Gambhirananda

Swami Gambhirananda (1899–1988), born as Jatindranath Datta, was a Hindu sanyasi associated with Ramakrishna Mission. He was born at Sadhuhati in today's Bangladesh. He graduated from Scottish Church College, Calcutta (Kolkata).^[1]

Swami Gambhirananda
Personal
Born	Jatindranath Datta (1899-02-11)11 February 1899 Sadhuhati, Sylhet, British India
Died	27 December 1988(1988-12-27) (aged 89) Ramakrishna Mission Seva Pratishthan, Kolkata, West Bengal, India
Cause of death	Lung-infection and Cardiac Problems.
Religion	Hinduism
Notable work(s)	Translated ten Major Upanishads, the Bhagavad Gita and the Brahma Sutras with Shankara’s Commentary, and the Bengali version of the eleven major Upanishads, Stavakusumanjali, Siddhanta-Lesa-Samgraha,, Holy Mother Sri Sarada Devi and History of Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission in English and Sri Ma Sarada Devi, Yuganayak Vivekananda (in 3 Volumes) and Sri Ramakrishna Bhaktamalika in Bengali, Apostles of Sri Ramakrishna in English, English translation of Madhusudana Saraswati’s commentary on the Bhagavad Gita
Philosophy	Advaita Vedanta
Religious career
Guru	Swami Shivananda

Jatindranath Datta was influenced by his teacher Swami Jagadananda.^[2]

He joined the Ramakrishna Mission in May, 1923. He was initiated to Sannyasa by Swami Shivananda (a direct disciple of Sri Ramakrishna) in 1928. Due to his excellent work, he was made the Secretary of Ramakrishna Mission Vidyapith, Deoghar in the year 1926 and continued till 1935. He was excellent in Sanskrit Language, he studied Sanskrit while he was staying in Varanasi Advaita Ashrama. From 1953-1963, he served as the President of Advaita Ashrama, Mayavati. He became Vice President of the Order in 1979 and he was elected as the President in 1985 and remained as President until his death in 1988 and at that time he initiated many. He died on 27 December 1988, at evening 7:27 PM at Ramakrishna Mission Seva Pratishthan from Severe lung-infection and Cardiac problems. A scholar, he was the 11th President of the Ramakrishna Mission.^[3] He translated 10 Major Upanishads with Adi Shankaracharya's Commentary from Sanskrit to English, word by word.^[4] He also translated Shankaracharya's Sanskrit Commentary on Bhagavad Gita to English, word by word and Madhusudana Saraswati's Commentary on Gita (known as Gudartha Dipika) from Sanskrit to English,^[5][6] Adi Shankaracharya's Masterpiece Brahma Sutra Bhasya from Sanskrit to English,^[7] and numerous other works related to Vedanta and Ramakrishna-Vivekananda literature. Swami Gambhirananda also met several other disciples of Ramakrishna, including Swami Saradananda, Swami Abhedananda, Swami Subodhananda, Swami Akhandananda, Swami Vijnanananda, Mahendranath Gupta (Sri M).^[8]

Character

He was very quiet and serious person and was extremely punctual, as reported by those who stayed with him or saw him.^[9] His name, "Gambhir" means serious, deep and profound.^[10]

Works

• Advaita Ashram
• The apostles of Shri Ramakrishna (compiler, editor), Advaita Ashrama, 2nd ed. 1972

• Brahma Sutra Bhashya With the Commentary of Sri Shankaracharya. Kolkata: Advaita Ashrama. 1965. p. 944. ISBN 81-7505-105-1.
• Eight Upanishads With the Commentary of Shankaracharya. Kolkata: Advaita Ashrama. 1989. p. 952. ISBN 81-7505-015-2.
• Bhagavad Gita [HB] With the commentary of Shankaracharya. Kolkata: Advaita Ashrama. 1997. p. 848. ISBN 81-7505-041-1.
• Isa Upanishad With the Commentary of Shankaracharya. Kolkata: Advaita Ashrama. 1996. p. 40. ISBN 81-7505-093-4.
• Kena Upanishad With the Commentary of Shankaracharya. Kolkata: Advaita Ashrama. 1998. p. 72. ISBN 81-7505-068-3.
• Katha Upanishad With the Commentary of Shankaracharya. Kolkata: Advaita Ashrama. October 1996. p. 152. ISBN 81-85301-33-6.
• Prasna Upanishad With the Commentary of Shankaracharya. Kolkata: Advaita Ashrama. 1998. p. 112. ISBN 81-7505-023-3.
• Mundaka Upanishad With the Commentary of Shankaracharya. Kolkata: Advaita Ashrama. 1995. p. 108. ISBN 81-7505-098-5.
• Mandukya Upanishad With the Commentary of Shankaracharya. Kolkata: Advaita Ashrama. 1995. p. 256. ISBN 81-7505-099-3.
• Taittiriya Upanishad With the Commentary of Shankaracharya. Kolkata: Advaita Ashrama. 2004. p. 192. ISBN 81-7505-024-1.
• Aitareya Upanishad With the commentary of Shankaracharya. Kolkata: Advaita Ashrama. 1999. p. 80. ISBN 81-85301-34-4.
• Chandogya Upanishad With the Commentary of Shankaracharya. Kolkata: Advaita Ashrama. 1983. p. 728. ISBN 81-7505-100-0.
• Shvetashvatara Upanishad With the Commentary of Shankaracharya. Kolkata: Advaita Ashrama. 1986. p. 232. ISBN 81-7505-103-5.
• Holy Mother: Sri Sarada Devi. Chennai: Ramakrishna Math. 1977. p. 540. ISBN 81-7823-186-7.
• Upanishad Granthavali (in 3 Vols) (in Bengali). Kolkata: Udbodhan Karyalaya.
• Kah Panthah (in Bengali). Kolkata: Udbodhan Karyalaya. p. 118. ISBN 81-8040-285-1.
• Juganayak Vivekananda(set of 3 books) (in Bengali). Kolkata: Udbodhan Karyalaya. p. 1184. ISBN 81-8040-112-X.
• Navajugadharma (in Bengali). Kolkata: Udbodhan Karyalaya. p. 280.
• Stavakusumanjali (in Bengali). Kolkata: Udbodhan Karyalaya. p. 408. ISBN 81-8040-225-8.
• Sri Ma Sarada Devi (in Bengali). Kolkata: Udbodhan Karyalaya. p. 428. ISBN 81-8040-071-9.
• Siddhantalesha Samgraha of Appayadikshit (in Bengali). Kolkata: Udbodhan Karyalaya. p. 272. ISBN 81-8040-215-0.
• Sri Ramakrishna Bhaktamalika (in Bengali). Kolkata: Udbodhan Karyalaya. p. 714. ISBN 81-8040-493-5.
• Vartaman Yug O Sri Ramakrishna Bhavdhara (in Bengali). Kolkata: Udbodhan Karyalaya. p. 47.
• Yuganayak Vivekananda (in Hindi). Nagpur: Ramakrishna Math. p. 1151.
• Sri Ma Sarada Devi (in Hindi). Kolkata: Advaita Ashrama. p. 392. ISBN 81-85301-96-4.
• Sri Ramakrishna Bhaktamalika (in Hindi). Nagpur: Ramakrishna Math. p. 769.

References

1. Some Alumni of Scottish Church College in 175th Year Commemoration Volume. Scottish Church College, April 2008, p. 589
2. . www.vedantastl.org. Archived from the original on 26 February 2014.
3. donationsbm. "Swami Gambhirananda". Belur Math - Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission. Retrieved 23 December 2021.
4. Swami Gambhirananda (2011). Eight Upanishads, With the Commentary of Shankaracharya (2 Vol. Set) by Swami Gambhirananda, Adi Shankaracharya.
5. Swami Gambhirananda (1 January 2018). Bhagavad Gita: With the Commentary of Adi Shankaracharya.
6. "Gudartha Dipika, Gambhirananda" (PDF). www.abebooks.com. Retrieved 23 December 2021.
7. Adi Shankaracharya (1972). Brahma Sutra Bhasya Of Shankaracharya Translated by Swami Gambhirananda.
8. Swami Gambhirananda, a Documentary, retrieved 4 January 2022
9. What lesson on Time management can we learn from Swami Gambhiranandaji Maharaj? - in Hindi, retrieved 23 December 2021
10. Stories of Vedanta Monks - Part 8 (Swami Gambhirananda), retrieved 23 December 2021