BRAMHO SAMAJ

The Bramho Samaj (The Society of God)

The Bramho Samaj was the earliest reform movement of the modern type which was greatly influenced by modern western ideas. Raja Ram Mohan Roy was the founder of the Bramho Samaj. He was a very well-read man. He studied Oriental languages like Arabic, Persian and Sanskrit and attained proficiency in European languages like English, French, Latin, Greek and Hebrew. His extensive studies freed his mind from the bigotry that characterized the average Bengali.

Although Ram Mohan Roy was a man of versatile genius, the governing passion of his life was religious reforms. At a time when the Bengali youth, under the influence of Western learning, were drifting towards Christianity, Ram Mohan Roy proved to be the Champion of Hinduism. While he defended Hinduism against the hostile criticism of the missionaries, he sought to purge Hinduism of the abuses that had crept into it.

At the early age of fifteen he had criticized idolatry and supported his viewpoint by quotations from the Vedas. He reinterpreted Hindu doctrines and found ample spiritual basis for his humanitarianism in the Upanishads. He started a campaign for the abolition of Sati, condemned polygamy and concubines, denounced casteism, advocated the right of Hindu widows to remarry. He rejected Christianity, denied the divinity of Jesus Christ, but accepted the humanism of Europe. Thus, Raja Ram Mohan Roy sought to affect a cultural synthesis between the East and the West. Even today he is recognized as the forerunner of Modern India and a great path finder of his century, for he embodied the new spirit of enquiry, thirst for knowledge, brad humanitarianism, all to be achieved in the Indian setting. In the words of Dr. Macnicol – ‘Ram Mohan Roy was the herald of the new age’ and the fire that kindled in India burnt ever since.

Raja Ram Mohan Roy accepted the concept of one God as propounded by the Upanishads. For him God was shapeless, invisible, omnipotent and omnipresent but the guiding spirit of the world and omniscient.

In August 1828, Roy founded the Bramho Sabha. The Trust Deed executed in 1880, explained the object of the Bramho Samaj as ‘the worship and adoration of the Eternal, Unreachable, Immutable Being who is the Author and Preserver of the Universe’. The Samaj declared its opposition to idol worship, and ‘no graven image, statue or sculpture, carving, painting, picture, portrait or the likeness of anything was to be allowed in the Samaj building. There was no place for priesthood in the Samaj nor sacrifices of any kind were allowed. The worship was performed through prayers and meditation and readings from the Upanishads. Great emphasis was laid on ‘promotion of charity, morality, piety, benevolence, virtue and strengthening of the bods of union between man of all religious persuasions and creeds’. It should be clearly understood that Rammohan Roy never intended to establish a new religion. He only wanted to purge Hinduism of the evil practices that had crept into it. Roy remained a devout Hindu till the end of his life and always wore the sacred thread.

From the beginning the appeal of the Bramho Samaj had remained limited to the intellectuals, educationally enlightened Bengalis living in the towns.

In the field of religious reform, the main significance of Bramho Samaj lay not in what is retained of traditional Hinduism, but what it discarded of the old beliefs of Hinduism. Its overall contribution may be summed up as:

-          It discarded faith in divine Avtars

-          It denied that any scripture could enjoy the status of ultimate authority transcending human reason and conscience

-          It denounced polytheism and idol worship

-          It criticized the caste system

-          It took no definite stand on the doctrine of karma and transmigration of soul and left it to individual Bramho to believe either way

In matters of social reform Bramho Samaj has influenced Hindu society. It attacked many dogmas and superstitions. It condemned the prevailing Hindu prejudice against going abroad. It worked for a respectable status for women in society, condemned Sati, worked for abolition of purdah system, discouraged child marriages and polygamy, crusaded for widow-remarriage, provision of educational facilities, etc. it also attacked casteism and untouchability.

In the field of social reform, the focus was on four objects:

-          Disapproval of caste system

-          Raising the age of marriage for both males and females

-          Widow remarriage

-          Woman’s education

The prominent leaders of the Samaj were Justice Mahadev Govind Ranade, R. G. Bhandarkar and N. G. Chandaverkar. A number of Bramho Samaj Centers were opened in the state of Madras.