| Mahanambrata Brahmachari | |
| Birth Name: | Bankim Dasgupta [1] |
| Parents: | Kalidas Dasgupta (father) Kaminisundari Devi (mother) |
| Birth Date: | 25 December 1904 |
| Birth Place: | Barisal District, Bengal Presidency, British India |
| Death Place: | Kolkata, West Bengal, India |
| Known For: | Spiritual guru |
Mahanambrata Brahmachari (25 December 1904 – 18 October 1999; pre-ashramite name Bankim Dasgupta[2]) was a Hindu Monk and the President who headed the Mahanam Sampradaya in what is now India and Bangladesh. A yogi and monk of the Mahauddharana order, a school of Bengal, he was a philosopher, writer and religious master.
He was born in a Baidya family of Barishal District, Bengal Presidency, British India on 25 December 1904 and was named Bankim Dasgupta.[3] He began his schooling in a nearby Pathshala primary school in 1909. At that time his father lost his eyesight; Mahanambrata Brahmachari therefore dedicated himself to his blind father's service. He travelled 80 miles on foot to pay homage to religious leader Prabhu Jagadbandhu.
His father died in 1922. After the funeral he went to Sri Angan to take sanyasa at Mahanam Sampradaya, the association dedicated for the propagation of teachings of Prabhu Jagadbandhu. But Sripad Mahendraji, the spiritual master of Mahanam Sampradaya, asked him because of his youth to return home and pass the matriculation examination before thinking of sanyasa. In 1923 he obtained a District Scholarship at the matriculation examination. Then he left home for good, went to Sri Angan and was initiated into sanyasa by Sripad Mahendraji with the name of Mahanambrata Brahmachari. Sripad Mahendraji, asked him to take admission in Government Rajendra College, Faridpur for further studies. He passed the B.A. Exam in 1928 with Honours in Sanskrit, and obtained first class M.A. in Sanskrit from Calcutta University in 1931.[4]
Sripad Mahendraji, the President of Mahanam Sampradaya, received an invitation from the President of World Fellowship of Faiths, from Chicago, Illinois, U.S.A. to send a delegate to its conferences. He sent Mahanambrata Brahmachari to represent the Mahanam Sampradaya in the U.S.A. Mahanambrata Brahmachari obtained a PhD in Vaishnava Theology from the University of Chicago. While there he had many discussions with Trappist monk Thomas Merton. Mahanambrata Brahmachari advised Merton to explore his own Christian roots rather than learn more about Hinduism;[5] Merton acknowledged the role of Mahanambrata Brahmachari in making him discover Christianity.[6]
After the partition of India and Pakistan in 1947, he remained in East Pakistan (now Bangladesh). After attacks on Hindus by the Pakistani Army he set up Devasthali Samskar Samity to raise funds for reconstruction of temples and reinstallation of deities. He was present during reinstallation at many places like Dhaka, Narayangonj, Brahmanbaria, Sylhet, Sunamganj, Faridpur and Chattagram. In 1975 he founded and was president of Bangladesh Sanatan Dharma Mahamondal, to look after the religious and cultural interests and heritages of Hindus.[7]
He died in Kolkata, West Bengal, India on 18 October 1999.