Page:Isvar Chandra Vidyasagar, a story of his life and work.djvu/142

Rh quite amazed at his novel mode of instruction. He took great pains for the education of his pupils. To enable the reader to form some idea of his mode of instruction, we will try to describe briefly how Raj Krishna Babu acquired his knowledge in Sanskrit from Pandit Isvar Chandra Vidyasagar.

Raj Krishna Babu was a grandson of the late famous Hriday Ram Bandyopadhyay of Bowbazar. He was, at this time, only 15 or 16 years old. His house stood in front of that of Isvar Chandra Vidyasagar. He had studied English for some time in the Hindu College, but had given it up at this early age. He had formed an acquaintance of Vidyasagar, and used to visit his house every morning and evening. One day, he heard Dinabandhu (Vidyasagar's younger brother) reading Kalidas's Meghaduta in tones of music. Raj Krishna Babu was fascinated by the young boy's sweet recital of the elegant poem, and he felt a strong desire to learn Sanskrit. He gave out his mind to Vidyasagar, who promised to teach him the ancient language. But Vidyasagar was afraid, that Raj Krishna Babu was now grown too old to begin with the Mugdhabodha or any other Sanskrit grammar, and that he might lose his patience, and give it up as a mere waste of time. Vidyasagar, therefore, thought of devising some method, by which he could make the learning of Sanskrit attractive, as well as easy, to his pupil. So he dismissed Raj Krishna Babu for that day, and set