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September 1887 - June 1976
To begin writing a short description on the luminaries in the field of Ayurveda the first and foremost shall be none other than Gopinath Kaviraj (Bagchi). He was born in the year 1887 in the month of September. His father Baikuntha nath Kaviraj died a few months before Gopinath was born. In fact Baikuntha nath too lost his father Chandranath Kaviraj at a very tender age. While Baikuntha nath was doing his MA he had a severe attack of decentry. Diseases like decentry cholera were regarded as dreaded in those days as remedies were scarce. The legendary Dr. Mahendranath Sorkar who treated Sri Ramakrisna tried his best to save him but all his efforts went in vain and he passed away leaving his pregnent wife Sukodasundari at the mercy of her relatives. For Gopinath it was a matter of deep regret throughout his life and often told his friends and well wishers how much missed his dad. The maternal grand father preserved a few articles that were used by Boikuntha nath which he handed over to him and Gopinath took all the care to preserve the memorablia of his late father. Gopinath throughout his life was devoted to his cause. Their actual surname was " Bagchi ". On being asked by his followers about it he replied he is not aware of this however he said several of his ancestors were renouned practioners during their life time. It may have been a gifted title from the then " Nawbabs " which might have taken the form of a surname ignoring the original. Gopinath's grandfather Chandranath Kaviraj was a very well established and erudite person in those days. Since his birth in 1887 and till 1902 Gopinath spent his days partly at ' katalia ' and partly at 'Damrai ' villages in Eastern Bengal. Kalachand Sanyal of ' Katalia ' in the district of Tangail who was the maternal uncle of Gopinath's father took special care of the child and decided of transferring all his property to his grandson. Possibly at the age of seven or eight Gopinath joined the village school (pathshala). He got married at a very tender age of thirteen in the year of 1900 to ' Kusumkamini ' daughter of Brajashankar Bhattacharya since that was the ultimate wish of kalachand his grandfather. Within a year of his marriage Kalachand died in the year 1901 which landed him in deep crisis within his family as the whole family of Kalachand turned against Gopinath his wife and mother. In the month of July 1906 Gopinath left for Agra enroute to Jaipore for further studies in the Maharaja college. On reaching Jaipore Gopinath was mesmerised by the beauty of the city. For about three days he stayed in a dharamsala. He enquired about Maharaja college and decided to meet the principal on his own. The next day on reaching the college he met some of the students and was happy to know that the principal was from Bengal whose name was Sanjivan Ganguly and the vice principal too was another from Bengal Megnath Bhattacharya. Gopinath knew that the Dewan or the prime minister of Jaipore was also from Bengal Mr. Sansar Chandra Sen whom he was very eager to meet but none have been able to tell anything about his where abouts. After a painstaking search he was successful in finding out the place where he lived which was known as " Hatrose Villa ". On meeting Gopinath at his office Sansar Sen listened to all his problems and requirements very patiently and adviced his eldest son Avinash Sen to take care of Gopinath. After meeting him Avinash Sen offered him to stay at his place with the responsibility of coaching two of his daughters. But inorder to live with the Sen's he would have to provide his credentials. So for the time being he lived in the home of the vice principal Megnath Bhattacharya till he was able to collect them. The college from the lodge of the vice principal was almost two miles where mostly he went walking and at times on bullock cart. Mr. Bhattacharya had a very close friendly relationship with a luminiary from Bengal Bankim Chandra Chatterjee. The teachers at Maharaja college whom Gopinath met were great scholars. To name a few pandit Surajnarayan Sharma of English. The head of the English department was another great teacher professer Nava Krisna Roy. Professer Badrinath Sastri of Logic and History. Vireswar Sastri Dravid of Sanskrit. Gradually Gopinath became the favourite student of Nava Krisna Roy who later recommended for a scholarship of rupees fifteen monthly to the principal which was granted from the first year and continued for his brilliant result. Gopinath was very fond of reading and he got a golden oppertunity to read English translations of classics of Greek, French, Latin, German, Russian etc. and also English translation of vedanta by Arthur Venice at Jaipore. However he was more inclined towards literature of Bengal that was his home.
