Dadoba Pandurang was associated with Bal Shastri Jambhekar when they studied together and lived at Bapu Chhatre’s house. He outlived Bal Shastri by 36 years. He acted as a link between the reformers of the early forties and was also associated with the reformers of the eighties. He was very much influenced by Ram Mohan Roy and other leaders of the Bramho Samaj. The movement that he started had however an origin and growth of its own.
Dadoba Pandurang was an
educator. His grammar book acquired great popularity in Mahar. He was principal
of Gujarati school at Surat, then a part of Bombay Presidency. There he was
joined by Dayaram Mancuram, one of the teachers of that school in promoting
social reforms.
They founded the Association
of Religion of Manking (Manava-Dharma sabha) in 1844. In his book ‘Dharma
Vivechana’ published in 1843 he had expressed his ideas about God and religion.
The Association which was founded in 1844 practically borrowed its contents and
formulated them as the tenets of the Association of the Religion of Mankind.
The Association represented a universalism in religion and social life. This
new religion was given a broad base of rationalism. This association could
hardly survive after the departure of Dadoba from Surat in 1846.
Jamshedkar had already
attempted to remove some absurd features and superstitious beliefs under the
name of religion. Dadoba went one step ahead and wanted a rethinking on this
very sensitive and vital subject of common interest.
Dadoba’s rationalism makes a
special contribution to the thought of the western educated gentry in Bombay
and the cities in Maharashtra. His campaigns against sorcerers and enchanters
suggested that he considered it a duty of the educated people to clear the
cobwebs of superstitions from the minds of the mass of people. The foundation
of the ‘Paramhansa Sabha’ showed the way for others to follow. It was nor
religion that was the chief concern of the Sabha but the rational attitude that
was provoked in the public mind against unscientific ideas, was its chief
objective.
There were quite a number of
educated people entertaining ideas to reform Hinduism and save the society by
eradication fo all sorts of defilement. Among those who held identical views on
religions and social matters were Dadoba's younger brother Dr. Atmaram Pandurang
Tarbhadkar, Ram Balkrishna Jaykar, Moroba Vinoba, Tukaram Tatya, Balubhau
Shintre, Sakharam Shastri, Laxmanshastri Halve, Bhikoba Laxman and Sakharam
Laxman Chavan were prominent. They regarded these two features of Hinduism as
highly objectionable.
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