A Short Biographical Sketch of Sri Jibananda Vidyasagara by Sri Sudipta

Munsi
“Paṇḍitakulapati Jīvānanda Vidyāsāgara was born to Śrī Tārānātha Tarkavācaspati
Bhaṭṭācārya and Ambikādevī in the year, 1844, on the last day of the Bengali
month of Caitra. He studied various subjects like Vyākaraṇa, Sāhitya, Alaṅkāra,
Nyāya, Sāṅkhya, Pātañjala, Vedānta, Mīmāṃsā, Jyotiṣa and Smṛti under the
tutelage of his father, who was an institution in himself. He earned the prestigious
title of “Vidyāsāgara” from the Government Sanskrit College of Calcutta in 1870,
and a B.A. from the University of Calcutta. Impressed by his knowledge of
various aspects of the Yogaśāstras at the end of a conversation, Mr. Olcott of the
Theosophical Society called Vidyāsāgara “Godfather” in 1882. Even during his
student days, his enthusiasm for intellectual pursuit was noticeable in the
publication of editions of Sanskrit texts. He also started writing his own
commentary on such Sanskrit texts at the same time. The subjects he dealt with
were as varied as terse Indian philosophy, Sanskrit grammar, classical Sanskrit
rhetoric and aesthetics, Sanskrit court-poetry, religious codes (dharmaśāstra),
classical Indian medical sciences (Āyurveda), etc. He turned down lucrative job
offers from Lahore, Jabbalpore, Jaipur, Nepal, etc. According to Śambhucandra
Vidyāratna, Jīvānanda Vidyāsāgara serially published Sanskrit commentaries of his
own on 107 Sanskrit works. It took him 22 years to write these commentaries. He
wrote a version of the Kathāsaritsāgara in lucid Sanskrit prose in 1400 pages and
published it in 1883. He also prepared simpler versions of difficult Sanskrit prose
works like Kādambarī of Bāṇabhaṭṭa, Daśakumāracarita of Daṇḍī, etc. He also
translated the Tarkasaṅgraha of Annaṃbhaṭṭa into English. His own commentaries
on Sanskrit works became so popular in Europe, America, Ceylon, China, Burman,
India, etc. that most of these works underwent about 5-6 reprints during his
lifetime. Apart from that, he published editions of at least 108 Sanskrit works,
some with traditional Sanskrit commentaries. He also ran the free Sanskrit school,
started by his father of legendary intellectual fame, and taught students thronging
there from various parts of the country. A true polymath, Jīvānanda Vidyāsāgara
was survived by his sons, Āśubodha Vidyābhūṣaṇa and Nityabodha Vidyāratna.