Founding the Brahmo Samaj

( 1826—1828 )

FOUNDING THE BRAHMO SAMAJ

• 1826. Vedānta College built.
• 1827. Divine Worship by means of the Gāyatrī. Aug. 3.—English Unitarian services recommenced. Why do you frequent a Unitarian place of Worship ? Nov.—Adam’s Evening Lectures for the Natives. Dec. 30—British Indian Unitarian Association formed.
• 1828. Feb.—Adam proposes an Auxiliary of Hindu Unitarians. Dev’s suggestion to hold Hindu services. English Unitarian services given up. Adam resigns. —March—Lord Amherst leaves India. July—Lord William Bentinck arrives at Calcutta as Governor-General. Aug. 18—Letter on Trial by Jury. Aug. 20—First Meeting of the Brahmo Samaj.

We now enter in the most distinctive period of Rammohun’s crowded career. What has already transpired has made it abundantly evident that he was above all and beneath all a religious personality. The many and far-reaching ramifications of his prolific energy were forth-puttings of one purpose. The root of his life was religion. He would never have been able to go so far or to move his countrymen so mightily as he did but for the driving power of an intense Theistic passion. The years in which he stands out as the founder of a distinct religious community must therefore be regarded as the most characteristic epoch in his history.

It is fortunate for us that just at the opening of this period we have an authoritative statement of Rammohun’s attitude to the two great historic faiths between which he stood. In a letter to Dr. Tuckerman, dated February 18-20, 1826, Mr. William Adam thus explains the Reformer’s relation to Hinduism and Christianity,—an explanation which, it will be seen, Rammohun himself endorsed :

Mr. Tuppin in one of his letters asks—Does Rammohun Roy profess to be a Christian ? …I find it difficult to give a definite answer to this question, but the nearest approach to the truth, although I hope and believe that it is not the truth itself, would perhaps be to say that he is both a Christian and a Hindu,—Christian with Christians and a Hindu with Hindus. And before you say either that I am contradicting myself or that he is insincere in his religion, you must candidly weigh all the circumstances in which he is placed. In the first place then, his relinquishment of idolatry is absolute, total, public, uncompromising ; and when you reflect who he is and what he is, this is of itself an invincible test of integrity of religious principle and conduct. But his relinquishment of idolary is not inconsistent with the retention of his Brahmanical rights, and observance of the rules of caste, the latter of which is necessary to the former and both are necessary to enable him to be useful to his countrymen,—the thing which he has most at heart. On the other hand although he may safely relinquish idolatry, he cannot safely profess Christianity. The profession would involve loss of caste, loss of property, loss of influence, loss of everything but a name ; and while he employs caste, property, influence, everything to promote, not the nominal profession merely, but the enlightened belief and salutary influences of Christianity, his claim to be a practical although not a nominal Christian would seem to be undoubted. In this point of view, Hinduism furnishes the antidote to its own inherent intolerance. There is another reason for the course he has pursued. The profession of Christianity would identify him in the opinion of Hindus not with the respectable and liberal portion of the Christian population, but with the low, ignorant and depraved converts recently made by the English, or long since made by the Portuguese missionaries,—and in the opinion of Mussulmans who hold him in high esteem, with Trinitarians generally ; for such Mussulmans suppose all Christians to be. In other words, the profession of Christianity would inevitably, in the present circumstances of this country, identify him with persons from whom he differs as widely as from those with whom he is now identified. He has, therefore, only a choice of evils, and he has hitherto chosen that which, although he groans under its bondage, leaves him greater liberty and usefulness than he could otherwise possess. I have thus given you the view of his circumstances and conduct which I have reason to suppose he would himself give you if he were now writing to you ; and I have only further to add that……I do not feel these reasons to be quite so convincing as they appear to him . …I have no doubt that in his opinion they possess all the force necessary fully to justify him in the sight of God and his own conscience in the course which he has pursued.¹

Since writing the preceding paragraph, I have had an opportunity of showing it to Rammohun Roy, who considers it a correct representation of his feelings and sentiments.

In a later letter to Dr. Tuckerman, of date October 14, 1826, Mr. Adam remarks :

You, inquire whether Rammohun Roy is a Unitarian Christian or only a Theist, and on this point I beg to refer you to my No. VI, which contains all the information I can give you respecting it….In addition to the particulars then given, he permits me now to say that failing the male heirs of his own body, of whom there are two, he has bequeathed the whole of his property to our Mission ; and while he regrets the appearance of ostentation which this statement may bear, he leaves it to yourself to judge whether he would have been likely to do so if he did not sincerely embrace the Christian religion and ardently desire to extend its blessings to his countrymen.²

To Dr. Tuckerman’s inquiry concerning the rites of caste which Rammohun as a Brahman observed, Mr. Adam (June 24, 1827) answered :

All the rules in the present state of Hindu society he finds it necessary to observe, relate to eating and drinking. He must not eat of the food forbidden to Brahmins nor with persons of a different religion from the Hindu or of different caste or tribe from his own. This is the only remnant of the rules of caste to which he still adheres, and even this remnant I have reason to know he frequently but secretly disregards… Both in the marriages and deaths that happen within his domestic circle he rigidly abstains in his own person from every approach to the idolatrous rites usually practised on such occasions, although he does not prohibit the other members of his family from engaging in them if they think proper.

This compliance with the rules of caste must, one would think, have been extremely distasteful to Rammohun, inasmuch as he considered caste to be one of the gravest of the many ills under which his country laboured. In a private letter written about this time ( January 18, 1828 ) he thus expresses himself :

I agree with you that in point of vices the Hindus are not worse than the generality of Christians in Europe and America ; but I regret to say that the present system of religion adhered to by the Hindus is not well calculated to promote their political interest³. The distinction of castes introducing innumerable divisions and sub-divisions among them has entirely deprived them of patriotic feeling, and the multitude of religious rites and ceremonies and the laws of purification have totally disqualified them from undertaking any difficult enterprise. . . . It is, I think, necessary that some change should take place in their religion, at least for the sake of their political advantage and social comfort. I fully agree with you that there is nothing so sublime as the precepts taught by Christ, and there is nothing equal to the simple doctrines he inculcated.

He goes on to deplore the way in which they were disregarded and distorted by Christians, but hopes for a change to be effected by the growing spirit of inquiry and humanity. It is said that Rammohun translated into Bengali a work called Bastra Suchi written by a Buddhist named Buddhaghosha opposing caste.⁴ This is an interesting link of connection between the ancient and most famous movement for reforming Hinduism, and its modern successor, It illustrates anew Rammohun’ readiness to borrow books or arguments from any religion, Mohammedan, Buddhist, or Christian, if only thereby he might purify Hinduism.

In a letter of introduction to Jeremy Bentham, of November 14, 1830, Mr. J. Young, whom some one called “his dearest friend in India,” says of Rammohun :

He has externally maintained so much, and no more, of Hindoo custom as his profund knowledge of their sacred books enabled him to justify ; relaxing, however , little by little, yet never enough to justify his being ‘out of the pale.’ I need not say that in private it is otherwise, and that prejudices of all sorts are duly condemned by our philosopher.

