Swami Nigamananda Paramahansa was an Indian yogi, guru and mystic well known in Eastern India. He is associated with the Shakta tradition and viewed as a perfect spiritual master of vedanta, tantra, yoga and prema or bhakti. His followers idealized him as their worshipped and beloved thakura.
Srimat Swami Nigamananda Saraswati Dev (18 August 1880 - 29 November 1935 ) had espoused the essence of the all-inclusive Sanatan Dharma in his ideological as well as methodological maxim " 'Shankarer Mata' and 'Gouranger Patha' ". It speaks of a harmonious blending of highest enlightenment (Jnana) and universal love (Bhakti).
Attaining Jnana (Atma jnana) through Bhakti (devotion/seva) is the integrated ideal that has been reinforced by Swami Nigamananda Dev for the seeker in this age. 'Jeeva - the individual soul, is Brahma - the Supreme Soul' or "Aham Brahmāsmi" - this Vedantic doctrine of the 8th century spiritual reformist Sri Sri Adi Shankaracharya is what a man on the path of spirituality needs to realize to know himself and to know God. And according to him, the royal road to attaining this ultimate spiritual goal is the path of devotion adopted by Sri Chaitanya Dev, the 16th century avatara of devotion.
In the view of Swami Nigamananda Dev, Seva-brata or adoption to a life of 'service to mankind' is the greatest Dharma of human beings. And, this Dharma is truly pursued by the integration of 'Jnana' and 'Bhakti''Seva' or in other words with the integration of "Shankarer Mata" and "Gouranger Patha". The perfect path to attain complete Knowledge or Purna Jnana is to attain Chitta-shuddhi (a cleansed Mind) through 'Seva' or service to mankind. He calls it the path of Sri Gauranga. So, he says a seeker's aim should be - "Ahamtva ra Prasara" or "spreading of one's Self" in the 'self' of the entire humanity. One has to learn to empathize and give priority to serve the cause of others. First, he/she is to practice this in the family and thereafter, spread this attitude gradually in the community, in the larger society and ultimately throughout mankind. This way one can experience one's presence in every being.
Short Life History of Swami Nigamananda Dev
Paramahansa Sri Sri Nigamananda Saraswati Deva was born to a virtuous bramhin couple at Qutabpur in Nadia district (now in Bangladesh) in the year 1879. His father Bhuban Mohan Bhattacharya and mother Yogendra Mohini had named him ‘Nalinikanta’. As he grew to boyhood, Nalinikanta drew admiration of the people for his extraordinary fearlessness, intelligence and forthrightness. Leadership was natural to him. Nalinikanta was especially dear to his mother.
As the fate would have it the mother of Nalinikanta breathed her last immaturely from a brief illness. At that time, Nalinikanta was pursuing his primary education in his maternal uncle’s village Radhakantapur. Her death deeply shocked Nalinikanta as he was very much devoted to his mother. He came to know that just before she breathed her last, his mother had handed over his charges to the ‘Jaganmata’ the ‘Cosmic Mother’. He took the words of her mother to be literally true. As he was desperately in need of a mother, he single-heartedly prayed to the ‘Jaganmata’ to appear before him.
