Mahadevi Varma


Mahadevi Varma was an Indian Hindi language poet, essayist, and short-story writer. She is widely regarded by literary scholars as one of the four major figures of the Chhayavad movement in Hindi literature.
Between 1930 and 1988, Varma published eight collections of poetry along with several books containing her essays, speeches, and other prose. Her work reflects her experiences both before and after Indian independence, as well as her own experience as a social reformer, primarily her support of the women's liberation movement.
Literary critics have described Varma as the “modern Meera." Poet Nirālā Famously referred to her as "Sarasvati in the vast temple of Hindi Literature".
She developed a softer poetic diction within Khadi Boli Hindi, a quality previously associated primarily with Braj Bhasha. She was also well-versed in music. Her songs conveyed sharp expressions with a nuanced and euphemistic style.
She started her career as a teacher and went on to become the principal of Prayag Mahila Vidyapeeth. Although she was married in childhood, Varma chose to live independently and did not live with her husband, a decision that influenced both her personal life and her literary career. She was also a painter and translator. She went on to receive several of the highest literary awards in Hindi literature.
She is regarded as one of the most influential female writers of the twentieth century. Her centenary was celebrated in 2007. In 2018, Google honoured her with a Google Doodle.

Life and education

Early life

Varma was born on 26 March 1907 in a Hindu Chitraguptavanshi Kayastha family from Farrukhabad in Uttar Pradesh. Her father, Govind Prasad Varma, was a college professor in Bhagalpur. Her mother, Hem Rani Devi, was a vegetarian and a religious woman, with a keen interest in music. Varma's mother spent hours reciting Ramayana, Gita and Vinay Patrika. Her father was a scholar, music lover, atheist, and hunting enthusiast. Sumitranandan Pant and Suryakant Tripathi, known as "Nirālā", were close friends of Mahadevi Varma. It is said that Varma tied Rakhi to Nirālā for 40 years.

Education

Varma was originally admitted to a Convent school, but upon her insistence and objection, she was admitted to Crosthwaite Girls College in Prayagraj. According to Varma, she learned the strength of unity while staying in the hostel at Crosthwaite, where students of different religions lived together. At first, she started to write poems discreetly. However, it was her roommate and senior, Subhadra Kumari Chauhan, who discovered her hidden stash of poems.
She and Subhadra would also send poems to various publications, including weekly magazines, and managed to get some of their poems published. The budding poets also attended poetry seminars, where they met eminent Hindi poets and read their poems to the audience. This partnership continued until Subhadra graduated from Crosthwaite.
In her childhood biography, Mere Bachpan Ke Din, Varma wrote that she was very fortunate to be born into a liberal family, especially at a time when girls were considered a burden to their families. Her grandfather reportedly had the ambition of making her a scholar, although he insisted that she follow tradition and marry at the age of 9. Her mother was fluent in both Sanskrit and Hindi and was strongly committed to her faith. Varma credits her mother for inspiring her to write poems and take an interest in literature.
Married in childhood, Varma was expected to live with her husband after graduating in 1929, but she refused as she found his hunting and meat-eating habits offensive. Her remorseful father offered to convert along with her if she wanted to divorce and remarry, but she declined, insisting she wanted to remain single. She even tried, unsuccessfully, to convince her husband to remarry. Later, she reportedly considered becoming a Buddhist nun but decided against it, though she studied Buddhist Pali and Prakrit texts for her master's degree.

Professional career

Literary

Nihar was her debut collection of poems. She composed Nihar in 1930, Rashmi in 1932, and Neerja in 1933. In 1936, a collection of her poems titled Sandhya Geet was published. In 1939, four poetry collections were published with their respective artworks under the title [Yāmā (poetry collection)|Yāmā]. Apart from these, she also wrote memoirs and essays, with Mera Parivar, Smriti ki Rekhaye, Path ke Sathi, Shrinkhala ki Kariyan, and Ateet ke Chalchitra being prominent among them.