His impartial attitude towards other faiths was not yet understood by his Unitarian allies. From many other passages in their letters partly cited above, it is pretty evident that both Mr. Adam and Dr. Tuckerman had convinced themselves that Rammohun accepted what they called “the Divine authority of our Lord.” He certainly was very closely identified with the Unitarian Mission. The Unitarian services had, for the time, been given up ; as a consequence, we find Mr Adam writing of Rammohun, in February, 1826, “at present he does not attend anywhere,” but expressing the confidence that as soon as Unitarian worship was resumed he would as before be among the most regular worshippers. From the letter of October 14, 1826 cited above, we learn that Rammohun had made provision in his will for Mr. Adam’s family—a tribute to the cause as well as to the friendship of the Unitarian missionary. Earlier in the same year he had been “so much gratified by the perusal of the ‘One Hundred Arguments for the Unitarian Faith’,"—sent him by the American Unitarian Association—“that he caused an edition to be printed at his own Press for distribution in Calcutta.”*

Along with Dwarakanath Thakur, Prasanna Coomar Thakur and Radhaprasad Roy, and six Englishmen he served on the Unitarian Committee. In the renewal of that Committee’s activity in 1827 he had prominent share. On Mr. Adam (whose journalistic venture, the Calcutta Chronicle, was ruthlessly suppressed by the Government a few months later) resuming operations as missionary, Rammohun’s son, Radhaprasad, offered a site adjoining the Anglo Hindu School for a native chapel and school. The cost of the proposed building was put at three or four thousand rupees which, Mr. Adam wrote (to Rev. W. J. Fox, August 1, 1827), “Rammohun Roy thinks he will be able to collect among his native friends.” Unitarians in Britain had despatched, some months previously, about 15,000 Rupees.† Pending the anticipated erection, the Committee rented the Hurkaru public rooms which were attached to the Hurkaru newspaper and library ; and there morning service was commenced by Mr. Adam on Sunday, August 3, 1827. Thus began Rammohun’s second attempt to find his church—his fellowship of worship and propaganda—under the auspices of Unitarian Christianity.

His literary activity revived about this time and in directions characteristic of it. “For a period of more than two years,” he wrote to Mr. J. B. Estlin, February 7, 1827, “owing to the most afflicting circumstances arising from the hostile feelings of some individuals towards my family, I found myself totally unable to pursue any undertaking or carry on correspondence even with those whom I sincerely loved and revered.” But his son’s trial having ended satisfactorily in 1826, he managed to publish in the following year A translation into English of a Sanskrit Tract inculcating the Divine Worship ; esteemed by those who believe in the revelation of the Veds as most appropriate to the nature of the Supreme Being. This is really a commentary, partly composed of sayings of the sages, on “the Gayutree, the most sacred text of the Veds.” The version given of that mystic formula reads, “We meditate on the cause of all, pervading all, and internally ruling all material objects, from the sun down to us and others.” As though by way of offset to this excursion into the Vedic Scriptures, we find* Rammohun engaged with Mr. Adam in translating the Sermon on the Mount into Sanskrit, the idea being eventually to turn the whole of the Precepts of Jesus into that language.

Towards the close of the year, he published a little tract entitled Answer of a Hindu to the Question—“Why do you frequent a Unitarian place of worship instead of the numerously attended Established Churches ?” It bears the signature of Chandrasekhar Deb, a disciple of Rammohun ; but, as Mr. Adam informed Dr. Tuckerman in a letter dated January 18, 1828, it was entirely Rammohun’s own composition. Mr. Adam adds, “I regret that he continues to publish these things in the name of another, but I cannot succeed in dissuading him from it.” This persistent assumption of other people’s names is indeed a puzzle. There seems to have been a secretive strain in Rammohun’s blood, which made him favour this pseudonymous authorship. The Answer simply amounted to saying that in a Unitarian place of worship he heard nothing of Incarnation, Union of Two Natures, or Trinity,—doctrines which he regarded as only a variant of the anthropomorphic and polytheistic mythology of popular Hinduism.

But the Unitarian exotic did not thrive. Its roots would not strike. The English morning service begun in August was “very indifferently attended."† From the first it “received little support from avowed Unitarians.” “Even a majority of the Committee regularly absented themselves.” An evening service was tried in November. It was attended at first by 60 to 80, but gradually “dwindled almost to nothing."‡ Mr. Adam was surprised to find the native members of his Committee stoutly opposed to the erection of a native Chapel for lectures in the native language. Their plea was that “anything said or written in the vernacular tongue will be degraded and despised in consequence of the medium through which it is conveyed.” English, Persian and Sanskrit were the only languages which would secure respect.* Mr. Adam endeavoured to console himself by a course of “familiar lectures on the First Principles of Religion” which he began in October “for the exclusive benefit of the natives…in the native part of the city”—in Rammohun’s Anglo-Hindu School, in fact. His audiences at first ranged from 12 to 25. But even Rammohun did not attend, and in the end poor Mr. Adam was left “with scarcely a single individual to address."† Before things had reached this pass, he made gallant efforts to turn the tide. On the 30th of December, 1827, he got the Unitarian Committee to adopt a proposal which he drafted so long ago as May of the previous year,—to constitute themselves into “a more complete organization” to be known as “the British Indian Unitarian Association”. This step was intended to deepen the local esprit de corps and bring members into closer touch with Unitarians in Great Britain and America. But the Sunday congregations went on declining. Then Mr. Adam, thinking it wise to give up the services before the attendance had become ridiculously small, proposed that he should be sent on a missionary journey to Madras. But the Committee refused consent, on Rammohun’s representations chiefly, that the funds could not stand the cost and that Mr. Adam was indispensable to Calcutta.‡ There was no way out but to face failure and confess it. Mr. Adam had been baffled in all his plans. As we saw in our last chapter, he had tried to run the Anglo-Hindu School as a mission agency, but had been so frequently baulked by Rammohun’s autocratic will as in the end to be compelled to resign all share in its management. His congregations both British and native had run down almost to zero. He accordingly requested the Committee to point out some other form of missionary service which would justify him in receiving the stipend which came to him from abroad for that purpose. The Committee saw no “fit mode in which Mr. Adam can employ himself as a Unitarian missionary,” and could therefore no longer disburse the stipend referred to. Poor Mr. Adam retired heartbroken.§ This decisive act seems to have taken place in the first half of 1828.∥

We are now brought to the verge of the foundation of the Brahmo Samaj. We have described Mr. Adam’s futile endeavours somewhat fully, because it was upon the ruins of the Unitarian Mission that the new Theistic Church was reared. Between the two movements there was the most direct connection. Religious beginnings are often lost in obscurity, but not so in this case. There are two accounts of the origin of the Brahmo Samaj, distinct and independent, but quite harmonious.

