Sri Panchanon Bhattacharya

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Sri Panchanon Bhattacharya was a disciple of the Indian Yogi Lahiri Mahasaya. He helped to spread Lahiri Mahasaya's teachings in Bengal through his Arya Mission Institution.[1]

Sri Bhattacharya was born in the Ahiritola area of Kolkata. He took to the life of Brahmacharya, or celibacy, at a very young age. In the course of his wandering he met Lahiri Mahasaya in Varanasi. Lahiri Mahasaya agreed to initiate him in Kriya under the condition that he give up his sannyas vows and return to a householder life. Bhattacharya fulfilled this condition and received initiation from Lahiri Mahasaya. As a householder, he worked as a flower vendor.

Around the year 1885 he was permitted by the sage to set up an institution, the Aryya Mission Institution, for publishing Kriya related books. Paramahansa Yogananda in his book, Autobiography of a Yogi wrote:

The master now permitted his disciple, Panchanon Bhattacharya, to open in Calcutta a yoga center, the "Arya Mission Institution". The centre distributed certain yogic herbal medicines, and published the first inexpensive editions in Bengal of the Bhagavad-Gita. The Arya Mission Gita, in Hindi and Bengali, found its way into thousands of homes.[2]

The Aryya Mission Institution as founded by Panchanon Bhattacharya closed many years ago. It was revived again in recent years.[3]

Some of Panchanon Bhattacharya's disciples include Sri Sris Mukherjee, Sri Bamandev Banerjee, Sri Netai Charan Banerjee, Sri Barada Charan Majumdar, Sri Kumarnath Mukherjee, Sri Jeevanlal Choudhury amongst others. Many disciples initiated by Sri Lahiri Mahasaya also came to Him for instruction on advanced kriyas.[citation needed]

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Satyananda, p. 26
  2. ^ Yogananda, p. 381-382
  3. ^ Aryya Mission Institution website

[edit] References

  • Satyananda Giri, Swami (2006). Yogiraj Shyama Charan Lahiri Mahasay, from A Collection of Biographies of 4 Kriya Yoga Gurus. iUniverse Inc.. ISBN 978-0595386758. 
  • Yogananda, Paramhansa (2005). Autobiography of a Yogi. Crystal Clarity Publishers. ISBN 978-1565892125.  Reprint of 1946 first edition published by Philosophical Library, New York.

[edit] See also

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