Indian
(Bengal) and Bangladeshi: Hindu (Brahman) name, from Chatta, the name of a
village, + jhā ‘teacher’ (a greatly reduced form of Sanskrit upādhyāya), i.e.
‘teacher from the village of Chatta’. In Bengali names formed with -jee, the
initial element is believed to indicate a village granted by Ballal Sen, an
ancient king of Bengal, to an ancestor of bearers of the surname
Balaram Basu
Balaram was born in December 1842, in a wealthy Vaishnava family of North Kolkata. His grandfather, Guruprasad Basu, had established a Radha-Shyam t
emple in his
house, and because of this, that section of the city has come to be known as
Shyam-bazar.It was probably on 1 January 1881 that Balaram met Sri Ramakrishna for the first time. Balaram asked Sri Ramakrishna, “Does God really exist?” “Certainly, he does”, was the prompt answer. Balaram soon became one of the principal suppliers and gave generously to the Master and his disciples. Every year Balaram would celebrate the Car Festival of Lord Jagannath at his home. The Master's presence would greatly enhance the joy of the occasion. The Master used to love visiting Balaram's home in Kolkata. The entire household of Balaram Basu was devoted to God. Krishnabhavini, Balaram's wife, was the sister of Swami Premananda, one of the foremost disciples of Sri Ramakrishna.
After Sri Ramakrishna's passing, Balaram would give one rupee every day for the daily worship of Sri Ramakrishna at the Baranagore Math. He would also keep track of the food situation in the monastery.
In 1890, Balaram became a victim of an influenza epidemic in Kolkata. Before passing away, he wanted only to talk of Sri Ramakrishna, and keep the company of his all-renouncing disciples. It is said that the Master came at the final moment to take him to the Eternal Realm
Surendra Nath Mitra
Surendra Nath Mitra was probably born in 1850, and met Sri Ramakrishna for the first time when he was about thirty.
Surendra's early life was that of a Bohemian – open-minded, care-free and indifferent to religion. He wa
s
promiscuous and often got drunk. But this gave him no peace and he even wanted
to end his life. Finally, urged by Ramchandra Datta who was his neighbour,
Surendra went to Dakshineswar in the company of Ram and Manomohan to meet Sri
Ramakrishna, probably in 1880. Sri Ramakrishna was speaking about
self-surrender. His words gave Surendra solace and strength. The Master accepted
him with all his blemishes. Surendra was deeply devoted to Mother Kali and set
up a shrine to her at his home. He worshipped her with much love and devotion.
One day the Master said to Surendra, “Well, Suresh, why don't you first offer
the wine you drink to Mother Kali, and then drink it as her Prasad?” When he
started practising this, the action, curiously enough, filled him with
devotion.Surendra was large-hearted by nature, and used to make arrangements for the food and bedding for those devotees who spent nights with the Master at Dakshineswar to serve him. It was Surendra who commissioned the famous oil painting in which Sri Ramakrishna points out to Keshab Chandra Sen the harmony of religions.
After Sri Ramakrishna's Maha Samadhi, Surendra paid the rent of the house at Baranagore that housed the first monastery of the disciples of the Master. Thus, Surendra's devotion and sacrifice made it possible for those earnest souls to renounce the world for the realization of God.
Surendra passed away on 25 May 1890 at the age of forty. When Belur Math was built, the marble flooring for the original shrine-room was done with some money that Surendra had set part for the Math
Mahendranath Gupta
Mahendranath Gupta, was a disciple of
Ramakrishna—a 19th century mystic and the author of Sri Sri Ramakrishna
Kathamrita,a Bengali classic. He was also a teacher to Paramahansa Yogananda, a
20th century philosopher
Girish Chandra Ghosh
Girish Chandra Ghosh was a Bengali musician,
poet, playwright, novelist, theatre director and actor. He was largely
responsible for the golden age of Bengali theatre. He can be referred to as the
Father of Bengali Theatre
No comments:
Post a Comment