Swami Madhavananda (born Nirmal Chandra Basu; 15 December 1888 – 6 October 1965) was the ninth 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 ...

. He was born in the

Bengal Presidency The Bengal Presidency, officially the Presidency of Fort William in Bengal until 1937, later the Bengal Province, was the largest of all three presidencies of British India during Company rule in India, Company rule and later a Provinces o ...

of British

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 ...

Biography

Madhavananda was born into a family of Hariprasad Basu in Baganchra,

Nadia district Nadia () is a district in the state of West Bengal, India. It borders Bangladesh to the east, North 24 Parganas and Hooghly districts to the south, Purba Bardhaman to the west, and Murshidabad to the north. Nadia district is highly influe ...

. He was originally named Nirmal Chandra Basu. Madhavananda graduated from the

University of Calcutta 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 ...

with honours. During his academic years, he extensively studied the works of

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

and found inspiration in the ideals and teachings of

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 ...

and Vivekananda. He received initiation from the Holy Mother at

Jayrambati Joyrambati is a village, in the jurisdiction of Kotulpur police station in the Bishnupur subdivision in Bankura district, West Bengal, India. Geography Location Joyrambati is three miles to the west of Kamarpukur and two miles to the east ...

in March 1909 and subsequently joined the monastery in Chennai in January 1910. In January 1916, Madhavananda was formally initiated into sannyasa by Swami Brahmananda. Later, his younger brother Vimal joined the Order, adopting the name Swami Dayananda. Swami Dayananda established the

Ramakrishna Mission Seva Pratishthan Vivekananda Institute of Medical Sciences (VIMS) is a medical institution and hospital on Sarat Bose Road, Kolkata, which functions under the Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission. It started in July 1932 as ''Shishumangal Pratishthan'', a ...

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 ...

in 1932. Following this, Madhavananda spent several years at the

Udbodhan ''Udbodhan'' is the only Bengali language, Bengali publication of the Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission, started by Vivekananda in January 1899, with Trigunatitananda as its founding editor Over the years, it also grew into a publishing ...

office, where he contributed to the publication of the journal. Subsequently, he was appointed as the head of the

Advaita Ashrama Advaita Ashrama, Mayavati, is a branch of the Ramakrishna Math, founded on 19 March 1899 at the behest of Vivekananda,Suryakant Tripathi Suryakant Tripathi (21 February 1899 – 15 October 1961) was an Indian poet, writer, composer, and sketch artist who wrote in Hindi. He is considered one of the four major pillars of the Chhayavad period in Hindi literature. He is renowned w ...

, 'Nirala'. Madhavananda played a significant role in promoting the teachings of Ramakrishna and Vivekananda in

Gujarat Gujarat () is a States of India, state along the Western India, western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the List of states and union territories ...

and in establishing the Rajkot Center. Additionally, he was assigned to the United States to deliver lectures at the San Francisco monastery. Madhavananda was appointed as a trustee of the

and became a member of the governing body of the Ramakrishna Mission in 1922. He returned to India in 1929 to serve as a Joint Secretary of the Order. In May 1938, he was appointed General Secretary, a position he held for 24 years until his appointment as Vice President in March 1962. Following the passing of

Vishuddhananda Swami Vishuddhananda (1882–1962), born Jitendranath Rai, was the eighth president of the Ramakrishna Mission, a Hindu reformist organisation adhering to the Vedanta philosophy. Early life From his early life, he came in contact with Sarad ...

, Madhavananda assumed the role of President of the Order on 4 August 1962. During his tenure as President, he presided over the Birth Centenary Celebrations of Vivekananda in 1963. Madhavananda was known for his austere lifestyle and devoted practice of

japa ''Japa'' () is the meditative repetition of a mantra or a divine name. It is a practice found in Hinduism, Jainism, Sikhism, and Buddhism, with parallels found in other religions. ''Japa'' may be performed while sitting in a meditation posture ...

and meditation for extended periods. He translated various scriptures, including the

Brihadaranyaka Upanishad The ''Brihadaranyaka Upanishad'' (, ) is one of the Mukhya Upanishads, Principal Upanishads and one of the first Upanishadic scriptures of Hinduism. A key scripture to various schools of Hinduism, the ''Brihadaranyaka Upanisad'' is tenth in the ...

, the

Brahma Sutras The ''Brahma Sūtras'' (), also known as the Vedanta Sūtra (Sanskrit: वेदान्त सूत्र), Shariraka Sūtra, and Bhikshu-sūtra, are a Sanskrit text which criticizes the metaphysical dualism of the influential Samkhya philos ...

, and the Bhasha Pariccheda. Madhavananda died on 6 October 1965, at the age of 76 years and 10 months.

Bibliography

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References

External links

Swami Madhavananda - Ninth President, Biography
at ''

''
Swami Madhavananda's English translation of Vivekachudamani
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Madhavananda, Swami Presidents of the Ramakrishna Order Indian religious writers Indian Sanskrit scholars 1888 births 1965 deaths People from Nadia district University of Calcutta alumni Scholars from West Bengal 20th-century Indian translators Monks of the Ramakrishna Mission Missionary linguists

Biography

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Bibliography

References

External links