Dr. Mahanambrata Brahmachari (25 December 1904 – 18 October 1999; pre-ashramite name Bankim Dasgupta) was a

Hindu Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...

monk A monk (, from el, μοναχός, ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a person who practices religious asceticism by monastic living, either alone or with any number of other monks. A monk may be a person who decides to dedica ...

who headed the

Mahanam Sampraday , native_name_lang = Bn , image = Prabhu Jagadbandhu.jpg , caption = Prabhu Jagadbandu considered avatar by Mahanam Sampraday , formation = 1891 as movement , founder = Prabhu Jagadbandu (inspirator)Sripa ...

in present-day

Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...

. A yogi and monk of Mahauddharan order, a school of Bengal, he was a philosopher, writer and religious master.

Early life

He was born in a

Baidya Baidya or Vaidya is a Hindu community located in Bengal. Baidyas, a caste ('' jāti'') of Ayurvedic physicians, have long had pre-eminence in society alongside Brahmins and Kayasthas. In the colonial era, the Bhadraloks were drawn primarily, b ...

family of Barishal and was named Bankim Dasgupta. He began his schooling in a nearby Pathshala primary school in 1909. At that time his father lost his eyesight. Mahanambrata therefore dedicated himself to his blind father's service, reading him aloud

scriptures. He gave up English school education, being instead inspired by the clarion call of

Chittaranjan Das Chittaranjan Das (5 November 1870 – 16 June 1925), popularly called ''Deshbandhu'' (Friend of the Nation), was an Indian freedom fighter, political activist and lawyer during the Indian independence movement and founder-leader of the Swara ...

who called English education a 'Slave making machine'. On hearing of

Prabhu Jagadbandhu Prabhu Jagadbandhu was a religious leader of Bengal. He spent much of his life meditating and preaching in the Sri Angan ashram in Faridpur, British India (present day Bangladesh). His teachings inspired the founding of a revival movement wit ...

who came out of his cottage at Sri Angan, Faridpur town after isolation for about 17 years from the outside world, He was inspired to travel 80 miles on foot to pay homage to Prabhu Jagadbandhu . Sripad Mahendrajee, the chief Sebait of Prabhu, brought Mahanambrata close to the Prabhu who he considered his guru.

Asceticism

His father died in 1922. After the funeral he went to

Sri Angan Sreedham Sreeangon or Sriangan is an Ashram set up by Prabhu Jagadbandhu of the Mahanam Sampraday in Faridpur, Bangladesh in 1899 C.E. This ashram is the headquarters of the Mahanam Sampraday in Bangladesh. During the Bangladesh liberation war ...

, Faridpur to take

sanyasa ''Sannyasa'' (Sanskrit: संन्यास; IAST: ), sometimes spelled Sanyasa (सन्न्यास) or Sanyasi (for the person), is life of renunciation and the fourth stage within the Hindu system of four life stages known as '' As ...

of Mahanam Sampradaya, the association dedicated for the propagation of teachings of

. But Sripad Mahendraji, the then spiritual master of Mahanam Sampradaya, asked him because of his youth to return home, pass the

matriculation Matriculation is the formal process of entering a university, or of becoming eligible to enter by fulfilling certain academic requirements such as a matriculation examination. Australia In Australia, the term "matriculation" is seldom used now ...

examination first and thereafter think of

. His eagerness for ascetic life prompted him to take the first available opportunity to sit for the matriculation examination. As he was out of touch with English education he had to study anew. In 1923 he appeared at the matriculation examination and obtained District Scholarship. Then he left home for good, came to Sri Angan, Faridpur and was initiated into sanyasa by Sripad Mahendraji with the name of Mahanambrata. Mahendraji, asked him to take admission in Rajendra College, Faridpur for further studies. After performing various duties of the Ashram and attending college classes, he had hardly any time for other studies. On many an occasion he had to carry on without mid-day meals because of the poor financial condition of the Ashram, and his absence during mealtimes to attend College classes. Despite these difficulties he passed B.A. Exam in 1928 with Honours in

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 ...

. He obtained M.A. in Sanskrit from

Calcutta University The University of Calcutta (informally known as Calcutta University; CU) is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate State university (India), state university in India, located in Kolkata, West Bengal, India. Considered ...

in 1931, obtaining first class first position while sick. Mahendraji as President of Mahanam Sampradaya received an invitation from the President of World Fellowship of Faiths, Chicago, U.S. to send a delegate to its conferences. He sent Mahanambrata Brahmachari to represent the sampraday in the U.S. Brahmachari obtained a PhD in Vaishnava Theology from the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chic ...

. While there he had many discussions with religious thinker Thomas Merton. Merton was surprised when Brahmachari directed Merton to explore his own Christian tradition and spiritual roots rather than learn more about Hinduism. Merton acknowledged the role of Brahmachari in making him discover Catholicism.

Partition of India and beyond

After the partition of India and Pakistan in 1947, he remained in the then East Pakistan (now Bangladesh), in order to safeguard and protect the religion and culture of minority Hindus of his motherland. After the atrocities Hindus faced at the hand of the Pakistani Army, he set up Devasthali Samskar Samity 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 Bangladesh Sanatan Dharma Mahamondal to look after the religious and cultural interests and heritages of Hindus, being its founder President. He was a very renowned spiritual teacher of Bengal. His disciples worship his idol even to this date as shown in the image.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brahmachari, Mahanambrata 20th-century Hindu philosophers and theologians Bangladeshi Hindus Bangladeshi religious leaders Bengali philosophers Devotees of Krishna Hindu monks Hindu mystics Hindu revivalists Linguists from Bangladesh Vaishnavite religious leaders The Sanskrit College and University alumni University of Chicago Divinity School alumni 1904 births 1999 deaths