Brahmo Samaj & Rammohan Roy (1771-1833)-ugc

Brahmo Samaj &

Rammohan Roy (1771-1833)-ugc

1-He was horn at Radhanagar in Bengal in 1772.

2-He is regarded as the first great leader of modern India.

3- He opposed idol worship and pressed on Doctrine of the Unity of God.

4- He believed that basically all religions preach a common message.

 5-He was deeply influenced by monotheism, anti-idolatry of Islam, Sufism, and ethical teachings of Christianity & liberal & rationalist doctrines of thewest.

6- He was one of the earliest propagators of modern education.

7-Started the Atmiya Sabha in 1814

8-The Brahma Sabha in 1829, (Brahmo Samaj) based on the twin pillars of-reason, the Vedas and the Upanishads. 9-It Laid emphasis on human dignity, opposed idolatry, and criticised social evils.

10- Succeeded in persuading Lord Bentick to abolish sati in 1829

11-He gave enthusiastic assistance to David Hare, who founded the famous Hindu college in Calcutta.

12-Established a Vedanta College (1825) in which courses both in Indian and western social and physical sciences were offered

13-Wrote in Persian his famous work ,4 Gift to Monotheists or Tuhafat-ul Muwahidin— 1809

14-Launched a movement for the abolition of Sati through his journal Sabad Kaumudi (1819)

15-Published his Precepts of Jesus—1820

16-He believed that the philosophy of Vedanta was based on this principle of reason.

17-Was opposed to Sanskrit system of education , because he thought it would keep the country in darkness.

Brahmo Ideas

1-The purpose of Brahmo Samaj was lo purify Hinduism & to preach monotheism.

2- It laid emphasis on human dignity, opposed idolatry & criticized such social evils as the practice of Sati Preached by Raja Rama Mohan Roy and later went through some changes

3-Opposed idol worship, priesthood and the ritualistic worship

4-Emphasized on worship through prayer, meditation and reading from Upanishads.

5- It emphasized on higher human qualities like piety,virtue and benevolence

The Brahmo Samaj

1-The earliest reform movement of modern type.

2-Founded by Raja Rammohan Roy in 1828 under the name ‘Brahmo Sabha’

3-1848— Devendranath Tagore joined the Samaj

4-1858— Keshab Chandra Sen joined the Samaj

5-1866—Adi Brahmo Samaj (under Devendranath Tagore’s leadership) —Brahmo Samaj of India (under Keshab Chandra Sen’s leadership).

Sadharan Brahmo Samaj

1-(Led by the disgruntled followers of Keshab Chandra Sen)

2-It was based on democratic principles & gave equal rights to all members in management of Samaj.

3-Important members of the Samaj were Sivnath Shastri, Anand Mohan Bose, Bipin Chandra Pal, Dwarka nath Ganguly & Sir Surendra Nath Bannerjee.

4-They contributed immensely lo the growth of the spirit of  nationalism in India

5- It started many new journals lo educate the masses, such as Tattva-Kaumudi, Brahmo Public Opinion. Indian Messenger. Sanjibani, Nabhyabharat, Modern Review & Prabase.