Sri Anirvan
Encyclopedia
Anirvan or Sri Anirvan (July 8, 1896–May 31, 1978) born Narendra Chandra Dhar was an India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

n/Bengali
Bengali people
The Bengali people are an ethnic community native to the historic region of Bengal in South Asia. They speak Bengali , which is an Indo-Aryan language of the eastern Indian subcontinent, evolved from the Magadhi Prakrit and Sanskrit languages. In their native language, they are referred to as বাঙালী...

/Hindu
Hindu
Hindu refers to an identity associated with the philosophical, religious and cultural systems that are indigenous to the Indian subcontinent. As used in the Constitution of India, the word "Hindu" is also attributed to all persons professing any Indian religion...

 monk
Swami
A swami sometimes abbreviated "Sw." is an ascetic or yogi who has been initiated into the religious monastic order founded by Adi Sankara, or to a religious teacher.The Oxford English Dictionary gives the etymology as...

, writer, Vedic scholar and philosopher. He was widely known as a scholar and his principal works were a Bengali translation of Sri Aurobindo
Sri Aurobindo
Sri Aurobindo , born Aurobindo Ghosh or Ghose , was an Indian nationalist, freedom fighter, philosopher, yogi, guru, and poet. He joined the Indian movement for freedom from British rule and for a duration became one of its most important leaders, before developing his own vision of human progress...

's The Life Divine
Collected Works of Sri Aurobindo
The Collected Works of Sri Aurobindo were published by the Sri Aurobindo Ashram in 1972, on occasion of Sri Aurobindo's centenary...

 and the three volume treatise Veda Mimamsa.

Early Life and Sannyas

Sri Anirvan was born on July 8, 1896 in the town of Mymensingh
Mymensingh
Mymensingh , pronounced moy-mon-shing-haw, is a city of Bangladesh situated on the river Brahmaputra. It is the headquarters of the administrative unit Mymensingh District. Mymensingh is the anglicized pronunciation of the original name Momenshahi, referring to a ruler called Momen Shah. The cadet...

, then a part of British India
British Raj
British Raj was the British rule in the Indian subcontinent between 1858 and 1947; The term can also refer to the period of dominion...

 and now in Bangladesh
Bangladesh
Bangladesh , officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh is a sovereign state located in South Asia. It is bordered by India on all sides except for a small border with Burma to the far southeast and by the Bay of Bengal to the south...

. His birth name was Narendrachandra Dhar. He was the son of Rajchandra Dhar, a doctor, and Sushila Devi. He was a spiritually and intellectually-inclined child, who by age 11 had memorized the Astadhyayi of Pāṇini and the Bhagavad Gita
Bhagavad Gita
The ' , also more simply known as Gita, is a 700-verse Hindu scripture that is part of the ancient Sanskrit epic, the Mahabharata, but is frequently treated as a freestanding text, and in particular, as an Upanishad in its own right, one of the several books that constitute general Vedic tradition...

. He was named Baroda Brahmachari after going through the sacred thread ceremony. He also won a state scholarship as a teen and completed university IA and BA
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...

 degrees at the University of Dhaka
University of Dhaka
The University of Dhaka is the oldest university in Bangladesh. It is a multi-disciplinary research university and is among the top universities in the region. Established on July 21, 1921, as per the Government of India Act, 1920, it was modelled on the Universities in England and soon gained...

 and an MA
Master of Arts (postgraduate)
A Master of Arts from the Latin Magister Artium, is a type of Master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The M.A. is usually contrasted with the M.S. or M.Sc. degrees...

 from the Sanskrit College
Sanskrit College
Sanskrit College is a specialized state-government administered liberal arts college offering an undergraduate degree in Sanskrit language, Pali language, linguistics, and ancient Indian and world history. It is one of the affiliated colleges of the University of Calcutta. Founded on 1 January...

 of the University of Calcutta
University of Calcutta
The University of Calcutta is a public university located in the city of Kolkata , India, founded on 24 January 1857...

.

