Brajendra Nath Seal (1864-1938)

3 September 1864 - 3 December 1938

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Biographical Highlights

b. 3 Sept 1864
student of W. Hastie at the General Assembly Institution [later: Scottish Churches College], Calcutta
a fellow student of Narendra (later called Swami Vivekananda)
BA 1883, 1st class honours
1884 - Professor of English Literature, City College; ["The North City college was founded as a school in the year 1879 A.D. and was raised to a college in the year 1881 by a band of patriotic and self-less workers of Sadharan brahmo Samaj headed by the late Ananda Mohan Bose , Saivnath Sastri, Umesh Chandra Dutta & others. The City college is one of the eight degree colleges ,and the first among them , which are known as City group of colleges and are administered by the Sadharan Brahmo Samaj , Calcutta; 102/1 Raja Ram Mohan Sarani,Calcutta-9] .
Morris College, Nagpur; Krishnanath College, Behrampur, WB
Seal was a friend of R. Tagore, and influenced S.K. Maitra
1885-1913 Principal
1897-1912 - Principal, Coochbehar College
1903 - New Essays in Criticism
1915 - The Positive Sciences of the Ancient Hindus (became his PhD thesis)
1913-1921 King George V Chair of Philosophy, University of Calcutta
Honorary doctorate (Doctor of Sc.) from the University of Calcutta, on 17.Dec. 1921
on 22 December 1921, Visva-Bharati was formally inaugurated in the presence of its Chancellor Sir Brajendranath Seal, India's leading scholar and its first Western visiting scholar.
The Mythic Society, Daly Memorial Hall, Bangalore [Nrupathunga Road, Bangalore 560001, India. (Ph: 091 80 2215034)] (Vice President 1922 - 31)
when in 1917 Seal wanted to look into the examination system of Calcutta University, Mahalanobis was consulted.
unsuccessful candidate for VC, University of Dacca
1921-1930 Vice-Chancellor, University of Mysore
d. 3 Dec 1938 at the age of 74

Bibliography:

Comparative studies in Vaishnavism and Christianity. with an examination of the Mahabharata Legend about Narada's pilgrimage to Svetadvipa and an introduction on the historico-comparative method. Calcutta, Hare Press, 1899
New Essays in Criticism Calcutta: Som Bros., 1903
Indian shipping: a history of the sea-borne trade and maritime activity of the Indians from the earliest times, by Radha Kumud Mookerji; Brajendranath Seal / Bombay: Longmans, Green / 1912, 283 p. / London ; New York : Longmans, Green 出版年1912 大きさxxvii, 283 p., [19] leaves of plates : ill. ; 26 cm Includes bibliographical references and indexes 著者標目*Mookerji, Radhakumud, 1884-1964
The positive sciences of the ancient Hindus, London, New York [etc.] Longmans, Green and co., 1915; Delhi : Motilal Banarsidass, 1985. 313 pp.
appendices for: The positive background of Hindu sociology / by Benoy Kumár Sarkár ; with appendices by Brajendranáth Seal. Allahabad : Pânini Office, 1914-<21 >; New York, AMS Press, 1974
Rammohun Roy : the universal man. Calcutta : Sadharan Brahmo Samaj, [1924?] 42 pp.
The quest eternal. London ; New York : H. Milford, Oxford University Press, 1936. 92 pp.

Letters from

1914-20: letters to EJ Thompson
      Oxford University: Bodleian Library, Special Collections and Western Manuscripts
      Reference : MS Eng c 5314
      NRA 38793 Thompson

1 record noted.

Correspondence

Bibliography - Secondary Materials

Bandyopadhyay, Sunil, 1939- Main Title: Brajendran¯atha ´S¯ila ebam any¯anya / Sun¯ila Bandyop¯adhy¯aya. Published/Created: Kalak¯at¯a : Rddhi-Indiy¯a, 1984. Description: 11, 262 p., [2] leaves of plates : ports. ; 22 cm. Summary: On the life and works of the Assamese Indologist Anundoram Borooah, Bengali educationist Brajendranath Seal, 1864-1938, and translator Roby Datta, 1883-1917; includes letters and bibliographies of their works. Notes: In Bengali.
Includes index.
Bibliography: p. [231]-246.

Chattopadhyay, Amal, 1942- Main Title: Ananta eshan¯a, Brajendran¯atha ´S¯ila, j¯ibana o cint¯a / Amala Cattop¯adhy¯aya. Portion of Title: Brajendran¯atha ´S¯ila, j¯ibana o cint¯a Published/Created: Kalak¯at¯a : D¯ipa Prak¯a´sana, 1999. Description: 207 p. ; 22 cm. Summary: On the life, thoughts, and works of Brajendranth Seal, 1864-1938, Bengali intellectual and philosopher. Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. 206-207).
In Bengali.

P¢ala, Pramathan¢atha,
Mah¢aman¢ish¢i Brajendran¢atha : bi´svabikhy¢ata bidy¢ab¢aridhi Brajendran¢atha ´S¢ila mah¢a´sa¤yera j¢ibanera kichu kath¢a / Pramathan¢atha P¢ala
Kalik¢at¢a : Rañjanakum¢ara P¢ala : Pr¢aptisth¢ana, Prabh¢ata K¢aryy¢ala¤ya, 1984.
DESCRIPTION: 16, 116 p., [4] p. of plates : ports. ; 22 cm.
In Bengali; appendices in English.
Includes index.
Summary: On the life of Brajendranath Seal, 1864-1938, Bengali educationist.

Photographs

He brought to our house Dr. Brajendranath Seal, then on a visit to London, a philosopher with a brilliant mind and a childlike character. They both wrote to Tagore, urging him to come to London; he would meet, they said, at our house and elsewhere, men after his heart." in Rabindranath Tagore : Sadhaka of Universal Man, Baul of Infinite Songs by Monish R. Chatterjee

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In his inaugural address read at the Sri Ramkrishna Centenary Parliament of Religion and published in the Modern Review in April 1937, Dr Brajendranath Seal said:

"Rammohun Roy, the precursor and in a very real sense the father of Modern India, sought the Universal Religion, the common basis of the Hindu, Moslem, Christian and other faiths. He found that each of the national religions was based on this common faith with a certain distinctive historical and cultural embodiment.

"It is fundamental to note that Rammohun Roy played two roles in his own person:

   1. As an universalist he formulated the creed of what was called Neo-theophilanthropy (a new love of God and man) on positive and constructive lines. He construed the Gayatri on this basis. And, strange to say, this Hindu became one of the forefathers of the Unitarian creed and worship in the West, the other three being Prince, Priestly and Canning.
   2. As a Nationalist Reformer, Rammuhun Roy had a three-fold mission:

    * As a Hindu Reformer, he gave a Unitarian redaction of the Hindu Shastras from the Vedanta and the Mahanirvana Tantra
    * As a Moslem defender of he faith, he wrote the Tuhfat-Ul-Muwahhiddin and the Monozeautul Adiyan, which were polemical works, and
    * As a Christian, he gave a Unitarian version of the entire body of scriptures, old and new, in his controversies with the Christian Missionaries.

Rammohun Roy was thus in himself, a Universalist and three nationalists all in one."