BRAHMO SAMAJ

BRAHMO SAMAJ

The Brahma Samaj was a theistic organisation founded by Raja Ram Mohan Roy, an educated Bengali, at Calcutta in 1828. It was initially known as the "Brahmo Sabha". Two factors contributed to the formation of the Brahmo Samaj during the 19th century. Firstly the Hindu social system had begun to stagnate and placed too much emphasis on traditional rituals. Secondly, an English educated class of Indians began to emerge to fulfill the administrative and economic needs of British rule.

Fundamental Principles:

The fundamental principles of the Brahmo Samaj are:(1) There is only one God, who is the Creator and the Saviour of this world. He is spirit, infinite in power, wisdom, love, justice and holiness, omnipresent, eternal and blissful. (2) The human soul is immortal and capable of infinite progress, and is responsible to God for its doings. (3) Man's happiness in this and the next world consists in worshipping God in spirit and in truth. (4) Loving God, holding communion with Him and carrying out His will in all the concerns of life, constitute true worship. (5) No created object is to be worshipped as God, and God alone is to be considered as infallible.

To this, Raja Ram Mohan Roy added:

"the true way of serving God is to do good to man." Since no one person is considered to be infallible, the Brahmos hold all the great religious leaders of the world in respect, and believe that truth is to be gleaned from all the scriptures of the world. To that extent, the Brahmo religion is truly eclectic. Universalist in nature, it is "dogmatically un-dogmatic". The Brahmo Samaj rejected idol worship and the worship of multiple gods and goddesses of the traditional Hindu beliefs. It sought to purge Hinduism of its social evils by advocating the teachings of Vedas and Upanishads. The Brahmo Samaj has played a significant role in the renaissance of India, and the roots of much of the modern thinking in India can be traced back to the Brahmo movement. After initially evolving in India, the Brahmo religion is now practised in many parts of the world.

Divisions in the Brahmo Samaj:

Raja Ram Mohan Roy was much influenced by the Western thought, especially Christianity. He was one of the first Hindus to visit Europe, where he was much admired by the intellectuals. After the death of Raja Ram Mohan Roy, Brahmo Samaj got divided into many sects. Debendranath Tagore (Father of Rabindranath Tagore) took an active interest in the Brahmo Samaj and began to transform the Brahmo Samaj into a spiritual fraternity. He established the Adi Brahmo Samaj and formulated the "Brahmo-upasana" which was a set of readings from the Upanishads. Debendranath Tagore's successor was Keshab Chandra Sen. He sought to incorporate Christian ideals into the Brahmo Samaj movement. He began the compilation of a scripture including passages from the Holy Books of many religions - Hindu, Buddhist, Christian and Muslim. He founded the Bharitiya Brahmo Samaj or the Naba Bidhan Samaj. Another split took place in the Brahmo Samaj in May 1878 when the Sadharan Brahmo Samaj was founded by Pandit Shivanath Shastri, owing to differences with Keshab Chandra Sen. Eventually these three were united to form the "Brahmo Sammilan Samaj" and a "mandir" was built in Bhowanipur, Calcutta, which celebrated its centenary in 1997.

Prominent Brahmo Samajis:

Raja Ram Mohan Roy, Keshad Chandra Sen, Jagdish Chandra Bose, Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis, Satyajit Ray, Rabindranath Tagore, Debendranath Tagore and Amartya Sen.