RAJA RAM MOHAN ROY
Raja Rammohan Roy has come to be called the ‘Maker of Modern India’.
Without giving up what was good and noble in the past, he laid the
foundations for a great future. He put an end to the horrible custom of
burning the living wife with the
dead
husband. He was a great scholar and an independent thinker. He advocated
the study of English, Science, Western Medicine and Technology. He
spent his money on a college to promote these studies.
Brahmo Samaj
In 1828, a man named Raja Ram Mohan Roy (1772-1833) founded an
organization called 'Brahmo Samaj'. Indian historians consider this
organization forerunner which paved the way for reformation in India and
its establisher as the 'father of modern India'. Raja Ram was a Brahman
from Bengal. He was a British civil servant in India. He saw in British
rule of India the best things that were benefical to India. He adored
the west European philosophy of democracy, liberalism and humanism. He
had a great interest in non- Indian cultures and religions. He was
especially impressed by Christianity and other religions which preached
the existence of one Almighty God.
Raja Ram tried to create a
new Hindu religion philosophy and enfolded in it the existence of one
God and other beliefs, which were then not the predominant features in
Hinduism. He attacked some Hindu traditions and features among them
caste system, child marriages, Sati - burning of the live wife over her
dead husband's pyre, idolatry and other beliefs. He tried to change the
popular Hindu traditions and claimed that the popular Hindu traditions
were different from the real Hindu beliefs.
Raja Ram and his
organization 'Brahmo Samaj' tried to change the social order of India.
He established newspapers and schools all around India. He convinced the
British in 1829 to outlaw Sati. But during that period there wasn't yet
an Indian ethos among the Indians. Indians were never one nation but
always a collection of different entities. They were used to different
rulers including non- Indians. From their point of view the British were
just another ruler over them.But the main contribution of the Brahmo
Samaj to the society of India was that it evoked issues that were common
to people all around the Indian sub-continent. The notions of this
organization were the inspiration for other organizations and various
secular political parties, like the Indian National Congress, which were
later on created in India
DEBENDRANATH TAGORE
Debendranath Tagore, Debendranath also spelled Devendranath, Bengali
Debendranāth Ṭhākur (born May 15, 1817, Calcutta, India—died Jan. 19,
1905, Calcutta), Hindu philosopher and religious reformer, active in
the Brahmo Samaj (“Society of Brahmā,” also translated as “Society of
God”), which purged the Hindu religion and way of life of many abuses.
Born into a wealthy landowning family, Tagore began his formal
education at the age of nine; he was instructed in India’s classical
language, Sanskrit, in Persian, in English, and in Western philosophy.
He became a close friend of his younger fellow reformer Keshab Chunder
Sen. Tagore spoke out vehemently against suttee (self-immolation of a
widow on her husband’s funeral pyre), a practice that was especially
prevalent in Bengal. Together, Tagore and Sen attempted to raise the
Indian literacy rate and to bring education within the reach of all.
Unlike Sen, however, Tagore remained a more conservative Hindu, while
Sen drifted toward Christianity. This philosophical break between the
two men eventually resulted in a schism within the Brahmo Samaj in 1866.
Tagore, in his zeal to erase Hindu idolatry as well as divisive and
undemocratic practices, finally rejected the whole of the Vedas, the
ancient Hindu scriptures, claiming that no set of writings, however
venerable, could furnish complete and satisfying guidelines to human
activity. Failing to find a middle path between radical rationalism and
fanatical Brahman conservatism, Tagore retired from public life,
although he continued to instruct a small band of followers. In 1863 he
founded Śantiniketan (“Abode of Peace”), a retreat in rural Bengal later
made famous by his poet son Rabindranath Tagore, whose educational
centre there became an international university. Until his death Tagore
bore the title Maharishi (“Great Sage”).
Tagore’s voluminous
writings were in his native Bengali. One of his books was translated
into English, Vedantic Doctrines Vindicated (1845). His Brahmo-Dharma
(1854; “The Religion of God”), a commentary in Bengali on the Sanskrit
scriptures, is considered to be a masterpiece.
KESHAB CHANDRA SEN
Keshab Chunder Sen, also spelled Keshub Chandra Sen (born Nov. 19,
1838, Calcutta—died Jan. 8, 1884, Calcutta), Hindu philosopher and
social reformer who attempted to incorporate Christian theology within
the framework of Hindu thought.
Although not of the Brahman caste, Sen’s family was prominent in
Calcutta, and he received the required education. At age 19 he joined
the Brahmo Samaj (Society of Brahmā, also translated as Society of God)
founded in 1828 by the Hindu religious and social reformer Rammohan Ray.
The Brahmo Samaj was intended to revitalize Hindu religion through use
of ancient Hindu sources and the authority of the Vedas. Sen was
convinced, however, that only Christian doctrine could bring new life to
Hindu society.
By the use of dynamic and practical Christian
missionary methods, Sen effected social reforms that were badly needed
in India; he organized relief campaigns for the poor, promoted literacy
among his countrymen by founding schools for children and adults, and
issued a number of inexpensive publications to bring reading matter
within the reach of all. He condemned child marriage and was
instrumental in having the marriage rites of his society recognized by
law in 1872. He also advocated widow-remarriage and even intercaste
marriage.
While his contemporaries Debendranath Tagore and
Ramakrishna remained thoroughly Hindu in outlook, Sen very nearly
converted completely to Christianity. The deterrent proved to be his
belief that Christ, however admirable, was not unique. Nevertheless, he
did want his people to emulate Christ, believing that only a vital
Christianity would be the salvation of a stratified and ossified Hindu
society. He was more interested in the practical application of religion
to social conditions than in depth of thought. An open break with
Debendranath Tagore followed, and Sen formed a new society in 1866
called the Bharatvarshiya Brahmo Samaj (“Society of Brahmā of India”).
The original society was renamed the Adi Samaj (“Old Society”) and was
quickly purged of Christian teaching.
In 1870 Sen lectured
widely in England and was presented to Queen Victoria. Again he was
impressed with Christianity as a force in English life. Back in India,
however, he allowed his 14-year-old daughter to marry the son of the
maharaja of Cooch Behār, thus publicly repudiating his avowed opposition
to child marriage. As a result, some of his followers broke away, and
he organized a new society, Naba Bidhān, or Nava Vidhāna (“New
Dispensation”), continuing to preach a mixture of Hindu philosophy and
Christian theology. He revived many ancient Vedic practices and sent out
12 disciples to preach under a flag bearing a crescent, a cross, and a
trident. Sen retained public esteem until his death.
