Kshetresa Chandra Chattopadhyaya (1896–1974) was a distinguished scholar of

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...

from

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. A scholar of Sanskrit,

Veda FIle:Atharva-Veda samhita page 471 illustration.png, upright=1.2, The Vedas are ancient Sanskrit texts of Hinduism. Above: A page from the ''Atharvaveda''. The Vedas (, , ) are a large body of religious texts originating in ancient India. Co ...

, grammar,

Pali Pali () is a Middle Indo-Aryan liturgical language native to the Indian subcontinent. It is widely studied because it is the language of the Buddhist ''Pāli Canon'' or ''Tipiṭaka'' as well as the sacred language of ''Theravāda'' Buddhism ...

Prakrit The Prakrits (; sa, prākṛta; psu, 𑀧𑀸𑀉𑀤, ; pka, ) are a group of vernacular Middle Indo-Aryan languages that were used in the Indian subcontinent from around the 3rd century BCE to the 8th century CE. The term Prakrit is usu ...

and

philology Philology () is the study of language in oral and writing, written historical sources; it is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics (with especially strong ties to etymology). Philology is also defin ...

, he was born on 27 October 1896 in village Nimta of

North 24 Parganas North 24 Parganas (abv. 24 PGS (N)) or sometimes North Twenty Four Parganas is a district in southern West Bengal, of eastern India. North 24 Parganas extends in the tropical zone from latitude 22° 11′ 6″ north to 23° 15′ 2″ north and f ...

in what was then

Bengal Bengal ( ; bn, বাংলা/বঙ্গ, translit=Bānglā/Bôngô, ) is a geopolitical, cultural and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal, predom ...

. He came from an illustrious family of ''Kulina''

Brahman In Hinduism, ''Brahman'' ( sa, ब्रह्मन्) connotes the highest universal principle, the ultimate reality in the universe.P. T. Raju (2006), ''Idealistic Thought of India'', Routledge, , page 426 and Conclusion chapter part X ...

s of Deshmukho in District Hooghly. The Indian writer

Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay Bankim Chandra Chatterjee (also Chattopadhayay) CIE (26 or 27 June 1838 – 8 April 1894) was an Indian novelist, poet, Essayist and journalist.Staff writer"Bankim Chandra: The First Prominent Bengali Novelist" ''The Daily Star'', 30 June 2011 ...

belonged to the same family and Kshetresa Chandra Chattopadhyaya inherited the spirit of Indian renaissance from him.

Education

Chattopadhyaya studied in a number of schools and passed the matriculation examination of the

Calcutta University The University of Calcutta (informally known as Calcutta University; CU) is a public collegiate state university in India, located in Kolkata, West Bengal, India. Considered one of best state research university all over India every year, C ...

in 1913 from

Hindu School Hindu School is a state government-administered school in Kolkata (Calcutta), India. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest modern educational institution in Asia (then known as ''Hindu College''). The institution played a key role during Bengal R ...

Calcutta Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, the official name until 2001) is the Capital city, capital of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal, on the eastern ba ...

. He then attended the

Presidency College, Calcutta Presidency University, Kolkata (formerly known as Presidency College, Kolkata) is a second major public state aided research university located in College Street, Kolkata. Considered as one of best colleges when Presidency College was affili ...

for Intermediate examination and passed in 1915. He then migrated to the United Province of

Agra Agra (, ) is a city on the banks of the Yamuna river in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, about south-east of the national capital New Delhi and 330 km west of the state capital Lucknow. With a population of roughly 1.6 million, Agra is ...

and

Oudh The Oudh State (, also Kingdom of Awadh, Kingdom of Oudh, or Awadh State) was a princely state in the Awadh region of North India until its annexation by the British in 1856. The name Oudh, now obsolete, was once the anglicized name of ...

and passed the

B.A. Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

examination of

Allahabad University , mottoeng = "As Many Branches So Many Trees" , established = , type = Public , chancellor = Ashish Chauhan , vice_chancellor = Sangita Srivastava , head_label ...

(1917) and

M.A. A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

from Queen’s College,

Benares Varanasi (; ; also Banaras or Benares (; ), and Kashi.) is a city on the Ganges river in northern India that has a central place in the traditions of pilgrimage, death, and mourning in the Hindu world. * * * * The city has a syncretic tr ...

(1919). He also passed the M.A. Examination in

from

in 1921 and Vedant in 1922. He in his college days became an intimate friend of

Subhas Chandra Bose Subhas Chandra Bose ( ; 23 January 1897 – 18 August 1945 * * * * * * * * *) was an Indian nationalist whose defiance of British authority in India made him a hero among Indians, but his wartime alliances with Nazi Germany and Imperia ...

who later became a prominent figure in Indian politics and the

Indian independence movement The Indian independence movement was a series of historic events with the ultimate aim of ending British Raj, British rule in India. It lasted from 1857 to 1947. The first nationalistic revolutionary movement for Indian independence emerged ...

. Chattopadhyaya was a student of Dr. Ganganath Jha.