The popular and best known may be given first.* “In those days a newspaper was published, named the Harkara. In the office of the Harkara the Rev. Mr. Adam had established an association under the name of the Unitarian Society…One day at the close of worship, Rammohun Roy with his disciples was returning from the Harkara office. On the road Tarachand Chakravarti and Chandrasekhar Dev said, ‘What need is there for us to go to the prayer-house of strangers to perform our worship ? We ought to erect a house of our own in which to worship one God.’ This proposal was the first germ of the Brahmo Samaj. The proposer, Chandrasekhar Dev, is now† living.”

When this event happened we have no precise indication. It could scarcely have occurred before or during the time when Rammohun was actively organizing the British Indian Unitarian Association (December 30, 1827).⁵ It probably took place in the early part of 1828, when the Unitarian congregations were fast dwindling away. Whenever it was made, the suggestion at once impressed Rammohun. He consulted his comrades, Dwarkanath Thakur and Roy Kalinath Munshi. On their approving the idea, he called a meeting at his house, when these and other friends, including Prasannakumar Thakur and Mathuranath Mullick agreed to carry it out. A site at Simla in Calcutta was first thought of, but subsequently abandoned ; and until a suitable place could be found and building erected, it was decided to hire a house belonging to Kamal-lochan Bose, at Jorasanko, in the Chitpore Road, and there commence public worship.‡

The other account makes Mr. Adam the proximate initiator of the Samaj. It is given in his letters, written while the new movement was in its earliest stages. In a letter to Mr. John Bowring, London, under date, February 5, 1828, he writes :

I must add before I conclude, that I am endeavouring to get the Hindu Unitarians in Calcutta to unite in forming an Association auxiliary to the British Indian [Unitarian] Association, and for the establishment of the public worship of the One God among themselves, for the printing of tracts and for the diffusion of religious knowledge generally among their countrymen. To prevent prejudice from being excited, it will be necessary to keep Christianity out of view at present in connection with this auxiliary, but it will really be (what it perhaps may not be nominally) an auxiliary to our views, and a highly valuable one, too, if I can succeed in creating the necessary degree of interest to begin and carry it on.

On April 2, of the same year, he writes to Dr. Tuckerman, announcing the discontinuance of the native service, and remarking,—

Since then I have been using every endeavour in my power to induce Hindu Unitarians to unite among themselves for the promotion of our common objects, and I am not without hopes of succeeding, although I have a great deal of apathy to struggle against.

On January 22, 1829, writing to Dr. Tuckerman, he recalls the fact that “one of the resolutions”—presumably passed in connection with the formation of the British Indian Unitarian Association—had invited all Unitarians, whether Christian or Hindu, to form themselves into Associations, etc., and proceeds,—

There has accordingly been formed a Hindu Unitarian Association, the object of which is, however, strictly Hindu and not Christian, i.e., to teach and practise the worship of One Only God on the basis of the divine authority of the Ved, and not of the Christian Scriptures. This is a basis of which I have distinctly informed Rammohun and my other native friends that I cannot approve.

But he has, he says, encouraged them to go forward, as he considers it “a step towards Christianity,” and thinks that “the friendly feeling which . . . happily exists between Christian and Hindu Unitarians should be preserved.” He has, therefore, recommended his Committee to make a grant of 500 rupees to the Hindu Association, and has himself occasionally attended their services. This “Hindu Association” is, of course, the Brahmo Samaj.

There is no discrepancy between the two narratives. The idea may have arisen quite spontaneously without as well as within the circle of Hindu reformers. From the “great deal of apathy,” indeed, which Mr. Adam complains of on April 2, it would seem that Chandrasekhar Dev had not then made the suggestion on which Rammohun acted so eagerly. And from this it would follow that Mr. Adam really originated the idea, Rammohun having had it pressed on his notice since the beginning of February. The Hindu may have hung back until the project was broached by his own followers and their readiness to take action thereby attested. But, even if Mr. Adam can claim the credit of first suggesting the distinct organization for worship, we must remember that he was only a secondary agency.⁶ He and all his associations were spiritually begotten by Rammohun Roy. And the Brahmo Samaj was but the last development of a series of tentative social efforts which reached back to the very beginning of Rammohun’s reforming career. Even when at Rangpur (1809—1814)⁷ he held meetings for religious discussion. In 1815 he founded the Atmiya Sabha and kept it going month by month until 1819. After that he still continued lecturing to a private circle of friends and followers. In 1821 he converted Adam from Trinitarianism and organized with him the Unitarian Committee. He had assisted in its resuscitation and re-organization in 1827. And now the group of comrades and disciples which had hung around him these many years were at last ready to form an independent community, no longer for dialectical or educational purposes only, but for worship,—for distinctly religious fellowship. The share which Unitarianism had in the birth of the Brahmo Samaj was distinctly maieutic not maternal.

The great commencement took place on Wednesday, the 20th of August, 1828. Then the native Theistic Church of modern India was born. It was at first called simply Brahma Sabhā,—the Society of God.⁸ The inaugural preacher was Ramchandra Śarma.⁹ His discourse was upon the spiritual worship of God.¹⁰ His text, which was taken from various parts of the Hindu Scriptures, read, “God is One only without an equal, in Whom abide all worlds and their inhabitants. Thus he who mentally perceives the Supreme Spirit in all creatures, acquires perfect equanimity, and shall be absorbed into the highest essence, even into the Almighty.” All worship, whether of natural objects, images, persons, was directly or indirectly worship of the Supreme ; but direct worship was the most excellent. Its superior excellence was attested by revelation (“the Veds, the Institutes of Manu, and all Scriptures of acknowledged authority”), by reason, which discarded all outward ceremonies and found worship to consist in self-discipline, self-realization, and service of others, and by experience ; for while indirect worshippers quarrelled with each other’s partial views of God, the direct worshipper had quarrel with none, for he adored the One God whom they also under howsoever imperfect and differing forms actually adored.

This sermon was translated into English by Tarachand Chakravarti, and published. In sending copies to a friend named Captain A. Froyer (November 19), Rammohun spoke of it as “exhibiting the simplicity, comprehensiveness and tolerance which distinguish the religious belief and worship formerly adopted by one of the most ancient nations on earth and still adhered to by the more enlightened portion of their posterity.”

Mr. Adam thus describes (to Dr. Tuckerman, January 22, 1829) the order of their weekly meeting, which was usually held on a Saturday evening, between seven and nine :

The service begins with two or three of the Pandits singing, or rather chanting in the cathedral style, some of the spiritual portions of the Ved, which are next explained in the vernacular dialect to the people by another Pandit. This is followed by a discourse in Bengali…and the whole is concluded by hymns both in Sanskrit and Bengali, sung with the voice and accompanied by instrumental music, which is also occasionally interposed between other parts of the service. The audience consists generally of from 50 to 60 individuals, several Pandits, a good many Brahmins, and all decent and attentive in their demeanour.

