Sivanath Sastri - Early Life

Early Life

Son of Harananda Bhattacharya, a native of Majilpur, in 24 Parganas, he was born in the house of his maternal uncle at Chingripota village, 24 Parganas, on 31 January 1847. The family were Vedic Brahmins, possibly migrated from the South. According to family hearsay, they had come from Jajpur in Orissa and settled in Majilpur. Most of the members of the family were learned and poor, and many of them engaged in priestcraft.

He started attending the local pathsala and when an English school was established at Majilpur with the support of the local zemindar, he joined it. During his childhood, one of the villagers, Brajanath Dutta and his son, Shib Krishna Dutta, used to subscribe to the Tattwabodhini Patrika and discuss religious and social matters with learned people. They had later influenced other villagers, such as Umesh Chandra Dutta, to convert to the Brahmo Samaj.

At the age of nine, he went to Kolkata and joined Sanskrit Collegiate School. He used to stay near to the house of his maternal grand father. His maternal uncle, Dwarakanath Vidyabhusan, was a learned person teaching in the Sanskrit College. They were close to Iswar Chandra Vidyasagar, who used to visit their house regularly. As a child, he went and attended the first widow remarriage at Sukea Street on 7 December 1856. In 1858, Dwarakanath Vidyabhusan started the newspaper Somprakash. The press and other arrangements were set up in the house itself. Thus, Sivanath Sastri grew up in a varied environment of education, initiative and reform.