xcvi Proc. of the Asiatic Society of Bengal. [March, 1910. 



was the eldest son of Pundit Radha Kanta 



was a man 



instance 



Mymensing, who also 

 known in his district, 

 intellectuality in the 



father having full development in the son. 



Chandra Kanta was born at Sherpur in the month of Agra- 

 hayan of 1241 B.S. (corresponding to 1835 A.D.). The beloved 

 and revered father was the first teacher, and in the tol of his father 

 Chandra Kanta had received the seeds of learning which bore 

 such excellent fruits in later years. He completed his study of 



Kavy 



ur 



Dina Nath Panchanan of Porapara, a celebrated Smarta of his 

 time. Next his sojourn was to the renowned seat of learning 

 Navadwipa, where he studied Smriti under Pundit Brajanath 

 Vidyaratna, Laksmi Kanta Siromani and Hari Das Bhatta- 

 charyya, and Darsan with Madhava Chandra Tarkasiddhanta, 

 Srinandan Tarkabagi$ and Kasi Nath Sastri. It was at Nava- 

 dwip that the title of ' ' Tarkalankar ' ' was bestowed on him. 



On his return from Navadwip he opened a tol at Sherpur, 

 and, as the story of his scholarship already spread far and wide, 

 students began to flock to his house, whose number often exceed- 

 ed fifty. He had not only to satisfy the intellectual craving of 

 such a large number of students in a variety of subjects, but had 

 also to maintain them at his house, according to the custom of 

 the country, at his own expense, from year's end to year's end. 

 It was while busily engaged with the teaching work at Sher- 

 pur that his first work Probodha f ataka saw the light, and was 

 soon followed by Satiparinayam (Mahakavya) and Tatvavali 

 (commentary on Philosophy). It was about this time that our 

 Society, appreciating his deep and varied scholarship, found in 

 him a most capable editor for the Bibliotheca Indica, with which 



connection till his death. (It was only in January 



Ease 



him 



It was 



while at Sherpur he edited for the Society Grihya Su 

 Gobhila and supplied copious commentaries to that excellent 



classical 



These notes and commen 



taries soon made him well known to the European Savants. 

 It was while at Sherpur that his students in Nyaya, Sankhya, 

 Vedanta, Smriti and Kavya topped the list of successful can- 

 didates for Government Title Examination and carried off the 

 honour and emoluments year after year ; and it was also while 

 at Sherpur that most of his works that were published after- 

 wards were composed and perfected. 



In 1882 some of the prominent members of this Society, 

 who were attracted by the deep erudition of Tarkalankar work- 



hi 



Mahesh 



