Swami Sadananda

Swami Sadananda
Swami Sadananda, the direct monastic disciple of Swami Vivekananda
Native name	Sharat Chandra Gupta
Born	Sharat Chandra Gupta (1865-01-06)6 January 1865 Calcutta
Died	18 February 1911(1911-02-18) Calcutta
Cause of death	Illness
Nationality	Indian
Other names	Gupta Maharaj
Citizenship	India
Occupation	Monk
Known for	Spiritual work
Home town	Calcutta, India
Parent(s)	Jadunath Gupta (father)

Swami Sadananda, popularly known as Gupta Maharaj in the Ramakrishna Order, was a direct monastic disciple of Swami Vivekananda. He was the first disciple according to some sources. He took his monastic vows and joined Baranagar Math to serve the other disciples of Sri Ramakrishna in 1888–89 and subsequently joined the Belur Math when it was established. He was one of the leaders of early Ramakrishna Mission in its relief work. One of his significant contributions was providing relief to the citizens of Calcutta during the plague epidemic of 1898–99. He traveled to Japan in 1903. His later days were spent in company of Sister Nivedita as her protector and guide. His notable contribution in the later part of his life was preaching the message of Swami Vivekananda, especially among youth.

Sharat Chandra Gupta was born in Calcutta on 6 January 1865. In 1868, his parents migrated to Jaunpur, near Varanasi. His father's name was Jadunath Gupta. Being brought up in North India, Sharat Chandra developed proficiency in the Hindi and Urdu languages, although his mother tongue was Bengali. His elder brother Adharchandra Gupta had renounced worldly life and become a monk. Sharat Chandra possessed a strong physique and a generous nature. He accepted a job with the railways and was posted as a station master in Hathras railway station. There he first met the wandering monk who would become his guru.

Sometime in September 1888 Swami Vivekananda, then an unknown itinerant monk, was travelling from Vrindavan to Haridwar and decided to take a train from Hathras. While he was waiting for the train, the station master of Hathras, Sharat Chandra Gupta, took notice of him and invited him to his quarters. In the words of Swami Virajananda, Sharat Chandra was enchanted by Swami Vivekananda's fascinating appearance and particularly his "devilish eyes". Another account asserts that Sharat Chandra Gupta saw the monk sitting in a railway compartment and being captivated by the bright eyes of the latter, entreated him to get down and be his guest as he had dreamed of those eyes. When Swami Vivekananda had asked Sharat as to what he had to offer as food to the guest, the latter replied quoting from a Persian poem, "Oh Beloved, you have come to my house, I shall prepare the most delicious dish for you with the flesh of my heart." When Swami was about to take his leave, he initiated Sharat Chandra on the latter's request. Sharat Chanadra accompanied Swami Vivekananda in his journey and together they traveled to Rishikesh. The journey was strenuous for Sharat Chandra and at one point Swami Vivekananda carried his belongings, including his heavy boots, which Sadananda remembered throughout his life. They had to give up the plan of further travel owing to illness and returned together to Hathras. From there Swami Vivekananda went back to Baranagar monastery and Sharat Chandra Gupta resigned and joined the monastery seven months later. This time he got the company of Swami Vivekananda for twelve months. He took his monastic vows and was named as Swami Sadananda. While Swami Vivekananda had been travelling all over India and abroad, Swami Sadananda, except for brief travels, stayed in the monastery in Calcutta. There is at least one letter addressed to Sadananda, from Ghazipur, in which Swami Vivekananda had enquired about Sadananda's spiritual practices and advised him on leading a pious life. During his stay in America, Swami Vivekananda enquired about Sadananda in some of his letters written to his brother disciples. In another letter where Swami Vivekananda narrated his vision for an organization, he wanted Swami Sadananda to become the librarian of the monastery. Swami Vivekananda returned to India in January 1897. Sadananda had gone to welcome him in Madras and was part of a vast crowd that had gathered. But his master still spotted him in the crowd and invited him to sit beside himself in the carriage. In March 1897, Swami Vivekananda sent Swami Ramakrishnananda to set up a monastery in Madras and Swami Sadananda was sent to assist him. Shortly after reaching Madras Sadananda was bitten by a dog but recovered from it. In 1897 Swami Sadananda joined Swami Vivekananda in his tour to Northern India. Swami Sadananda wrote an article in the issue of Brahmavadin in January 1898 describing Swami's visit to Khetri. He also traveled together with Swami Vivekananda and Sister Nivedita to Almora in 1898.