Raja Rammohan Roy was the first Indian person in the 19th century, who first launched a reform movement against the evils prevailing in the society for the renaissance of Indians. Therefore, he is called the father of modern India, the father of Indian nationalism, the new morning star, the harbinger of renaissance, the "promoter of reform movements" and the "bridge between the past and the future".
Introduction -
Raja Rammohan Roy was born in 1774 in a Brahmin family in a village called Radhanagar in Hoogly district of Bengal. His father's name was Ramakant Rai. His father was a zamindar. His father, his grandfather and his paternal grandfather, the first holder of the title of 'Rai Rayan', had all served under the Nawabs of Bengal. He was given the title of 'Rai' by the Nawab of Bengal. In 1830, the Mughal Emperor Akbar II sent Rammohan Roy, with the title of 'Raja', to the court of Emperor William IV of England as his representative to plead with the emperor about the insufficient pension given to the Mughal emperor.
Raja Rammohan Roy was the first Indian who broke the myth that traveling by sea was a sin. He lived in England for three years and died on September 27, 1833 at a place called Bristol in England.
Education -
Correct information is not available about the early life of Rammohan Roy. It is quite possible that he was educated first at home and then at the local school, where he learned Sanskrit, Persian and Bengali. He went to Patna and Banaras to learn Persian, Arabic and Sanskrit. When he was about 16 years old, he left home in search of knowledge and wandered in North India and the Himalayas. It is possible that he also studied Buddhist and Lama doctrines during these travels. He got the knowledge of Tantra from his Sanskrit teacher of Radhanagar and Islam religion Sufi sect from his Arabic and Persian teachers. He had a good comparative knowledge of these religions. But it seems that the study of Islam had a profound effect on his mind. He took much help in his debates from the logic of the Arabs which he considered superior to all other logics. He used to be influenced by the philosophy of Muta-Jila. He repeat Rumi's poetry with great enthusiasm.
Beginning of social life
On the death of his father in 1803 he entered the Company's service, and two years later he became Diwan of Digby, a position he held till 1814. Digby became his friend and he taught English to Ram Mohan Roy. During the 10 years he spent with Digby, he made a serious study of Western thought and literature, and developed a writing style that Bentham admired, saying that "with this style, the name of a Hindu would not be associated, we would consider it to have come from the pen of a very highly educated Englishman." In fact, his style was superior to that of James Mill. On Digby's return to England in 1814, he came to settle in Calcutta. Here, He started his illustrious life of public service and social reform. He had formed his thoughts regarding the great problems of religion, society and ethics and he immediately went to the field and waged a war against darkness and stupidity.
Comparative study of religions
In Calcutta he came in contact with the missionaries of Shrirampur. He agreed with the criticisms of Hinduism by the clergy in so far as it went against prevailing beliefs and customs. Now he turned to the study of Christianity. He read Greek, Latin and Hebrew and studied the works of Christian theologians. He became an admirer of the teachings of Jesus Christ, but he rejected the dogma and supernaturalism of the Bible.
Not satisfied with a mere defense of Hinduism, he attacked the Christian belief in miracles, the triune nature of God, and the sacred or divine conception. He forced his clerical opponents to give an explanation for such irrational statements. His point was that Hinduism was not inferior to Christianity, as is known from his letter to the editor of 'Bengal Harkaru'-
“If we are indebted to Christians for the ray of reason, as Christians say, by which they mean that we are indebted to them for useful mechanical arts, then I agree and I am grateful. So far as science, literature or religion is concerned, I do not believe that we are in any way indebted to them because it can be proved from history that the world was indebted to our Ancestor for the first knowledge that arose earlier. Thanks to the goddess of knowledge, we still have such a philosophical and powerful language, which gives us distinction from other races and which is capable of scientific and abstract and subtle thinking, without borrowing from the language of foreigners. "
Major works
In 1809 he wrote a book called Tohfat-ul-Muwahideen ( A Gift to Monotheists). He wrote this first work of his in Persian language, in which he opposed idol worship and said that the one God was the root of all religions.
In 1820, influenced by the ideas of Christianity, wrote a book called "The Precepts of Jesus", which was published in London in 1823 with the efforts of John Digby. In this book he tried to separate the moral and philosophical message of the New Testament from its miracle stories and praised only the moral elements of the New Testament.
Institutions
In 1814, he established 'Atmiya Sabha' in Calcutta and condemned idol worship and caste system.
In 1817, with the help of David Hare, he established the "Hindu College" in Calcutta.
In 1817 itself, an English school was also opened in Calcutta, in which philosophy of famous philosopher Dante, Rousseau, Voltaire was taught.
In 1821, he established the "Uritarian (Ekeshwar) Mission" in Calcutta, whose purpose was to gather at one place and contemplate on subjects.
In 1821, a Bengali magazine named "Samvad Kaumudi" and in 1822 published 'Miratul-Akhbar' in Persian language and also published 'Brahmanical Magazine' in English language.
