A sharp critic of social evils, 190 years on, poet Narmad’s call for reform still resonates

By Gaurang Jani* 

"બાળલગ્ન નહિ થાય, સ્વયંવરથી પરણાશે;

સમજુ સ્ત્રીથી બાળ, સુઘડ રીતે ઉછેરાશે.

જાતિ બંધનો તૂટે, પરસ્પર જમવું થાશે;

મૈત્રી વધશે તેમ, સંપથી બહુ રહેવાશે.

જશે જન પરદેશ, નવું ત્યાં જઇને જોશે;

આવીને નિજ દેશ, શોભતો કરશે હોંશે.

જાતિભેદ ટળી જશે, પંથ પાખંડી ઘટશે;

એક ધર્મના સર્વ, હિન્દુઓ તારે બનશે."

("Child marriage will end, and marriages will be by free choice;

A wise woman will raise her child with care and poise.

Caste barriers will break, people will dine side by side;

Friendship will grow, and prosperity will abide.

People will travel abroad, see new lands and ways;

Returning home, they will bring glory and praise.

Caste prejudice will vanish, hypocrisy will fall away;

All Hindus shall unite, as one faith one day.")

In the 19th century, poet Narmad, who nurtured an optimistic vision for Hindus in his poem Hinduo Ni Padati (The Decline of Hindus), sharply criticized prevalent social evils. According to him, India at that time had turned a blind eye to worldly progress due to the false show of religiosity. People avoided education. Fraudulent Brahmins and ascetics lived off others’ labor, sitting idly before idols. Ignorant masses even worshipped stones and walls as deities. A wrong belief prevailed that touching “lower castes” was sinful. People did not travel abroad for fear of corruption, which kept them deprived of knowledge. Widows were not allowed to remarry, while widowers could remarry multiple times.

Born 190 years ago, poet and reformer Narmadashankar remains both a chronicler of his time and a voice of hope. Even today, child marriage persists, caste divisions remain, and charlatans deceive the masses. The scale of these evils has lessened, yet—just as Narmad argued—the need for reform remains urgent.

Narmadashankar Lalshankar Dave (1833–1886), remembered fondly as Narmad in Gujarat, was born in Surat on August 24, 1833. His mother’s name was Rukmini. Gujarati’s first autobiography Mari Hakikat (My Story) was written by him. He also edited Nagar Jnati Ni Strio Na Git (Songs of Women of the Nagar Community), thus laying the foundation of literary editing in Gujarati.

At the age of five, he was admitted to a village school, later to a government school, and at eleven he entered an English-medium school. After five years, he joined college but had to leave midway in 1853 due to family problems, taking up a teaching job in Surat. That same year his first wife passed away. He resumed studies in Mumbai, but at 22 turned to poetry and left college once again. In 1855, he delivered a historic lecture at the Buddhivardhak Sabha in Mumbai on the topic “The Benefits of Collective Assemblies.”

At a time when educated Gujaratis generally sought government jobs, it was surprising for Narmad to quit and dedicate himself to literature. Through his Narm Kavita poems and essays, he championed widow remarriage and attacked superstition. Literary historian Navalram Trivedi described 1860–1877 as “the era of reform” because of reformers like Narmad, Karsandas Mulji, and Mahipatram Ruparam. In 1864, his Hinduo Ni Padati shook Hindu society. Beyond his poetry (Narm Kavita) and prose (Narm Gadhya), he is honored as the father of Gujarati prose and the compiler of the first Gujarati dictionary.

Narmad’s campaign for widow remarriage marks a golden chapter in Gujarat’s social reform history. In his poem Gungi Strio Ne Chhut Apva Vise (On Giving Voice to Silent Women), he wrote:

"પગરખાં અમે કાં ન પહેરીએ, છતરિયો હમે કાં ન હોડીએ

સમજતાં થયે લગ્ન કાં નહીં, લગન કેમ. રાંડેલીને નહીં?"

("Why should we not wear shoes, why should we not hold umbrellas?

If we have reason and wisdom, why should widows not marry again?

Why should marriage be denied, only because she is widowed?")

Not only did he write about widow remarriage, but he practiced his beliefs. In 1865–66, he sheltered a widow of his own caste at his home. This provoked strong opposition, and he was excommunicated along with his family. In 1870, he privately married widow Narmadagauri, and they had a son, Jaishankar.

Later in life, Narmad distanced himself from radical reform, a shift expressed in his Dharm Vichar. He wrote, “After falling away from my own faith for sixteen years, I have returned to respecting its principles.” He felt reformers had grown weary and their ideals were faltering. Even amidst setbacks, he launched a fortnightly called Dandiyo. Navalram Trivedi noted: “Just as the outcaste Dandiyo in Surat would beat his stick at night to wake people, this journal too aimed to awaken society.” Though short-lived, the paper became a beacon in Gujarat’s history.

In his final years, Narmad faced financial crises, burdened with debt of around eight thousand rupees. He broke his 24-year vow of not taking salaried employment and worked as secretary in the Gokuldas Tejpal Trust while also translating the Kathiawad Gazetteer into Gujarati. On February 25, 1886, at only 53, he passed away. In 1933, on his centenary, Vishwanath Bhatt wrote his biography.

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*Senior Gujarat-based sociologist. Translated from Gujarati. Click here to read the original