Surendra Nath Mitra

Surendra Nath Mitra
Surendra Nath Mitra, an important lay disciple of Sri Ramakrishna
Born	Suresh Mitra 1850 (1850)
Died	May 25, 1890(1890-05-25) (aged 39–40) Calcutta, Bengal, British India
Occupation	Foremost Householder Devotee of Sri Ramakrishna
Nationality	Indian
Period	19th century
Literary movement	Bengal Renaissance, Ramkrishna

Surendra Nath Mitra aka Surendranath Mitra (c.1850 – 25 May 1890) was one of the prominent devotees of Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa. He came from a very prosperous background and had the fortune of sponsoring the expenditures of the Master and his devotees when the Master lived in Calcutta in his last days. He was also known as Suresh Chandra Mitra, but Sri Ramakrishna called him "Surendra". Suresh lived in Simulia Street, the same locality as Narendranath (Swami Vivekananda).

Mitra was probably born in 1850. Little is known about his early life except that it was carefree and open, like that of many rich people in erstwhile Bengal. According to his own testimony, Mitra was initially indifferent towards religion.

Mitra probably met Sri Ramakrishna in 1880, when he (near age 30) went there in company with another prominent householder disciple, Ram Chandra Datta.Ramakrishna accepted him with all his past vices and preached to him on self-surrender. From then on Mitra, became a frequent visitor to Dakshineswar temple.

Mitra had several notable contributions towards the early growth of the Ramakrishna Order. While Sri Ramakrishna was in Dakshineswar, he supplied Rs 10/- every month for the devotees of Sri Ramakrishna. Though small in amount, the sum went a long way in meeting the daily needs of the devotees who stayed with the Master.

Sri Ramakrishna suffered from a terminal throat cancer and had to be shifted to the city of Calcutta. Naturally many devotees thronged to the place where he lived. The young devotees like Swami Vivekananda spent almost all their time serving the Master in those days. This was the time when they took the oath of renunciation. They left their homes and dedicated their lives to serving the Master. Mitra bore the entire expenditure of the Cossipore Garden House (about Rs 60 per month), where Sri Ramakrishna spent his last days. He also joined with other householder disciples to bear the expenses of his monastic brother disciples.