The Calcutta John Bull, of August 23, 1828, in reporting the opening ceremony in somewhat similar terms observes that in delivering the sermon the officiating minister lectured “from a separate room, that the Veds may not be desecrated by being in the same apartment with the profanum vulgus of hearers.”¹¹ Two Telugu Brahmans were permanently secured for the recital of the Vedas. Utsavānanda Vidyavāgīs read from the Upanisads, and Ramchandra Vidyavāgīs explained them in Bengali. Tarachand Chakravarti was appointed the first secretary.

The new departure caused no little disappointment among European residents. The John Bull laments that the liberal Hindus have “from Unitarianism very naturally slid into pure Deism,” and bewails the lost hope of Rammohun Roy becoming the great agent in Christianizing India.¹² Even Mr. Adam’s eyes were considerably opened. In the letter last cited he declares—

Rammohun Roy, I am persuaded, supports this institution, not because he believes in the divine authority of the Ved, but solely as an instrument for overthrowing idolatry. To be candid, however, I must add that the conviction has lately gained ground in my mind that he employs Unitarian Christianity in the same way, as an instrument for spreading pure and just notions of God, without believing in the divine authority of the Gospel.¹³

But, however unpopular with Europeans, the new departure made its way among the educated Hindus of Calcutta. The numbers in which they attended, and the rapid increase in the funds of the Society showed a marked contrast to the fate of the earlier efforts put forth by the Unitarian Committee. The Samaj had evidently come to stay. It was no exotic imported from abroad. However suggested, it was an indigenous product of the Hindu mind ; and it took root and grew.

As Rammohun and his band of disciples now stand out together as a distinct religious community, their mutual manner of life claims our attention. It was through these disciples that the work of the great reformer was carried on and made permanently fruitful ; they were the “living stones” which he shaped into a lasting edifice. Of his relations to them we have only a few glimpses, but they are sufficient to set his work in a more genial and human light than that of the mere teacher or leader. We are told that he “always displayed much affection towards his disciples.” In addressing any one of them he habitually said Beradar,—the Persian word for brother. They, however, usually addressed him as Dewanji, the title of respect borne by the collector.¹⁴ Nor did he limits this fraternal appellation to his own following. He used it to all whom he met. And the brotherhood he believed in was no mere matter of names. It was oriental in its warmth of demonstrativeness. It was western in its equal freedom. It is said that “if any cause of joy arose he immediately embraced his followers.” And he was not above receiving kindly words of rebuke from them, as we shall see later.

Rammohun made no secret of the strong Theistic passion which ruled his life. A favourite disciple remarked that whenever he spoke of the Universal Theism, to the advocacy of which he had devoted himself, he was moved even to tears.* Hearing of a man who from Deist turned Atheist, Rammohun rejoined, “And later he will become a beast.” Yet intense as was his religious zeal and his aversion to disbelievers in Deity, he could tolerate men of sceptical opinions even among his intimate friends. “Babu Prasanna Coomar Thakur, had a great affection for Rammohun Roy and for the Brahmo Samaj, but he was a sceptic. For this reason Rammohun Roy, called him a rustic philosopher. † Hume and the French school of deniers were known urbi et orbi ; Babu Prasanna Coomar Thakur was a sort of country cousin aping the cut of their philosophic habit. Thus the master would banter and condemn, without alienating an unbelieving disciple.

“When not engaged in benevolent works,” says Babu Anandachandra Bose, “he was constantly advising his disciples.” One disciple smitten with a fair Rachel had had palmed upon him an ill-favoured Leah. Naturally wroth with his father-in-law, he was about to avenge himself for the deception by taking another wife. Rammohun dissuaded him. “The tree which bears excellent fruit is beautiful,” said he. “If your wife bears you a fine child, you must consider her to be in all respects beautiful.” The anecdotist adds that, as it actually turned out, “the sons of that disciple were the most forward in promoting widow marriage and all the most excellent features in Rammohun Roy’s beloved work in the Brahmo Samaj.”¹⁵

Like many other religious reformers, Rammohun introduced changes in dress. He adopted the costume of the Musulmans. “He directed that a closely twisted turban should be worn instead of a loose one, and a choga instead of a skirt. He tried zealously to keep this style of dress in fashion”* He made it a rule for himself and his disciples always to wear it when attending the Samaj. He was very particular about the observance of this rule. He asked a friend to reprove a disciple who had come to worship in his office clothes,—the ordinary dhuti and chadar.¹⁶ He held that “handsome apparel should be worn in God’s durbar.” He was very careful in other ways to show respect to the act of Divine service. Thus he would never go to the Samaj save on foot ; he only returned in his carriage. He did not usually reprimand a faulty follower, but when it was no longer a case of minor transgression but an offence of a serious nature, he did not hesitate to exercise discipline. “For excess in drinking he has refused to see the offender for six months. Thus the disciple was corrected."†

“Rammohun could not,” as has been observed, “rebuke his followers for ordinary faults. But if he commited a fault himself, and a disciple reproved him, he received the rebuke with great gentleness. According to the custom of the time, Rammohun Roy wore long hair. After his bath he was somewhat long in dressing. Observing this his plain spoken disciple, Tarachand Chakravarti, quoted the first line of a song running, ‘How much longer will you please yourself studying your face in the glass ?’¹⁷ and added, ‘Is this song only for other people, Mahashoi ?’ Confounded, Rammohun Roy replied, ‘Ha ! brother, you are quite right’.”¹⁸

Of the daily habits of the master, the following interesting account is furnished by Mr. G. N. Tagore, ‡ on the authority of his father who was an intimate friend and disciple :

Rammohun Roy was an early riser, and regularly took his morning walk. He used to oil his body every morning before bathing. Two big fellows used to oil him and shampoo him. While engaged in this process he would read by rotation and day by day in parts, the Sanskrit grammar Moogdhabodha. After bath he would have his breakfast in the Indian fashion squatting on the ground surrounded by Indian utensils for food. His breakfast consisted of fish and rice and perhaps milk, too. He never took any meals between his morning and evening meal. He generally used to work till two and then go out and see his European friends in the afternoon. His evening meal was between seven and eight and that was in the English fashion but the dishes were Mohammedan dishes, Pilalu, Kopta, Korma, etc.

He never went out without his shawl turban,—not like the present Bengalis with a French smoking cap. When at home he was always dressed in the Mohammedan fashion, Chapkan, Ungaga, Pyjamas, and a skull cap on his head. He never sat bareheaded, following in this instance the Mohammedan custom. He never gave up his Brahmanical thread. His spoken Bengali was highly classified in structure. His English was good, but he spoke with great hesitancy lest he should commit some verbal error or other.