In 1825, he established the Vedanta College, where information about Indian studies and western science was given. To enrich the Bengali language, he created Bangla grammar. He had very good knowledge in different languages and he edited many newspapers and magazines in Bengali, English, Hindi, Persian.
Brahmo Samaj
On August 20, 1828, Raja Ram Mohan Roy founded the "Brahmo Samaj", in the trust deed written in 1830, stated that the purpose of this society is the worship of the eternal, universal, unchanging God who is the creator and protector of the whole universe. A new building was also given to the Board of Trustees, in which idol worship and sacrifice were not allowed. The meaning of his teachings was also to strengthen the bond of mutual unity among all religions. Raja Sahib himself was a Hindu. But due to his premature death in England in 1833, there was no guidance of the society and gradually it became loose.The objectives of which were as follows-
1. Opposition to polytheism, idolatry and denial of incarnationism.
2. Opposition to polygamy, child marriage and sati system and support for widow marriage.
3. Propagation of Western education and Bangla language
4. Opposition to casteism, untouchability and equality of all religions and worship of Nirgun Brahma.
5. Rajaram Mohan Roy opposed the practice of Sati and said that "according to any scripture it is murder."
Brahmo Samaj emphasized on equality of all religions and adopted the principle of monotheism.
The aim of Raja Ram Mohan Roy was not to establish any new religion. But his aim was to reform the Hindu society.
Brahmo Samaj after Raja Ram Mohan Roy: Devendra Nath Tagore
After Raja Ram Mohan Roy went to England, the Brahmo Samaj was run by Dwarkanath Tagore and 'Rai's disciple Pt. Ramchandra Vidyavagish for ten years. Thereafter, Devendra Nath Tagore, the elder son of Dwarka Nath Tagore, took over the leadership of the Brahmo Samaj in 1843. Even before assuming the leadership, he had established "Tatvbodhini Sabha" in 1839. Whose main objective was to discover the real essence of religion and develop it and spread the knowledge of Upanishads. At that time people like Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar, Akshay Dutt, Rajendra Lal Mishra etc. were the members of this meeting. Tatvabodhini School was established in 1840 and a magazine with the same name was also published.
On December 21, 1843, Tagore formally joined the Brahmo Samaj and continued the reforms of Ram Mohan Roy. In 1856, he left the organization and went to the hills of Shimla for solitude and the leadership of Brahmo Samaj was now in the hands of Keshav Chand Sen.
Maharishi Devendra Nath Tagore (1818-1905) was credited with infusing new life into this institution and taking it forward as a theistic movement. He joined this movement in 1842 and he stopped the followers of Brahma Dharma from idol worship, pilgrimage, rituals and atonement etc. In his view, how can wooden and stone idols be considered as God. It is okay to worship God in whatever form you want, that is, if someone wants to worship in Gayatri Mantra or in some other simple way. He appointed Keshav Chandra Sen as the Acharya of Brahmo Samaj Dharma. Under his influence the best beliefs and moral practices of Hinduism were maintained.
Keshav Chandra Sen and the Brahmo Samaj
Keshav Chandra Sen joined the Brahmo Samaj in 1857 and soon under his leadership, the Brahmo Samaj became full of progressive ideology and its supporters. Keshav Chandra Sen's eloquence, rationality and liberal ideas made Brahmo Samaj very popular and its branches now opened in Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Bengal, Bombay, Madras and Punjab. But soon there was a difference of opinion between Devendra Nath Tagore and 'Sen', the reason was that Sen started teaching all religions, inter-caste marriage and reciting books of all religions in his gatherings. So Tagore removed Keshav Chandra Sen from the post of Acharya in 1865, so Keshav Sen's followers formed their own Brahmo Samaj of India in 1866, while Debendranath's followers tried to retain their identity under the name of Adi (original) Brahmo-Samaj . He emphasized on social reforms and women's liberation, alcohol prohibition.
In 1872, the 'Brahma Marriage Act' was passed due to Sen's efforts. In which marriage rites related to Brahma system were recognized. In 1878, Keshav Chandra Sen married his 13-year-old minor daughter to the Raja of 'Cooch' Bihar (Assam), which was strongly opposed by his colleagues and many people under the leadership of Shivnath Shastri and Anand Mohan Bose separated from Sen's Brahmo Samaj, established 'Ordinary Brahmo Samaj' in 1878 and after that Keshav Chandra Sen disappeared into the darkness of history.
Ordinary Brahmo Samaj did many welfare works and to educate and aware the masses, they published magazines named 'Tatva Kaumudi', Sanjivani, and bharat sandesh - Keshav Chandra Sen founded India's first English daily 'Indian Mirror' was published in 1861.
Keshav Chandra Sen was the first missionary who traveled for religious propaganda. Brahmo Samaj was the first modern missionary movement in India. From the point of view of social reform, Brahmo Samaj abolished many social superstitions and evils and promoted women's education, equality, untouchability in the society. It was instrumental in eradicating evils like Purdah system, polygamy system, child marriage, widow remarriage etc.
