Katyayanidas Bhattacharya

Katyayanidas Bhattacharya (1917 - 1966), was a noted scholar of Philosophy and an Academician of Bengal.

Early Life & Education

He was born on October 17, 1917, to Bhubaneswar Bhattacharya, an Ayurvedic practitioner (Kabiraj) of Brahmanbaria District (now in Bangladesh). Katyayanidas passed his Matriculation Examination from the village school of Chunta and Intermediate Arts Examination (IA) from Habiganj College (both now in Bangladesh), respectively in 1936 and 1939 with noticeable results. Though he started pursuing English Honours in the Habiganj College in the beginning, his performance in Logic and Sanskrit in the Intermediate Examination did not escape the notice of great Indian Politician Shyama Prasad Mukherjee, who at that time had just finished his tenure as Vice Chancellor of the University of Calcutta. It was mainly due to insistence of Shyamaprasad Mukherjee, Katyayanidas shifted to a Calcutta mess and got admitted to Asutosh College in BA Course with Honours in Philosophy. Dr.Kalidas Sen, a well known Professor of Philosophy was Principal of Asutosh College at that time and acted as mentor of Katyayanidas. Though by the time Katyayanidas had started pursuing Philosophy Honours in hitherto unknown city of Calcutta, a substantial time of the two-year Degree course has died, he succeeded in securing 1st position in the University in the Graduate Examination (BA) with Honours in Philosophy in the year 1941. He was also a Gold Medalist in the MA (Philosophy) Examination of the Calcutta University as he secured 1st position in the year 1943.[1]

Professional career

As a student and subsequently as Asst. Professor of Philosophy, Katyayanidas attracted notice of world renowned Indian Philosophers like Dr. Surendranath Dasgupta, Prof. Gopinath Bhattacharya. His scholarly articles on difficult Philosophical issues were appreciated by the intelligentsia of Bengal in those days. His articles "The concept of subtle body in Samkhya philosophy",[2][3] "Paschatya Darshane Ishwarer Astitwa Bichar"[4] (Discussion on existence of God in the Western Philosophical thoughts) were important contribution in the subject in 1950s.[5][6] His other articles included "The Theory of Emergence in the Philosophy of Alexander",[7]"The Meeting of Extremes in Alexander's Philosophy of Mind".[8] The translated work of Katyayanidas from original Sanskrit included "Iswarakrishna's Sankhya-Karika". Many of his writings written for general readers viz. "Jader Swarup Jingyasar Itihas" [9] (The History of questioning the identity of non-living matters), "Praner Swarup Jingyasar Itihas" [10] (The History of questioning the identity of living matters), were published in the Bengali daily of Calcutta, Anandabazar Patrika.

Besides Presidency College, Calcutta, Katyayanidas taught Philosophy in the University of Calcutta, Maulana Azad College (erstwhile Central Calcutta College Calcutta), Victoria College of Cooch Behar (now known as ABN Seal College), Krishnagar Government College and Asutosh College of Calcutta. In his professional life, he was closely associated with Prof. Kalidas Bhattacharya, Dr. Subodh Mitra, Dr. Kalidas Sen and many other luminaries in academic circle of Bengal at that time.

Personal life

Katyayanidas was a person of strong ethical values. He was a connoisseur of Indian Classical Music and used to play Tabla well. At one point of time he also edited Bengali cultural journal Jayanti which was first brought out from Chunta and subsequently published from Calcutta. His elder brother, Bireswar Bhattacharya, was writer of the novel Muktir Dak (Call for Freedom !), written in the background of freedom struggle of India in 1940s. Katyayanidas was married to Uma Bhattcharya, daughter of Priyanath Bhattacharya and Sudhabala Devi of Biddakut in Brahmanbaria (now in Bangladesh), in the year 1948. The couple had four sons Amitabha Niranjan, Sugata and Gautam, who all established themselves in their respective field of work subsequently. Katyayanidas died at the age of 49 on October 26, 1966.

References

  1. ↑ Hundred Years of University of Calcutta (Supplement), 1957
  2. ↑ PAIOC 17, Summaries 1953,113, Encyclopedia of Indian Philosophies, Bibliography (3rd Edition), compiled by Karl H. Potter, Section II, S-80, brought out by Motilal Baranasidass Publishers Pvt. Ltd., Delhi
  3. ↑ Encyclopedia of Indian Philosophies,S-85.1, pg. 1064, JPA 1.3-4,1954,23-24
  4. ↑ Prabasi, Volume II, Issue 4, 1951, South Asia Archive, Page 426-431
  5. ↑ Proceedings and Transactions of the All India Oriental Conference, Volume 17, Part 1953
  6. ↑ Proceedings and Transactions of the All Indian Oriental Conference, Volume 17, Parts 1-2 (1959)
  7. ↑ The Modern Review, Volumes 95-96
  8. ↑ Cooch Behar Victoria College Patrika
  9. ↑ Anandabazar Patrika, March 11, 1951
  10. ↑ Anandabazar Patrika, March 23 & 24,1952 and March 30 & 31 1952
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