottage and simple food twice a day, fit for a recluse’. Both were old subscribers of
Kalyan
and in the autumn of their life wanted to do something good for religion.
The relatively younger Upendra Nath Jha from Bihar was also vying for the same job, hard-selling his qualifications, the foremost of which, he claimed, was his brahmin origin and full knowledge of the working of Gita Press. Two men in their twenties, Madan Gopal, a postgraduate in English from Delhi, and Bhagwandhar Diwan, a history
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