Brahmo samaj was not in its essence a christian dilution of hinduism, as often been said, but a synthesis of the. The fundamental principles of the brahmo samaj are that. Brahmos use truth, knowledge, reason, free will and virtuous intuition observation as guides. The first brahmo schism of 1866 engendered the 2 modern branches of brahmoism viz.
This quote by mahatma gandhi proves how many hindus found their way in life by creating and forming their own movements of hinduism. The brahmo samaj by its efforts created a pride among the indians by reforming the evilridden hinduism and by stressing humanism as an ideal, necessary for the welfare of mankind. In todays service we have included a lot of music from. Sadharan brahmo samaj schisms in the brahmo samaj led to the formation of sadharan brahmo samaj, which is a division of brahmoism. Sometimes called the father of modern india, roy was born to. The appellation brahmo samaj or community of brahman was introduced in 1843 by maharshi devendra. The brahmo samaj, therefore, represents a body of men who are struggling, to establish the worship of the supreme being in spirit as opposed to the prevailing idolatry.
The ideals of brahmo samaj have their origin in the synthesis of the vedic religion and the christian humanism. Brahmo samaj, ramakrishna mission, prarthana samaj, manav dharma sabha, arya samaj, theosophical society, allgarh school, farralzzi, wahabl movement, pagal panthi competitive exams. The arya samaj was founded in 1875 by swami dayananda saraswati 182483. The new body displayed, considerable vitality and dynamism in making inroads into fresh fields of philanthropy and. Brahmo samaj embraces the coexistence of brahmo principles with governance, but oppose all governance in conflict with brahmo principles. Tagores brahmo samaj then quickly purged itself of sens christian teaching, and. Project muse the brahmo samaj and the shaping of the. Two major features of roys brahmo samaj, namely, the opposition t o idolworship, and the practice of collective prayer were borrowed from christianity. The brahmo samaj was founded at lahore in 1861 by pandit navin chandra roy to propagate the brahmo religion.
Brahma samaj definition, a modern hindu movement advocating a monotheistic religion based on the upanishads, and social and educational reforms according to western principles. Full text of a history of the brahmo samaj microform see other formats. Keshab chandra sen joined the brahmo samaj by 1857 and became an active worker by 1859. Keshab was the leader of the brahmo samaj, one of the two great movements that, during the latter part of the nineteenth century, played an important part in shaping the course of the renascence of india. During his visit there was a plan to become a branch of brahmo samaj.
In 1872 another great brahmo, pratap chandra, stayed for six months at the invitation of the prarthana samaj. Brahmo samaj rejects narrow theism epecially polytheism, idolatry, ascetism and symbolism. Adherents, known as brahmos singular brahmo, are mainly of indian or bangladeshi origin or nationality. Brahmo samaj the society of brahma, or the brahmo samaj, was founded by ram mohan roy 17721833 in calcutta in 1828.
It advocated that there is one god, who is present everywhere, and is without shape and form. He was also responsible for spreading the doctrines of brahmo samaj into many cities of south india. In 1831, roy visited england as a reforming ambassador and died there in 1833. Bramho shomaj is the societal component of brahmoism, which began as a monotheistic reformist movement of the hindu religion that appeared during the bengal renaissance. There is always infinite singularity immanent and transcendant singular author and preserver of existence he who is manifest everywhere and in everything, in the fire and in the water, in.
Editor, the indian messenger, 211 bidhan sarani, kolkata 700006. Raja ram mohun roy establishes brahma sabha assembly of brahmins. Brahman is worshipped as the sole creator and supporter of the universe. The main statement or motto of brahmo samaj was sarva dharma samabhava that is all religion are equal and all religion should be respected equally. Sadharan brahmo samaj was formed in a public meeting, held on may 15, 1878, at the town hall of calcutta. Keshab chandra sen is considered responsible for bringing about a sea change in the dimension of the movement led by brahmo samaj in bengal. Followers shall love him and do his will and worship the one absolute prambrahma, the creator, preserver, destroyer who is the giver of all good in this world and the next, who is all knowing, all pervading, formless and beneficent. Organ of the sadharan brahmo samaj, founded in 1883 reg. Between 1855 and 1860, nearly 25 widow remarriages took place in bengal under his leadership. The phrase brahmo samaj literally means the society of the worshippers of the one true god. Brahmo samaj articles of faith for brahmos brahmos define righteousness as the only way of life. Raja rammohan roy, the father of indian renaissance, was a man of versatile genius, and the brahmo samaj established by him was the earliest reform movement of the modern type greatly influenced by modern western ideas. The eminent bengali educationalist and social reformer, raja ram mohan roy founded the brahmo sabha in 1828 and it became famous as brahmo samaj later. In the late 1800s brahmo samaj started spreading to other parts of the country.
He attempted to combine the western and eastern philosophy. Sadharan brahmo samaj envisaged a holistic system of education for social reform and the first school, city school was establised in 1879. Brahmoism is a religious movement from the mid19th century bengal originating the bengali renaissance, the nascent indian independence movement. Brahmo means one who worships brahma, or the supreme spirit of the universe, and samaj means a community of men. Swami received education on vedanta from a blind teacher named swami virajananda at mathura. Ram mohan roy and brahmo samaj your article library. Brahmo samaj was one of the most prominent religious groups in india during the eighteenth century. Roy, revered as the father of indias nineteenthcentury hindu renaissance, a bengali brahman by birth, studied english, latin, and greek as well as sanskrit, persian and bengali, while employed as a young man in the british east india companys revenue. Asiatic society admits the first indian natives to its membership, the first of whom are dwarkanath tagore and prasanna coomar tagore. The credit for laying the foundations of the modern bengali literature goes to rammohun roy. Request pdf on jan 1, 2018, narasingha sil and others published brahmo samaj find, read and cite all the research you need on researchgate. There was no literature for the people there was no prose and people did not know how to read or write prose.
