Gurunath Vidyanidhi

Gurunath Vidyanidhi (1862-1931) a Sanskrit scholar, was born in Vikrampur in Dhaka. He studied kalapvyakaran (grammar), poems and philosophy at a Sanskrit school in his village. In 1891 he went to Kolkata to look for work. He initially worked as a priest before establishing a Sanskrit school and teaching there.

Gurunath wrote many text books for students. He also wrote books on other subjects as well as edited many important Sanskrit books. Among the books written by him are Bib'a'ha Du'r'pu'n, Nityakarmashiks'a, Shabdar'u'pakalpadruma etc. Gurunath Vidyanidhi edited Mugdhavodh Vy'a'kara'n, Dashkum'a'rcharita, Mitral'a'bh etc. These books were very important for students, teachers, and research scholars of Sanskrit, in particular, Mugdhavodh Vyakaran, Mitralabh, Amarko's, S'a'hitya Durpun and Chhando Ma'v'jar'i. In recognition of his scholarship, the purvavanga saraswat samaj adorned him with the title 'Vidyanidhi';. [Dilip Kumar Bhattacharya] [Bhattacharya, Dilip Kumar Professor of Pali and Buddhist Studies, Dhaka University]