Recorded at the Vedanta Society of Western Washington on April 28, 2013.
Swami Brahmatmananda reflects on the life and spiritual character of Swami Premeshananda, remembered in the Ramakrishna Order as “Premesh Maharaj,” and introduces him through the letters later published as Go Forward. Born Indra Dayal Bhattacharya (1884) into a devout family in Sylhet, he combined unusual warmth with clear-eyed practicality. The talk traces his early gifts for song and leadership, his youthful involvement in India’s nationalist movement, and the decisive turn that came through reading Mahendranath Gupta’s Sri Sri Ramakrishna Kathamrita (The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna). His longing for God deepened into intense practice, and he formed close bonds with M. and with senior monks at Dakshineswar and Belur Math, including Swami Brahmananda. Later, Holy Mother gave him a mantra he sought for inner peace, strengthening his conviction in the living presence of the Master.
From his Sylhet Ashrama he trained and encouraged many aspirants, sending numerous young men to Belur Math, and eventually accepted sannyasa in 1929. Drawing from his correspondence—especially with the future Swami Swahananda—the speaker shows how Premesh Maharaj emphasized steady routine, inner recollection, service, and freedom from narrow identity, guiding others with a fatherly concern that made his counsel both compassionate and bracing.
