Sri Anirvan
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| Sri Anirvan | |
|---|---|
| Born | 8 July 1896 Mymensingh, British India |
| Died | 31 May 1978 (aged 81) Kolkata, India |
| Occupation | monk, philosopher, scholar, writer |
| Nationality | Bengali |
| Writing period | Bengal Renaissance |
Anirvan or Sri Anirvan (born Narendranath Dhar[1]) (Bengali: শ্রী অনির্বান Sri Anirvan) (July 8, 1896–May 31, 1978) was an Indian/Bengali/Hindu monk, writer, Vedic scholar and philosopher.[2][3] He was widely known as a scholar[3][2][4] and his principal works were a Bengali translation of Sri Aurobindo's The Life Divine[2] and the three volume treatise Veda Mimamsa.[2]
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[edit] Early Life and Sannyas
Sri Anirvan was born on July 8, 1896 in the town of Mymensingh, then a part of British India and now in Bangladesh.[2] His birth name was Narendranath Dhar[1]. He was the son Rajchandra Dhar, a doctor, and Sushila Devi.[5] He was a spiritually and intellectually-inclined child, who by age 11 had memorized the Astadhyayi of Pāṇini and the Bhagavad Gita.[2] He was named Baroda Brahmachari after going through the sacred thread ceremony[1]. He also won a state scholarship as a teen and completed university IA and BA degrees in Dhaka and an MA from Sanskrit College in Kolkata.[2][1]
At 16, he joined the Assam Bangiya Saraswata Math ashram, located in the village of Kokilamukh near Jorhat in Assam.[2] He was a disciple of the ashram's founder, Paramahansa Srimat Swami Nigamananda Saraswati Dev, who initiated him into sannyas.[3] Anirvan's new monastic name was Nirvanananda Saraswati.[1][3][2] He taught at the ashram school and edited its monthly magazine Aryyadarpan.[1]
[edit] Scholar and Writer
Some time after 1930, Nirvanananda changed his name to Anirvan and ceased to wear the ochre swami's robes[1][2][3]. He travelled widely in North India,[2] eventually returning to Assam and establishing an ashram in Kamakhya near Guwahati.[2] However, he continued to travel. In the 1940s, he lived in Lohaghat and Almora. Madame Lizelle Reymond documented some of this period in My Life with a Brahmin Family (1958) and To Live Within (1971).[4][2] During this time, Sri Anirvan translated Sri Aurobindo's The Life Divine into Bengali (as Divya Jeevan Prasanga); this book, his first, was published in two volumnes between 1948-51. [2]
In 1953, Sri Anirvan moved to Shillong in Assam.[2] His reputation as a Vedic scholar grew;[3][2][4] and he wrote both in Bengali (chiefly) and in English (he was also fluent in French[1]) on various aspects of Hindu philosophy (particularly Samkhya, the Upanishads, the Gita and Vedanta) and the parallels between Rigvedic, Puranic, Tantric and Buddhist thought.[1][2][3][4] His magnum opus, Veda Mimamsa, was published in three volumes in 1961, 1965 and 1970.[2] This work won him the Rabindra award[1].
Though Sri Anirvan was a saint, he studied different subjects such as Marxism, nuclear science and gardening; yet he called himself a simple baul[1].
Sri Anirvan made his final move, to Kolkata, in 1965.[2] He passed away on May 31, 1978, after a six-year illness.[4][2]
[edit] Works
- Divya Jeevan Prasanga (Bengali: দিব্য জীবন প্রসঙ্গ). Kolkata: Sri Aurobindo Pathamandir, 2000 (fourth edition). (Originally published 1948-51).
- Vedamimangsa (Bengali: বেদ মীমাংসা). 1961, 1965, 1970. Winner of Rabindra Puraskar award.
- Vedanta Jijnasa (Bengali: বেদান্ত জিজ্ঞাসা). Sreerampore, Hooghly: Sri Rabindranath Bandyopadhyay, 1965 (Bengali year 1372).
- Pather Sathi (Bengali: পথের সাথী). Halishar: Srimat Swami Jnananada Saraswati, Assam Bangyiya Saraswat Math, 1980. (Three volumes).
- Bichitra (Bengali: বিচিত্রা). Kolkata: Smt Ramaa Choudhury, Haimavati-Anirban Trust, 1993.
- Uttarayan (Bengali: উত্তরায়ন). Kolkata: Smt Ramaa Choudhury, Haimavati-Anirban Trust, 1995.
- Antaryoga (Bengali: অন্তর্যোগ). Kolkata: Sri Goutam Dharmapal, Haimavati Prakashani, 1997 (Bengali year 1404), 3rd edition.
- Prashnottari (Bengali: প্রশ্নোত্তরী). Halishar: Srimat Swami Jnananada Saraswati, Assam Bangyiya Saraswat Math, 2001 (Bengali year 1408), 2nd edition.
- Pravachan (Bengali: প্রবচন). Halishar: Srimat Swami Jnananada Saraswati, Assam Bangyiya Saraswat Math, 2002 (Bengali year 1409). (Four volumes).
- Letters of a Baul (English). Undated.
- Dakshinamurti (Bengali: দক্ষিণামূর্তি). Undated.
- Gitanuvachan (Bengali: গীতানুবচন). Undated.
- Kaveri (Poem) (Bengali: কাবেরী). Undated.
- Patralekha (Bengali: পত্রলেখা). Undated.
- Shiksha (Bengali: শিক্ষা). Undated.
- Snehashish (Bengali: স্নেহাশীষ). Undated.
- Upanishad Prasanga - Ishopanishad (Bengali: উপনিষৎ প্রসঙ্গ : ঈশোপনিষদ্). Undated.
- Upanishad Prasanga - Oitareya Upanishad (Bengali: উপনিষৎ প্রসঙ্গ : ঐতরেয় উপনিষদ্). Undated.
- Upanishad Prasanga – Kenopanishad — (Bengali: উপনিষৎ প্রসঙ্গ : কেনোপনিষদ্). Undated.
- Yogasamanwaya Prasanga (Bengali: যোগসমন্বয় প্রসঙ্গ). Undated.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Banglapedia article: Anirvan by Nandadulal Banik. Asiatic Society of Bangladesh accessed on 4 June, 2008
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t Buddhiyoga of the Gita and other Essays. by Anirvan. Samata Books, 1984 (paperback 1991). ISBN 978-0836411201. at Bagchee.com, accessed June 1, 2008 and Buddhiyoga jacket copy, accessed June 1, 2008
- ^ a b c d e f g The Life And Legacy of Swami Nigamananda Saraswati Paramahamsa Dev. by Swami Chetanananda Saraswati. Sri Sri Nigamananda Math and Ashram Foundations, undated webpage, accessed June 1, 2008
- ^ a b c d e To Live Within: A Woman's Spiritual Pilgrimage in a Himalayan Hermitage. By Lizelle Reymond. (Translated from the French original La Vie dans la vie by Nancy Pearson and Stanley Spiegelberg.) Morning Light Press, 2007. ISBN 1596750162. Gurdjieff-internet.com, accessed June 1, 2008
- ^ Antaryoga (Bengali: অন্তর্যোগ). Kolkata: Sri Goutam Dharmapal, Haimavati Prakashani, 1997 (Bengali year 1404), 3rd edition.
[edit] External links
- Assam Bangiya Saraswat Matha
- J.L. Mehta on Heidegger, Hermeneutics, and Indian Tradition. By Jarava Lal Mehta, William J. Jackson (editor). Brill Academic Publishers, 1992. ISBN 978-9004094888. Google books version, accessed June 1, 2008
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