Dwijendranath Thakur (11 March 1840 - 19 Jan 1926) the eldest son of Debendranath Thakur and grandson of Dwarakanath Thakur was born in Kolkata (Calcutta) on 11 March 1840. He was a poet, song composer, philosopher, mathematician, and a pioneer in Bengali shorthand and musical notation.
He was mainly educated at home, but later he studied for some time in St. Paul's School and Hindu College of Kolkata. He was always close to his younger brother Satyendranath (1842 - 1923) but the two brothers differed considerably. Dwijendranath was comfortable with the traditions of the society, while Satyendranath enjoyed breaking down conservative rules to establish a modern society. Dwijendranath spent his time in cultivating poetry, acquiring knowledge and conducting various experiments.His wife, Sarbasundari, died at an early age and he remained widower through out the rest of his life.
Contribution to Bengali Literature :
His first contribution to Bengali literature was the Bengali translation of Kaildasa's classical Sanskrit work Meghadut in 1860 before the birth of his younger brother Rabindranath. It was the first time that that the great sanskrit poetic work was translated into Bengali. He had used two different Bengali rythmic styles for the translation.
Debendranath thakur
Dwijendranath's second great work of poetry Swapnaprayan, published in 1875. This novel-poetry describes the travels of a young man to different places. Prabhat Mukhopadhayaya in his book Rabindrajiban Katha mentioned when Dwijendranath was writing Swapnaprayan and was reciting the book in front of his friends, Rabindranath was a boy noticing all this standing by the side of a door. Dwijendranath had displayed a remarkable control over the use of different rhythmic styles in the book. The book has a historic value.
It was an age when Michael Madhusudan influenced all Bengali poets but Dwijendranath was free from any such impact. On the other hand, Michael Madhusudan had hailed Dwijendranath as a poet of the future. Dwijendranath was 'a true philosopher'. He consorted with the learned of the National Society and the Biddwajjan-Samagam, both of which he had organised. Rabindranath came back from England in 1880 and after coming from England he found that a get-together had been arranged where renowned persons would be coming from Calcutta. Rabindranath was given the charge of writing a drama to be staged before the audience. He wrote Balmiki Prativa and he himself took the role of Valmiki. The lyrical-dramma was excellent and the performance was grand. Dwijendranath delved deep into the philosophy of the Bhagabad Gita.Dwijendranath on the chair and Rabindranath sitting by his side.
The philosophical work, Tattwabidya (Knowledge of Principles), published in three vols between 1866 and 1868, was a pioneering effort in Bengali literature. Never before had such a work been published. In 1896, he published Adwaita Mather Samalochana (Criticism of Adwaita Phlosophy) and in 1899, Aryadharma O Boudhya Darmer Ghat-Pratighat (a book on the conflicts of aryan religion, Hinduism, and Buddhism).
