Swami Sharbananda: A sparkling genius

He was a direct descendent of the famous 15th century Bengali poet Krittibas Ojha who penned (transliterated) Ramayana in Bengali. Krittibas was from the village Phullabati (currently Phulia), near Shantipur in Nadia district where his Maithili forefathers Murari Ojha, Narasingha Ojha eventually decided to settle down. They were all Vedic Brahmins from Varanasi, gentle, humble and cohesive, normally followed rites and rituals precisely as prescribed in the Vedas. In that family, the eighth child of a well-known Sanskrit scholar and the estate manager Kshetranath Mukhopaddhay of Raja Vijnanagar of Benaras (Varanasi) was born as Bhupendranath in Phulia on the sixth lunnar day (shashti) of Durga puja festivity in 1895 with the awakening sound from conch-shells on a welcome note. It was the welcome announcement pertaining to two awakenings: Birth of Bhupendranath, and advent of a much needed paradigm shift.

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Swami Sharbananda in late fities in Jhargram
Fast forward seventeen years! It was 1902. In Benaras, Swami Shivananda introduced the teenager Bhupendranath to Swami Vivekananda, the hero of new India. The country, the world was awakening from its slumber; a new approach had to be taken to move forward in the spirit outlined and highlighted by Sri Ramakrishna. Swamiji, seeing this extremely intelligent, well-built, and a handsome lad standing in front of him, declared outright: “If I only had a dozen of dedicated souls like you, I could turn this world upside down many times over.”

Swamiji invited Bhupendranath to share his vision: Service and celebration of humanity through elevation and empowerment of Woman. Sri Ramakrishna, using his very life as a new exemplar for the society, showed how to celebrate woman through respect and veneration, how to treat women as ones coequal, as one’s comrade and partner in one’s quest for understanding. Is young Bhupendra ready to take up this mission?

After successful completion of his postgraduate degree in philosophy, Bhupendranath joined Ramakrishna Mission as a formal adept under the mentorship of two spiritual giants: Sri Brahmananda Maharaj and Sri Sashi Maharaj (Swami Ramakrishnananda). Bhupendra's youthful radiant spirit, his extraordinary enthusiasm and his infectious dynamic personality earned him his acolyte name "Tejanarayan" from Swami Brahmananda. Bhupendranath received his formal initiation and sannyas from Brahmananda Maharaj; he was ordained as Swami Sharvananda, Sharva being another name of Lord Shiva.

Soon after passing of Sri Ramakrishnananda, he was sent to Chennai by Belur Math, the HQ, as the head of then Madras campus of Ramakrishna Mission; he was about 26 by then. Before he went to Madras, he went to Jayrambati to seek blessings from the Mother who was very fond of the young Tejanarayan. He could recall how once when his right palm was trifle injured from a minor cut, the Mother would fed him his meal in her own hand as though she was feeding her own toddler. Seeing that her Tejanarayan was about to leave for South India, she blessed him with all her affection and love: “My child, just as Sashi conquered South India through his service, dedication and loving devotion, I, too, want you to be equally praised and admired for your service in zeal and devotion.” Mother’s blessing, indeed, came out to be true as the subsequent history amply suggests.
Swami Sharbananda in Jhargram in early sixties

During his tenure in Ramakrishna Mission he was sent Sri Lanka, Singapore, Yangon, Malaysia, Java, Bali, etc. either to build from scratch new branches of Ramakrishna Mission or to foster new instrumentations and tools to augment existing structures to service at higher levels of performance. His erudition, scholarship and his devotion to his soul’s calling earned him respect and admiration far and wide. To many people, he was a towering presence; he represented the very spirit Sri Ramakrishna and Sri Sarada Ma conveyed to the twentieth century India and the World all throughout their lives.

Fast forward again! In 1948, he realized that the only way he could fulfill his pledge to Swami Vivekananda towards the mission of woman empowerment and of their total elevation was to quit the order since Ramakrishna Mission lacked the mandate Sharbanandaji was seeking ardently. He was, by then, all marked for Presidency of the Mission, but he had a far stronger call to attend. Therefore, in 1948, he resigned from the position of Vice-President and Trustee of RK Mission to begin working for the ashram and its school, primarily all alone without any help from the order. However, he was amply helped and assisted by Raja Narasingha Malladev of Jhargram, Midnapur and his estate manager Debendranath Bhattacharya. Finally, in 1948, with a handful of girl students beside him, the school and the ashram were open in Jhargram.

On Wednesday 10th June, 1970, again on the sixth lunar day of the Full Moon, Swami Sharbananda, the mind-child (manas putra) of Sri Brahmananda Maharaj passed away leaving his mantle to his able disciples, his paribrajikas all imbued in the spirit of Sri Ramakrishna and Sri Sarada Ma.

      
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