Read the passage carefully and answer the questions that follow.
New technologies speeded up various forms of communication. The printing press, telegraph, and later the microphone, movement of people and goods through steamship and railways helped quick movement of new ideas. Within India, social reformers from Punjab and Bengal exchanged ideas with reformers from Madras and Maharashtra. Keshav Chandra Sen of Bengal visited Madras in 1864. Pandita Ramabai travelled to different corners of the country. Some of them went to other countries. Christian missionaries reached remote corners of present day Nagaland, Mizoram and Meghalaya. Modern social organisations like the Brahmo Samaj in Bengal and Arya Samaj in Punjab were set up. The All-India Muslim Ladies Conference (Anjuman-E-Khawatn-E-Islam) was founded in 1914. Indian reformers debated not just in public meetings but through public media like newspapers and journals. Translations of writings of social reformers from one Indian language to another took place. For instance, Vishnu Shastri published a Marathi translation of Vidyasagar's book in Indu Prakash in 1868.
What may be the significance of Marathi translation of Vidyasagar's book by Vishnu Shastri?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 2
The correct answer is Option (2) → Spread of new ideas across the country.
Option (2) Spread of new ideas across the country. — Correct. Indian reformers debated through newspapers and journals, and translations of their writings from one Indian language to another took place. When Vishnu Shastri published Vidyasagar’s book in Marathi in Indu Prakash in 1868, the ideas of a Bengali reformer reached readers in Maharashtra, crossing the barrier of language.
Option (4) Development of printing press. — Incorrect. The printing press made such publication possible, but the point of a translation is that an idea written in one language reaches people who read another.
NCERT (2025-26): “2.1 Social reform movements in the 19th and early 20th century … Modern social organisations like the Brahmo Samaj in Bengal and Arya Samaj in Punjab were set up. The All-India Muslim Ladies Conference (AnjumanE-Khawatn-E-Islam) was founded in 1914. Indian reformers debated not just in public meetings but through public media like newspapers and journals. Translations of writings of social reformers from one Indian language to another took place. For instance, Vishnu Shastri published a Marathi translation of Vidyasagar’s book in Indu Prakash in 1868.…” “…New ideas of liberalism and freedom, new ideas of homemaking and marriage, new roles for mothers and daughters, new ideas of self-conscious pride in culture and tradition emerged.…” |