Idioms of Improvement: Vidyāsāgar And Cultural Encounter In Bengal

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Two hundred years after his birth, Isvarcandra Vidyasagar remains a compelling figure in the history of modern Indian social change. The most widely acclaimed reformer of the nineteenth century after Rammohun Roy, Vidyasagar is renowned as both a Sanskrit pandit and an innovative modern thinker. Revered and reviled for his role in promoting the marriage of Hindu widows, he was also responsible for establishing new patterns in education, literature, and publishing. Idioms of Improvement offers such an account, making the case for a religious dimension to Vidyasagar’s worldview that can explain both his impatience with orthodoxy and his respect for dharma. As one compelling species of liberal Hindu modernity, this worldview deserves careful explication and on-going critical reflection.