Swami Asaktananda, secretary of Ramakrishna Mission Ashrama, Narendrapur, who was popularly called Bishnu Maharaj, died here early on Sunday morning following a cardiac arrest. He was 78.

Swami Asaktananda, who was not keeping well for sometime, was admitted to a city hospital on October 11, sources said.

His body was brought to Narendrapur where thousands of devotees and

former students of the Ashrama paid their last respects to the Swami.

Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee also paid his tributes to the departed monk, who was one of the pillars of the Ramakrishna movement. Kolkata Police Commissioner Gautam Mohan Chakrabarti visited Narendrapur to pay respect to Swami.

Born Bishnupada Chakraborty in Sylhet district, now in Bangladesh, Swami did his early education in Behrampur in Murshidabad district. After finishing his education, he came to stay at the Ramakrishna Mission Students’ Home that was set up by Swami Lokeswarananda and had started operations under him.

It later shifted to Narendrapur where it developed into a huge, internationally-recognised educational complex. Bishnu Maharaj was the first headmaster of the school.

Under the influence of Swami Lokeswarananda, Bishnupada came in touch with the Ramakrishna Movement and decided to join the order as a monk. Graduating from Calcutta University, he joined the mission after receiving initiation from the then president of the order Swami Shankarananda. In 1962, he was ordained monk by the then president Swami Vishuddhananda.

Swami Asaktananda, a very popular monk, was involved in the educational sector of the Mission and also took deep interest in various rural development programmes undertaken by Narendrapur Ramakrishna Mission.