SWAMI SUBODHANANDA
The early name of Swami Subodhananda was Subodh Chandra Ghosh. He was born in Calcutta on 8 November 1867 and belonged to the family of Shankar Ghosh, who owned the famous Kali temple at Kalitala (Thanthania), Calcutta. His father was a very pious man and fond of religious books; his mother also was of a very religious disposition. The influence of his parents contributed not a little to the growth of his religious life. His mother would tell him stories from the Ramayana, the Mahabharata, and other scriptures, and implanted in him, while still very young, love for truth and devotion to God. From his very boyhood he showed a remarkable spirit of renunciation and had a vague feeling that he was not meant for a householder’s life. When pressed to marry, he emphatically said that he would take to the life of a wandering monk, and so marriage would only be an obstacle in his path. As it was settled that on his passing the class eight examination, he was to be married, Subodh fervently prayed to God that the result of his examination might be bad. God heard the prayer of the little boy, and Subodh, to his great relief, failed in the examination and did not get promotion. Subodh was
