Sri Gyanendranath Mukhopadhyay (Gyan Maharaj) was a dear disciple of Sri Pranabananda Giri Maharaj. He is one of the main disciples of Sri Lahiri Mahasaya.
Sri Gyanendranath Mukhopadhyay’s great grandfather Sri Raghunath Mukhopadhyay was the son of Shibacharya Thakur, a man of pure character and noble lineage, who lived in the village Ula, a township of Birnagar of Nadia District, West Bengal. His wife died when his son Bhairbchandra was a small child, for this reason, Sri Bhairabchandra brought up at his maternal house in the village of Sukhsagar and Palta. In his youth, he is the proprietor of his own business. After acquiring considerable wealth, he purchased land. He lived in a house, built for himself and work purpose in Sukhsagar, and also he had a house in Maniktala in Kolkata.
Bhairabchandra had a son Sridharchandra. Before the Sukhsagar house was flooded in the Ganges, Sridharchandra built a house in the Palta village. He had two sons Dharanidhar and Gyanendra. Gyanendra was born in the village of Palta on 28th November 1876. He lost his mother in childhood. Sridharchandra was able to build another house in the village of Priyanagar far away from the Ganges because Sukhsagar’s house also flooded in the Ganges, his family moved to that house.
In his childhood, Gyanendra lived in the Maniktala house in Kolkata with his father and did his primary education. Sri Jnanendra went to Burdwan to his close relative Sri Bishnupad and continued his studies there. Sri Bishnupad is the headmaster of Burdwan Municipal school. Sri Bishnupad took Kriya Yoga initiation from Sri Pranabananda Giri swami at Kumbhamela in Prayag. Sri Jnanendra also expressed his desire to receive an initiation to Kriya Yoga from Sri Pranabananda Swami.
On the auspicious day of Vishakha Purnima Sri Gyanendra received initiation. His Gurudev told him Srimat Bhagavadgita is the main support in the path of Sadhana. He passed B. A B. L in Kolkata and begins the practice in Burdwan and lives with his family. He ceaselessly did the sadhana on the substantive matter of Gita. He brings his family to Varanasi every summer holidays and Dusserah Navratri holidays to met his Gurudev and fellow disciples to discuss the meaning of the Gita with them.
Sri Gyanendranath’s knowledge and yoga-shakti blossomed because of the ceaseless practice of yoga and the Gita study. He was ahead of everyone else in his understanding of the Gita. In the year 1917, the commentaries were released in the form of a book, “Yoga Shashtriya Vakhya Samet Mul SrimadBhagavatgita”, first in Bengali and after that in Hindi. Within a short period, Swami Pranabananda transferred the Proprietorship to Sri Gyanendra made him a publisher, because of continuing the printing of the Gita and moved to Uttarakhand. In 1923 second edition also released and named “Pranab Gita”.
Swami Pranabananda gave permission to Sri Gyanendra to give Kriya Yoga initiation to aspirants and satisfied with what disciples give out of their own wish. In 1936 Sri Gyanendra took retirement from his duties and built a house in Kolkata. To preserve his Gurudev memory, he named the house “Pranab Gita Bhavan”. For 43 years after retirement, Sri Gyanendra continued diligently the Yoga sadhana life in a selected private room within the Bhavan. He published Pranab Gita’s third, fourth and fifth editions. Also, he authored and published the following books: “Pranab Gita Rahsyasar”, “Gopiyajne Sri Krishna”, “Saptasloki Pranab Gita”, “Pranab Gitokta Dharmatattva”, “Mrityu O Mukti”.
Sri Gyanenedra in the early part of his life went to pilgrimage from the Himalayas to Kanyakumari, stayed there for traditional three nights at that places. He took bath in Prayag and Haridwar Kumbhmelas. He had also gone to Ranikhet in search of Dronagiri mountain caves.
On 13th April 1979 night at 103 years of age, Sri Gyanendra called his son Sri Ramendranath Mukhopadhyay, he told that “my time of death came now, I am going to Supreme Peace, I have no regrets and there will be no more births for me, I give my blessings to you all”. His eyes were closed as if in Supreme Peace.
OM TAT SAT