At 16, he joined the Assam Bangiya Saraswata Math ashram
Ashram
Traditionally, an ashram is a spiritual hermitage. Additionally, today the term ashram often denotes a locus of Indian cultural activity such as yoga, music study or religious instruction, the moral equivalent of a studio or dojo....

, located in the village of Kokilamukh near Jorhat
Jorhat
Jorhat is a city of Assam in India. Jorhat was established as a new capital in the closing years of the 18th century by the declining Tunkhungia Ahom Dynasty. Jorhat, as the name signifies, was just a couple of markets . Two parallel markets namely, Chowkihat and Macharhat, lay on the eastern...

 in Assam
Assam
Assam , also, rarely, Assam Valley and formerly the Assam Province , is a northeastern state of India and is one of the most culturally and geographically distinct regions of the country...

. He was a disciple of the ashram's founder, Paramahansa Srimat Swami Nigamananda Saraswati Dev
Swami Nigamananda
Swami Nigamananda Paramahansa . His followers idealized him as their worshiped and beloved thakura.Nigamananda was a sannyasi of the Shankar's cult...

, who initiated him into sannyas
Sannyasa
Sannyasa is the order of life of the renouncer within the Hindu scheme of āśramas, or life stages. It is considered the topmost and final stage of the ashram systems and is traditionally taken by men or women at or beyond the age of fifty years old or by young monks who wish to renounce worldly...

. Anirvan's new monastic name was Nirvanananda Saraswati. He taught at the ashram school and edited its monthly magazine Aryyadarpan. In fact, the Aryadarpan still retains the following Sanskrit epigram, in the Rathoddhata metre, that Sri Anirvan (then Srimat Varada Brahmacari) wrote: arya-sastra-gahanartha-dipakascetas-timiravaravarakah/ dyotayan vijayatam vipascitam arcisa hrdayam aryadarpanah//

Scholar and Writer

Some time after 1930, Nirvanananda changed his name to Anirvan and ceased to wear the ochre swami
Swami
A swami sometimes abbreviated "Sw." is an ascetic or yogi who has been initiated into the religious monastic order founded by Adi Sankara, or to a religious teacher.The Oxford English Dictionary gives the etymology as...

's robes. He travelled widely in North India, eventually returning to Assam and establishing an ashram in Kamakhya
Kamakhya Temple
The Kamakhya Temple is a Shakti Peeth temple situated on the Nilachal Hill in western part of Guwahati city in Assam, India. It is the main temple in a complex of individual temples dedicated to different forms of the mother goddess as the Dasa Mahavidya, including Bhuvaneshvari, Bagalamukhi,...

 near Guwahati
Guwahati
Guwahati, Pragjyotishpura in ancient Assam formerly known as Gauhati is a metropolis,the largest city of Assam in India and ancient urban area in North East India, with a population of 963,429. It is also the largest metropolitan area in north-eastern India...

. However, he continued to travel. In the 1940s, he lived in Lohaghat
Lohaghat
Lohaghat is a town and a nagar panchayat in Champawat district in the Indian state of Uttarakhand. This is a hill station with many tourist spots around.-Demographics:...

 and Almora
Almora
Almora is a municipal board, a cantonment town in the Almora district in the state of Uttarakhand, India. Almora was founded in 1568.It is a town bustling with activity and a rich cultural heritage and history. It is considered the cultural heart of the Kumaon region of...

. Madame Lizelle Reymond documented some of this period in My Life with a Brahmin Family (1958) and To Live Within (1971). During this time, Sri Anirvan translated Sri Aurobindo
Sri Aurobindo
Sri Aurobindo , born Aurobindo Ghosh or Ghose , was an Indian nationalist, freedom fighter, philosopher, yogi, guru, and poet. He joined the Indian movement for freedom from British rule and for a duration became one of its most important leaders, before developing his own vision of human progress...

's The Life Divine
Collected Works of Sri Aurobindo
The Collected Works of Sri Aurobindo were published by the Sri Aurobindo Ashram in 1972, on occasion of Sri Aurobindo's centenary...

 into Bengali
Bengali language
Bengali or Bangla is an eastern Indo-Aryan language. It is native to the region of eastern South Asia known as Bengal, which comprises present day Bangladesh, the Indian state of West Bengal, and parts of the Indian states of Tripura and Assam. It is written with the Bengali script...