Another and slightly different account of Rammohun’s day is gathered by a friend of the author, R. D. H.,¹⁹ from conversation with Ramhari Das, “the old and faithful servant of Rammohun Roy,” at Burdwan in 1863 :

He used to rise very early, about 4 A.M., to take coffee, and then to have his morning walk, accompanied by a few persons. He would generally return home before sunrise, and when engaged in morning duties Golokdas Napit would read to him newspapers of the day. Tea would follow ; gymnastics ; after resting a little he would attend to correspondence ; then have his daily bath ; breakfast at 10 A.M. ; hearing newspapers read ; an hour’s siesta on the bare top of a table ; getting up he would pass his time either in conversation or in making visits. Tiffin at 3 P.M. ; dessert 5 P.M Evening walk ; supper at 10 P.M. He would sit up to midnight conversing with friends. He would then retire to bed again eating his favourite cake, which he called “Halila”. When engaged in writing he would be alone.

If no man is a hero to his valet, just as little should we expect a man to be a saint to his cook. Yet Rammohun’s cook who accompanied his master to England and knew him in his decadence as well as in his prime, bore witness to his punctual piety : “The worship of God was Rammohun Roy’s first daily work.”²⁰

A pretty little incident is preserved by Babu Rajnarayan Bose* who had it from his father which sets the dignified Brahman in a new and attractrive light.

Rammohun Roy was one morning walking in Bow Bazar. He perceived a vegetable-seller looking in vain for some one to place his load of vegetables on his head. Although dressed in nice clothing Rammohun Roy did not hesitate to place the basket on the man’s head. Many gentlemen walk in the early morning in handsome garments, but how many among them would show their benevolence by an act of this kind ?* ‘

It was in this circle of disciples that “The Hymns of Rammohun Roy” were mostly born. He lacked not, it seems, “the accomplishment of verse.” He had cherished ambitions as a poet, but as he playfully remarked, Bharat Chandra’s achievements in Bengali poetry were such as forbade any competition.²¹ But he did not shrink from employing the still plastic Bengali as the metrical vehicle of his religious life. All the hymns in the volume quoted above except those marked by author’s initials, are from his pen. By those who know the language they are said to belong to a very high order of religious poetry, the sublimity of the thought being admirably sustained by the dignity and music of the words. A translation of one of Rammohun’s hymns by A. Tosh, may be cited here as illustrative of its purport :

Think of that final day on earth, Appalling thought ! When friends and neighbours all will speak, But thou wilt not. When with thy wife and little babes,— To thee so dear,— To part shall sure thy bosom rack With pain severe. When piercing eyes their strength shall lose, The pulse be still, The vital warmth for ever fled, The limbs be chill. Thy friends shall mourn, thy friends shall weep Most bitterly ; And for thy hoards of cherished wealth Anxious thou’lt be. Then, yet be wise, thy pride adjure, Thyself resign To that Eternal Source of Truth— His will Divine !

Prose versions of two other hymns by Rammohun Roy may also be given :

Meditate on the Only One Who pervades land, water, and air, Who has created this Universe of which there is no bound, He knows all, but none can know Him. He is Lord of Lords, the God of Gods, and the Master of Masters : Let us know this Adorable One.

A Thing that surpasses speech, How can it be described in words ? Of Him the Universe is a Shadow : He is without likeness as the Scriptures declare : Where can we find His likeness ? If thou wouldst know, meditate with singleness of mind. Then thou shalt attain true knowledge, and shalt be free from error. I know no other way.²²

The spirit of sacred song extended from the master to the disciples. They brought him their verses, and when the hymn pleased him, he would reward the author with a joyous embrace. Several of their compositions are included in his collection, where they are distinguished from his by appended initials.

Of the founder at the close of this memorable epoch an interesting picture is presented by Col. Young, who writes from intimate personal knowledge, in a letter dated Calcutta, September 30, 1828, to Jeremy Bentham. It gives quite another aspect of these eventful years. This is what the Colonel says :

His whole time almost has been occupied for the last two years in defending himself and his son against bitter and vindictive persecution which has been got up against the latter nominally, but against himself and his abhorred free opinions in reality—by a conspiracy of his own bigoted countrymen, protected and encouraged, not to say instigated, by some of ours—influential and official men who cannot endure that a presumptuous “black” should tread so closely upon the heels of the dominant white class, or rather, should pass them in the march of mind. Rammohun Roy, after an arduous and prolonged battle through gradations of tribunals, has at length by dint of talent, perseverance, right, got the better in the last resort ; but the strife and magnitude of the stake and the long despairs of justice have shattered his nerves and bodily health and his energies of mind. It is now over* and I hope most fervently that he will recover himself again. Not only has he no equal here among his countrymen, but he has none that at all approach to equality, even among the little “sacred squadron” of disciples whom he is slowly and gradually gathering around him in despite of obstacles. . . But he perseveres, and does make a distinct and visible progress, slow as it is—very slow. It must increase in geometrical ratio if he is only spared long enough to organize the element he is gathering together of resistance to superstition and fanaticism.

It is strange that such a man should be looked upon coldly, not to say disliked, by the mass of Europeans, — for he is greatly attached to us and our regime. Not that he loves our churches, or priests, or lawyers, or politicians, but because he considers the contact of our superior race²³ with his degraded and inferior countrymen as the only means and chance they have of improving themselves in knowledge and energy.

One regrets to record this indictment of Anglo-Indian sentiment, all the more that it is so well substantiated. The native champion of English civilization deserved better treatment from our countrymen.

The ominous reference to Rammohun’s health will not escape the reader’s notice.²⁴

SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES TO CHAPTER VI

I

The continuator’s ignorance of Bengali and Sanskrit is perhaps responsible for the substitution of the incorrect spelling Vastra Suchi for the correct title Vajrasūchī. But the discrepancy with regard to the name of the author, is not easy to explain. Rammohun calls him Mrityunjayāchārya whereas the continuator mentions him as Buddhaghosha.

There are two works in Sanskrit literature bearing the name Vajrasūchī viz. (i) Vajrasūchī or Vajrasūchikā (which is ranked as an Upanishad); (ii) Vajrasūchī ascribed to the great Buddhist poet and savant Aśvaghosha. The authorship of the Vajrasūchikopanishad is unknown but some scholars believe that the Vajrasūchī of Aśvaghosha was inspired partly by the Upanishad of the same name (B. C. Law Aśvaghosha, Memoir, Asiatic Society of Bengal, p. 9). It is certainly true that the content of Aśvaghosha’s work is an elaboration of that of the Vajrasūchikopanishad.

It should be remembered that Rammohun translated the Vajrasūchī Upanishad and not the work of Aśvaghosha. As to the name Mrityunjayāchārya mentioned by Rammohun, it cannot be explained. We do not know anything about the author of the Upanishad. He might or might not have been identical with Aśvaghosha the author of the second text referred to, above. According to the Buddhist traditions of China and Tibet, Aśvaghosha possessed a number of epithets. One scholar even goes so far as to think that the name Aśvaghosha in Buddhist tradition stood for a personification of Kāla, or a form of Śiva (B. C Law Aśvaghosha p. 3). It is not possible to say in the present state of our knowledge whether Mrityunjaya or Mrityunjayāchārya is one of the forgotten epithets of the Buddhist sage Aśvaghosha. It may be the case however that the continuator who had no acquaintance with the original text or Rammohun’s Bengali translation of the Vajrasūchī Upanishad, heard the name Aśvaghosha in this connection and erroneously reproduced it as Buddhaghosha.

