Prajnanapada, popularly known as Swami Prajnanapada or Swami Prajnanpad (1891–1974) of Channa

Ashram An ashram (, ) is a spiritual hermitage or a monastery in Indian religions, not including Buddhism. Etymology The Sanskrit noun is a thematic nominal derivative from the root 'toil' (< Channa village), was one of the eminent disciples of

Niralamba Swami Jatindra Nath Banerjee (Niralamba Swami) (19 November 1877 – 5 September 1930) was one of two great Indian nationalists and freedom fighters – along with Aurobindo Ghosh (Sri Aurobindo) – who dramatically rose to prominence between 187 ...

, the great

yogi A yogi is a practitioner of Yoga, including a sannyasin or practitioner of meditation in Indian religions.A. K. Banerjea (2014), ''Philosophy of Gorakhnath with Goraksha-Vacana-Sangraha'', Motilal Banarsidass, , pp. xxiii, 297–299, 331 ...

and

Guru Guru ( ; International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration, IAST: ''guru'') is a Sanskrit term for a "mentor, guide, expert, or master" of certain knowledge or field. In pan-Indian religions, Indian traditions, a guru is more than a teacher: tr ...

of India. He was born on 8 February 1891.Prajnanapada, Ramaswamy Srinivasan, "Talks with Swami Prajnanapada ", Vidya Bhavan, India (edition 1977). Page available

/ref> He entered the life of

Sannyasa ''Sannyasa'' (), sometimes spelled ''sanyasa'', is the fourth stage within the Hinduism, Hindu system of four life stages known as ''ashrama (stage), ashramas'', the first three being ''brahmacharya'' (celibate student), ''Gṛhastha, grihast ...

and became

’s disciple in 1924-25 at Channa ashram. Besides living at Channa

Burdwan Bardhaman (, ), officially Bardhaman Sadar, is a city and municipality in the state of West Bengal, India. It is the headquarters of Purba Bardhaman district, having become a district capital during the period of British rule. Burdwan, an a ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

), he had also established an

ashram An ashram (, ) is a spiritual hermitage or a monastery in Indian religions, not including Buddhism. Etymology The Sanskrit noun is a thematic nominal derivative from the root 'toil' (< Ranchi Ranchi (; ) is the capital city and also the largest district by population of the Indian state of Jharkhand. Ranchi was the centre of the Jharkhand movement, which called for a separate state for the tribal regions of South Bihar, northern ...

, India. A unique method of teaching of Swami Prajnanapada was his establishment of one-to-one contact with his disciples and devotees instead of giving religious discourses. He was an astute psychoanalyst as well.

Life

Early life

Swami Prajnanapada was born as Yogeshwar Chattopadhyay on 8 February 1891 at Chinsurah, near

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 ...

(then

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

), in

West Bengal West Bengal (; Bengali language, Bengali: , , abbr. WB) is a States and union territories of India, state in the East India, eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabi ...

, India. He was the fourth of 5 children. His parents and eldest brothers died in an epidemic when he was young. His elder brother Lakshmi Narain took care of his education. In 1916 he graduated from Srirampur, a town near Kolkata. In 1918 he graduated with a gold medal with a master's degree in Physics from

Calcutta University The University of Calcutta, informally known as Calcutta University (), is a Public university, public State university (India), state university located in Kolkata, Calcutta (Kolkata), West Bengal, India. It has 151 affiliated undergraduate c ...

. Between 1918 and 1920 he taught at TNG College, Chagalpur and B.N.College,

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, ...

. In 1920 he joined the non-cooperation against the

British Raj The British Raj ( ; from Hindustani language, Hindustani , 'reign', 'rule' or 'government') was the colonial rule of the British The Crown, Crown on the Indian subcontinent, * * lasting from 1858 to 1947. * * It is also called Crown rule ...

, called by the

Indian national congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party, or simply the Congress, is a political parties in India, political party in India with deep roots in most regions of India. Founded on 28 December 1885, it was the first mo ...

Spiritual awakening

In 1921 he met

who later became his Guru. Though he was increasingly turning to spirituality he continued teaching at various universities in Bengal and Bihar. In 1923 he was invited to lecture at

Kashi Vidyapith Mahatma Gandhi Kashi Vidyapith is a public university located in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India. Established on 10 February 1921 as Kashi Vidyapith and later renamed, it is administered under the state legislature of the government of Uttar Pra ...

, one of the most famous colleges of

Banaras Hindu University Banaras Hindu University (BHU), formerly Benares Hindu University, is a collegiate, central, and research university located in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India, and founded in 1916. The university incorporated the Central Hindu College, ...

. In 1925 he took

sannyasa ''Sannyasa'' (), sometimes spelled ''sanyasa'', is the fourth stage within the Hinduism, Hindu system of four life stages known as ''ashrama (stage), ashramas'', the first three being ''brahmacharya'' (celibate student), ''Gṛhastha, grihast ...

and wandered in the Himalayas. His brother persuaded him to return assuring him that he could carry on his spiritual quest at home. He returned to Kashi Vidyapith. In the same year a daughter was born, named Chinmayee. In 1930 he gave up his teaching post and left

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 ...

for good, at the behest of Niralamba Swami who requested him to take charge of Channa Ashram after his death.

Final years

Swami Prajnanpada had a congenital heart condition which deteriorated with passage of time partly due to the intensive psychoanalysis sessions he conducted for his disciples. He had his first serious heart attack in 1972. In 1974 he died at the Ranchi Ashram.

Disciples

Some of his notable Indian and non- Indian disciples included R. Srinivasan, Yogendra Narayan Verma, Shailaja Devi Verma, Sumongal Prakash, Minati Prakash, Daniel Roumanoff, Pierre Wack, Frédéric Leboyer, Roland de Quatrebarbes,

Arnaud Desjardins Arnaud Desjardins (; June 18, 1925 in Paris – August 10, 2011 in Grenoble) was a French author. He was a producer at the Office de Radiodiffusion Télévision Française from 1952 to 1974, and was one of the first high-profile practitioners of Ea ...

, Denise Desjardins, and Olivier Cambessedes.

References

*Hornby, A S, "Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary of Current English" (5th ed.), UK: Oxford University Press (1998). , pp. 1433–1475. *Prajnanapada, Ramaswamy Srinivasan, ''Talks with Swami Prajnanapada'', Vidya Bhavan, India (edition 1977).

External links

* http://www.svami-prajnanpad.org/index.html (In French language) {{Authority control Indian Hindu spiritual teachers Advaitin philosophers Bengali people Tibbetibaba 1974 deaths 1891 births People from Hooghly district University of Calcutta alumni 20th-century Hindu religious leaders