 (as Divya Jeevan Prasanga); this book, his first, was published in two volumnes between 1948-51.

In 1953, Sri Anirvan moved to Shillong
Shillong
-Connectivity:Although well connected by road, Shillong has no rail connection and a proper air connection. Umroi Airport exists but has only limited flights.-Roadways:Shillong is well connected by roads with all major north eastern states...

 in Assam. His reputation as a Vedic
Vedas
The Vedas are a large body of texts originating in ancient India. Composed in Vedic Sanskrit, the texts constitute the oldest layer of Sanskrit literature and the oldest scriptures of Hinduism....

 scholar grew; and he wrote both in Bengali (chiefly) and in English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...

 (he was also fluent in French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...

) on various aspects of Hindu philosophy
Hindu philosophy
Hindu philosophy is divided into six schools of thought, or , which accept the Vedas as supreme revealed scriptures. Three other schools do not accept the Vedas as authoritative...

 (particularly Samkhya
Samkhya
Samkhya, also Sankhya, Sāṃkhya, or Sāṅkhya is one of the six schools of Hindu philosophy and classical Indian philosophy. Sage Kapila is traditionally considered as the founder of the Samkhya school, although no historical verification is possible...

, the Upanishad
Upanishad
The Upanishads are philosophical texts considered to be an early source of Hindu religion. More than 200 are known, of which the first dozen or so, the oldest and most important, are variously referred to as the principal, main or old Upanishads...

s, the Gita
Bhagavad Gita
The ' , also more simply known as Gita, is a 700-verse Hindu scripture that is part of the ancient Sanskrit epic, the Mahabharata, but is frequently treated as a freestanding text, and in particular, as an Upanishad in its own right, one of the several books that constitute general Vedic tradition...

 and Vedanta
Vedanta
Vedānta was originally a word used in Hindu philosophy as a synonym for that part of the Veda texts known also as the Upanishads. The name is a morphophonological form of Veda-anta = "Veda-end" = "the appendix to the Vedic hymns." It is also speculated that "Vedānta" means "the purpose or goal...

) and the parallels between Rigvedic
Rigveda
The Rigveda is an ancient Indian sacred collection of Vedic Sanskrit hymns...

, Puranic
Puranas
The Puranas are a genre of important Hindu, Jain and Buddhist religious texts, notably consisting of narratives of the history of the universe from creation to destruction, genealogies of kings, heroes, sages, and demigods, and descriptions of Hindu cosmology, philosophy, and geography.Puranas...

, Tantric
Tantra
Tantra , anglicised tantricism or tantrism or tantram, is the name scholars give to an inter-religious spiritual movement that arose in medieval India, expressed in scriptures ....

 and Buddhist
Buddhism
Buddhism is a religion and philosophy encompassing a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha . The Buddha lived and taught in the northeastern Indian subcontinent some time between the 6th and 4th...

 thought. His magnum opus
Masterpiece
Masterpiece in modern usage refers to a creation that has been given much critical praise, especially one that is considered the greatest work of a person's career or to a work of outstanding creativity, skill or workmanship....

, Veda Mimamsa, was published in three volumes in 1961, 1965 and 1970. This work won him the Rabindra award
Rabindra Puraskar
The Rabindra Puraskar or the Rabindra Smriti Puraskar is the highest honorary literary award given in the Indian state of West Bengal. This award is administered by the Government of West Bengal under the aegis of the Paschimbanga Bangla Academy , Kolkata.The award is given for creative...

.

Though Sri Anirvan was a saint, he studied different subjects such as Marxism
Marxism
Marxism is an economic and sociopolitical worldview and method of socioeconomic inquiry that centers upon a materialist interpretation of history, a dialectical view of social change, and an analysis and critique of the development of capitalism. Marxism was pioneered in the early to mid 19th...