The two works known as Vajrasūchī have been critically edited with notes and English translation by Sj Sujitkumar Mukhopadhyaya and published by the Sino-Indian Cultural Association, Santiniketen, in 1950. For a detailed discussion of Aśvaghosha’s Vajrasūchī, see also Burnouf Introduction a l’histoire du Buddhisme Indien Paris, 1844, pp. 215-17. A comparison of the texts of the Vajrasūchī Upanishad as given by Rammohun (vide his Collected Bengali Works Sahitya Parishad Edition—4, pp. 45-46) and Sj Mukhopadhyaya (vide his edition, pp. 41-43), shows that though these agree in all essential points, there are certain differences in language between them. It is a pity that Sj Mukhopadhyaya makes no reference to Rammohun’s pioneer work in the learned introduction to his own edition. At present the Bengali translation of the Vajrasūchī Upanishad constitutes the single extant specimen of Rammohun’s acquaintance with Buddhism. It is important to remember in this connection that he mentioned to Rev. Alexander Duff of having read the Buddhist Tripiṭaka (George Smith Life of Alexander Duff Vol. I London 1879, p. 117).

II

In deciding whether the Theistic Church of India was originally named Brāhma Samāj (the name it bears at present) or Brāhma Sabhā, our aim should be to find out what Rammohun Roy, the founder, called it when he laid its foundation. Fortunately we have direct evidence to show that Brāhma Samāj the current anglicized spelling of the correct form Brāhma Samāj, has been the official designation of the church, since its inception. The church was launched into its eventful career on the 20th August 1828 (the 6th of Bhādra, 1750 Śaka). On the title page of the printed edition of the first sermon delivered in the church on the opening day by Pandit Ramchandra Vidyāvāgis, we find the name as “Brāhma Samāj” ( ব্রাহ্মসমাজ/কলিকাতা/বুধবার ৬ ভাদ্র/শকাব্দ/১৭৫০ —see Plate VII.) Further, in the deed of sale of a plot of land for the erection of the own building of the church, executed on the 6th June, 1829, the name is definitely given as Brahma Samāj ( ব্রহ্মসমাজ ) and not as Brahma Sabhā. The said deed of sale has been printed in Nagendranath Chatterjee’s Raja Rammohun Rayer Jiban-Charit 5th Ed. pp. 304-07. This reference in an official document conclusively proves that the original name given to the institution by Rammohun Roy, Dwarakanath Tagore, Kalinath Roy, Prasanna Kumar Tagore and Ramchandra Vidyāvāgis, who are mentioned in the same deed as the purchasers of the plot of land, was Brāhmo Samāj and not Brahma Sabhā. The name Brahma Samāj ( ব্রহ্মসমাজ ) is only a variant of Brāhmo Samāj. Rammohun himself is found to use the name Brāhmo Samāj in a Bengali letter, dated London, September 22, 1832, written to his son Radhaprasad Roy where he distinctly says : “এই অবকাশে ব্রাহ্মসমাজের কাজের নিমিত্ত এক গীত পাঠাইতেছি…” (cf. Plate VIII). In an official notice of the church announcing a meeting to celebrate “the rejection of the Suttee appeal by the Privy Council” signed by Baikunthanath Roy, Ramanath Tagore and Radhaprasad Roy and published in the Samāchār Darpan, November 10, 1832 the name is given as Brāhmah Samāj (ব্রাহ্মসমাজ ) (J. K. Majumdar, Raja Rammohun Roy and Progressive Movements in India No. 117, pp. 199-200). The institution is also referred to in the same name by contemporary papers like the Samāchār Darpan and the Gyananweshun, in the same year (Ibid pp. 210, 214 etc.) People in general and contemporary papers might occasionally have also called it Brahma Sabhā, but the official name as selected and given by the founder and his associates, was beyond any doubt Brāhmo Samāj (sometimes pronounced by contemporaries also as Brahma Samāj ব্রহ্মসমাজ). (See in this connection the Bengali Autobiography of Maharshi Devendranath Tagore. 3rd edition, edited by Satishchandra Chakravarti, Viśvabharati, 1927, Appendix XXIII. pp. 360-66).

It should also be noted that the term “Brāhma” or “Brāhmya” ( ব্রাহ্ম or ব্রাহ্ম্য ) had been in use in the progressive circle led by Rammohun, as a designation of the worshippers of Brahman or the Absolute long before the foundation of the Brāhmo Samāj. Rammohun uses it at least four times in his Bengali writings. (See introduction to the Bengali translation of the Māṇḍukya Upanishad in Collected Bengali Works Sahitya Parishad Ed. No. 1, p. 243 ; Kabitākārer Sahit Vichār,—Ibid No. 2, pp. 73, 75 ; and Pathyapradān, Ibid—6, p. 85), Hariharananda Tirthasvāmī, Rammohun’s ascetic inspirer, also uses it to describe the members of Rammohun’s group (“Brāhmyu or Unitarian Hindoo Community”) in his famous letter dated March 27, 1818, addressed to the editor, India Gazette, condemning the practice of Satī (J. K. Majumdar Raja Rammohun Roy and Progressive Movements in India No. 56, p. 113). Even some of Rammohun’s orthodox opponents are found to employ it as a term of reproach to indicate the progressive monotheists (cf. Kashinath Tarkapanchānan in his Pāshaṇḍa-Pīḍana printed in Rammohun’s Collected Bengali Works Sāhitya Parishad Ed. No. 6, p. 56) ! The new church of Rammohun thus naturally enough, acquired the name of Brāhma Samāj or Brāhmya Samāj ( ব্রাহ্মসমাজ, ব্রাহ্ম্যসমাজ ) meaning “an association of Brāhmas or worshippers of Brahman,” from its very inception. The current anglicized spelling of this original official name is Brahmo Samāj. It may in this connection be pointed out that the Mahānirvāṇa Tantra, a Tantra text of comparatively recent origin, held in high esteem by both Hariharananda Tīrthasvāmī and Rammohun Roy, uses the term Brāhma or Brāhmya ( ব্রাহ্ম or ব্রাহ্ম্য ) as the designation of members of the Tattvachakra, an intimate body of Tāntric worshippers of Brahman (cf. Mahānirvāṇa Tantra VIII. 206-207, Vaṅgavāsī Edition, p. 85). It is possible that Rammohun was influenced to a certain extent by this Tāntric precedent in the matter of naming his new church.

