NEW DELHI: Renowned scholar and writer Jagadguru Rambhadracharya and celebrated poet-lyricist Sampoorna Singh Kalra ‘Gulzar‘ will receive the 58th Jnanpith Award for 2023.
The selection committee, chaired by Jnanpith awardee Pratibha Rai, decided to confer the award on Rambhadracharya for Sanskrit, and Gulzar for Urdu, on Saturday.
Rambhadracharya, who lost sight in both eyes when he was five, did not let the tragedy come in the way of his quest for knowledge. He has authored more than 240 books and texts, including four epics (two in Sanskrit and two in Hindi) and a Hindi commentary on Ramcharitmanas. He has also written a poetic Sanskrit commentary on Panini’s work on grammar, Ashtadhyayi, and Sanskrit commentaries on Prasthanatrayi, literally meaning three sources. Brahmasutras, Pradhan Upanishad, and Bhagavad Gita collectively form the Prasthanatrayi.

In October last year, PM Modi released ‘Ashtadhyayi Bhashya’, ‘Ramanandacharya Charitam’ and ‘Bhagwan Shri Krishna ki Rashtraleela’, authored by the Ramanandi sant who was also a star witness for the Hindu side in Ayodhya site title dispute in Allahabad HC.

A polyglot who speaks 22 languages, Rambhadracharya also writes in Awadhi and Maithili.

Gulzar invented new three-line poetic genre ‘Triveni’

Rambhadracharya is founder-president of Tulsi Peeth at Chitrakoot in UP, a religious and social service institution named after Sant Tulsidas, and among India’s best known experts on the medieval poet.

He was born in 1950 in Khandikhurd village of Jaunpur in eastern UP.

He is one of the current four Jagadpur Ramanandacharyas of the Ramananda sect and has held the position since 1988. In 2015, he was honoured with Padma Vibhushan by Modi govt.

Gulzar, born in 1934, is among the most distinguished writers of his time. His works are mainly in Urdu, Punjabi and Hindi. Poet, lyricist and filmmaker, Gulzar pulls crowds at both litfests and mushairas alike. His films, often created from literary classics, feel like visual literature. His poetry is touched by longing for a world where past and present collide but find comfort in each other.

In Gulzar’s poetic universe, the moon is a beggar’s bowl and the heart a neighbour. He has invented a new poetic genre ‘Triveni’, a verse of three lines where the first two lines are complete in themselves but the third provides a twist and a new meaning. He has also written notable children’s poetry.

Gulzar has received Sahitya Akademi award in 2002, Padma Bhushan in 2004, Oscar for best song in 2009, a Grammy for the same song and Dadasaheb Phalke award in 2013.

Renowned Malayalam writer G Sankara Kurup was the first writer to receive Jnanpith award in 1965.