Monastic Name: Swami Trigunatitananda

Pre-Monastic Name: Sarada Prasanna

January 1865
Born on 30th January 1865, his parents believed that he was born to them through the grace of the Divine Mother Durga.

1884
Met Sri Ramakrishna for the first time at Dakshineswar. He was studying in M.'s school, and was depressed for the loss of his gold watch. Therefore M. brought him to meet the Master on 27 December 1884

January 1886
Heard that his parents had arranged his marriage, and ran away from home, took the Masters blessings as Cossipore (the Master didn't know he had run away), and left for Puri on foot.

1886
Started living at Baranagore Monastery after the passing away of the Master against his parents wishes. His family tried numerous Homas and sacrifices to try and deter him from the spiritual path, but to no avail.

December 1886
Took the vows of renunciation guided by Swamiji, alongwith seven other brother disciples at Antpur on Christmas eve.

January 1887
Took final monastic vows with other brother disciples by performing the traditional viraja homa in front of the Master's picture.

May 1887
Tired of his parents and relatives attempts to pull him back to a worldly life, he tried running away to Vrindavan on foot, but came back. Swami Vivekananda asked him to live in the holy company of his brother disciples.

1891 onwards
Went on various pilgrimages to Varanasi, Dwaraka, Mathura, and the Himalayas. He undertook practices and challenges that no one else would have dared, and also destroyed misconceptions of villagers where he went with his analytical mind.

1894 - 95
Was Holy Mothers attendant at Nilambar Babu's garden house at Belur. Was extremely thoughtful and resourceful in every action.

1899-1902
After the passing away of Swami Yogananda, he took charge of Holy Mother's physical needs, in addition to editing the Udbodhan - the monthly magazine of the Order. His zeal to serve was almost an obsession.

1903
Took over the work at America (San Francisco), after Swami Turiyananda came back, having worked there for 3 years already. Gave lectures on the Gita and the Upanishads. The crowds were so huge that they had to soon shift to a larger location.

25 August 1905
Laid the cornerstone for a Temple at San Francisco. This was the first Hindu Temple in the Western world, and the first services were held here on Sunday 15 January 1906. Trigunatitananda had planned the temple himself, combining ideas from a Hindu temple, Christian church, Muslim mosque and an American residence.

1905 - 1915
Trained monastics, teaching by way of forceful maxims like "Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty', 'Do it now', and through personal example - living a life of an uncompromising ascetic. Went to Shanti Ashrama for one month a year. He enforced a strict disciplinarian lifestyle, and those who had the privilege of attending the classes could hardly forget their unique experiences. They were surcharged with the spirituality of Trigunatitananda.

27 December 1914
Trigunatita was lecturing from the podium of the temple in San Francisco when a young man in the front row - (Louis) a former student of Trigunatita, threw a bomb, and was killed. The Swami was injured. (Louis has been in an unbalanced condition and the Swami had advised him to go to the country where the surroundings would be soothing.) Even though he was in an injured condition, the Swami's mind was filled with pity for his mentally student, and he kept asking whether he was alright.

10 January 1915
As predicted by him on the 9th of January (previous day), he left his body. In 1916, his relics were installed on the top of the highest hill, Siddha Giri, the "Hill of Realization" at Shanti Ashrama.

His immortal message that lives on after him is "Work hard. Discipline yourself. Build your character. Endure to the end. Realize your Self. And be free."

Compiled from various sources

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