Shrimat Anirvan (8 July 1896—31 May 1978) had mastered the Astādhyayi of Pānini at a very early age. After completing his formal education he renounced the world and became Nirvanananda Saraswati. But after a few years he dropped the ochre robes and changed his name to Anirvan by which name he became known to the world at large. He spent a number of years in Lohaghat (Almora) where Madame Lizelle Reymond, a Swiss spiritual seeker, joined him and literally took him to the West through her books. He later shifted to Shillong in Assam and finally to Kolkata where he spent his last years. His first book was a Bengali translation of Sri Aurobindo’s The Life Divine which was described as a “living translation” by Sri Aurobindo himself and was published in two volumes between 1948 and 1951. Another sister-publication, Yoga-Samanvaya-Prasanga, based on Sri Aurobindo’s The Synthesis of Yoga, was published in 1961. According to Ram Swarup: “In translating Sri Aurobindo’s works, he was paying his debt to an elder brother and old friend from another life, as Shri Anirvan once said.” But the centre of his studies was the Vedas on which he acquired a rare mastery over the years. His other published works include his magnum opus, Veda Mimāmsā, (published in three volumes), Upanisad-Prasanga (three volumes on Īsa, Aitareya and the Kena), Gitānuvacana (three volumes), Vedānta Jijñāsā, Pravacana (four volumes) and several others.
On the occasion of Shrimat Anirvan’s 119th Birth Anniversary, Overman Foundation started the inaugural “Shrimat Anirvan Memorial Oration” from 2015. The list and biographies of the speakers are as follows:
2016
Shri Biswajit Ganguly, noted researcher, Managing Member of Sri Aurobindo Bhavan, Kolkata and Joint Secretary, Finance Ministry, West Bengal Government.
Theme: Shrimat Anirvan and Dilip Kumar Roy.
Chairman: Prof. Supriyo Bhattacharya.
Venue: Sri Aurobindo Bhavan, 8 Shakespeare Sarani, Kolkata 700071.
Date: Friday, 8 July 2016.
2015
Prof. Supriyo Bhattacharya is presently Associate Professor in the Department of Economics at the University of Kalyani. He has been on its teaching faculty since 1984. He was a former Guest-Lecturer in the Department of Post Graduation Business Studies in the Department of Commerce of the University of Calcutta for over two decades since 1981. He also served as a Lecturer in the Department of Economics at Belur Vidyamandir, Howrah. He is engaged in studies on Sri Aurobindo, Rabindranath Tagore and Shrimat Anirvan and has been connected with research work in various projects associated with Sri Aurobindo’s philosophy in Kolkata and at Sri Aurobindo Ashram, Pondicherry, gives talks and writes on different aspects of Sri Aurobindo’s vision. A recipient of the prestigious “Sri Aurobindo Puraskar” from Sri Aurobindo Bhavan, Kolkata, he was elected Fellow of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland in June 2007. He has been the Editor of Srinvantu (a Bengali and English magazine devoted to the cause of propagation of the ideas of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother).
Theme of Oration: Shrimat Anirvan on Education.
Venue: Sri Aurobindo Sakti Centre, 532, Block “M”, New Alipore, Kolkata 700053.
Date: Wednesday, 8 July 2015.
*
Overman Foundation 
Leave a Reply