Sarat Chandra Chakravarty
Sarat Chandra Chakravarty | |
---|---|
শরৎ চন্দ্র চক্রবর্ত্তি | |
British India
( Now in British India (now in West Bengal, India) | |
Nationality | Indian |
Citizenship | India |
Occupation(s) | Post Master, scholar |
Known for | Vedanta |
Sarat Chandra Chakravarty (
Early life
Sarat Chandra was born to Ramkamal Chakravarty and Vidhumukhi Devi in the village Kotapada in the district Faridpur in erstwhile Bengal province (now Bangladesh) on the Hindu holy day of Sivaratri on 21 February 1868. The parents were humble but pious and educated. Sarat Chandra was the eldest son of the family. His mother was well versed in scripture, and from his parents he got his interest in spirituality. He grew up as an orthodox Brahmin owing to the prevalent customs of the society. He was known to be kind and of charitable disposition at an early age.[1]
Education
In 1873, he passed school final examination. He loved Sanskrit most. In 1882, he passed entrance examination and earned a scholarship of Rs 10/-. He joined Jagannath College in Dhaka. His penned his first poem about this time, called Kavya Kusumanjali, in 1882–83. He passed First Arts (F.A) in 1883 and joined Metropolitan Institution run by
Marriage and career
Sarat Chandra, according to the prevalent norms and culture, was married to Mokshadayini, at an early age, and had a son and three daughters from the marriage. In order to support his family, he, side by side along with his pursuing of his education, became a private tutor of a local landlord. He bore the educational expenses of his brother Ramesh Chandra, who was also a brilliant student.[2] Subsequently, after graduation he joined the Government service under the then British rule, as a Deputy Post Master and continued with the same profession for the rest of his life. His biographer states that he was unjustly denied promotion throughout his career by the British officials owing to his uprightness and dignity in not acceding to their whims.[3] He began his career as Deputy Post Master at Barrackpore Post Office, page 24. During his service he had to work in many places in Bengal, Bihar and Orissa.
Introduction to Ramakrishna Vivekananda ideology
Sarat Chandra came in contact with
Swami Vivekananda and his influence
Sarat Chandra met
Influence of Nag Mahasaya
The person who influenced Sarat Chandra most after Swami Vivekananda was Durga Charan Nag, a saint and a householder disciple of Sri Ramakrishna. Sarat Chandra also wrote the only biography on Nag Mahasaya, called Life of Nag Mahasaya. He was present by the bedside of Nag Mahasaya when the latter died.[8]
Later years
In the course of his service, Sarat had to travel throughout the province of Bengal, and he spread the ideals of Ramakrishna and Vivekananda in the places that he visited. He retired in 1933 from Head Post Office in Cuttack, Orissa. Sarat Chandra composed Sri Ramakrishna Panchali based on the life of Sri Ramakrishna.[9] The revolutionaries of Bengal, most famous among them being Subhas Chandra Bose had read Swami Vivekananda's conversations with his disciple on spiritual matters and drew their inspiration from the book.[10] The bard of Bengal Mukunda Das, a famous poet, ballad singer, patriot and lyricist, was a friend of Sarat Chandra and sang the songs composed by the latter during theatrical performances in the villages.
Sarat also started many devotees' association, study circles, societies in Ramakrishna Vivekananda ideology, wherever he was posted during his service. He maintained close contact with the monks of the Belur Math.
Between 1914 and 1921 many direct disciples of Sri Ramakrishna visited his house. Among them were
After retirement in 1933 he spent several years in Calcutta, and he suffered from poor eyesight. He wrote a commentary on
References
- ^ Banerjee 2013
- ^ Banerjee 2013, p. 6
- ^ Banerjee 2013, p. 7
- ^ Banerjee 2013, p. 9
- ^ Diary of a Disciple
- ^ Swami Vivekananda, The Friend of All, Ramakrishna Mission Institute of Culture, 1991, page 55
- ^ Banerjee 2013, p. 20
- ^ Life of Nag Mahasaya
- ^ Banerjee 2013, p. 25
- ^ Banerjee 2013, p. 27
- ^ Banerjee 2013, p. 37
- ^ Banerjee 2013, p. 40
Bibliography
- Banerjee, Chhaya (2013). Sarat Chandra Chakravarty. Chennai: Ramakrishna Math Mylapore. ISBN 9788171208593.