, nuclear science and gardening
Gardening
Gardening is the practice of growing and cultivating plants. Ornamental plants are normally grown for their flowers, foliage, or overall appearance; useful plants are grown for consumption , for their dyes, or for medicinal or cosmetic use...

; yet he called himself a simple baul
Baul
Baul .Though Bauls comprise only a small fraction of the Bengali population, their influence on the culture of Bengal is considerable. In 2005, the Baul tradition was included in the list of "Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity" by UNESCO.-Etymology:The origin of the word...

.

Sri Anirvan made his final move, to Kolkata
Kolkata
Kolkata , formerly known as Calcutta, is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal. Located on the east bank of the Hooghly River, it was the commercial capital of East India...

, in 1965. He died on May 31, 1978, after a six-year illness.

As A Person

Swamiji or Rishida often came as a silent friend to very hapless people, especially women. Even when he could not offer material support, and when such help was out of the question, he stood quietly by like a pillar of strength. How he managed to turn up exactly at the moment of crisis was a measure of his yogic siddhi, something he never demonstrated. Indeed, he went so far as to mildly reprove the great scholar MM. Gopinath Kaviraj on the showmanship and "Jnanaganj" activities of the latter's guru.

Kavirajji himself was a most unassuming person, who wrote a great deal on subjects he understood very well [Vedanta, grammar] as well on those where his comprehension was uncertain [see his volumes Tantrika Siddhanta]. Rishida was never tired of emphasizing the difference between prajnanam [apprehension] and samjnanam [comprehension]. He taught the Rksamhita as an Agama and wanted and suggested/required those around him to reflect and meditate on the Siva Sutras, and on the works of some of the Kashmir Non-Dual writers. Note that I did not write "Non-Dual Shaiva" for a reason. There is too much to tell in one post.

Anyway, going back to his appearing when crises were acute, one is reminded of Rabindranath's song:

Jey raatey mor duvar guli bhanglo jhorey
Jaani naa to tumi eley aamaro ghorey

The night my door was smashed in by the storm
I did not realize You had entered my home

It was exactly on such terrible nights, of the outer and inner worlds, that this invisible yogi chose to make his silent appearance besides many.

The Bodhisattva Anirvan said and I quote him almost verbatim, although all his books have now passed fom my possession, "Koti jonmo japon kortey aami ulloshito."

My dying appeal to Rishida is this, you who constantly emphasized the primacy of shunning droha, mithya, & anartha, who gave detailed exposition on the meaning of the word "anartha", where are you hiding in these troubled times, Lokesvara? We do know about the image of the Holy Mother VajraTara on your table in Kasardevi, we perfectly understand through your teaching the implications of this sign, but where are you?

Like you, amrao jey sharati jibon anirvan dahane jwalecchi.
Somayaji, We have kept the faith, is it not your turn now to take charge once more?

Mahe ca na tvaam Adriva
paraa shulkaaya deyaam

na sahasraaya naayutaaya Vajriva
na shataaya shataamaghe

Philosophy and Teachings

Once a Nepali boy that Sri Anirvan knew, tasted something new and in delight he exclaimed,"It tastes so sweet." Sri Anirvan took pleasure in his joy, and remembered the words.

The day before he died, Sri Anirvan wrote in "Aditi," the journal he was writing at the time, - (Translated from Original Bengali by Sudipta Munsi)

"A cruel truth is that even the Maheshwar or the Great Lord has to be the bhokta or enjoyer. As on one hand that enjoyment is the poison turning the throat blue, on the other hand it is the ambrosia of Uma's body. There is no way of rejecting either of these. One who is able to enjoy both is verily Maheshwar or the Great Lord.

Maheshwar is verily the true enjoyer, for He alone is the humorist. To him good and bad, pleasure and pain, all " taste so sweet."

This is verily what is Brahmaswad - the taste of Brahman or tasting by Brahman, whatever you may call it.

The intense heat of May - "It is so sweet." The unbearable intestinal pain - even that "tastes so sweet."

The unuttered mantra of the whole day is this, "It tastes so sweet, it tastes so sweet."
"Om Madhu, Om Madhu, Om Madhu."