Career

Chattopadhyaya joined

University of Allahabad , mottoeng = "As Many Branches So Many Trees" , established = , type = Public , chancellor = Ashish Chauhan , vice_chancellor = Sangita Srivastava , head_label ...

as a lecturer in the department of

in 1924. In the year 1950 he was promoted to reader and from 1956 for about a couple of years he acted as professor of Sanskrit. Later he became Director, Research Institute at

Sampurnanand Sanskrit University Sampurnanand Sanskrit Vishwavidyalaya (IAST: ; formerly Varanaseya Sanskrit Vishwavidyalaya and Government Sanskrit College, Varanasi) is an Indian university and institution of higher learning located in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, specializing i ...

, Benares. As the director, he was in a position to guide research exclusively. Chattopadhyaya was the editor of book series

Sarasvati Bhavana Granthamala Sārasvati Bhavana Granthamala (previously known as Sarasvati Bhavana Texts) is a series of editions of Sanskrit scholarly texts. The publication of the series began in 1920, on behalf of Sarasvati Bhawan, the Library, Government Sanskrit College, ...

and famous Sanskrit Journal,

Sarasvati Susama Saraswati ( sa, सरस्वती, ) is the Hindu goddess of knowledge, music, art, speech, wisdom, and learning. She is one of the Tridevi, along with the goddesses Lakshmi and Parvati. The earliest known mention of Saraswati as a god ...

. He was also appointed as a special scholar for comparative study of

and

Avesta The Avesta () is the primary collection of religious texts of Zoroastrianism, composed in the Avestan language. The Avesta texts fall into several different categories, arranged either by dialect, or by usage. The principal text in the litu ...

by the Ministry of Education,

Govt. of India The Government of India ( ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, ...

at Kendriya Sanskrit Vidyapeeth,

Tirupati Tirupati () is a city in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is the administrative headquarters of the Tirupati district. The city is home to the important Hindu shrine of Tirumala Venkateswara Temple and other historic temples and is refe ...

. The

appointed him Stephan’s Nirmalendu Ghosh Lecturer on Comparative Religion in 1960 (In that period he was on leave from

Disciples

He has produced many scholars, among them are # B P T Vagish Shastri #

Vidya Niwas Mishra Vidya Niwas Mishra (28 January 1926 – 14 February 2005) was an Indian scholar, a Hindi-Sanskrit littérateur, and a journalist. He was honoured with Padma Bhushan. Life He was born on 14 January 1926 at Pakardiha in Gorakhpur district of Utta ...

Govind Chandra Pande Govind Chandra Pande (30 July 1923 – 21 May 2011) was a well-known Indian scholar, philosopher and historian of the Vedic and the Buddhist periods. He served as professor of ancient history and vice-chancellor at Jaipur and Allahabad universit ...

# Govardhan Rai # Kamlesh Dutt Tripathi

Work

Chattopadhyaya had been actively connected with All India Oriental Conference since its third session held in

Madras Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

in December, 1924. He presided over its Veda and Indo-Aryan section in the ninth session held at

Trivandrum Thiruvananthapuram (; ), also known by its former name Trivandrum (), is the capital of the Indian state of Kerala. It is the most populous city in Kerala with a population of 957,730 as of 2011. The encompassing urban agglomeration populati ...

in 1937 and its Veda section in the eighteenth session held at Annamalainagar in 1955. He presided over the

Philology Philology () is the study of language in oral and writing, written historical sources; it is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics (with especially strong ties to etymology). Philology is also defin ...

section of Akhil Bhartiya Hindi Sahitya Sammelana held at

Karachi Karachi (; ur, ; ; ) is the most populous city in Pakistan and 12th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 20 million. It is situated at the southern tip of the country along the Arabian Sea coast. It is the former cap ...

in December 1946.

A. B. Keith Arthur Berriedale Keith (5 April 1879 – 6 October 1944) was a Scottish constitutional lawyer, scholar of Sanskrit and Indologist. He became Regius Professor of Sanskrit and Comparative Philology and Lecturer on the Constitution of the Briti ...

, ''History of Sanskrit Literature'',

Motilal Banarsidass Motilal Banarsidass Publishing House (MLBD) is an Indian academic publishing house, founded in Delhi, India in 1903. It publishes and distributes serials, monographs, and scholarly publications on Asian religions, Buddhology, Indology, Easte ...

, Delhi.

Honor

Certificate of Merit,

President of India The president of India ( IAST: ) is the head of state of the Republic of India. The president is the nominal head of the executive, the first citizen of the country, as well as the commander-in-chief of the Indian Armed Forces. Droupadi Murmu ...

, 1966.

Book authored

# Eshakenopanishad (First Edition 1916), Reprinted in University Bi-Centenary Series, (Ed. B.N. Mishra), Vol VIII,

, 1992. # Vedavittaprakasika, 1966. # Studies in Vedic and Indo-Iranian Religion and Literature, (Ed.

), 1976.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chattopadhyaya, Kshetresa Presidency University, Kolkata alumni Writers from Kolkata Sanskrit grammarians University of Calcutta alumni University of Allahabad alumni Academic staff of the University of Calcutta Vedic scholars 1896 births 1974 deaths Sanskrit scholars from Bengal Bengali Hindus 20th-century Indian linguists