Quotes:Mitra, Rajendralal

Zirkoff, Boris

Mitra, Râjâ Râjendralâla. Hindu scholar and antiquarian, b. at Calcutta, Feb. 15, 1824; d. there, July 26, 1891. Educated in his native town in English schools and the Calcutta Medical Coll. Interested for a while in study of Law, but soon devoted his entire attention to mastering Sanskrit, Greek, Latin, German and French. At 22 appointed assistant secretary and librarian of the Asiatic Soc. of Bengal; 1856, app. Director of the Wards’ Institute; retired 537 on pension, 1880; Pres. of the As. Soc. of Bengal, 1885; played prominent part, 1886, in the second National Indian Congress. Originally from a respected family of the Kayasth or writer caste of Bengal, he rose to the title of Ràjâ in 1888, and was the most learned Hindu of his time. His articles in the Journal of the Asiatic Soc., numbering upward of 100, have been issued as Indo-Aryans (London, 1881, 2 vols.). In addition to many translations of Sanskrit text for the Bibliotheca Indica Series (such as *The Lolita Vistara, new ser., vol. 90, 1848), he wrote The Antiquities of Orissa (2 vols., 1875 and 1880), a similar work on Bodh Gaya (1878), and a work on The Sanskrit Buddhist Literature of Nepal (1882). He wrote for the Hindu Patriot, exerting considerable influence upon the affairs of India.

Source: Boris de Zirkoff, «H. P. Blavatsky Collected Writings», vol. 2, pp. 536-537

Mitra, Rajendralala. Indian Orientalist, b. Calcutta, Feb. 15, 1824. Appointed librarian of Asiatic Society, 1846. A remarkable scholar recognized all over the world. Devoted most of life to the work of the Asiatic Society. First Indian President of it, 1885. Died, Calcutta, July 26, 1891. Chief works: *The Antiquities of Orissa. Calcutta: Wyman and Co., 1875-80. 2 vols. —*Buddha Gaya, the hermitage of Sakya Muni. Calcutta: Bengal Seer. Press, 1878. 4to. — Edited a number of Sanskrit texts in Bibliotheca Indica.

Source: Boris de Zirkoff, «H. P. Blavatsky Collected Writings», vol. 5, p. 378