My self-consciousness is "Madhu" or "Honey" - let it be pleasurable or painful, whatever.

While in the body I am counting out pain like taxes, that too is honey.

One day I will not need to count it out any more - even that is honey.

"Om Madhu, Om Madhu, Om Madhu.

"I am Madhucchanda."

This was the last thing he wrote.

Works

  1. Aditi (Bengali: অন্তর্যোগ). Kolkata: Sri Gautam Dharmapal, Haimavati Prakashani Trust.
  2. Anirvan Aloya Patanjala Yoga-Prasanga; Edited & Translated by Sudipta Munsi; Calcutta: Prachi Publications. (Bengali). Published 2006.
  3. Antaryoga (Bengali: অন্তর্যোগ). Kolkata: Haimavati Prakashani Trust, 1997 (Bengali year 1404), 3rd edition.
  4. Aranyak (Bengali: অারণ্যক). Writings as Editor of Nagamananda Ashram magazine. Halishar: Assam Bangyiya Saraswat Math.
  5. Bichitra (Bengali: বিচিত্রা). Kolkata: Smt Ramaa Choudhury, Haimavati-Anirban Trust, 1993.
  6. Buddhi Yoga Of The Gita And Other essays.(Original in English.) Biblia Impex Pvt. Ltd. 1991, Madras, Samata Books.
  7. Dakshinamurti (Bengali: দক্ষিণামূর্তি). 1969. Sreerampore, Hooghly: Sri Rabindranath Bandyopadhyay,.
  8. Divya Jeevan (Translation Into Bengali Of “The Life Divine” by Sri Aurobindo. দিব্য জীবন প্রসঙ্গ).Pondicherry: Sri Aurobindo Ashram (Originally published 1948-51).
  9. Divya Jeevan Prasanga (Bengali: দিব্য জীবন প্রসঙ্গ). Kolkata: Sri Aurobindo Pathamandir, 2000 (fourth edition). (Originally published 1958).
  10. Gayatri Mandala Volumes 1-6. (Bengali). Undated.
  11. Gitanuvachan (Bengali: গীতানুবচন). Vol I - 1968, Vol II - 1969, Vol III – 1970. Sreerampore, Hooghly: Sri Rabindranath Bandyopadhyay.
  12. Inner Yoga (English) Translated by Simanta Narayan Chatterjee from “Antar Yoga.” New Delhi: Voice of India.
  13. Kaveri (Collection Of Poems) (Bengali: কাবেরী).1976. Kolkata: Sri Aurobindo Pathamandir
  14. Lecture On the Immortality Of the Body in Sri Aurobindo's Yoga (Bengali:).1970. Kolkata: Sri Aurobindo Pathamandir
  15. Letters From A Baul, Life Within Life. (original in English). 1983. Kolkata: Sri Aurobindo Pathamandir.
  16. Pather Katha (Bengali). Published 2008.
  17. Pather Sathi (Bengali: পথের সাথী). Halishar: Srimat Swami Jnananada Saraswati, Assam Bangyiya Saraswat Math, 1980. (Three volumes). Kolkata: Haimavati Anirvan Trust.
  18. Patralekha (Bengali: পত্রলেখা). Vol I - 1968, Vol II - 1969, Sreerampore, Hooghly: Ritambhara. Vol III – 1980, Kolkata: Haimavati Anirvan Trust.
  19. Patram Pushpam. 1982. Kolkata: Haimavati Prakashani Trust.
  20. Prashnottari (Bengali: প্রশ্নোত্তরী). 1973. Sreerampore, Hooghly: Sri Rabindranath Bandyopadhyay. Halishar: Srimat Swami Jnananada Saraswati, Assam Bangyiya Saraswat Math, 2001 (Bengali year 1408), 2nd edition.
  21. Pravachan (Bengali: প্রবচন). Vol I - 1962, Vol II - 1963, Vol III – 1966, Vol I - 1961, Vol IV – 1973. Sreerampore, Hooghly: Sri Rabindranath Bandyopadhyay. Later - Halishar: Srimat Swami Jnananada Saraswati, Assam Bangyiya Saraswat Math, 2002 (Bengali year 1409).
