Sivanath Sastri Biography 
Sivanath Sastri was a scholar, religious reformer, educator, writer and historian from Kolkata. He was active as a social worker and kept a record of events of his time. Sivanath Sastri College, a women's undergraduate college of the University of Calcutta was named after him. Atmacharit is his Autobiography work.
He was born in Chingripota village, Majilpur of 24 Parganas on 31 January 1847 to Harananda Bhattacharya. His family belonged to Vedic Brahmins. Though his family members were learnt, they were poor. At the age of nine, he went to Kolkata and joined Sanskrit Collegiate School staing at his maternal grandfather’s house. His maternal uncle, Dwarakanath Vidyabhusan was a lecturer of the same college. As a child, he went to attend the first widow remarriage at Sukea Street on 7 December 1856. In 1858, when Dwarakanath Vidyabhusan started the newspaper Somprakash and started its press at home itself, young Sastri got attached to it. Thus he was grown up in a world of knowledge and education.
He started attending the lectures of members of Brahma Samaj since 1862. When the Brahmos opened a girls’ school in the village, parents started sending girls to school. When zamindar of their village asked their parents not to send girls to school, most of the parents accept his order except Sastri’s family. Shastri’s two sisters learnt from school. Though his family was against Brahma samaj, Shastri joined it, deeply influenced by his friends. Keshub Chunder Sen formally initiated him into the Brahmo Samaj in 1869. He abandoned his sacred thread and ultimately, his father turned him out of the house.
Sastri moved to Kolkata and survived on his scholarship. He passed M.A. in Sanskrit in 1872, from the University of Calcutta and subsequently was bestowed the title of ‘Sastri’. When a few members opposed Keshub Chunder Sen, after his daughter’s marriage with Maharaja of Cooch Behar, the Brahmo Samaj of India split into two. He was among those who opposed Sen and formed Samadarshi group which later became Sadharan Brahmo Samaj in 1878. Sastri is the author of many books. A few of them are History of the Brahmo Samaj, New Dispensation and the Sadharan Brahmo Samaj, Men I Have Seen, The Mission of the Brahmo Samaj and Theistic Churches in India.
Published: N/A
Updated: January 10, 2014
