Gopal Hari Deshmukh was born in Pune in the year 1823. He was a Chitbavan Brahmin.
When he grew up, the “eternal topic of discussion among the
upper classes was whether British rule would last forever or the Peshwa’s good
times would return. … Gopal Hari was a product of the new learning of the West.
He was a bright student of the new Government school at Poona and acquired
proficiency in the language and history.
He studied law while serving in the
office of the Agent to the Deccan Chiefs and Sardars and became a Munsif in
1852. From 1856 to 1861, he worked as Assistant Commissioner on the Inam
Commission.
Later on, he worked as judge in Ahmedabad and Nasik. He was invited
to the Delhi Durbar in 1876, was appointed a Fellow of the University in 1878
and, in 1880, was made a member of the Governor’s Council. In 1884, for about a
year, he worked as Dewan of Ratlam State”.
He used to write articles from 1848. “His object was to rouse his people from
their slumber. He exhorted them to turn to the new learning and solve the
country’s problems. His articles were provocative and were widely read. In
1877, he wrote a book entitled Jathibheda,
condemning caste. In 1878, he published Gitatattva
and Subhashita to popularize the teachings of Gita. In 1880,
he brought out Swadhyaya and Ashvalayana Griha-Sutra to explain
the religious rites of the Hindus in a critical way. He wrote under the
pen-name Lokahitawadi.
He was of the
view that our social decline was due to our neglect of the sciences and
learning.
He blamed Sanskrit learning. "Sanskrit learning”, according
to him, “is useless and confusing. It is involved in sophistry. It makes a man
idle and devoted to fruitless pursuits. It does not contain knowledge essential
for the modern age”. He asked his countrymen “to welcome the learning by means
of which the English had triumphed over their Indian opponents”.(Page 272 – Vol. 3 – History
of freedom movement in India – Tarachand – Publications Division).
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