Swami Nikhilananda (1895–1973), born Dinesh Chandra Das Gupta was a direct disciple of

Sri Sarada Devi Sri Sarada Devi (Bengali language, Bengali: সারদা দেবী; ; 22 December 1853 – 20 July 1920), born Kshemankari / Thakurmani / Saradamani Mukhopadhyay, was the wife and spiritual consort of Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, a nineteent ...

. In 1933, he founded the Ramakrishna-Vivekananda Center of New York, a branch of

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 ...

, and remained its head until his death in 1973. An accomplished writer and thinker, Nikhilananda's greatest contribution was the translation of '' Sri Sri Ramakrishna Kathamrita'' from Bengali into English, published under the title ''

The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna ''The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna'' is an English translation of the Bengali religious text ''Sri Sri Ramakrishna Kathamrita'' by Swami Nikhilananda. The text records conversations of Ramakrishna with his disciples, devotees and visitors, recorde ...

'' (1942).

Biography

Swami Nikhilananda was born in 1895 in Durgapur village, Sylhet district, in present-day Bangladesh (British India), and had his education in 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 ...

. As a graduate, he chose the profession of journalism. He then joined the Indian freedom movement and was incarcerated for a period in a British prison camp. As a boy, through his pious parents, he became acquainted with the 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

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 ...

. These teachings made an indelible impression on his young mind and brought him in touch with the direct disciples of Ramakrishna. He was initiated by Holy Mother. He also met the direct disciples of Ramakrishna, Swamis Brahmananda,

Saradananda Saradananda (23 December 1865 – 19 August 1927), also known as Swami Saradananda, was born as Sarat Chandra Chakravarty in 1865, and was one of the direct monastic disciples of Ramakrishna. He was the first Secretary of the Ramakrishna Math ...

, Shivananda, Turiyananda, Premananda, Akhandananda, Abhedananda as well as

Mahendranath Gupta Mahendranath Gupta () (14 July 1854 – 4 June 1932), (also popularly known as Shri M and Master Mahashay), was a disciple of Ramakrishna and a mystic himself. He was the author of '' Sri Sri Ramakrishna Kathamrita'' (5 vols.), a Bengali class ...

, the recorder of '' Kathamrita'' among others. After coming into their influence, he abandoned his role as a freedom fighter and renounced the world to join the Ramakrishna Order. As a ''Brahmachari'', for many years he devoted himself to the study of the

scriptures Religious texts, including scripture, are texts which various religions consider to be of central importance to their religious tradition. They often feature a compilation or discussion of beliefs, ritual practices, moral commandments and ...

under eminent teachers, practised spiritual disciplines, and served the Order in various capacities, until, in 1931, he was deputed by the Order to come to

America The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

as one of its representatives. In 1933, he founded the Ramakrishna-Vivekananda Center in New York. Nikhilananda was considered a brilliant speaker and was invited to lecture at different universities, churches, and synagogues, and to participate in inter-religious conferences East and West. He served at the Ramakrishna-Vivekananda Center till his death in 1973. Nikhilananda made important contributions to the literature of Ramakrishna movement. He also attracted distinguished disciples, including author JD Salinger,The Slate
/ref> Margaret Woodrow Wilson, daughter of the president

Woodrow Wilson Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856February 3, 1924) was the 28th president of the United States, serving from 1913 to 1921. He was the only History of the Democratic Party (United States), Democrat to serve as president during the Prog ...

, the comparative mythologist Professor

Joseph Campbell Joseph John Campbell (March 26, 1904 – October 30, 1987) was an American writer. He was a professor of literature at Sarah Lawrence College who worked in comparative mythology and comparative religion. His work covers many aspects of t ...

, and

Chester Carlson Chester Floyd Carlson (February 8, 1906 – September 19, 1968) was an American physicist, inventor, and patent attorney born in Seattle, Washington. Carlson invented electrophotography (now xerography, meaning "dry writing"), producing a dry ...

, inventor of

xerographic Xerography is a dry photocopying technique. Originally called electrophotography, it was renamed xerography—from the Greek roots , meaning "dry" and , meaning "writing"—to emphasize that unlike reproduction techniques then in use such as c ...

process. Philosopher

Lex Hixon Lex Hixon (born Alexander Paul Hixon Junior, also known as Nur al-Anwar al-Jerrahi in the Sufi community; 1941–1995) was an American Sufi author, poet, and spiritual teacher. He practiced and held membership in several religious traditions. He ...

was Nikhilananda's disciple.

