Sri Anirvan (8 July 1896 – 31 May 1978), born Narendra Chandra Dhar, was an Indian
Hindumonk, writer and philosopher.[1] Widely known as a scholar,[1][2] his principal works were a Bengali translation of
Sri Aurobindo's
The Life Divine[1] and the three-volume treatise Veda Mimamsa.[1]
Early life and sannyas
Sri Anirvan was born on 8 July 1896 in the town of
Mymensingh, then a part of
British India and now in
Bangladesh.[1] His birth name was Narendrachandra Dhar. He was the son of Rajchandra Dhar, a doctor, and Sushila Devi.[3] He was a spiritually and intellectually inclined child, who by age 11 had memorised the Astadhyayi of
Pāṇini and the
Bhagavad Gita.[1] He was named Baroda Brahmachari after going through the
sacred thread ceremony. He also won a state scholarship as a teen and completed university IA and BA degrees at the
University of Dhaka and an
MA from the
Sanskrit College of the
University of Calcutta.[1]
Some time after 1930, Nirvanananda changed his name to Anirvan and ceased to wear the ochre
swami's robes.[1] He travelled widely in North India,[1] eventually returning to Assam and establishing an ashram in
Kamakhya near
Guwahati.[1] However, he continued to travel. In the 1940s, he lived in
Lohaghat and
Almora. Madame Lizelle Reymond documented some of this period in My Life with a Brahmin Family (1958) and To Live Within (1971).[1][2] During this time, Sri Anirvan translated
Sri Aurobindo's
The Life Divine into
Bengali (as Divya Jeevan Prasanga); this book, his first, was published in two volumes between 1948 and 1951.[1]
Buddhi Yoga Of The Gita And Other essays.(Original in English.) Biblia Impex Pvt. Ltd. 1991, Madras, Samata Books.
Dakshinamurti (Bengali: দক্ষিণামূর্তি). 1969. Sreerampore, Hooghly: Sri Rabindranath Bandyopadhyay,.
Divya Jeevan (Translation Into Bengali Of "The Life Divine" by Sri Aurobindo. দিব্য জীবন প্রসঙ্গ).Pondicherry: Sri Aurobindo Ashram (Originally published 1948–51).
Divya Jeevan Prasanga (Bengali: দিব্য জীবন প্রসঙ্গ). Kolkata: Sri Aurobindo Pathamandir, 2000 (fourth edition). (Originally published 1958).
Gayatri Mandala Volumes 1–6. (Bengali). Undated.
Gitanuvachan (Bengali: গীতানুবচন). Vol I – 1968, Vol II – 1969, Vol III – 1970. Sreerampore, Hooghly: Sri Rabindranath Bandyopadhyay.
Inner Yoga (English) Translated by Simanta Narayan Chatterjee from "Antar Yoga." New Delhi: Voice of India.
Kaveri (Collection Of Poems) (Bengali: কাবেরী).1976. Kolkata: Sri Aurobindo Pathamandir
Lecture On the Immortality Of the Body in Sri Aurobindo's Yoga (Bengali:).1970. Kolkata: Sri Aurobindo Pathamandir
Letters From A Baul, Life Within Life. (original in English). 1983. Kolkata: Sri Aurobindo Pathamandir.
Vedamimamsa (Bengali: বেদ মীমাংসা). Vol I – 1961, Vol II – 1965, Vol III – 1970. Winner of Rabindra Puraskar award. Kolkata: Government Sanskrit College.
Vedanta Jijnasa (Bengali: বেদান্ত জিজ্ঞাসা). Sreerampore, Hooghly: Sri Rabindranath Bandyopadhyay, 1965 (Bengali year 1372).
Yogasamanvaya Prasanga (Bengali: যোগসমন্বয় প্রসঙ্গ). 1967. Kolkata: Sri Aurobindo Pathamandir.
Biographies
Section on Sri Anirvan in "Adhyatmavada Samskritite Acarya Satyananda" by Prof. Gita Haldar in Bengali. Undated.
Kathaprasange Sri Anirvan by Ayacaka in Bengali. Undated.
Mahajana Samvada by Prof. Govindagopal Mukherjee in Bengali. Undated.
Rishi Anirvan, biography of Sri Anirvan by Prof. Gita Haldar in Bengali. Published 2008.
5. Smriticarane Mahayogi Anirvan by Dilip Kumar Roy in Bengali. Undated.
Books on Sri Anirvan and his philosophy
Akasabrahma by Ayacaka in Bengali. Undated.
My Life In A Brahmin Family by Lizelle Reymond. Translated from the French by Lucy Norton. Rider and Co. London. 1958.
To Live Within by Sri Anirvan and Lizelle Reymond, introduction by Jacob Needleman. Morninglight Press. 2007.
^
abcdeTo Live Within: A Woman's Spiritual Pilgrimage in a Himalayan Hermitage. By Lizelle Reymond. (Translated from the French original La Vie dans la vie by Nancy Pearson and Stanley Spiegelberg.) Morning Light Press, 2007.
ISBN1-59675-016-2.
Gurdjieff-internet.com, accessed 1 June 2008
^Antaryoga (
Bengali: অন্তর্যোগ). Kolkata: Sri Goutam Dharmapal, Haimavati Prakashani, 1997 (Bengali year 1404), 3rd edition.
Sri Anirvan Rachanavali ( Complete Works ) :
http://www.haimavati-anirvan.org. Online e-library (Bengali) including most important works : Veda Mimamsa, Rig-Veda Samhita, Upanishad Prasanga