Bishnu Charan Ghosh (1903 - 1970)

Born 24 Jun 1903 in Lahore, Punjab, India

Ancestors

Died 9 Jul 1970 at age 67 in Calcutta, India

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Biography

Bishnu Ghosh is Notable.

Bishnu Charan Ghosh ("Bistu") was born in Lahore on 24 June 1903 but was only 10 months old when his mother Gyana passed away.

At age 14, he became one of the first students to attend the Ranchi School for Boys, which was founded by his famous brother, Paramahansa Yogananda^[1]. Bishnu left the school at about the same time that Paramahansaji departed for the USA in 1920.

He was a diligent student and entertained a career in Law, which he practiced for a while, but his heart was in physical culture having overcome frailty and sickness early in his life with the help of Mejda and Sananda. While at Law School he combined with a friend Sen Gupta to write a book titled "Muscle Control and Barbell Exercise". He studied physical culture under Professor Shri Rajendra Narayan Guhathakurta at the University of Calcutta^[2], who was the pioneer among the Bengali to make climb an elephant on his own chest!

This eventually led to the opening of his own Ghosh College of Yoga and Physical Culture in Calcutta in 1923, where he taught his unique program, founded on the 84 Hatha Yoga postures codified by his brother, to thousands of practitioners.

He began to develop a strong following around the world in the early 1900s, though particularly in India.

Bishnu married Ashalata Roy, daughter of Sri Rasik Roy and had 2 sons and 2 daughters, with his son Bishwanath following in his father's footsteps, particularly in Japan. Advice received from a descendant of Bishnu, and whose Uncle was Bishwanath, and is now the most active living proponent of this unique yoga, directly taking patients / students from across the globe, is that it was not Bishwanath but his sister Karuna and husband Jibananda who took it to Japan.

Bishnu C Ghosh, a Lawyer aged 36, married and Buddha, an Instructor, aged 26, single, travelled on the ship 'Europa' from Southampton, England, arriving in New York, New York on 20 October 1938. Their last permanent address was Calcutta, India, although Bishnu was born in Lahore, India and Buddha in Colombo, Ceylon^[3]. They had departed from Southampton for New York on 15 October 1938, with their listing as Bishnu C Ghosh and Buddha Bobe, with their last residence in the U.K. as 6 Haymarket Street, SW1. The purpose of the visit was to teach Bishnu's Yoga method at Columbia University.

According to his disciple Bikram Choudhury, Bishnu willingly withdrew his spirit from his body, leaving this earth aged 67, by performing mahasamahdi^[4], making his transition on 9 July 1970.

Bishnu had devoted his life to Hatha Yoga, which emphasises physical exercises along with mind exercises, demonstrating the power of the mind over the body. It is an ancient form of discipline that develops the union between body, mind and spirit. After his passing, his son Bishwanath, who had been an exceptional student at the Ghosh College, took it over. Today, Biswanath Ghosh’s daughter, Muktamala Mitra (www.ghoshyoga.com), carries on the legacy of her father and grandfather, spreading the benefits of Hatha Yoga worldwide (see the Biography), and teaching yoga, as Vice-Principal, at Ghosh's Yoga College, that Bishnu had found in 1923^[5].

Sources

1. ↑ https://hotyoga101.ca/index.php/history-of-yoga/bishnu-ghosh-biography/
2. ↑ http://web.archive.org/web/20171110224754/http://lmuits.wpengine.com/historyofmodernyoga/bishnu-charan-ghosh/
3. ↑ https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:242N-2BT : 12 March 2018
4. ↑ http://keepitlocking.blogspot.com.au/2009/07/bishnu-ghosh.html
5. ↑ https://www.ghoshsyoga.com/

• Bishnu Ghosh Biography of 8 July 2018 at https://hotyoga101.ca/index.php/history-of-yoga/bishnu-ghosh-biography/
• Life and Death: "Autobiography of a Yogi" by Paramahansa Yogananda, 1946 Paramahansa Yogananda, 12th Ed. 12th paperbound printing, 1993. "Mejda" The Family and the Early Life of Parmahansa Yogananda by Sananda Lal Ghosh. 1980 Self-Realization Fellowship. This printing, 2010.
• Keshub Ch. Sen Gupta B.A. and Bishnu Charan Ghosh B.Sc., 1930, “Muscle Control and Barbell Exercise”.
• Departure: Ancestry.com. UK, Outward Passenger Lists, 1890-1960 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2012. Shipping Line: Norddeutscher Lloyd, Official Number: 2635, Master: O Schary.
• Arrival: "New York, New York Passenger and Crew Lists, 1909, 1925-1957," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:242N-2BT : 12 March 2018), Bishnu C Ghosh, 1938; citing Immigration, New York, New York, United States, NARA microfilm publication T715 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).