The doors of Krishnadhan Smriti Jyotish Chatuspathi at 64, Netaji Subhas Road will remain closed now. The regular queues before the tiny room on the road will be gone. People wanting Murari pundit to read their horoscopes or provide solutions to their problems will have to seek counsel elsewhere. For the old, diminutive man, in his namabali and dhoti, listening to people and scribbling notes, will no longer be at his chatuspathi.

Murari Mohan Vedantaditirtha Sastri, the president of Howrah Pandit Samaj, former principal of Sanskrit College and national scholar, died in a hospital at Calcutta in the wee hours of the New Year. Muraribabu was ailing for the past few months. A few days before Durga puja he had been admitted to a private nursing home in Calcutta with respiratory problems. However, he returned a few days later and also took part in the elaborate Durga puja held at his home. “He could not perform the puja completely as he usually did every year. This year, he only performed portions of the rituals. Yet he kept a fast through Ashtami and performed Sandhi puja at night,” said Ramchandra Bhattacharya, a student of Murari Mohan and also the vice-president of Howrah Pandit Samaj. “He had extraordinary abilities, which is why he could perform Durga puja even when he was so ill,” said Justice Shyamal Sen, the former chairman of the state Human Rights Commission, who visited Murari Mohan’s Gopal Banerjee Lane house in the morning of January 1. Arup Roy, the minister for agriculture marketing, also visited the family.

Down the memory lane

Former chief minister Prafulla Chandra Sen with Murari Mohan Sastri

Murari Mohan receiving the National Award for Teachers from former president R. Venkataraman

Murari Mohan being felicitated by the Shankar Foundation in 2010

The 94-year-old had a weak heart. After Durga puja he could not resume the usual routine of sitting at the chatuspathi for hours on end. Although he was in hospital for the last eight days, Murari Mohan did not forget to inquire about Kalpataru Utsav that is held every year at Kalibabur Bazar. He was president of the committee. “I even left the programme schedule with him at the hospital,” said Ramchandra.

Murari Mohan was an erudite Sanskrit scholar, who knew all the rituals followed in different pujas. He often explained the meaning of the rituals. He worked hard through his life to promote the use of Sanskrit. He had once said, “Sanskrit is the mother of all languages. Other languages will not survive and flourish if reading and research on this language stops.” As a recognition of his contribution to the spread of Sanskrit, Murari Mohan was presented the National Award in 1987. Not just Sanskrit, he also wanted to highlight the lives of the early Sanskrit scholars, like Kalidas and organised Kalidas Utsav every year from the samaj.

Murari Mohan’s chatuspathi was actually started by his father Krishnadhan Bandopadhyay in Joypur. When he shifted to Howrah town, Krishnadhan started teaching here. Murari Mohan completed his chatuspathi education from his father and joined Ripon College for further studies. His did his Masters in Sanskrit from Calcutta Sanskrit College and later specialised in philosophy and astrology and the Vedas from Gurukul Kangra Vidyalaya in Hrishikesh. After returning to Howrah, he studied Smriti at Bhatpara from Narayan Smrititirtha. Apart from teaching, Murari Mohan would also visit correctional homes for religious discussions.

Although Murari Mohan strived hard to keep Krishnadhan chatuspathi going, one wonders what will happen to it after his death. Murari Mohan’s wife died in 1993 and he is survived by two daughters and three sons. His eldest son, Tarun Bandopadhyay is vice-president of the chatuspathi. “The chatuspathi and Howrah Pandit Samaj were my father’s passion. Although he was not keeping well for the past few months, he never missed an opportunity to go there. We will try to continue the work that my father and grandfather had done at the chatuspathi,” said Tarun. There are 32 students who regularly study Sanskrit at the chatuspathi.