Acharya Narendra Dev: The Scholar-Socialist

He read Buddhist texts in Pali before he ever led a party. That is why people called him Acharya, the teacher. In 1934 the same scholar helped found the Congress Socialist Party.

His name was Narendra Dev. He studied the Buddha, argued for peasants, and ran two universities. Nehru called his death a loss that was “much bigger” than one person’s passing.

1Who was Narendra Dev?

Narendra Dev was born on 30 October 1889 in Sitapur. Sitapur lies in today’s Uttar Pradesh. Accounts say his family name for him was Avinashi Lal. His father was a lawyer.

The young man first felt the pull of nationalism around 1915. Bal Gangadhar Tilak and Aurobindo Ghosh influenced him. As a teacher he also grew interested in Marxism and Buddhism.

He joined the Hindi language movement as well. His mentor in Uttar Pradesh politics was Chaubey Mukta Prasad of Lucknow. Jail would later fill many years of his life.

• Born 30 October 1889 at Sitapur.
• Drawn to nationalism by Tilak and Aurobindo, around 1915.
• Interested in Marxism and Buddhism.
• Read about Bal Gangadhar Tilak.

2How did he help found the Congress Socialist Party?

Dev was a key leader of the Congress Socialist Party from its start in 1934. Accounts name him as its first president. Jayaprakash Narayan served as general secretary. Ram Manohar Lohia was another founder.

The party worked inside Congress. It wanted freedom, and it also wanted a fairer society. Dev set out a peaceful path. He backed satyagraha as a revolutionary tool.

He said that political democracy was a sham without social democracy. That line sums up his creed. Freedom to vote meant little to a hungry farmer.

• Key leader of the Congress Socialist Party, 1934.
• Jayaprakash Narayan was general secretary.
• Backed satyagraha, not violence.
• “No political democracy without social democracy.”
• Read about the Congress Socialist Party’s founding and Jayaprakash Narayan.

3Why was he a scholar of Buddhism?

People called him Acharya because of his learning. He knew Sanskrit, Hindi and English. Accounts say he also learned Pali, French and German to read Buddhist works in the original.

He taught at Kashi Vidyapith, where he began as a history teacher. Accounts say he later served as its principal. He was jailed in the Banaras District Jail around 1932 and 1933. There, accounts say, he worked on a Hindi version of a Buddhist text.

His Hindi book on Buddhist philosophy came out after his death. Accounts say it won the Sahitya Akademi Award in 1957. Treat the finer details as common claims from older sources.

• Called Acharya for his learning.
• Read Pali and other languages to study Buddhist texts.
• Taught at Kashi Vidyapith.
• Hindi book on Buddhist philosophy; award reported for 1957.
• Read about Buddhist schools and texts.

4What did he do for peasants?

Dev took part in the peasant movement. He served as president of the All-India Kisan Congress. Accounts say he led the All India Kisan Sabha sessions at Gaya in 1939 and Muzaffarpur in 1942.

He believed hunger and exploitation were wrong on moral grounds. Marx’s ideas helped him explain them. Ethics mattered to him as much as economics.

Quit India came in August 1942. Accounts say he was arrested in Bombay when the resolution passed. He spent long stretches in jail between 1940 and 1945. Nehru later said they spent four or five years together in prison.

• President of the Kisan Congress; sessions at Gaya and Muzaffarpur.
• Reasoned on moral grounds as well as Marxist ones.
• Jailed in the Quit India years.
• Read about the Quit India Movement.

5What did he do after 1947?

After independence Dev became a university head. He was the eighth Vice-Chancellor of Lucknow University, from 1947 to 1951. He then led Banaras Hindu University from December 1951 to 31 May 1954.

At Banaras he began many projects to expand the university. An educationist named Nirmal Chandra Chaturvedi helped him. Leading two large universities shows his learning was real.

He stayed with the Socialist Party and its later form, the Praja Socialist Party, until his death. He died on 19 February 1956 at Erode in Madras State. He was 67.

• Vice-Chancellor of Lucknow University, 1947-51.
• Vice-Chancellor of BHU, 1951-54.
• Stayed with the Praja Socialist Party.
• Died 19 February 1956 at Erode.
• Read about Ram Manohar Lohia.

His name lives on in places of learning. A university of agriculture and technology was named for him in 1975. A Delhi University college took his name in 1991. A Lucknow University hostel also carries it. Rajiv Gandhi called him one of the greatest sons of India.

6What are the exam traps?

Keep the party, the posts and the places straight.

• He helped found the Congress Socialist Party in 1934.
• Jayaprakash Narayan was general secretary.
• He led Lucknow first and then BHU.
• The honorific Acharya comes from his scholarship.
• He preferred satyagraha to violence.
• See the Congress Socialist Party’s founding, 1934.