Gopal ganesh agarkar

Agarkar is most frequently remembered as a ‘friend-turned-opponent’ of Tilak. In Maharashtrian popular culture, Agarkar perhaps got this hyphenated identity that was seldom devoid of a reference to Tilak. I too got acquainted with Gopal Ganesh Agarkar through Tilak. Agarkar was an equal of Tilak in terms of his love for the land and intellectual prowess. Tilak’s meteoric rise as a national leader was owing to his appealing and aggressive rhetoric. He had to tone it down as he widened his world-view after becoming a national leader. But Agarkar, his prison-mate of one time who later became a compeer, maintained his moderate and liberal positions all along. Agarkar is commemorated for his work as a social reformer, as a rationalist and as an educationist. However, it is safe to say that even after 125 years of his demise, academicians failed to objectively understand and recognise his positions on many issues especially the ones on economics. He often wrote essays commenting on the nature of discourse on economics prevalent during his time. His essays are of particular significance to understand where exactly he stood as a 19 th -century liberal and to comprehend the philosophical influences that propelled him to take those positions . The two essays that reveal his economic thoughts are titled ‘ Teen Arthashastre’ – which can be broadly translated as ‘Three Strands of Economics’. He opens his first essay with the analogy of an ongoing ‘Tug of war’ between what he called the...

Gopal Ganesh Agarkar’s (1856-95) ideas mark the apex of the secular rationalist trend during renaissance of nineteenth century Maharashtra. Arvind Ganashari’s book, Gopal Ganesh Agarkar, the Secular Rationalist Reformer, clearly highlights the achievements of a remarkable personality who deeply influenced the national intellectual current. In one of the essays on Agarkar, Dr Ganachari describes Agarkar’s contribution to rationalist thought in following words: “In the complex movement of renaissance thought in Western India since 1818, Gopal Ganesh Agarkar’s ideas marked the apex of the rationalist strand. Agarkar was a serious student of European Enlightenment and was deeply influenced by the Utilitarian and skeptical writings of 18th and 19th century Western thinkers, especially John Stuart Mill, Herbert Spencer, August Comte, Thomas Huxley, John Morley and Edward Gibbon. Indeed, he was not ignorant of Indian classical lore. But it was the Western liberal—rational thought and the secular— scientific world-view that it represented which made intense appeal to his resilient mind. What he recognised was the revolutionary character of the rational principles, which are timeless and universal, as evolved by the Western rationalists.” In this book author makes an in depth study of Agarkar’s rationalist ideas in social, political, economic and other related fields that are accurately reflected in his numerous writings, first as the editor of Kesari (1881-87) and later as the fou...

Gopal Ganesh Agarkar birth anniversary: All you need to know about Indian social reformer, educationist Gopal Ganesh Agarkar birth anniversary: All you need to know about Indian social reformer, educationist Agarkar was born on 14 July 1856 in Tembhu, a village in Karad taluk, Satara district, Maharashtra. He was a friend of Nilkanth Tidke. Gopal Ganesh Agarkar was an Indian social reformer, educationist, and thinker from Maharashtra, India. Agarkar was born on 14 July 1856 in Tembhu, a village in Karad taluk, Satara district, Maharashtra. He was a friend of Nilkanth Tidke. Agarkar was schooled in Karad and then worked as a clerk in a court there. In 1878, he got his B. A. degree, and in 1880 was awarded an M.A. He was the first editor of Kesari, a prominent Marathi-language weekly newspaper founded by Lokmanya Tilak in 1880-81. Ideological differences with Tilak caused him later to leave. They disagreed on the primacy of political reform versus social reform, with Agarkar believing that the need for social reform was more immediate. He started his own periodical, Sudharak, in which he campaigned against the injustices of untouchability and the caste system. Agarkar abhorred blind adherence to and glorification of tradition and the past. He supported widow remarriage. From 1892 to 1895 he was the Principal of Ferguson college. At one time a close associate of Bal Gangadhar Tilak, he was co-founder of multiple educational institutes such as the New English School, the Decca...

Nationality Education Occupation(s) Educationalist, writer, editor, social reformer Known for Founder of the Spouse Yashodabai Agarkar Close ▲ At one time a close associate of [ citation needed] He was the first editor of the weekly Sudharak. He was the second principal of Fergusson College, serving in that post from August 1892 until his death. A locality in