It should however be remembered that while the Brāhmo Samāj remained the official name of the church, the contemporary press and public also referred to it frequently as Brahma Sabhā (ব্রহ্মসভা) (cf. Majumdar Raja Rammohun Roy and Progressive Movements in India Nos. 40, 43, 44 and 45, pp. 86-87, 90-93). In fact during the first few years in the history of the church the two names were used synonymously and the users hardly ever made any fine distinction of meaning between them.

[Diacritical marks have been specially used in this note to indicate the differences in pronunciation of the names, Brāhmo Samāj ( ব্রাহ্মসমাজ ), Brahma Samāj ( ব্রহ্মসমাজ ) and Brahma Sabhā ( ব্রহ্মসভা ). ]

III

It has appeared strange to many that Rammohun and William Adam should have to part company after a fairly long period of intimate personal friendship and close co-operation in public life. A comparative study of their respective temperaments and ideals however shows that this was inevitable. William Adam was above everything else a devout and sincere Christian missionary. He might have discarded the Trinitarian basis of his faith in favour of Unitarianism due to Rammohun’s influence, but that did not in any sense lead him away from Christian orthodoxy. Even after his conversion to Unitarianism, he continued to believe whole-heartedly in Christ as the only Redeemer of humanity and in the Bible as constituting the only record of Divine Revelation. To him no other religious teacher of the world could make even a near approach to Christ in point of spiritual and moral stature ; no other scripture could compare with the Gospels in point of authority. After he had become a Unitarian, he therefore quite naturally devoted all his energies to the task of spreading the Unitarian form of Christianity in the country. The enthusiasm with which he served the Calcutta Unitarian Committee and the British Indian Unitarian Association, is a good example of his earnestness. Rammohun’s interpretation of the Old and the New Testaments however was that of an unbiased critical scholar and not at all dogmatic. He was full of admiration for the person of Jesus Christ as well as for the latter’s sublime moral teachings. But the miracles and mysteries of Christianity left him cold. Nor could he accept the Bible as the only Revealed Book and Christ as the only Lord and Redeemer of the world. On these questions he disagreed fundamentally with Christians of both the Trinitarian and Unitarian schools.

It may however be legitimately asked, why, in that case, he associated himself so intimately with the Unitarian Christians and identified himself so closely with the latters’ cause in this country, from 1821 to 1828. We can think of three possible reasons :

(i) His thorough schooling in the higher philosophy of Hinduism, particularly in the Vedānta, had revealed to him the great depth and subtlety of the spiritual doctrines of the Hindus and had convinced him that unity of Godhead was one of the basic concepts of the Hindu religion As a result of his study of the Muslim Scriptures, he had been tremendously impressed and influenced by the firm and uncompromising monotheistic stand taken by Islam. Doctrinally he felt attracted to the Unitarian form of Christianity because in it he discovered the same monotheistic principles, so dear to his heart. He had however already reached the grounds of his Universal Theism when he became intimate with the Unitarian Christians. His attitude towards Unitarian Christianity was for this reason entirely non-sectarian though immensely respectful. This explains the significant remark with regard to the Unitarian Christians which he made in his tract Humble Suggestions to his countrymen who believe in the One True God : “We should feel no reluctance to co-operate with them in religious matters, merely because they consider Jesus Christ as the Messenger of God and their Spiritual Teacher ; for oneness in the object of worship and sameness of religious practice should produce attachment between the worshippers” (English Works of Rammohun ed. by Nag and Burman, Part II p. 200 ; also Prārthanāpratra in Bengali in Rammohun’s Collected Bengali Works Sāhitya Parishad Ed. No 4, p. 28). In the publication entitled Answer of a Hindoo to the question : why do you frequent a Unitarian Place of Worship……?, he sets forth the reasons of his attending Unitarian Churches more clearly : “Because Unitarians reject polytheism and idolatry under every sophistical modification, and thereby discountenance all the evil consequences resulting from them. Because Unitarians believe profess and inculcate the doctrine of divine unity—a doctrine which I find firmly maintained both by the Christian Scriptures and by our most ancient writings commonly called the Vedas” (English Works of Rammohun ed. by Nag and Burman, Pt. II p. 194 ; cf. also above, pp. 165-66).

(ii) Besides confirming his monotheistic convictions Unitarian Christianity held two other specific attractions for Rammohun He regarded the ethical teachings of Christ as superior to any other system of morality and sincerely believed that, preached in a non-sectarian manner, these might ultimately prove to be the most effective means of moral uplift of the Indian nation. Further his advocacy for the introduction of European science and technology in the Indian educational curriculum is well-known (cf. above, pp. 185-86 note ; also Jogananda Das Rammohun Roy, the Moderniser, Calcutta, 1958, pp. 4-5). He had fondly hoped that through the medium of Unitarian Christianity, two of his cherished dreams might be realised : first, Unitarian teachers from the west would acquaint the Indian masses with the basic principles of the sublime ethics of Christianity ; secondly they might also instruct Indian students in “European learning and science”. His answer to the twelfth query of the Unitarian missionary Rev. Henry Ware of America, lays clear emphasis on these points : “…everyone who interests himself in behalf of his fellow creatures, would confidently anticipate the approaching triumph of true religion should philanthrophy induce you and friends to send to Bengal as many serious and able teachers of European learning and science and Christian morality, unmingled with religious doctrines……to spread knowledge gratuitously among the native community……(italics ours—Editors). (Rammohun’s English Works, ed. by Nag and Burman, Pt. IV, “A Letter on the Prospects of Christianity and the means of promoting its reception in India, dated February 2, 1824”, p. 50 ; cf. also above, p. 153). This task in Rammohun’s opinion could not be carried out by complete secularists who would banish all religious instructions from their syllabus or by orthodox Christian missionaries, who would invariably mix up doctrines of Trinitarian Christianity with their system of education. He expected that the Unitarians would be able to do it in an impartial and non-sectarian manner without trying to impose the doctrines and dogmas of Christianity on the Indian people.

(iii) As a result of his study of different religious systems Rammohun had gradually lost faith in all crude outward forms of popular worship and had gradually reached the conviction that the essence of all religions, worth the name, was the same. This for him, consisted of faith in one God and service of humanity (vide the concluding paragraph of the Brahmanical Magazine No. IV in Rammohun’s English Works ed. by Nag and Burman. II p. 189 ; and the opening paragraph of the tract Humble Suggestions, Ibid. p. 200 ; cf. also above, pp. 142, 143). It was Rammohun’s desire to give a concrete expression to this ideal in the form of an organized institution or church. As a reformer of Hinduism, he wanted that the contemplated body should have a thoroughly Indian and Hindu character. In his tract entitled Humble Suggestions published in 1823, he had already taken up the position of a Universal Theist with a thoroughly Hindu basis and had extended the hands of fellowship towards a number of other sects. But the formation of a religious institution of a universal as well as Hindu character was by no means an easy task. What Rammohun needed, was a congregational form of public worship which alone could be the basis of such an organization. Hindu worship being essentially individualistic, Hinduism could hardly provide him with a suitable precedent for this. It is here that the necessary corrective came from Unitarian Christianity. The congregational worship of this “monotheistic” Christian church had a great attraction for Rammohun. It will be noticed that ultimately public worship in Rammohun’s Brahmo Samaj was modelled, so far as its external form was concerned, on the congregational worship current in the Christian churches. The reading of the Vedas, explanation (in Bengali) of the Upanishads, and songs, would correspond exactly to the reading of the Bible, the sermon and the singing of hymns, of Christian worship. The parallelism however was confined exclusively to the outward form. The emphasis and contents in two cases were fundamentally different. Unitarian Christianity can therefore certainly be regarded as having supplied Rammohun with a solid formal basis for his Universal Church when he was in desperate need of it. It was certainly an important step in the march of Rammohun’s mind towards the goal of Universal Thesim. But it was never an end in itself. We should also be careful, while we recognize the great importance of Unitarianism as one of the shaping influences in the formation of Rammohun’s universal outlook, not to ignore the still more fundamental roles played in the same respect by Hinduism and Islam. This point has been very convincingly developed by Sj Nalin Chandra Ganguli in his Raja Rammohun Roy, (Builders of Modern India Series, Y. M. C. A. Publications, Calcutta 1934), Chapter IX, pp. 128-57.

