Durga Charan Mohanty (
Odia:ଦୁର୍ଗାଚରଣ ମହାନ୍ତି, (1912–1985) was an
Odia Indian spiritual writer born in 1912 at
Biratunga, a village under block
Gop, near
Konark,
Odisha. The
Odia Sahitya Akademi has been awarded to him in 1956–58 due to his active involvement in development of
Odia language and literature[1] Being a disciple of
Swami Nigamananda, he wrote many books and translated Nigamananda's own-written
Bengali books to
Odia language. He was ପରିଚାଳକ (Secretary/Parichalaka) of ନୀଳାଚଳ ସାରସ୍ୱତ ସଂଘ (
Nilachala Saraswata Sangha).[2][3]
Family
His father Gunanidhi Mohanty was a
Jamindar and mother Sundarmani Mohanty was President of Nilachala Saraswata Sangha (Women Association).[4]
Spiritual career
After reading Yogiguru (योगीगुरु) and Premikaguru (प्रेमिकगुरु) respectively, authored by
Swami Nigamananda, at Raghunandanan Library,
Puri, the vigraha(portrait) of Swami Nigamananda present in the books attracted him very much. At the same time he began worshiping this portrait and considered Nigamananda as his spiritual master and revered God. He began to search Nigamananda and finally met him in
Nilachala KutirPuri on 20 March 1930, Thursday. At that time he was only seventeen years old and a student of class IX in
Puri district School. On first meeting he was overwhelmed by his appearance and realised Nigamananda as
Ishwar. Since that day, he became a regular visitor to
Nilachala Kutir for his
darshan. He used to note down guru Nigamananda's sayings(upadesh), later he published these "upadesh"(gospels)in books like Nilachala Vani and Nigama Upadesh. Subsequently, he wrote many books for
Nilachala Saraswata Sangha and translated Nigamananda's originally written
Bengali books, ବ୍ରହ୍ମଚର୍ୟ ସାଧନା(Brahamcharya Sadhana), ଯୋଗୀଗୁରୁ(Yogi Guru), ଜ୍ଞାନୀ ଗୁରୁ(Gyani Guru), ତାନ୍ତ୍ରିକ ଗୁରୁ(Tantrika Guru), and ପ୍ରେମିକଗୁରୁ(Premika Guru), into
Odia language.[5][6] On
Trilochan Ashtami, 5 June 1934, he was initiated as disciples of Swami Nigamananda. Being a disciple of Nigamananda, Mohanty spent his entire life on his service. Due to Mohanty's pioneer efforts over a hundred
NigamanandaAshrams were established and survive in
Odisha. He continued to preach Nigamananda's philosophy till he left his physical body on 7 December 1985 at
Biratunga.
Books on Durga Charan Mohanty
The following books in
Odia are published by
Nilachala Saraswata Sangha on Durga Charan Mohanty's life, works, achievements :
Sri Durga Charan Mohanty was awarded with the prestigious
Oriya Sahitya Akademi award ( an award given for working actively for the development of Oriya language and literature) by Oriya Sahitya Akademi for his outstanding contribution in the form of a written book
Bhagawan Sankaracharya which was published in 1956–58.[14][15]
Social activities
According to few sources, he was also a notable social leader in
Odisha.[16]
Nilachala Saraswata Sangha celebrated 100th Birthday of Sri Durga Charan Mohanty with much fervor and spiritual enthusiasm on 9 November 2011 with approximate 3500
Nigamananda devotees at
Biratunga. This function is started on 9 November 2011 and said to be continued till November 2012.[17]
^Amulya Kumar Tripathy; P. C. Tripathy; Jayadeva (2006).
The Gita Govinda of Sri Jayadev. Translated by Durga Charan Mohanty. Publication Division, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India. Retrieved 6 June 2011. D C Mohanty
^India. Office of the Registrar of Newspapers; 27 Vol of Books – Sangha Sevaka (1968).
Press in India. Office of the Registrar of Newspapers. p. 583. Retrieved 20 July 2012.{{
cite book}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (
link)
^American Libraries Book Procurement Center, New Delhi (1972).
Accessions list, India. American Libraries Book Procurement Center. p. 770. Retrieved 4 June 2011.