Durgacharan Sangkhyavedantatirtha, Mahamahopadhyay

Durgacharan Sangkhyavedantatirtha, Mahamahopadhyay (1866-1948) Vedic and sanskrit scholar, born in a scholarly family at Shuvadya in dhaka district. His father, Krishnachandra Chakravarty, and elder brother, Jagatchandra Shiromani, were both Sanskrit scholars.

At first, Durgacharan studied kalapvyakaran with his elder brother. Then he went to Burdwan, where he studied the sangkhya system of philosophy and Vedanta with Mahamahopadhyay Krishnanath Nyaypanchanan. After completing his studies, he received the title of 'Sangkhyatirtha' (teacher of Sangkhya) and 'Vedantatirtha' (teacher of Vedanta). For thirty-two years he taught at the Bhagavat Sanskrit School in Bhabanipur.

As Srigopal Basu Mallik Fellow at Calcutta University, Durgacharan gave a number of lectures on Vedanta philosophy which were later published in four volumes. Durgacharan also wrote a number of books on the upanisads and Philosophy. He also translated the Upanisads into Bangla.

Durgacharan edited the sahitya parisad patrika for many years. At various times, he was chairman or assistant chairman of sanskrit sahitya parisat (Sanskrit Literary Council), Bengal Caste Autonomous Organisation, Bengal Brahmins Assembly and vangiya sahitya parishad (Bengal Literary Council). In recognition of his scholarship, he was awarded the title of 'Mahamahopadhyay' by the Indian government in 1922. [Dilip Kumar Bhattacharya]