Literary works

His most important works include translations of ''The

Upanishads The Upanishads (; , , ) are late Vedic and post-Vedic Sanskrit texts that "document the transition from the archaic ritualism of the Veda into new religious ideas and institutions" and the emergence of the central religious concepts of Hind ...

'', ''The

Bhagavad Gita The Bhagavad Gita (; ), often referred to as the Gita (), is a Hindu texts, Hindu scripture, dated to the second or first century BCE, which forms part of the Hindu epic, epic poem Mahabharata. The Gita is a synthesis of various strands of Ind ...

'', biographies of Holy Mother and

, his compilation of the works of Swami Vivekananda under the title of ''Vivekananda: The Yogas and Other Works'', his two books, ''Hinduism, Its Meaning for the Liberation of the Spirit'', and ''Man in Search of Immortality'', and his many articles written for various journals. His most notable literary work is his translation from original Bengali into English of '' Kathamrita'', published under the title of ''

''. Many of the works of Swami Nikhilananda have already been translated into various European and Indian languages and are recognised as authoritative texts on the interpretations of the teachings of

Vedanta ''Vedanta'' (; , ), also known as ''Uttara Mīmāṃsā'', is one of the six orthodox (Āstika and nāstika, ''āstika'') traditions of Hindu philosophy and textual exegesis. The word ''Vedanta'' means 'conclusion of the Vedas', and encompa ...

. In 1944, ''

Time Magazine ''Time'' (stylized in all caps as ''TIME'') is an American news magazine based in New York City. It was published weekly for nearly a century. Starting in March 2020, it transitioned to every other week. It was first published in New York Cit ...

'' called Swami Nikhilananda's translations of ''The Bhagavad Gita'', "The first really readable, authoritative English translation of one of the world's greatest religious classics." and referred to ''The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna'' as "translation of one of the world's most extraordinary religious documents." The Gospel was voted as one of the ''"100 Most Important Spiritual Books of the 20th Century"'' by the American

scholars A scholar is a person who is a researcher or has expertise in an academic discipline. A scholar can also be an academic, who works as a professor, teacher, or researcher at a university. An academic usually holds an advanced degree or a terminal ...

convened by Philip Zaleski and

HarperCollins HarperCollins Publishers LLC is a British–American publishing company that is considered to be one of the "Big Five (publishers), Big Five" English-language publishers, along with Penguin Random House, Hachette Book Group USA, Hachette, Macmi ...

publishers,

Bibliography

* Bhagavad Gita – Swami Nikhilananda * Hinduism : Its Meaning for the Liberation of the Spirit – Swami Nikhilananda * Holy Mother : life of Holy mother Sri Sarada Devi – Swami Nikhilananda * Vivekananda: A Biography – Swami Nikhilananda * The Principal Upanishads – Swami Nikhilananda * Man in Search of Immortality: Testimonials from the Hindu Scriptures – Swami Nikhilananda * Self-Knowledge: Sankara's "Atmabodha" – Swami Nikhilananda * The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna – Swami Nikhilananda

Translations

* Gupta, Mahendranath. ''

'' (1942) (translation from Bengali by Swami Nikhilananda; Ed.

and Margaret Woodrow Wilson, translation assistants – see preface; foreword by

Aldous Huxley Aldous Leonard Huxley ( ; 26 July 1894 – 22 November 1963) was an English writer and philosopher. His bibliography spans nearly 50 books, including non-fiction novel, non-fiction works, as well as essays, narratives, and poems. Born into the ...

)

Notes

External links

Swami Nikhilananda

at Ramakrishna-Vivekananda Center, New York
Approaches to the Upaniṣads: Swami Nikhilananda's "The Upanishads"
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nikhilananda, Swami 20th-century Hindu religious leaders Hindu writers Monks of the Ramakrishna Mission 1895 births 1973 deaths 20th-century Indian translators Indian religious writers University of Calcutta alumni Bengali Hindus 20th-century Indian non-fiction writers Indian emigrants to the United States Missionary linguists People from Sylhet District