Reform efforts of Ram Mohan Roy
His heart had set on a synthesis of the best elements of the East and the West which he wanted to set in contemporary Indian conditions. He is rightly remembered as the doer of India's modernization because of his social and religious reforms, spread of Western education system, support of civil rights, support of freedom of newspapers, support of constitutional movements in India, a liberal and modern ideology was initiated.
1. Religious Reformation
In the matter of religion, his views were utilitarian. People used to call him Religious Benthamite. The fundamental problem before them was how the objective scientific and rationalist thought of the 18th century Western thought could be reconciled with the insightful, personal, direct experience-obtained and higher-conceived knowledge of the East.
With the positivism of the West came Hume's skepticism and scientific objectivism, which cut off the claim of solid credible power. According to this, knowledge was limited to sense perception and individual.
On the contrary, medieval Indian philosophy forced the mind to take refuge in an objective idealism by nullifying it. This mysticism was based on pure negation, leading to separation and negation of the individual. From this solution of the problem, there were certain important ends which were important for social organization and education.
In his Persian treatise 'Tuhfat-uh-Muwahideen', which was published in 1803-04, he wrote - "It is necessary in every case to take recourse to reason with the help of the principles of knowledge in differentiating between good and evil, Because the boon of knowledge given to us by the Most Merciful God cannot be considered in vain.
Referring to the duality of tradition and reason in the introduction to the translation of the Kena Upanishad, he said, "Perhaps the best way is not to resort solely to one, but to make a proper use of the light that comes from both." Let us try to upgrade our intellectual and moral powers.
2. Social Reforms
He was the morning star in the field of social reform. Their main aim was to achieve better treatment towards women. The efforts he made to end the inhuman practice of Sati are world famous. He was far ahead of his contemporaries. While he sought the right of remarriage for women, he also sought to change the rights of succession in their favour. He wanted to stop child marriage and polygamy marriages. More than this, he was in favor of their education because without it, there could be no thought of getting a good position in their society.
He also made a direct attack on casteism. According to him, Indian society had become rigid due to caste system and this hindered the unity and closeness of the people. Due to these innumerable divisions, the feeling of patriotism does not arise at all. Raja Sahib suggested that Shaiva matrimonial system should be adopted to remove the shackles of caste.
3. Educational Reforms
In the field of education, he was in favor of English education. According to him, only a liberal western education can lift us out of the darkness of ignorance and make Indians participate in the administration of the country. Inspired by this sentiment, he wrote a letter to Lord Amherst in December 1823, “If it is the desire of the English Parliament that India should remain in darkness, nothing can be better than Sanskrit education. Therefore, the government should spread a liberal education which should include mathematics, general philosophy, chemistry, anatomy and other useful sciences etc. and recruit some scholars from abroad with a certain amount of money and open colleges here."
4. Political Reforms
In the political sphere, he was of the view that the British Empire was a reality and that it would act as a regenerating force in the development of India. In fact, he was the forerunner of the liberal thinkers of the nineteenth century. According to him, India will need the English state for many years so that during the days when it is striving for its political independence, the country does not suffer excessive loss, that is, according to them, India can get civil and political freedoms only under the British and in the civilized world can get his place.
He did not demand responsible government but stressed the need for many reforms in administration such as a better judiciary, separation of the executive from the judiciary, recruitment of Indians into the services and freedom of newspapers, etc.
5. Thoughts on Internationalism
Rammohan Roy's politics was not narrow. In his eyes the human race was one family and the happiness or unhappiness of one race was the happiness or unhappiness of the rest of the world. For example, when the Austrians ended the independence of the city of Naples, he was so upset that he did not go to a party a friend had given him. When he heard of the establishment of constitutional rule in Spain, he gave a public banquet in the town hall. He was so excited by the news of the French Revolution of 1830 that, despite suffering from severe pain, he insisted that I go and see the French frigates (vessels) decorated with the tricolor, which were then in the bay. When the debate on the Parliamentary Reform Bill was going on in full swing in England and his fate was hanging in the balance, he took a vow that if the Bill fell, he would break his ties with Britain. In a letter to the French Foreign Minister, he wrote – The whole human race is one great family, the different castes and clans of which are only branches.
Critics have said that the success of his social and religious work was limited. Professor Hiren Mookerjee has said that the comparison between the Indian Renaissance of the 19th century and the European Renaissance of the 16th century is fundamentally wrong because that Renaissance changed the face of the world. Ram Mohan did try to bring coordination between East and West, but this coordination has to be accepted at a low level, that as it happens in the case of great men of every era, they are much bigger than their successes. Looking at the limitations of contemporary circumstances, we can say that Raja Ram Mohan Roy was indeed a man of great vision and was far above and beyond his contemporaries.
कोई टिप्पणी नहीं:
एक टिप्पणी भेजें