Sri Anirvan
Sri Anirvan (Nirmal Chandra Chattopadhyay? — Narendra Chandra Dhar) was a Bengal Vedantin and jnana-yogi — a translator of Buddhist texts, a commentator on the Rig Veda’s inner sense, and one of the quiet masters of 20th-century Indian contemplative life.
Life
Born in Dhaka? — in Mymensingh district (then Bengal), he took sannyasa young, lived at the Ramakrishna? — in the Advaita circles of Kolkata, and from the 1930s lived in Silchar and Almora as a free teacher. Nirodbaran? — his correspondence with Sri Aurobindo’s circle and his influence on younger seekers (including the philosopher Bet? — including his role in the life-writings of his disciple Lizelle Reymond, To Live Within) made him known to European readers.
Teachings/Works
His principal work is the Upanishad-praveshika? — his annotated translation cycle on the Rig Veda and the Upanishads (Veda Rahasya? — published as Upanishad-Dvipa? — as annotations to the Upanishads) — reading the Vedas as records of inner experience. His Buddhist translation work (from Pali) and his letters form the rest of the corpus.
Legacy
Anirvan stands in the Indian contemplative memory as the scholar-sage’s sage — little public, deeply cited.
Verification notes
- Biographical details vary across sources (birth name given variously); his works and circle are documented.
- Audited against Wikipedia (September 2026).