Kavi Kant

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Kavi Kant

Manishankar Ratnashankar Bhatt, popularly known as Kavi Kant (Gujarati: મણિશંકર રત્નશંકર ભટૃ or "કાન્ત") was a Gujarati poet.

Early life

Kavi Kant was born Manishankar Ratnashankar Bhatt in 1868 in Chavand (near Amreli) village, part of the Saurashtra region of Gujarat. He was born a Hindu and was part of the Prashnora, Nagar Bhramin caste. His family's influence left him with a deep interest in both educational knowledge and philosophy. He was a student of both Hindu and Biblical philosophy.

Conversion

In 1891 his first wife Narmada died. The death of his wife affected Kant deeply, and he could not find solace in his own religion. His search for answers about life and death led him to the philosophy of Emanuel Swedenborg. His writings provided some relief for his grief and he converted to Christianity in 1898.

His family and friends opposed his decision and due to public and political opposition, he had to give up his position as minister of education in the Princely State of Bhavnagar. The community shunned both him and his family. Kant took the decision to leave the community and his family, for the sake of his wife and children.

Realizing the repercussions of Kant's decision, the King of Bhavnagar along with some of his friends formed an "intervention" of sorts to ask him to change his mind. He realized that he could not stand to see his family suffer because of this decision. He missed them dearly and did not want to be apart from them.[1]

Literary work

He wrote one poetry book called Purvalap that was released on the day he died. He invented a form of poetry called "Khand-Kavya". His poem "Sagar ane Sashi (The Sea and the Moon)" is considered one of the ten best lyric (Urmi-Kavita) of all time.[citation needed] He also wrote the plays Roman-Swaraj and Guru Govindsinh.

References

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Sources

  • Brahmbhatt, Prasad. (2003) Kavyasarita. (Literary Criticism of the evolution of Poetry). Ahmedabad: Parshwa Publication.
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  • Trivedi, Ramesh. M. (1994) Arvachin Gujarati Sahityano Itihaas. (History of Modern Gujarati Literature). Ahmedabad: Adarsh Prakashan.
  • Trivedi, Ramesh. M. (2005) Gujarati Sahityano Itihaas. (History of Gujarati Literature). Ahmedabad: Adarsh Prakashan.
  • Pathak, Ramnarayan, V. (1926) Purvalap. (First Word). Ahmedabad: R.R. Sheth Company.

External links