The brahmo samaj was a monotheistic sect of hinduism. The fundamental principles of the brahmo samaj, founded by raja ram mohan roy in 1828 are. The first phase of its history is intimately linked up with the career of its founder rammohun roy 1772 1833. Society of brahma theistic movement within hinduism, founded in calcutta now kolkata in 1828 by ram mohun roy. In 1872 one of the great brahmo, pratap chandra, stayed for six months at the invitation of the prarthana samaj. He also fought against child marriage and polygamy. Brahmo samaj has primarily started in the city of calcutta, this is where me and my husband was born and raised. It emphasized on religious as well as social reformation. The brahmo samaj does not accept the authority of the vedas, has no faith in avatars incarnations, and does not insist on belief in karma causal effects of. Keshub would leave the brahmo samaj, taking many with him, founding the brahmosamaj of india, but would later scandalize this group claiming it was gods will his year old daughter marry a hindu prince contrary to the policy he formerly advocated of minimum age for brahmo marriage.
Brahmo samaj hinduism britannica encyclopedia britannica. The movement began through meetings of bengalis in calcutta in 1828. His book, the precepts of jesus, the guide to peace and happiness, is an interpretation of christianity in the light of his scholarship. This article was most recently revised and updated by matt stefon, assistant editor. Raja ram mohan roy is called as the father of modern india. It is the societal component of brahmoism, a monotheistic reformist movement of hindu religion. The sadharan brahmo samaj is involved in various educational, social, medical and other welfare activities. During his visit there was a plan to make prarthana samaj a branch of brahmo samaj. The impact of the brahmo samaj on the modern music in india is discussed below. After the publication of hemendranath tagores brahmo anusthan code. Adi brahmo samaj and sadharan brahmo samaj previously the general body of erstwhile brahmo samaj of india. Brahmo samaj prime principles the prime adi principles of the brahmo religion are. Brahmos embrace secular principles but oppose sectarianism and imposition of religious belief into governance especially propagation of religious belief by government. He was a sanskrit scholar with no english education.
It is practised today mainly as the adi dharm after its eclipse in bengal consequent to the exit of the tattwabodini sabha from its ranks in 1859. There is only one god, the creator and sustainer of the world, who is infinite in power, wisdom, love and holiness see monotheism. He is known as one of the creator of modern bengali prose 1 mahajan, 1987. George thadathil sdb principal, salesian college, sonadasiliguri i would like to present in the short time before me an idea of what brahmo samaj, in todays india could do.
During the time of its foundation, the religious movement was headed by umesh chandra dutta, sib. Brahmo samaj tried to move away from sectarianism to universal samaj. Brahmo samaj project gutenberg selfpublishing ebooks. This monotheism is based on the interpretation of the early vedanta, the upanishads, and the brahma sutra. Dawarkanath tagore, kesab chandra sen, debendranath tagore, swami vivekananda, rabindranath tagore. Full text of a history of the brahmo samaj microform. Nobin chunder roy had been deputed by mahaacharya hemendranath thakur to spread the new adi dharma message of casteless vedic aryanism in. It is practised today mainly as the adi dharm after its eclipse in bengal consequent to the exit of the tattwabodini sabha from its ranks in 1839. Ran mohan roys major motivation in creating the brahmo samaj was to. Brahmo samaj was about to establish a world wide republic by placing inequality by equality and the power of the king by the power of the people and that this all comprehensive outlook was the special attraction of the samaj. In particular, brahmo samaj, a prominent socioreligious reform association in nineteenthcentury india. Maharshi felt the neccessity of a book for brahmos. Rabindranath tagores birthday was may 7 th and his songs was a basis of lot of the gatherings of brahmo samaj.
The sadharan brahmo samaj was formed in a public meeting of brahmos held in the town hall of calcutta on 15th may 1878, 2nd jaishta 1284 of the bengali calendar. Provide hinduism with protection against verbal attacks by british colonialists. Brahmo samaj rejects the need for formal rituals, priests or places church, temple, mosque for worship. His most enduring legacy, apart from the educational institutions he founded and his writings, were satellites of the brahmo samaj, which. The brahmo samaj had several other great participants from calcutta.
The brahmo samaj made an important impression on these men. Ram mohan roy, founder of brahmo samaj, identified the monotheism of christianity and islam as of universal validity. There is only one god, who is the creator, and the savior of. Keshub chandra sen was a philosopher and social reformer in the bengal presidency of. I think most of us have heard about the caste system and its prevalence in india. The boers were predominantly of what ethnic background. As the forerunners of indian modernization, the community of bengali intellectuals known as the brahmo samaj played a crucial role in the genesis and development of every major religious, social, and political movement in india from 1820 to 1930. The brahmo religion stands for the following as laid down in the trust deed of the brahmo samaj.
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