Jaishankar Prasad
Jaishankar Prasad (30 January 1889 – 15 November 1937) was a prominent figure in modern Hindi literature as well as Hindi theatre. Prasad was his pen name. He was also known as Chhayavadi kavi.
Also recorded as Prasad · jayshankar Prasad · Jaishankar Prasad 'Prasad'
Jaishankar Prasad

Unkown · Book cover · Public domain
- Born
- 1889. · Varanasi.
- Died
- 1937. · Varanasi.
- Nationality
- British Raj and India.
- Occupation
- poet, playwright, novelist and essayist.
- Movements
- Chhayavaad.
- Known for
- Kamayani, Skandagupta and Chandragupta.
- Languages
- Hindi and Sanskrit.
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Documentary summary
Jaishankar Prasad (30 January 1889 – 15 November 1937) was a prominent figure in modern Hindi literature as well as Hindi theatre. Prasad was his pen name. He was also known as Chhayavadi kavi.
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Note VALÉORINE
Jaishankar Prasad (1889–1937) was an essayist, novelist and playwright, among other activities, a national of the British Raj and India. The essayist was born and died in Varanasi. Jaishankar Prasad was associated with Chhayavaad.
Among the works are Chandragupta, Kamayani and Skandagupta. Languages used include Hindi and Sanskrit.
Composed from admitted, traceable facts · 26 September 2026
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wikidata · Q1193180 · wikipedia · Jaishankar Prasad
In this article
Poetic Style
Poetic Style
Prasad started writing poetry with the pen name of ‘Kamayani’. The first collection of poem that Prasad penned, named, Chitradhar, was written in Braj, a dialect of Hindi but his later works were written in Khadi dialect or Sanskritized Hindi. Later on Prasad promulgated ‘Chhayavad’, a literary trend in Hindi literature. He is considered one of the Four Pillars (Char Stambh) of Romanticism in Hindi Literature (Chhayavad), along with Sumitranandan Pant, Mahadevi Verma, and Suryakant Tripathi 'Nirala'. His vocabulary avoids the Persian element of Hindi and mainly consists of Sanskrit (Tatsama) words and words derived from Sanskrit (Tadbhava words). The subject of his poetry spans the entire horizon of subjects of his era, from romantic to nationalistic.
Poetry
Poetry
Kānan kuwer)(1913) Mahārānā kā mahatv (The Maharana's greatness)(1914) Jharnā (The War)(1918) Ānsū (The tea)(1925) Lahar (The wave)(1933) Kāmāyanī (an epic about Manu and the flood)(1935/36) Prem pathik (The War)(1914) Aatmkathya (biology)
Drama
Drama
Ek Ghoont (A sip) Skandagupta (On Emperor Skandagupta) Chandragupta (On Emperor Chandragupta Maurya) Dhruvasvāminī Rajyashrī (Royal Bliss) Ajatashatru
Novels
Novels
Kankal (The Skeleton) Titli (The Butterfly) Iravati (not completed)
Poetic drama
Poetic drama
Karunalay
Dramas and other writings
His dramas are considered to be most pioneering ones in Hindi. Prasad's most famous dramas include Skanda gupta, Chandra gupta and Dhruva swamini. The majority of them revolve around historical stories of Ancient India. Some of them were also based on mythological plots. In 1960s, Shanta Gandhi Professor of Ancient Indian Drama while at National School of Drama, revived interest in Jaishankar Prasad's plays for modern Indian theatre, by successfully staging his most important play Skanda Gupta written in 1928, with little changes to the original script.
Critical reception
Mahadevi Verma, a poet and critic, described Jai Shankar Prasad by saying:"Whenever I remember our poet, Prasad a particular image comes to my mind. A fir tree stands on the slope of the Himalaya, straight and tall as the mountain peaks themselves. Its head meets the snow, the rain, and the heat of the sun. Storms move its branches, while a thin stream of water moves amongst its roots. Even under heavy snowfall, fierce heat, and torrential rain, the fir tree remains. Even in the midst of thunderstorms and blizzards, it remains steady."Regarding his influence in Indian literature, the late scholar David Rubin wrote in The Return of Sarasvati (Oxford, 1993):- "To Jayshankar Prasad belongs the credit of making the first successful leap forward in the development of a genuine poetic art in khari boli Hindi and giving it, in Ansu, its first masterpiece." Rubin felt his lyrics regarding nature and human love helped to define the Chhayavad movement, and that his reflective nature and deep love of reading and music heavily influenced his work.

Jaishankar Prasad's Handwriting
Jaishankar Prasad · Kamayani (book by the author, which is also in the Public Domain)
Story collections
Aandhī Pratidhvani (The Echo) Indrajāl (Hypnosis) Sandeh (Doubt) Daasi (Maid) Chitra Mandir Rasiya Balam
Neo-romanticism in Hindi Literature
Jaishankar Prasad's Kamayani (Hindi: कामायनी) (1936), a Hindi classic poem is considered as an important magnum opus of this school. The poem belongs to the Chhayavadi school of Hindi poetry.
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Hindi sahitya ka brihat itihas, volume-10, editors- Dr. Nagendra and others, Nagari pracharini Sabha, Varanasi, edition 1971, page 145.
- 2.http://www.drikpanchang.com (Almanac of 30.1.1890; for matching English dates etc with Hindu (Vikram samvat) Tithi etc).
- 3.Vinod Shankar Vyas, Antarang sansmarano mein Jaishankar 'Prasad' , editor- Purushottam Das Modi, Vishwavidyalaya Prakashan, Varanasi, edition- 2001, page 43-44.
- 4.Dimitrova, 2004, page=15
- 5.प्रेम, त्याग और बलिदान : जयशंकर प्रसाद की कहानी 'रसिया बालम'. News18 हिंदी. 2023-07-13.
- 6.Jaishankar Prasad Birthday Special: जयशंकर प्रसाद की जयंती पर पढ़ें उनकी प्रसिद्ध रचना 'भारत महिमा'. News18 हिंदी. 2022-01-30.
- 7.Re-discovering Dhruvaswamini. The Hindu. 29 October 2009.
- 8.Lal, Mohan. The Encyclopaedia of Indian Literature – Volume 5. Sahitya Akademi. 4119. 2006. 81-260-1221-8.
- 9.Kamayani By Jaishankar Prasad
Bibliography printed in the source article · 1
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