INTRODUCTION
- Brahmo Samaj is considered one of the most influential and powerful organisations that propelled a significant socio-religious movement in India during the British period.
- It operated with certain aims and objectives and propagated its own views and doctrines on various social and religious issues.
- The Brahmo Samaj was founded and led by Raja Ram Mohan Roy in Kolkata, West Bengal. it was launched into its eventful career on August 20th, 1828.
- It gave a concrete expression to the concept of universal worship, but the contents were thoroughly Hindu in character.
- Debendranath framed a covenant for the adoption of the Church and to introduce a regular form of Church service. Having framed this covenant 20 of his young associates joined him on December 21, 1843. This place was called ‘Shantiniketan’.
- Under his leadership, it established its branches in different parts of the country.
RAJA RAM MOHAN ROY
- Ram Mohan Roy was counted amongst the most eminent educationalists and social reformers of nineteenth century in Bengal.
- He found ample spiritual basis for his humanitarianism in the Upanishads.
- He was adhered to theism and believed in worshiping only one formless God. He was also against all the evil rituals that were practiced in Hinduism.
- He started a campaign for the abolition of Sati and child marriage, denounced casteism, condemned polygamy and advocated the right of Hindu widows to remarry.
By Nikita Raisinghani
1312133.
Main Principles of Brahmo Samaj :
- The Samaj laid emphasis on the worship of one God, who is omnipresent.
- It laid stress on the chanting of Vedic hymns and the Upanishads.
- In founding the Brahmo Samaj Ram Mohan's aim was to purify Hinduism and to worship one God.
- There was no place in Brahmo Samaj for idol worship, animal sacrifice and ritualism.
The overall contribution of Brahmo Samaj:
- It denounced polytheism and idol worship.
- It discarded faith in divine avataras (incarnations).
- It denied that any scripture could enjoy the status of ultimate authority transcending human reason and conscience.
BRAHMO SAMAJ- A SOCIO- RELIGIOUS MOVEMENT
- It organised a movement to put an end to the inhuman practice of 'Sati’.
- It propagated the widow remarriage and encouraged inter caste marriage.
- It favoured the introduction of the western education to enlighten people.
- It strongly opposed the caste system as it created disunity in society.
- The Brahmo Samaj prescribed for the non-sectarian worship of one true God.
- Brahmo Samaj was not a separate religion.
- Rammohan Roy espoused the cause of Hinduism by re-interpreting the Vedas and Vedanta.
DEBENDRANATH TAGORE
- After Raja Ram Mohan Roy, Debendranath Tagore was given the responsibility of leading the Brahma Samaj, who also led Tattwabodhini Sabha (engaged in search of spiritual truth).
- With the informal association of two Sabhas, its membership came to exceed 500 which gave a new strength and purpose to Brahma Samaj.
- The objective according to Raja Ram Mohan Roy was explained in his Trust Deed that is, "the worship and adoration of the the Eternal, Unsearchable, Immutable Being who is the Author and Preserver of the Universe".
- He never intended to start a new religion, he only aim was to purge Hinduism of the evil practices that had crept into it.
- After Ram Mohan Roy departed for England in November, 1830 and died in 1833, the leadership of Brahmo Samaj was taken by Debendranath Tagore.
Tagore worked on two fronts:
- Within Hinduism, the Brahmo Samaj was a reformist movement.
- Outside, it resolutely opposed the Christian missionaries for their criticism of Hinduism and their attempts at conversion.
- Debendranath started publishing the Tattwabodhini Patrika. This Patrika became the principal organ of the Samaj for propagating its views. It came in 5 different languages.
- The Patrika wrote articles supporting female education, widow re-marriage, crying against intemperance, denouncing polygamy, rationalise Brahmo doctrines.
KESHAB CHANDRA SEN
- Keshab Chandra Sen joined the Brahma Samaj in 1858 and became Acharya, he was the first non Brahmin to achieve this power in the Samaj.
- Under his leadership, branches were open in the U.P, the Punjab, Bombay, Madras and other towns.
- The reading of every religious scriptures including Christians, Muslims and Parsis started to take place.
- But soon serious differences regarding creed, rituals and the attitude of the Brahmos to the social problems of the day, had arisen between Debendranath and Keshab.
This led the samaj to split into two groups :
- Adi Brahmo Samaj- whose leader was Debendranath Tagore.
- Brahmo Samaj in India- Keshab Chandra Sen started it in 1866 with his followers.
- One of the resolutions of this group was the compilation of all sacred texts from different scriptures.
- Inspite of the dynamic progress of the Brahmo movement under Keshub, the Samaj had to go through a second schism on May, 1878 when a band of Keshub Chandra Sen's followers left him to start the Sadharan Brahmo Samaj mainly because their demand for the introduction of a democratic constitution in the church was not conceded.
- It was never conceived as an "anti-caste" movement, but stood for repudiation of all "distinctions between people".
- They were worshippers of the ancient formless indivisible One God Brahma.
- This was the first organised casteless movement in British India and reverberated from its heart of Bengal to East Assam, West Bombay State (modern Sindh, Maharastra and Gujarat), North Punjab and South Madras, Hyderabad, Bangalore.