Rai Bahadur Gyanandra Nath Chakravarti
জ্ঞানেন্দ্র নাথ চক্রবর্তী
Portrait of G. N. Chakravarti
Appointed by	Harcourt Butler, Governor of United Provinces
Personal details
Born	(1861-01-01)January 1, 1861 Benares, North-Western Provinces, Company Raj (now Varanasi, India)
Died	October 7, 1936(1936-10-07) (aged 75) Lucknow, United Provinces of Agra and Oudh, British India (now in Uttar Pradesh, India)
Nationality	British Indian
Spouse	Monica Devi Chakravarti ('Yashoda Mai')
Children	4 biological, 40 adopted
Education	LL.B., M.A.
Alma mater	University of Calcutta
Occupation	Academic Administrator

Gyanendra Nath Chakravarti (January 1, 1861 – October 7, 1936), also known as G.N. Chakravarti, was an Indian theosophist and scholar. In 1893, he lectured at the World's Parliament of Religions in Chicago.^[1]

Chakravarti received his early education at a missionary school in Banaras. He studied at the University of Calcutta and Muir Central College, Allahabad (now Prayagraj). He earned a Master of Arts and a Bachelor of Laws degree.^[2]

Chakravarti began his career as a lecturer in physical science at a college in Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh. In 1893, he was appointed Professor of Mathematics at the University of Allahabad. During his time at the university, he formed a friendship with Motilal Nehru, a key figure in India's independence movement and the father of Jawaharlal Nehru, the first prime minister of India. Later, he served as the Chief Inspector of Schools in the United Provinces.^[2]

He was appointed the first Vice-Chancellor of the University of Lucknow^[3][4] on December 16, 1920, after previously serving as pro-vice-chancellor at Banaras Hindu University.^{[citation needed]}

Chakravarti was introduced to the Theosophical Society^[5] by his uncle and became an active member of the organization. There, he met the society's founders, Helena Petrovna Blavatsky and Colonel Henry Steel Olcott. In 1893, he served as the President of the Students' Theosophical Association at Allahabad.^{[citation needed]}

Although he was not a member of the Esoteric Section of the Society, some contemporaries, including Bertram Keightley, considered Chakravarti an occultist associated with Helena Petrovna Blavatsky Masters.^[6]

In 1893, the Theosophical Society sent a delegation to the World's Parliament of Religions in Chicago, which included Chakravarti, Annie Besant, and others.^[7] The Theosophical Society wanted a Brahmin attendee, thus convincing Chakravarti to participate, despite his concerns that violating caste taboos would negatively affect his caste status ("losing his caste").^[8] After traveling to England, he sailed for the U.S. in August 1893 with Besant to meet with American Theosophists and organize multiple lectures.^{[citation needed]}

Chakravarti was awarded the title and medal of "Rai Bahadur" by the British colonial administration. The Dr. Chakravarti Gold Medal is awarded annually at the University of Lucknow for achievements in academia.^[9]

The Union Index of Theosophical Periodicals lists two articles by or about Chakravarti.^{[citation needed]}

• The Influence of Theosophy on the Life and Teachings of Modern India. 1906. Adyar Pamphlet Series No. 35. Reviewed in The Theosophic Messenger 7.8 (May 1906), 124.^{[citation needed]}
• Spirituality and Psychism. 1914. Adyar Pamphlet Series, No. 48^[10]

Chakravarti was married to Monica Devi Chakravarti (1882–1944). The couple had four biological children and forty adopted children.^[11] In 1928, Monika Devi sought her husband's permission to take sannyasa (renunciant vows) and continue her spiritual endeavors in the Himalayas. He granted her request and personally initiated her into a renunciant order, where she assumed the name Sri Yashoda Ma.^[12] Ronald Nixon, a British Air Force pilot-turned-English professor at Lucknow University, lived in the Chakravarti household as an adopted member of their family.^[13] Soon after Monika Devi took initiation as Yashoda Ma, she initiated Ronald Nixon as her disciple and gave him the name Shri Krishna Prem. In 1930, they founded the Mirtola ashram eighteen miles from Almora, naming it "Uttar Brindaban" (Northern Vrindavan). ^[14]