Mahendranath Gupta
Mahendranath Gupta | |
---|---|
Died | 4 June 1932 | (aged 77)
Known for | Author of Sri Sri Ramakrishna Kathamrita, teacher of Paramahansa Yogananda |
Mahendranath Gupta (Bengali: মহেন্দ্রনাথ গুপ্ত) (14 July 1854 – 4 June 1932), (also famously known as শ্রীম, Master Mahashay, and M.), was a disciple of Ramakrishna (a great 19th-century Hindu Bengali mystic, philosopher and spiritual leader) and a great mystic himself. He was the author of Sri Sri Ramakrishna Kathamrita (5 vols.), a Bengali classic; in English, it is known as The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna. He was also an early teacher to Paramahansa Yogananda, a famous 20th-century yogi, guru and philosopher. In his autobiography, Yogananda noted that Gupta ran a small boys' high school in Kolkata, and he recounted their visits, as they often traveled to the Dakshineshwar Kali Temple together.[1] Having a devotional nature, Gupta worshipped the Divine Mother in the form of Kali, and often reflected the wisdom of his guru Ramakrishna in his daily life and mannerisms. Yogananda reverentially regarded Gupta's spirituality, calling him an "Incarnation of purity" and "the greatest man of humility I ever knew."[1]Paul Brunton also narratives a meeting with Mahendra, in his famous memoir, 'A search in secret India'.
Life
Birth and education
Mahendranath was born to Madhusudan Gupta and Swarnamayi Devi in a
Meetings with Ramakrishna
As an adult, Mahendranath, like some of the other disciples of Ramakrishna, was connected with the
Sri Sri Ramakrishna Kathamrita
M had the habit of maintaining a personal diary since the age of thirteen.
I wrote everything from memory after I returned home. Sometimes I had to keep awake the whole night...Sometimes I would keep on writing the events of one sitting for seven days, recollect the songs that were sung, and the order in which they were sung, and the samadhi and so on...Many a time I did not feel satisfied with my description of the events; I would then immediately plunge myself in deep meditation ...Then the correct image would arise...That is why in spite of the big gap in the physical sense, this story remains so fresh and lifelike in my mind as if it happened just now.[9]
In each of his Kathamrita entries, M records the date, time and place of the conversation.
Teacher to Paramahansa Yogananda
Paramahansa Yogananda, a 20th-century philosopher and a yogi, was a student of Mahendranath Gupta. Mahendranath moved to 50 Amherst Street in Calcutta, where he ran a small boys' high school. It was also formerly Paramahansa Yogananda's family home—a site especially poignant to Yogananda because it was the site of his mother's death. In his Autobiography of a Yogi, Yogananda dedicated an entire chapter to describing his friendship with Mahendranath, whom he referred to as "Master Mahasaya," which was along spiritual rather than academic lines. Yogananda described Mahendranath as having a "silky white beard and large lustrous eyes"[1] and described his personality thus:
"His role in the world was humble, as befitted the greatest man of humility I ever knew. In this Amherst Street house, Master Mahasaya conducted a small high school for boys. No words of chastisement passed his lips; no rule and ferule maintained his discipline. Higher mathematics indeed were taught in these modest classrooms, and a chemistry of love absent from the textbooks. He spread his wisdom by spiritual contagion rather than impermeable precept. Consumed by an unsophisticated passion for the Divine Mother, the saint no more demanded the outward forms of respect than a child."[21]
Yogananda went on to describe several seemingly miraculous experiences with Mahendranath. Later, Yogananda said about him that "I would roll on the ground where he'd walked, so great was my love for him. I felt that even that ground had been sanctified."[22]
Later life and death
In 1922, M. lived in Mihijam, a town 144 miles from Kolkata, for nine months.[23]: 64
In 1932, when the fifth Volume of Kathamrita was at the printers[24] Mahendranath died at his home, now called Kathamrita Bhavan, located near the Thanthania Kali Temple in Calcutta. Kathamrita Bhavan is a pilgrimage place for followers of Ramakrishna due to numerous visits there by Ramakrishna and Sarada Devi, and several relics associated with their lives.[25]
References
- ^ a b c Yogananda 2005, p. 76
- ^ Sen 2001, p. 36
- ^ "M. (Mahendra Nath Gupta)". Sri Ramakrishna Sri Ma Prakashan Trust. Retrieved 17 March 2008.
- ^ a b Sen 2001, p. 37
- ^ Chetanananda 1990, p. 293
- ^ Tyagananda & Vrajaprana 2010, p. 7
- ^ Chetanananda 1990, p. 324
- ^ Sen 2001, p. 42
- ^ a b c Tyagananda & Vrajaprana 2010, pp. 7–8
- ^ a b Jackson 1994, pp. 16–17
- ^ Sen 2001, p. 28
- ^ Tyagananda & Vrajaprana 2010, pp. 12–14
- ^ Tyagananda & Vrajaprana 2010, pp. 10
- ^ Smith 1982, p. 58
- ^ Sen 2001, pp. 29–30
- ^ Sen 2001, pp. 46–47
- ^ a b Sen 2001, p. 32
- ^ Hixon 2002, p. xiii
- ^ The Gospel of Ramakrishna (New York: The Vedanta Society, 1907)
- ^ "Publisher's note". Kathamrita Bhavan. Archived from the original on 26 February 2002. Retrieved 21 August 2010.
- ^ Yogananda 2005, p. 77
- ^ Kriyananda 2004, p. 449
- OCLC 33327769. (original edition 1977)
- ^ Tyagananda & Vrajaprana 2010, p. 12
- ^ "Kathamrita Bhavan". M's Thakurbati. Retrieved 18 March 2008.
Bibliography
- Nityatmananda, Swami; D P Gupta (June 1967). "M"--the apostle and the evangelist : a continuation of M's Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna. Rohtak, Sri Ramakrishna—Sri Ma Prakashan. OCLC 49257. (full book is 16 volumes)
- Chetanananda, Swami (1990). Ramakrishna as We Saw Him. Vedanta Society of St. Louis. ISBN 0-916356-65-5.
- ISBN 978-0-911206-01-2.
- ISBN 1-56589-202-X.
- Smith, Bardwell Leith (1982). Hinduism: New Essays in the History of Religions. Brill. ISBN 90-04-06788-4.
- ISBN 978-1-56589-212-5.
- Dasgupta, R. K (June 1986). Sri Sri Ramakrishna Kathamrita as a religious classic. Bulletin of the Ramakrishna Mission Institute of Culture.
- ISBN 0-943914-80-9.
- Jackson, Carl T. (1994). Vedanta for the West. Indiana University Press. ISBN 0-253-33098-X.
- Gupta, Mahendranath ("M."); Dharm Pal Gupta (2001). Sri Sri Ramakrishna Kathamrita. Sri Ma Trust. ISBN 978-81-88343-00-3.
- D.P. Gupta; D.K. Sengupta, eds. (2004). Sri Sri Ramakrishna Kathamrita Centenary Memorial (PDF). Kolkata: Sri Ma Trust. Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 July 2011. Retrieved 21 August 2010.
- S2CID 144046925.
- Sen, Amiya P. (2001). "Three essays on Sri Ramakrishna and his times". Indian Institute of Advanced Study.
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