Friday, June 25, 2010

Raja Ram Mohan Roy

The impact of modern western culture and consciousness of defeat by a foreign power gave birth to a new awakening. There was an awareness that a vast country like India had been colonized by foreigners because of internal weaknesses of Indian social structure and culture. Thoughtful Indians began to look for the strength and weaknesses of their society and for ways and means of removing the weaknesses. A large number of Indians refused to come to terms with the West and still put their faith in traditional Indian ideas and institutions. Some others gradually came to that elements of modern Western thought had to be imbibed for the regeneration of their society, They were impressed by modern science and the doctrines of reason and humanism.

RAMMOHAN ROY

Rammohan Roy is rightly regarded as the father of Indian renaissance.Some scholars called him the father of modern India. Some others described him as the fisrst modern man in India. He was also remembered as the bridge between the East and the West.
Rammohan was moved by deep love for India and the Indians. He worked hard in his life for the social,religious, intellectual and political regeneration of the Indians. Rammohan Roy possessed great love and respect for the traditional philosophic systems of the East. At the same time he believed that modern culture alone would help to regenerate Indian society. He wanted his country men to accept the rational and scientific approach and the principle of human dignity and social equality of all men and women.

Rammohan Roy represented a synthesis of the thought of East and West. He was a scholar knew over a dozen languages including Sanskrit, Persian, Arabic, English, French, Latin, Greek and Hebrew. He was well-acquainted with Hinduism, Islam, Christianity, Jainism, Buddhism and other religious sects of India. He made an intensive study of Western thought and culture. In 1809 he wrote in Persian his famous work Gift to Monotheists [Tuhafat-ul- Muwahidin] in which he put forward arguments against belief in many gods and for the worship of a single God. He wrote Manazautul Adyan and translated Vedanta Sutras into English.

With the cooperation of a band of young men he started the Atmiya Sabha [ Friendly Society] in 1815. He carried on a persistent struggle against the religious and social evils which were prevalent among the Hindus in Bengal. He opposed the worship of idols, the rigidity of caste, and the prevalence of meaningless religious rituals. He preached monotheism or worship of one god. In 1820, he published the Precepts of Jesus in which he tried to separate the moral and philosophic message of the New Testament. This earned for him the hostility of the missionaries. He wanted the message of Christ to be incorporated in Hinduism. The orthodox Hindus condemned him for criticizing idolatry and for his philosophic admiration of Christianity and Islam. They organized a social boycott. He was branded as a heretic and an outcaste.

In 1828 he founded a religious society, the Brahma Sabha, later known as the Brahmo Samaj. Its purpose was to purify Hinduism and to preach monotheism or belief in one God. The new society was to be based on the twin pillars of reason and the Vedas and the Upanishads. It was also to incorporate the teachings of other religions. The Brahmo Samaj laid emphasis on human dignity, opposed idolatry and criticized the social evils. It was the culmination of the Atmiya Sabha. It advocated the brotherhood of man. It also stood for respect for all religions . Followers of all religions were invited to come and worship in the same temple in the spirit of brotherhood. In reaction to the work of Rammohan the orthodox Hindus formed the Dharma Sabha. After the death of Rammohun , the Brahmo Samaj was left without any organisatiopn. But it was revived by the efforts of Devendranath Tagore in 1843.

The best example of his life-long crusade against social evils was the agitation he organized against the inhuman custom of women becoming sati. He showed by citing the authority of the oldest sacred books that the Hinduism at its best was opposed to the sati system. He appealed to the reason and compassion of the people. He visited the burning ghats at Calcutta to persuade the relatives of widows to give up their plan of self-immolation. He organized groups to keep a strict check on such performances. It was his consistent support which enabled Lord William Bentinck to ban sati in 1829. When the orthodox Hindus petitioned to Parliament to withhold its approval of Bentinck’s action of banning the rite of sati, he organized a counter-petition in favour of Bentinck.

He was an advocate of women’s rights. In the pamphlet,’Modern Encroachments on the Ancient Rights of Females’ he opposed all discriminations and evil practices against women. He condemned the subjugation of women and attacked polygamy.
Rammohun was a pioneer of Indian journalism. He brought out journals in Bengali, Persian, Hindi, and English to spread scientific, literary and political knowledge among the people. He founded and edited a Bengali journal called Samvad Kaumudi[Moon of Intelligence]. Another weekly Mirat-ul-Akbar or the Mirror of Intelligence was published by him in Persian.In association with Dwarakanath Tagore he published the Bangadatta. He compiled a Bengali grammar. Through his writings he helped to evolve a modern prose style for Bengali language.

Rammohun was a propagator of modern education which he looked upon as a major instrument for the spread of modern ideas. In1817, David Hare, founded the famous Hindu College. Rammhun Roy gave assistance to Hare in his educational projects. He maintained at his own cost an English school in Calcutta. Ram Mohan founded the Anglo-Hindu school in 1822 . In 1825 he established a Vedanta College.

Rammohun was also the initiator of public agitation on public questions in the country. He condemned the oppressive practices of the Bengal zamindars. He demanded the abolition of the Company’s trading rights and the removal of heavy import duties on Indian goods. He also raised the demands for the Indianisation of the superior services, separation of the executive and the judiciary, trial by jury, and judicial equality between Indians and Europeans.
Rammohun was a firm believer in internationalism and in free cooperation between nations. All his life he fought against social injustice and inequality. He had many distinguished associates, and followers. In the field of education he was greatly helped by the Dutch watchmaker David Hare and the Scottish missionary Alexander Duff.

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