Great Psychologists of India Series-article 1 Brajendranath Seal

Precap: ?As a Counseling Psychologist, it always pains me that the psychology literature hasn’t given to Indian psychologists their deserved place on the podium of greatness. This article-series is an attempt to introduce you to the lesser-known legends of Indian psychology fraternity; briefly, one at a time.

On Brajendranath Seal’s 72nd birthday, a Bengali poet wrote a special poem in his admiration. And yes! A philosopher friend of Brajendranath regarded him as an unparalleled voice of wisdom in the questions of truth. Oh, by the way, that Bengali poet’s name was Rabindranath Tagore, and that friend’s name was Narendranath (also known as Swami Vivekananda).????? ????

Well, before you blame me for dropping names to glorify Brajendranath Seal, let me make it clear that it was done more out of desperation on my part (“what else do you expect from a man writing yet another LinkedIn article in the impossibly overcrowded ocean of content in 21st century; I got to try hard to bring attention even to a legend!”), as in the 19th century Calcutta, Seal required no introduction.

Seal took the initiative to start the study of psychology as an independent discipline in India. In 1911, as a Professor of mental and moral philosophy (don’t forget that it was an era when the psychology was yet to dissociate itself from the domain of philosophy), he consulted various courses offered in America and Europe to develop a curriculum in experimental psychology for the University of Calcutta. Though it took a decade to start the first batch, his yeoman’s job was what eventually led to it.

Born on 3rd September 1864, Seal lost his both parents before he turned 7. His maternal grandfather took him under his wings and also spotted his precocious appetite for learning. By the time he reached college, he had developed such a reputation for his mathematical acumen that often the teachers would consult him in case of difficult problems. As luck would have it, post BA, he got his first job as a teacher.

An important juncture came during his MA, when one of his teachers wanted him to study Mathematics, and another teacher had spotted his ingenuity for philosophy and was insisting that he should study philosophy. He eventually chose philosophy (Kudos to the teachers! They really are kingmakers). In fact, there is an important anecdote from his MA Days which captures his character-sketch quite aptly…

While attempting the exam-paper for each of his subjects, Seal spent his whole time in answering only one question. He used multiple answer-copies for only that one answer. He did that in spite of knowing the answer to every question and also knowing that writing only one answer wouldn’t help his cause of passing exam. However, when the results came out, he stood First with First class. It happened because the examiners were so impressed with the deep knowledge and profound scholarship reflecting from that one answer that they referred the matter to the Senate and the members of the Senate agreed to place Seal First in First class as a very special case.

With such insightfulness shown even during his student days, Seal – the educator – travelled nationally and internationally for his teaching, research and administrative assignments. In his career, he held the post of Principal at three colleges, and became Vice-chancellor at the University of Mysore. He was also awarded Knighthood in 1926. In 1930s, after a stroke, he took retirement and came back to Calcutta, and passed away on 3rd December 1938.

Well, much before interdisciplinary approach became the standard scholarly practice in the domain of humanities, Brajendranath Seal was responsible for blending philosophy, science, literature, sociology, economics, aesthetics and art into the study of psychology. His two major works – a book titled “Positive Sciences of the Ancient Hindus” and a collection of his poetry “Quest Eternal” (Saswata Sandhan) – are seen as classics in the domain.

Edward Thompson was right when he said - “Throughout his life, Brajendranath Seal was without fear and absolutely incapable of any sort of intellectual dishonesty. He was truly an ‘Aryan’ – the noble one”.

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Dr. Sandeep Atre

Counseling Psychologist (www.dratrecounsels.com ) and Specialist in ‘Social & Emotional Intelligence’ Training (www.socialigence.net )

Content Credit: Majority of factual information used in this article is credited to the works of Mr. Amitranjan Basu and Mr. Braj Bhushan (Title – Eminent Indian Psychologists – Sage Publication).