  22. Pururava (Bengali). Published 1989.
  23. Sahitya Prasanga (Bengali: সাহিত্য প্রসঙ্গ). 1980. Kolkata: Haimavati Prakashani Trust
  24. Shiksha (Bengali: শিক্ষা). Vol I - 1962, Vol II – 1974. Assam Bangyiya Saraswat Math.
  25. Snehashish (Bengali: স্নেহাশীষ). Vol I - 1971, Vol II - 1971, Vol III – 1972. Sreerampore, Hooghly: Ritambhara.
  26. Upanishad Prasanga - Commentary on Aitareya Upanishad (Bengali: উপনিষৎ প্রসঙ্গ : ঐতরেয় উপনিষদ্). 1969. Burdwan University.
  27. Upanishad Prasanga - Commentary on Ishopanishad (Bengali: উপনিষৎ প্রসঙ্গ : ঈশোপনিষদ্). 1967. Burdwan University.
  28. Upanishad Prasanga – Commentary on Katha Upanishad — (Bengali: উপনিষৎ প্রসঙ্গ : কেনোপনিষদ্). 2009. Kolkata:
  29. Upanishad Prasanga – Commentary on Kaushitaki Upanishad — (Bengali: উপনিষৎ প্রসঙ্গ : কেনোপনিষদ্). 2009. Kolkata:
  30. Upanishad Prasanga – Commentary on Kenopanishad — (Bengali: উপনিষৎ প্রসঙ্গ : কেনোপনিষদ্). 1969. Kolkata: Haimavati Prakashani Trust
  31. Upanishad Prasanga – Commentary on Mandukya Upanishad — (Bengali: উপনিষৎ প্রসঙ্গ : কেনোপনিষদ্). 2009. Kolkata:
  32. Upanishad Prasanga – Commentary on Taittireya Upanishad — (Bengali: উপনিষৎ প্রসঙ্গ : কেনোপনিষদ্). 2009. Kolkata:
  33. Uttarayan (Bengali: উত্তরায়ন). Kolkata: Smt Ramaa Choudhury, Haimavati-Anirban Trust, 1995.
  34. Vedamimamsa (Bengali: বেদ মীমাংসা). Vol I - 1961, Vol II - 1965, Vol III - 1970. Winner of Rabindra Puraskar award. Kolkata: Government Sanskrit College.
  35. Vedanta Jijnasa (Bengali: বেদান্ত জিজ্ঞাসা). Sreerampore, Hooghly: Sri Rabindranath Bandyopadhyay, 1965 (Bengali year 1372).
  36. Yogasamanvaya Prasanga (Bengali: যোগসমন্বয় প্রসঙ্গ). 1967. Kolkata: Sri Aurobindo Pathamandir.

Biographies

  1. Section on Sri Anirvan in "Adhyatmavada Samskritite Acarya Satyananda" by Prof. Gita Haldar in Bengali. Undated.
  2. Kathaprasange Sri Anirvan by Ayacaka in Bengali. Undated.
  3. Mahajana Samvada by Prof. Govindagopal Mukherjee in Bengali. Undated.
  4. Rishi Anirvan, biography of Sri Anirvan by Prof. Gita Haldar in Bengali. Published 2008.

5. Smriticarane Mahayogi Anirvan by Dilip Kumar Roy in Bengali. Undated.

Books on Sri Anirvan and His Philosophy

  1. Akasabrahma by Ayacaka in Bengali. Undated.
  2. My Life In A Brahmin Family by Lizelle Reymond. Translated from the French by Lucy Norton. Rider and Co. London. 1958.
  3. To Live Within by Sri Anirvan and Lizelle Reymond, introduction by Jacob Needleman. Morninglight Press. 2007.

External links



To know more about Sri Anirvan and contribute your memories of this great saint and yogi, please visit - http://www.anirvan.ning.com or http://www.srianirvan.blogspot.com or http://www.anirvan-memories.blogspot.com
The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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