Swami Nikhilananda

Swami Nikhilananda
Religion	Hinduism
Personal
Born	Dinesh Chandra Das Gupta 1895 India
Died	1973 New York
Guru	Sarada Devi

Swami Nikhilananda (1895–1973), born Dinesh Chandra Das Gupta was a direct disciple of Sri Sarada Devi. In 1933, he founded the Ramakrishna-Vivekananda Center of New York, a branch of Ramakrishna Mission, and remained its head until his death in 1973. An accomplished writer and thinker, Nikhilananda's greatest contribution was the translation of Sri Sri Ramakrishna Kathamrita from Bengali into English published under the title The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna (1942).

Swami Nikhilananda was born in 1895 in Bangladesh, at the time a part of India, and had his education in the University of Calcutta. As a graduate he chose the profession of journalism. He then joined the Indian freedom movement and was incarcerated for a period in an English prison camp.

As a boy, through his pious parents, he became acquainted with the teachings of Ramakrishna and Swami Vivekananda. These teachings made an indelible impression on his young mind and brought him in touch with the direct disciples of Ramakrishna. He was initiated by Holy Mother. He also met the direct disciples of Ramakrishna, Swamis Brahmananda, Saradananda, Shivananda, Turiyananda, Premananda, Akhandananda, Abhedananda as well as Mahendranath Gupta, the recorder of Kathamrita among others.

After coming into their influence, he abandoned his role as a freedom fighter and renounced the world to join the Ramakrishna Order. As a Brahmachari, for many years he devoted himself to the study of the Scriptures under eminent teachers, practised spiritual disciplines, and served the Order in various capacities, until, in 1931, he was deputed by the Order to come to America as one of its representatives. In 1933 he founded the Ramakrishna-Vivekananda Center in New York. Nikhilananda was considered a brilliant speaker and was invited to lecture at different universities, churches, and synagogues, and to participate in inter-religious conferences East and West. He served at the Ramakrishna-Vivekananda Center till his death in 1973. Nikhilananda made important contributions to the literature of Ramakrishna movement. he also attracted distinguished disciples, including author JD Salinger, Margaret Woodrow Wilson, daughter of the president Woodrow Wilson, the comparative mythologist Professor Joseph Campbell, and Chester Carlson, inventor of xerographic process. Philosopher Lex Hixon was Nikhilananda's disciple.

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