Pravrajika Shraddhaprana (19 October 1918 – 3 February 2009) was a Sannyasini in the

Sri Sarada Math Sri Sarada Math is a convent named after Sri Sarada Devi, the consort of Sri Ramakrishna, founded on 2 December 1954. Headquartered at Dakshineshwar, Kolkata, the organisation has branch centres in other parts of India, and in Sri Lanka and Austr ...

. She was the third president of Sri Sarada Math. The name Pravrajika means a "mendicant nun" or Sannyasini and the suffix prana to her name Shraddha followed means "one whose is devoted to" spirituality.

Biography

Shraddhaprana was born in

Patna Patna (; , ISO 15919, ISO: ''Paṭanā''), historically known as Pataliputra, Pāṭaliputra, is the List of state and union territory capitals in India, capital and largest city of the state of Bihar in India. According to the United Nations, ...

on 19 October 1918 to parents Mathuranath Sinha and Sushila Sinha. Her maiden name was Lakshmi as she was born on Kojagari Lakshmi Puja. While her father had only seen

Sri Ramakrishna Ramakrishna (18 February 1836 – 16 August 1886——— —), also called Ramakrishna Paramahansa (; ; ), born Ramakrishna Chattopadhay,M's original Bengali diary page 661, Saturday, 13 February 1886''More About Ramakrishna'' by Swami Prab ...

but he had a meeting with

Swami Vivekananda Swami Vivekananda () (12 January 1863 – 4 July 1902), born Narendranath Datta, was an Indian Hindus, Hindu monk, philosopher, author, religious teacher, and the chief disciple of the Indian mystic Ramakrishna. Vivekananda was a major figu ...

. Shraddhaprana was initiated into spiritual life by Swami Virajananda in 1941 who was the sixth president of the

Ramakrishna Math Ramakrishna Math is the administrative legal organization of the Ramakrishna Order, of Daśanāmi Sampradaya. It was set up by sanyasin disciples of Ramakrishna Paramhansa headed by Swami Vivekananda at Baranagar Math in Baranagar, a place ne ...

and

Ramakrishna Mission Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission (RKM) is a spiritual and philanthropic organisation headquartered in Belur Math, West Bengal. The mission is named after the Indian Hindu spiritual guru and mystic Ramakrishna. The mission was founde ...

. She started her career as a lecturer in the Annie Besant College,

Varanasi Varanasi (, also Benares, Banaras ) or 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 tradition of I ...

prior to working in the Sister Nivedita Girls’ School in 1948 and she worked there until 1955 as the Assistant Headmistress Assistant Secretary. She became the head Mistress in the same school up to 1968 and then served as Secretary till 1986. Earlier she had taken the path of

brahmacharya ''Brahmacharya'' (; Sanskrit: Devanagari: ब्रह्मचर्य) is the concept within Indian religions that literally means "conduct consistent with Brahman" or "on the path of Brahman". Brahmacharya, a discipline of controlling ...

from Swami Shankarananda of the

, along with six others in 1953. She was ordained as sannyasini by Swami Shankarananda in 1959 who was the then president of the

Belur Math Belur Math () is the headquarters of the Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission, founded by Swami Vivekananda, the chief disciple of Ramakrishna Paramahamsa. It is located in Belur, West Bengal, India on the west bank of Hooghly River. Bel ...

at the time; she was among the first batch of eight sannyasinis who had taken the oath. When

became an independent spiritual centre in 1959 she was made a trustee, and in the year 1960 she assumed charge of the post of Assistant Secretary of the Math and the Ramakrishna Sarada Mission. In April 1986, she moved to Sri Sarada Math. She was General Secretary of

from 1994 to 1999. Following the death of Pravrajika Muktiprana the first Secretary of the math in 1994, she became the second General Secretary of the math which position she occupied till 17 November 1999. Shraddhaprana became president of the

and Ramakrishna Sarada Mission on 17 November 1999 on the festive day of Jagaddhatri Puja, following the death of Pravrajika Mokshaprana, the second president. She died on 3 February 2009 At

Dakshineswar Dakshineswar is a neighbourhood in the Kolkata Metropolitan Area of North 24 Parganas district in the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal. It is a part of the area covered by Kolkata Metropolitan Development Autho ...

Kolkata Kolkata, also known as Calcutta ( its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River, west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary ...

. Following her death, Pravrajika Bhaktiprana assumed charge of the President of the math in April 2009.

References

External links

Sarada Math
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shraddhaprana, Pravrajika 1918 births 2009 deaths Indian Hindu nuns 21st-century Indian nuns People from Patna Scholars from Bihar 20th-century Hindu religious leaders 20th-century Indian women 20th-century Indian people Women school principals and headteachers Women educators from West Bengal