Bauddha Rishi Mahapragya

March 21, 1901 (age 77)

He was named Prem Bahadur Shrestha. As a youth, he was inclined towards composing and singing hymns. He had an early marriage which broke up. He was given the name Mahapragya. He returned to Kathmandu with one of the novices, and they lived on Nagarjuna hill with a lama named Tsering Norbu. Three of Mahapragya"s friends joined them and also became monks. The people of Kathmandu were inspired by the sight of the men in ochre robes as they made their alms round. In 1926, the five monks and Tsering Norbu were expelled to India. In Lhasa, Mahapragya met Kul Manitoba Singh Tuladhar whom he convinced to become a Tibetan monk. But Mahapragya, still under an expulsion order, could not enter the country. However, in March 1930 during the Maha Shivaratri festival, he slipped into Kathmandu disguised as a woman and blending with the throngs of Indian pilgrims. He returned to Kushinagar shortly for fear of detection. He then traveled to Burma where he lived in the jungle and varied monasteries before moving to Kalimpong, India in 1934. Mahapragya lived in Kalimpong as he waited to be allowed to return to Nepal. In 1945, he stopped being a monk to marry a widow with whom he had two children. The hymn "The Light of Wisdom has Died" is among the most popular of his compositions.

Bauddha Rishi Mahapragya

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Background

Mahapragya was born at Lhugah (ल्हूघ:) in Kathmandu to father Kul Narayan and mother Hira Maya Shrestha.

Career

He was named Prem Bahadur Shrestha. As a youth, he was inclined towards composing and singing hymns. He had an early marriage which broke up.

He was given the name Mahapragya.

He returned to Kathmandu with one of the novices, and they lived on Nagarjuna hill with a lama named Tsering Norbu. Three of Mahapragya"s friends joined them and also became monks.

The people of Kathmandu were inspired by the sight of the men in ochre robes as they made their alms round. In 1926, the five monks and Tsering Norbu were expelled to India.

In Lhasa, Mahapragya met Kul Manitoba Singh Tuladhar whom he convinced to become a Tibetan monk.

But Mahapragya, still under an expulsion order, could not enter the country. However, in March 1930 during the Maha Shivaratri festival, he slipped into Kathmandu disguised as a woman and blending with the throngs of Indian pilgrims. He returned to Kushinagar shortly for fear of detection.

He then traveled to Burma where he lived in the jungle and varied monasteries before moving to Kalimpong, India in 1934.

Mahapragya lived in Kalimpong as he waited to be allowed to return to Nepal. In 1945, he stopped being a monk to marry a widow with whom he had two children.

The hymn "The Light of Wisdom has Died" is among the most popular of his compositions.

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