Durga Charan Nag () better known as Nag Mahasaya (Maha Asayah in Sanskrit or "of great possession"), was born in 1846 in the village of Deobhog (Narayanganj district) in East Bengal, now Bangladesh. He was one of the householder disciples of Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa. Sri Ramakrishna called him "a blazing fire" when he first saw him. According to the other disciples of Sri Ramakrishna, most notable among them being Swami Vivekananda, he was a shining example of renunciation and love for God. He shunned material wealth and regarded every human being as God on earth. He lived on a meager income, but spent most of it on serving the poor, his guests, and monks and ascetics.
Sarat Chandra Chakravarty, a direct disciple of Swami Vivekananda and the author of the book "Diary of a Disciple" (Swami-Sishya Sangbad in Bengali) wrote the biography on Nag Mahasaya. There is not much literature available on Nag Mahasaya, and most of the information on him can be obtained in works related to Sri Ramakrishna, his teacher and master, and Swami Vivekananda, the foremost disciple of Ramakrishna.
Swami Vivekananda mentioned to Sarat Chandra in a conversation about Nag Mahasaya - "All the characteristics of the highest type of devotion, spoken of in the scriptures, have manifested themselves in Nag Mahashaya. It is only in him that we actually see fulfilled the widely quoted text, "Trinadapi Sunichena". ("Lowlier than the lowly stalk of grass.") Blessed indeed is your East Bengal to have been hallowed by the touch of Nag Mahashaya's feet!" In his hometown in Bangladesh, a foundation runs a charitable institution bearing his name.
Nag died in 1899 in his home of Deobhog.
Biography
Early life
Nag Mahasaya was born in Deobhog village in East Bengal (present Bangladesh) in 1846 to Dindayal Nag and his wife Tripurasundari Devi. Nag mahasaya lost his mother early in his life. Dindayal Nag did not remarry, so the task of bringing up Nag Mahasaya and his younger sister fell upon Bhagavati, the elder sister of Dindayal.
Little is known about Nag Mahasaya's childhood, except that he was sweet tongued, well-behaved and modest. He was serene in appearance. His aunt told him stories of Puranas, Ramayana and Mahabharata which had a deep and lasting influence on his subsequent life. He was always truthful and was pious.
Nag Mahasaya had a deep love for education, but there was no school in his village. He studied for sometimes in a vernacular school in Narayanganj district, but had to leave after third standard, the highest class in that school. His father wanted to send him to Calcutta to study, but could not bear the expense. Nag Mahasaya set off to search for a school in Dacca. He travelled on foot a distance of 10 miles from Narayanganj to reach Dacca and after much effort enrolled himself to the Normal school where he studied for the next 15 months. Later he came to Calcutta to study medical science.
Marriage and Life as a Medical Practitioner
Nag Mahasaya married eleven-year-old Prasanna Kumari in accordance with the customs prevailing at that time in Bengal. 5 months after his marriage, he came to Calcutta to study in Campbell school of medicine, but he could not study for long. After this, he studied Homeopathy under Dr. Behari Lal Bhaduri. At this point, his first wife died of dysentery, and he hardly could have any interaction with her. He treated and distributed medicine to the poor free of cost, having success even while treating very difficult cases.
Nag Mahasaya's life took a new turn when he met Suresh Datta, who belonged to Brahmo sect. Even though they had quite different beliefs, they were friendly with each other. Suresh took him to the Nababidhan Brahmo Samaj founded by Keshab Chandra Sen, the then famous religious leader and orator of Bengal. About this time he delved deeper into the spiritual practices.