Women's advocacy

Varma is also considered among the pioneers of feminism in India. Her career had always revolved around writing, editing, and teaching, all of which significantly contributed to the development of Prayag Mahila Vidyapeeth in Allahabad. This level of responsibility was considered a revolutionary step in the field of women's education at the time. She also worked as a school principal. In 1923, she took over Chand, the leading women's magazine. In 1955, Varma established the Literary Parliament in Allahabad with the help of Ilachandra Joshi and eventually took up the editorship of its publication. This laid the foundation for women poets' conferences in India. Mahadevi was greatly influenced by Buddhism. Under the influence of Mahatma Gandhi, she took up public service and worked in Jhansi in support of the Indian struggle for freedom.
In 1937, Mahadevi Varma built a house in the village of Umagarh, Ramgarh, Uttarakhand, 25 km from Nainital. She named it Meera Temple. She started working for the people of the village and their education. She dedicated herself to women's education and their economic self-sufficiency. Today, this bungalow is known as the Mahadevi Sahitya Museum. Through sustained efforts, she fostered courage and determination in supporting women's liberation and development.
Her strong condemnation of social stereotypes earned her recognition as a women's rights advocate. She had also been called a social reformer due to her development work and public service towards women and their education. Literary scholars have noted that her work emphasizes creative resolve and social transformation rather than personal anguish.
In her essay Stree Ka Patnitva, Varma compared traditional marriage structures to forms of social subjugation. She writes that, without affiliation to any political or financial authority, women are relegated to roles as wives and mothers. Her feminism is often overshadowed by her poetic persona. Through poems like Cha, she explores themes and ideas of female sexuality, while her short stories, such as Biblia, discuss the subject of experiences of women's physical and mental abuse.
She spent most of her life in Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh, where she died on 11 September 1987.

Works

Varma was a poet as well as a distinguished prose and story writer. Her works are as listed below:

Poetry

Nihar Rashmi Neerja Sandhyageet Deepshikha Pratham Ayam Saptaparna Agni Rekha
Several other poetic collections of Mahadevi Varma have also been published, in which selected songs from the above compositions have been compiled.

Prose

List of selected prose works includes
  • Shrinkhala ki Kadiyan Smriti ki Rekhaye Sansmaran Sambhasan Path ke Sathi Skandha Ateet Ke Chalchitra Mera Parivar Vivechamanak Gadya Himalaya Meera Aur Meera : A collection of speeches on Meerabai.

Others

Two compilations of children's poems of Mahadevi Varma areThakurji Bhole Hai
  • ''Aaj Kharidenge hum Jwala''

Critical analysis

Mahadevi Varma's poetry has often been interpreted as deeply personal, especially in its exploration of emotional themes such as pain, longing, compassion, and spiritual yearning. While many critics have praised the emotive power and lyrical depth of her work, others have questioned the authenticity of her emotional expression.
One such critic, the moralist Ramchandra Shukla, expressed skepticism about the reality of her poetic anguish. He noted:
In contrast, Hazari Prasad Dwivedi viewed Varma's poetry as a collective reflection of human emotion. He argued that her poetic pain was not confined to individual sorrow, but symbolized universal experiences.
Poems such as Deep, Madhur Madhur Mere Deepak Jal, and Mome Sa Tan Gal Hai, are frequently cited as representative of Varma's introspective and reflective tone. These works, while sometimes seen as self-centered, also align with the aesthetic and thematic concerns of the Chhayavaad literary movement.
Literary scholar Satya Prakash Mishra offered a philosophical reading of Varma's role in redefining Chhayavaad:
American novelist and translator David Rubin praised her distinctive poetic voice and technical finesse:
Writer and critic Prabhakar Shrotriya rejected the notion that Mahadevi Varma should be seen solely as a poet of sorrow and despair. He wrote:
In the scholarly paper Ethical Literary Criticism of the Pain Emotion in Mahadevi Varma's Poetry, researcher Li Yalan examined how critics have interpreted Varma's recurrent focus on suffering. While acknowledging the spiritual and metaphysical tone of her poetry, Li noted that many critics view her portrayal of pain as more symbolic or lyrical than literal. Some also argue that her melancholic tone feels somewhat anachronistic or disconnected from the historical realities of her time.
Despite these debates, Mahadevi Varma remained deeply engaged with the social and political issues of her time. During the Bengal famine of 1943, she published a poetry collection that included the piece Banga Bhu Shanth Vandana. Similarly, in response to the Sino-Indian War, she edited a patriotic poetry collection titled Himalaya.

