SCHOLARS LIKE ACHARYA Dr. CHANDRA KISHORE PANDEY ‘NISHANT KETU’ WILL NOT BE FOUND IN HIS PEERS EVEN TODAY:Dr. BINDESHWAR PRASAD GUPTA

SCHOLARS LIKE ACHARYA Dr. CHANDRA KISHORE PANDEY ‘NISHANT KETU’ WILL NOT BE FOUND IN HIS PEERS EVEN TODAY:Dr. BINDESHWAR PRASAD GUPTA

14-SEP-ENG 3

RAJIV NAYAN AGRAWAL

PATNA------------------------Acharya Dr. Chandra Kishore Pandey 'Nishant Ketu' was a great, knowledgeable and scholarly professor of the postgraduate Hindi literature department of Patna University.... Such a great scholar of Hindi language literature will not be found in his peers even if you search for him today, that is, there is no one now. .... With the departure of Dr. Chandra Kishore Pandey 'Nishant Ketu', who is at par with scholars like Dr. Hazari Prasad Dwivedi, Dr. Dina Nath Sharan, Dr. Devendra Nath Sharma, Dr. Ram Khelavan Rai, Dr. Namvar Singh, Dr. Ram Darsh Mishra, Hindi language literature has not only suffered a loss but now it has become almost void due to the absence of such scholars. There may be many Hindi scholars but a brilliant speaker and professor like him will rarely be found.

I am saying this because I know him personally. I have the honour of being his student in the postgraduate department of Patna University in 1982-84. During his Hindi lectures, his prose style articles too, transformed into a voice with pure language and pronunciation, with rhythm, melody and raga, in a wonderful poetic style, would mesmerise the listeners, be it students of any class or an enlightened intellectual of a seminar, or a common man, and even after listening to his lecture for hours, one would not feel bored, and the desire to listen to it would remain…

This was the specialty of his brilliant oratory style which made him stand out and gave him a distinct place from other scholars… Now, that voice, speech, full of melody and rhythmic words will never be heard, which is not only regretted by me, but also by all those who have listened to his lecture even once. .... He was not only associated with Bihar Hindi Sahitya Sammelan, Patna, but also kept giving directions, honored the genre of short stories, made it prosperous with his vigorous lectures, my million salutes to such a great scholar of Hindi literature, Acharya, professor, Hindi servant, Hindi literature lover...salutations...offering tributes. Tearful tribute. .... May God grant peace to his soul and give him a place at his feet.

Recently, on August 21, Bihar Hindi Sahitya Sammelan organized a condolence meeting on the demise of Acharya Nishantketu under the chairmanship of the conference president Dr. Anil Sulabh, in which Dr. Sulabh announced the start of 'Acharya Nishantketu Sahitya Sadhna Samman' in the memory of Acharya Chandra Kishore Pandey 'Nishantketu' from this year. Intelligent scholars will be entitled to this award for their special contribution to Hindi literature.

During this time, while throwing light on the personality of Acharya Dr. Nishantketu, Dr. Sulabh said that Nishantketu ji's talent and sadhana is astonishing. He had started serving the language and contemplating spiritually since childhood. For secondary school education, he had to walk 20 kilometers every day. While walking, he memorized the special book of Sanskrit 'Amarkosh'. He had read the Upanishads and other oriental texts. He had earned five gold medals during his student life itself. In the year 1960, he passed the postgraduate examination in Hindi and on the very next day of the result, the then Vice Chancellor of Patna University, Vashishtha Narayan Singh called him and appointed him as a lecturer in Bihar National College. On the same day, the Principal of the same college, Dr. Diwakar Singh, interviewed him and recommended his appointment. Soon, he was transferred to Patna College. After 37 years of teaching service, he retired from the post of Head of Department in the year 1977. Before leaving his body on 17 August 2025 at the age of 90, he wrote more than 100 valuable texts, which include poetry, stories, novels, reviews, essays, memoirs, dictionaries, books on yoga and spirituality, linguistics and interviews. Apart from these, he also edited dozens of literary texts and magazines. He was a polyglot linguist and also had a major role in the running of 'Sarv Bhasha Mahavidyalaya' being run by the conference. He also contributed to the editing of the conference magazine 'Sahitya'. Due to his busy schedule, he used to stay in the conference premises for many days. Hindi literature has been enriched by his great contributions. The loss caused by his death cannot be assessed.

The Prime Minister of the conference, Dr. Shivvansh Pandey said that people like Nishantketu do not die. He will always live in his deeds. His scholarship has illuminated the whole of India. He was an Acharya in the true sense. He was a gem of Hindi literature, which we have lost. The literary minister of the conference Bhagwati Prasad Dwivedi said that the departure of Nishantketu ji is the end of a literary sage of the Rishi-tradition. He awakened many generations. His words were a great motivator for the youth.

On this occasion, the vice-presidents of the conference Dr. Shankar Prasad, Dr. Madhu Verma, Dr. Kalyani Kusum Singh, Dr. Pushpa Jamuar, Dr. Poon M Anand, Vibha Rani Shrivastava, Dr. Nageshwar Prasad Yadav, Shyam Bihari Prabhakar, Siddheshwar, Dr. Pratibha Sinha, Acharya Vijay Gunjan, Dr. Sarita Kumari, Dr. Archana Tripathi, Aradhana Prasad, Dr. Pallavi Vishwas, Dr. Indu Pandey, Eng. Ashok Kumar, Krishna Ranjan Singh, Dr. Manoj Govardhanpuri, Dr. Shalini Pandey, Praveer Kumar Pankaj, Dr. Sumedha Pathak, Indu Bhushan Sahay, Nirmala Singh, Neeta Sahay, Rauli Kumari, Moin Giridihvi, Uttara Singh, Chanda Mishra, Bhaskar Tripathi, Avinay Kashinath, Rajesh Raj etc. also expressed their condolences. Needless to say, Acharya Nishantketu's departure is like the sinking of a star in the Hindi literary sky, the falling of a shining star in the Hindi literary sky... It is equivalent to a void in Hindi literature which can never be compensated, if it is said so, it will not be an exaggeration. -- --Dr.Bindeshwar Prasad Gupta.