Gopinath had to leave Jaipore for Allahabad to appear for his B.A. examinations since the colleges of Jaipore in those days were under the jurisdiction of Allahabad. On his return from Allahabad he left for Jaipore enroute to Calcutta to meet another luminiary professer Brojendranath Seal with whom his late father Baikuntha nath had a very cordial relationship. In the year 1910 Gopinath left for Varanasi for doing his MA in Sanskrit and there was an added attraction since his grandfather was still alive and lives there. The sanskrit college was established in Varanasi in the year 1791. It was one of the few finest colleges then in India with the luminiary Arthur Venice as the Principal. This college played the host to several academic giants in those days who were leading professers. Gopinath honestly admits that though being a foreigner Arthur Venice was an unparallel luminiary in the context of Indian culture and a friend Philosopher and Guide and more of a ' Guru ' to me. Dr. Venice was much too impressed to see the hidden genius of his student. However in the year 1914 Dr. Venice retired from the Sanskrit college but the government couldnt afford to release him since releasing a literary thespian like Dr. Venice would mean depriving the students from his teachings and guidance and instead went for a realignment that led to the creation of a new department and Dr. Venice became the superintendent of sanskrit studies in the United Provinces. Later in the year 1924 Gopinath was selected as the principal of the college. Since teenage Gopinath was very much inclined towards spiritualism. His spiritual gurudev was none other than his divine grace Sri Ramthakur whom he met in the month of February 1923. He was greatly influenced by his grace and lessons and its a fact that life was completely metamorphosed. By nature Gopinath was a philosopher but lived a saintly and a humble life till he passed away in 1976.
Krisna Chaitanya Tagore Sastri
1913 (Bengali Calender 1319) - 1994
Next to Gopinath Kaviraj was another luminiary Krisnachaitanya Tagore Sastri born according to the Bengali calender in the year 1319 and possibly 1913 by the English in the district of Bankura. Not much is known of his childhood and though his surname being Tagore he has nothing to do with the Tagore family. He belonged to the Vaisnav sect and a true follower of Srimad Ramdas Babaji. He was closely associated with luminaries like Pramothonath Twarkovusan, Gopinath Kaviraj, Phanivusan Twarkobagish, Manoranjan Shank Vedantatirth, Vamachurn Nayacharya, Panchwanan Tarkaratna, Annadachurn Twarkchuramani, Taranath Sahityacharya and Kalipodo Twarkacharya etc. The surnames are gifted titles in various spheres. Chatinya Tagore considered himself blessed to be associated with them and had ample oppertunities to learn the Puranas Vedanta Upanashad and the Samhitas etc. In Calcutta he got his lesson on the Vaisnava shastra from Rashikmohan Vidyavushan. But Ayurvedacharya Varanasi Gupta, and Gononath Sen played a leading role in imparting Ayurveda education to him. In his later life he was successful to establish himself as a leading practioner of ayurveda in Bengal and one of the few in India. Myself and my family had the previledge of being associated with him for quite a long time as he was our family medical adviser and I definitely consider myself fortunate to be associated with a person like him. Chaitanya Tagore too lead a very humble life in the district of Howrah in the state of Bengal. He hated poverty as he had to spend his earlier life in abject poverty. The untimely death of his wife has put him in extreme stress. He was more agnostic by nature. He worked as a lecturer in Saratkumari college in Varanasi, Govindsundari state ayurvedic medical college, J.B Roy state ayurvedic medical college at Calcutta. Few years before his death he was appointed as a professeur at the Asiatic Society which he left after a couple of years. There were never any dearth of followers or well wishers who thronged him to seek his guidance or help and helped them in whatever way he could till his death in 1994.
Cykelväskor.se
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