Honors and awards

In 1979, the Indian filmmaker Mrinal Sen produced a Bengali film on her memoir Woh Chini Bhai '','' titled Neel Akasher Neechey. On 14 September 1991, the Postal Department of the Government of India, issued a double stamp of 2 honoring her and Jaishankar Prasad.

Literary contributions

The emergence of Mahadevi Varma in literature happened at a time when the shape of Khadi Boli was being refined. She introduced Braj bhasha softness to Hindi poetry and developed a repertoire of songs reflecting her heartfelt acceptance of Indian philosophy. She became an influential figure in language, literature, and philosophy, all of which later influenced an entire generation. Varma created a unique rhythm and simplicity within the composition and language of her songs, as well as the natural use of symbols and images that, draw a picture in the mind of the reader. Her contribution to the prosperity of Chhayavadi poetry is significant; while Jaishankar Prasad gave naturalization to the Chhayavadi poetry, Suryakant Tripathi Nirālā embodied the liberation in it and Sumitranandan Pant brought the art of delicateness, Varma embodied life in the Chhayavadi poetry. The most prominent features of her poetry are emotionalism and intensity of feeling. A such, lively and tangible manifestation of the subtle expressions of the heart, makes "Varma" among the best Chhayavadi poets. She is remembered with respect for her speeches in Hindi. Her speeches were full of compassion for the common man and firm in the truth. At the 3rd World Hindi Conference held in Delhi in 1983, she was the chief guest of the closing ceremony.
Apart from her original creations, she was also a creative translator, with works such as, her translation of Saptaparna. With the help of her cultural consciousness, she presented 39 selected important pieces of Hindi poetry in her work, by establishing the identity of Vedas, Ramayana, Theragatha and the works of Ashwaghosh, Kalidas, Bhavabhuti, and Jayadeva. In the beginning, in the 61-page Apna Baat, she gives thorough research on this invaluable heritage of Indian wisdom and literature, enriching the overall thinking and fine writing of Hindi, not just limited to female writing.

Works in English translation

Many of Mahadevi Varma’s works — particularly her prose writings — have been translated into English, both in full volumes as well as anthologies.

Prose translations

  • A Pilgrimage to the Himalayas and Other Silhouettes from Memory, translation of Smriti ki Rekhayen by Radhika Prasad Srivastava and Lillian Srivastava. This work was included in the Indian series of UNESCO Collection of Representative Works.
  • Sketches from My Past: Encounters with India’s Oppressed, selections from Ateet ke Chalchitra, translated by Neera Kuckreja Sohoni, published by Northeastern University Press.
  • Links in the Chain, translation of Shrinkhala ki Kadiyan by Neera Kuckreja Sohoni, a collection of Varma’s essays on Indian women.
  • My Family, translation of Mera Parivar by Ruth Vanita published by Penguin India.
  • Political Essays on Women, Culture, and Nation, edited by Anita Anantharam, comprising major political essays and selected poems translated by various scholars.

Poetry translations

Translations of Mahadevi Varma’s poetry have appeared in a few editions. Selected Poems: Mahadevi Varma, translated by L.S. Sinha, was among the earliest stand-alone English editions of her poems. David Rubin included substantial selections of her work in The Return of Sarasvati: Four Hindi Poets and in Of Love and War: A Chhayavad Anthology.
Beyond these, a few poems have been translated into various journals. Notable appearances include The Illustrated Weekly of India, Hindi Review, Indian Literature published by the Sahitya Akademi, and Modern Indian Literature: An Anthology edited by K.M. George.