Keshavasuta
Encyclopedia
Krishnaji Keshav Damle (March 15, 1866 - November 7, 1905) was a Marathi
poet from Maharashtra
, India
, who wrote poetry under the pen name Keshavasuta (केशवसुत) .
.
He attended high schools in four different towns at different times: Baroda, Wardha
, Nagpur
, and Pune
. He registered in 1884 at New English School
in Pune, where patriots Bal Gangadhar Tilak
, Gopal Ganesh Agarkar
, and a few others were then serving as teachers. These Indian independence activists
inspired nationalism in Damle.
In his high school, Damle was good at Marathi, English, and Sanskrit
languages, but very weak in mathematics. He could thus pass the high school matriculation examination only at his third attempt at age as late as 23.Disappointed, Damle terminated his formal education, and then undertook various low-paying jobs through the rest of his short life to support himself and his family.
He succumbed to a plague epidemic in 1905 at the age of 39.
Before Damle began composing his poems, Marathi poetry was primarily of the religious genre. He introduced to Marathi language poetry which was pioneering in two respects: Its themes and its language. He chose for his poetry themes of five kinds: romance, love of family, love of nature, love of nation, and poetry itself. He also used, unlike poets of the earlier generations, Marathi which was much more easily comprehensible to the reading public of his times.
His poem Khidakikade Mauj Pahavayas (खिडकीकडे मौज पहावयास) received publication in 1885 when he was 19. He wrote his last poem Harapale Shreya (हरपले श्रेय) in 1905, six months before his death.
Marathi language
Marathi is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Marathi people of western and central India. It is the official language of the state of Maharashtra. There are over 68 million fluent speakers worldwide. Marathi has the fourth largest number of native speakers in India and is the fifteenth most...
poet from Maharashtra
Maharashtra
Maharashtra is a state located in India. It is the second most populous after Uttar Pradesh and third largest state by area in India...
, India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
, who wrote poetry under the pen name Keshavasuta (केशवसुत) .
Life
Damle was born on March 15, 1866 in the town of Malgund near RatnagiriRatnagiri
Ratnāgiri is a port city on the Arabian Sea coast in Ratnagiri district in the southwestern part of Maharashtra, India. The district is a part of Konkan.The Sahyadri mountains border Ratnagiri to the east...
.
He attended high schools in four different towns at different times: Baroda, Wardha
Wardha
Wardha is a city and a municipal council in Wardha district in the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the administrative headquarters of Wardha district. Wardha gets its name from the Wardha River which flows at the North, West and South boundaries of district. Founded in 1866, the town is now an...
, Nagpur
Nagpur
Nāgpur is a city and winter capital of the state of Maharashtra, the largest city in central India and third largest city in Maharashtra after Mumbai and Pune...
, and Pune
Pune
Pune , is the eighth largest metropolis in India, the second largest in the state of Maharashtra after Mumbai, and the largest city in the Western Ghats. Once the centre of power of the Maratha Empire, it is situated 560 metres above sea level on the Deccan plateau at the confluence of the Mula ...
. He registered in 1884 at New English School
New English School
The New English School, founded in 1969 by Tareq S. Rajab, is a co-educational British curriculum, English medium, private school in Jabriya, Kuwait, which caters for children between the ages of 3½ and 18+.- Standards :...
in Pune, where patriots Bal Gangadhar Tilak
Bal Gangadhar Tilak
Lokmanya Tilak –, was an Indian nationalist, teacher, social reformer and independence fighter who was the first popular leader of the Indian Independence Movement. The British colonial authorities derogatorily called the great leader "Father of the Indian unrest"...
, Gopal Ganesh Agarkar
Gopal Ganesh Agarkar
Gopal Ganesh Agarkar was a social reformer from Maharashtra, India during the British Raj.-Early life:Gopal Ganesh Agarkar was born on 14 July 1856 in Tembhu , a village in Satara district now in Sangli district of Maharashtra. Agarkar had his primary education from Karad...
, and a few others were then serving as teachers. These Indian independence activists
Indian independence movement
The term Indian independence movement encompasses a wide area of political organisations, philosophies, and movements which had the common aim of ending first British East India Company rule, and then British imperial authority, in parts of South Asia...
inspired nationalism in Damle.
In his high school, Damle was good at Marathi, English, and Sanskrit
Sanskrit
Sanskrit , is a historical Indo-Aryan language and the primary liturgical language of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism.Buddhism: besides Pali, see Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Today, it is listed as one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and is an official language of the state of Uttarakhand...
languages, but very weak in mathematics. He could thus pass the high school matriculation examination only at his third attempt at age as late as 23.Disappointed, Damle terminated his formal education, and then undertook various low-paying jobs through the rest of his short life to support himself and his family.
He succumbed to a plague epidemic in 1905 at the age of 39.
Works
Damle wrote 132 poems. They were posthumously published as Keshavasutanchi Kawita (केशवसुतांची कविता) by his younger brother Sitaram Keshav Damle.Before Damle began composing his poems, Marathi poetry was primarily of the religious genre. He introduced to Marathi language poetry which was pioneering in two respects: Its themes and its language. He chose for his poetry themes of five kinds: romance, love of family, love of nature, love of nation, and poetry itself. He also used, unlike poets of the earlier generations, Marathi which was much more easily comprehensible to the reading public of his times.
His poem Khidakikade Mauj Pahavayas (खिडकीकडे मौज पहावयास) received publication in 1885 when he was 19. He wrote his last poem Harapale Shreya (हरपले श्रेय) in 1905, six months before his death.