बालकृष्ण सम (सन् १९०२ वा १९०३–१९८१) नेपाली नाटकका प्रमुख नाटककार हुन्, जसले कविता र महाकाव्य पनि लेखे। यस पृष्ठमा समको परिचय, जीवनी, प्रमुख कृतिहरू र साहित्यिक योगदान छ।
Balkrishna Sama is remembered first as a playwright, often called the greatest in Nepali, and second as a poet. Both halves matter, and the name he wrote under tells you something about how he saw himself.
Who was Balkrishna Sama? (परिचय)
He was a dramatist, poet and memoirist who did more than anyone to establish modern Nepali drama. Nepali sources call him नाट्यसम्राट्; English sources have called him "the Shakespeare of Nepal".
Life (जीवनी)
He was born Balkrishna Shamsher Jang Bahadur Rana in Kathmandu, in 1902 or 1903 (sources differ; Nepali sources give Magh 1959 BS). After 2007 BS he dropped the Rana name and took Sama, "equal". He died in 1981.
His honours include the Sajha Puraskar (2028 BS), the Tribhuvan Puraskar (1972) and the Prithvi Pragya Puraskar (1978).
Major works (प्रमुख कृतिहरू)
- मुकुन्द-इन्दिरा, Mukunda-Indira: play, 1994 BS
- प्रह्लाद, Prahlad: play, 1995 BS
- भक्त भानुभक्त, Bhakta Bhanubhakta: play, 2000 BS
- अमरसिंह, Amar Singh: play, 2010 BS
- आगो र पानी, Aago ra Pani: khandakavya, 2011 BS
- चिसो चूल्हो, Chiso Chulho: mahakavya, 2015 BS
- Mero Kavitako Aradhana: autobiography
Literary contribution (साहित्यिक योगदान)
He gave Nepali a serious modern theatre. His plays range from history to devotion, and one of them is about Bhanubhakta himself, which says a lot about how the young literature was learning to tell its own story.
As a poet, his largest work is the mahakavya Chiso Chulho (चिसो चूल्हो), "Cold Hearth", a long narrative poem.
Reading him as a poet
Playwrights who write poetry bring a particular habit with them: every line is spoken by someone, to someone. That is worth listening for in his verse. And the change of name is its own small text. A writer born into the ruling family chose to sign his work "equal", and the choice is part of how he wanted to be read.
His work is in copyright until the end of 2031, so this page describes it rather than quoting it.
Where to go next
Gopal Prasad Rimal also wrote for the stage and for the page. Devkota is his near-contemporary. All seventeen poets are on the Nepali poets page.