Misplaced Pages

Mahanambrata Brahmachari

Article snapshot taken from Wikipedia with creative commons attribution-sharealike license. Give it a read and then ask your questions in the chat. We can research this topic together.
This article may be written from a fan's point of view, rather than a neutral point of view. Please clean it up to conform to a higher standard of quality, and to make it neutral in tone. (November 2021) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

Mahanambrata Brahmachari
Mahanambrata Brahmachari in Chicago, 1937.
BornBankim Dasgupta
(1904-12-25)25 December 1904
Barisal District, Bengal Presidency, British India
Died18 October 1999(1999-10-18) (aged 94)
Kolkata, West Bengal, India
NationalityBritish India
Known forSpiritual Guru
Parent(s)Kalidas Dasgupta (father)
Kaminisundari Devi (mother)

Mahanambrata Brahmachari (25 December 1904 – 18 October 1999; pre-ashramite name Bankim Dasgupta) was a Hindu Monk and the President who headed the Mahanam Sampradaya in what is now India and Bangladesh. A yogi and monk of the Mahauddharana order, a school of Bengal, he was a philosopher, writer and religious master.

Early Life

He was born in a Baidya family of Barishal District, Bengal Presidency, British India on 25 December 1904 and was named Bankim Dasgupta. He began his schooling in a nearby Pathshala primary school in 1909. At that time he travelled 80 miles on foot to pay homage to the religious leader Prabhu Jagadbandhu the founder of the Mahanam Sampradaya a monastic organisation.

Asceticism

He went to Sri Angan to take Sanyasa at Mahanam Sampradaya, the association dedicated for the propagation of teachings of Prabhu Jagadbandhu. But Sripad Mahendraji, the Head and the spiritual master of Mahanam Sampradaya, asked him because of his youth to return home and pass the Matriculation examination before thinking of sanyasa. In 1923 he obtained a District Scholarship at the matriculation examination. Then he left home for good, went to Sri Angan and was initiated into sanyasa by Sripad Mahendraji with the name of Mahanambrata Brahmachari. Sripad Mahendraji, asked him to take admission in Government Rajendra College, Faridpur for further studies. He passed the B.A. Exam in 1928 with Honours in Sanskrit, and obtained first class M.A. in Sanskrit from Calcutta University in 1931.

Sripad Mahendraji, the President of Mahanam Sampradaya, received an invitation from the President of World Fellowship of Faiths, from Chicago, Illinois, U.S.A. to send a delegate to its conferences. He sent Mahanambrata Brahmachari to represent the Mahanam Sampradaya in the U.S.A. Mahanambrata Brahmachari obtained a PhD in Vaishnava Theology from the University of Chicago. While there he had many discussions with Trappist Monk Thomas Merton. Mahanambrata Brahmachari advised Thomas Merton to explore his own Christianity roots rather than to learn more about Hinduism. Thomas Merton acknowledged the role of Mahanambrata Brahmachari in making him discover Christianity because Mahanambrata Brahmachari is a religious guru.

Since Partition of India

After the Partition of India and Pakistan in 1947, he remained in East Pakistan (now Bangladesh). After attacks on Hindus by the Pakistani Army he set up Devasthali Samskara Samiti to raise funds for reconstruction of temples and reinstallation of deities. He was present during reinstallation at many places like Dhaka, Narayangonj, Brahmanbaria, Sylhet, Sunamganj, Faridpur and Chattagram. In 1975 he founded and was the President of India and Bangladesh Sanatan Dharma Mahamandal, to look after the religious and cultural interests and heritages of Hindus.

Mahanambrata Brahmachari's idol is being worshipped by his disciples at Mahanam Angan, Kolkata on the day of Guru Purnima.

He passed away in Kolkata, West Bengal, India on 18 October 1999. He was the Head of the Mahanam Sampradaya in India and Bangladesh and was a very well known spiritual master of Bengal. All of his followers worship his holy idol at the Sri Sri Mahanam Angan.

References

  1. ^ "Dr. Mahanambrata Brahmachari and First World Fellowship of Faiths at Chicago - 1933".
  2. "Institutions of Dr Mahanam". ICBS. Archived from the original on 26 January 2013. Retrieved 18 August 2012.
  3. Stagnaro, Angelo (22 January 2010). "Thomas Merton in the city". National Catholic Reporter.
  4. McCombs, Phil (1 December 1999). "Luck Varies by Definition". The Herald News - Joliet (IL). Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 2 September 2012.
  5. "Brief life sketch of Dr Mahanambrata Bramhachari". Mahanam Sampraday. Retrieved 18 August 2012.
Categories: