Monastic Name : Swami Shivananda
[1854 - 1934]

Swami Shivananda, more popularly known as Mahapurusha Maharaj, was a personality of great force, rich in distinctive colour and individual quality. His leonine stature and dauntless vigour, his stolid indifference to praise or blame, his spontaneous moods and his profound serenity in times of storm and stress, invested with a singular appropriateness his monastic name which recalls the classical attributes of the great god Shiva.

He was born sometime in the fifties of the nineteenth century on the llth day of the dark fortnight in the Indian month of Agrahayana (Nov-Dec). The exact year of his birth is obscure. The Swami himself with his characteristic indifference to such matters never remembered it. It is inferred that he was born in 1854. His father had indeed prepared an elaborate horoscope for his son, but the latter threw it away into the Ganga when he chose the life of renunciation.

His early name, before he took orders, was Tarak Nath Ghoshal. He came of a respectable and influential family of Barasat. One of his ancestors, Harakrishna Ghosal, was a Dewan of the Krishnanagar Raj. His father, Ramkanai Ghosal, was not only a successful lawyer with a substantial income but a noted Tantrika as well. Much of his earnings was spent in removing the wants of holy men and of poor helpless students. It was not unusual for him to provide board and lodging for twenty-five to thirty students at a time in his house. Latterly, when he became a deputy collector, his income fell, which forced him to limit his charities much against his wish. Subsequently, he rose to be the assistant Dewan of Cooch Behar.

Tarak had to look for a job and he went to Delhi. But not long after, he returned to Calcutta and accepted a job with M/s Mackinnon Mackenzie & Co. About this time, he used to live near the residence of Ram Chandra Dutta the noted devotee of Shri Ramakrishna. By the end of 1880, he came into contact with Shri Ramakrishna.

During his days of itineracy, Swami Shivananda, known as Mahapurushji popularly among his disciples, visited various places in North India. In the course of these travels he also went to Almora where he became acquainted with a rich man of the place named Lala Badrilal Shah, who speedily became a great admirer of the disciples of Shri Ramakrishna and took great care of them whenever he happened to meet them.

With the return of Swamiji from the West in 1897, Maharaj's days of itineracy came to an end. He went to Madurai to receive Swamiji, and returned with him to Calcutta. In the same year, at the request of Swamiji, he went to Ceylon and preached Vedanta for about eight months.

He returned to the Math in 1898, which was then housed at Nilambar Babu's garden. In 1899, plague broke out in an epidemic form in Calcutta. SwamI Vivekananda asked Swami Shivananda and others to organise relief work for the sick. The latter put forth his best efforts without the least thought for his personal safety.

He went again to the Himalayas to taste once more the delight and peace of meditation. Here he spent some years, although he would occasionally come down to the Math for a visit.

In 1915, he laid the begining of a monastery at Almora, which was completed by Swami Turiyananda with his co-operation.

Shortly before Swamiji passed away, the Raja of Bhinga gave him Rs.500 for preaching Vedanta. Swamiji handed the money over to Swami Shivananda asking him to start an Ashrama with it at Varanasi, which he did in 1902.

He continued to look after the affairs of the Ashrama till 1909, when he returned to Belur and lived there for some time. In 1910, he went on a pilgrimage to Amarnath in company with Swami Turiyananda and Swami Premananda. On his return he fell seriously ill with dysentery, which proved very obstinate. He became specially careful as regards food after this and began to observe a strict regimen, which continued till the end and to which his long life was in no small measure due.

In 1910, he was elected Vice-President of the Ramakrishna Mission. In 1917, Swami Premananda who used to manage the affairs of the Math at Belur fell seriously ill, and his duties came to rest on the shoulders of Swami Shivananda. And in 1922, after the passing away of Swami Brahmananda, he was made the President of the Ramakrishna Math and Mission, in which post he continued till he end of his life.

In 1924 and 1927, he went on two long tours to the South, during which he formally opened the centres at Bombay, Nagpur and Ootacamund and initiated a large number of people.

His health which was already shattered, broke down still more and beyond recovery in May, 1933, when he had an attack of apoplexy, which deprived him of the use of half of his body including speech. He passed away on February 20, 1934, leaving a memory which is like a golden dream flung suddenly from one knows not where into this harsh world of reality.