There is reason to believe that Adam had misunderstood Rammohun from the very beginning of the period of their acquaintance. Even after he had parted company with his Trinitarian colleagues of the Baptist Mission and Rammohun had entered into the famous controversy that had started over his Precepts of Jesus, he continued to entertain the hope that Rammohun would ultimately be convinced of the truth of the doctrines of Christianity. The following extracts from his open letter to Rev. William Yates, written in May, 1824, commenting on Rammohun’s Precepts of Jesus, clearly illustrate his attitude : “Rammohun Roy…has fallen into the…mistake of placing the end before the means and endeavouring to attain the one without the use of the other. The religion of Christ is superior to every other religion not only as possessing a purer and more sublime morality but as enforcing that morality with a higher authority and with more powerful motive. To separate therefore the doctrinal from the practical parts of Scripture, if it were possible, would be hurtful by diminishing the probability that the latter would be obeyed……. He did not perhaps go quite so far as an ardent Missionary might have wished ;…He could not at once bring his understanding to embrace all the subtleties of scholastic theology ;…Besides his work, if it had been left by an officious zeal to its full and unimpeded operation, might have produced the most beneficial effects in gradually preparing his countrymen for the reception not only of the Precepts of Jesus as the Guide to Peace and Happiness, but also of the entire Scriptures as the Records of Divine Revelation (J. K. Majumdar Raja Rammohun Roy and Progressive Movements in India No. 28, pp. 67, 69). It is thus obvious that Adam had all along regarded Rammohun’s great admiration and reverence for the moral precepts of Christianity as only a prelude to the latter’s ultimate acceptance of the entire body of Christian doctrines. In other words he had the fond hope that Rammohun in course of time would be a full fledged convert to Unitarian Christianity. He had thus unfortunately read Rammohun’s mind from the wrong end.

It would be easy for us to explain the differences and misunderstandings that crept into the relations between the two friends (e. g. pp. 184-85, 218-19. above), if only we remember the afore-mentioned background of their respective thought-processes. That would also throw light on the fundamentally different views that the two took of the newly established Brahmo Samaj. Adam at first expected that though, “to prevent prejudice from being excited, it will be necessary to keep Christianity out of view at present in connection with this auxiliary, but it will really be (what it perhaps may not be nominally) an auxiliary to our views…(cf. above, p 222). He was however shocked when he found that the Brahmo Samaj was going to propagate the worship of One God “on the basis of the divine authority of the Ved, and not of the Christian Scriptures” (cf extract from his letter to Dr. Tuckerman dated January 22, 1829, quoted above, p. 222) ! Still however he continued to hope against hope that Rammohun’s church would ultimately turn out to be “a step towards Christianity” (cf. above, pp. 222-23). But in the end he became completely disillusioned as he was perhaps destined to be, sooner or later, and was forced to admit that to Rammohun, Unitarian Christianity was merely one of a number of instruments “for spreading pure and just notions of God,” and the latter did not believe “in the divine authority of the Gospel” (cf. above, p. 225). To Rammohun however, the Brahmo Samaj was the logical conclusion of his prolonged efforts in the sphere of religious reform. By establishing it, he had given a concrete expression to his ideal of a non-sectarian universal religious body on a specifically Hindu basis. The doctrine of self-knowledge inculcated by the Upanishads, the social message of Buddhism, the emphatic monotheism of Islam, the simple piety of the saints of the medieval Indian bhakti-movement, the ethical teachings of Jesus Christ, each had at different times helped to shape this universal outlook. The establishment of the Brahmo Samaj had brought this “synthetic analysis going to the rock-bottom of religious experience itself” to a focal point. Mentally Rammohun and Adam thus stood poles apart. Their parting of ways came as a direct consequence of this basic fact. There is no element of surprise in it.

During the rest of Rammohun’s career in India any further active co-operation between himself and Adam was naturally not possible on the religious plane. It is however pleasant to think that the two retained their friendship and deep appreciation of each other’s worth to the end. As early as 1826, Rammohun had made generous provisions for Mr. Adam’s family in his will (cf. above, p. 215). Adam paid eloquent public tribute to the genius of Rammohun, twelve years after the death of the latter, in a lecture delivered at Boston, U. S. A. in 1845. The lecture has been edited and published by Rakhaldas Haldar under the title A Lecture on the Life and Labours of Rammohun Roy (Publishers G. P. Roy & Co., Calcutta, 1879) (cf. above, pp 126-27).

Mr. Adam, it may be mentioned, stayed in India up to 1838 and engaged himself in various types of educational and philanthropic work He was appointed Commissioner of Vernacular Education in Bengal, Bihar and Orissa by Lord William Bentinck in 1835 and in that capacity submitted three extremely valuable Educational Reports (two in 1835 and one in 1838) to the Government. For a well-documented sketch of his career, see S. C. Sanial’s paper “The Rev. William Adam” in the Bengal Past and Present Vol. VIII (January-June, 1914) pp. 251-72.

IV

Rammohun never believed in the fiction that as a “race,” the Europeans were necessarily superior to the Asiatics. There are many passages scattered in his voluminous writings which would go to show that he regarded his own countrymen as being possessed of the same capabilities as those of any other civilized nation. In the third number of the Brahmanical Magazine he had, in answer to “aspersions on Hindu morals” by the Christian missionaries, sharply drawn the latters’ attention to the fact that “the domestic life of Europeans might not compare favourably with that of Hindus” (cf. above, p. 129 ; also Rammohun’s English Works ed. by Nag and Burman, Part II, p. 167 : “As to the “moral death” ascribed to them by the Editor, I might easily draw a comparison between the domestic conduct of the inhabitants of Europe, to shew where the grossest deficiency lies ;…”). In replying to the ninth additional query of the Select Committee of the House of Commons which asked regarding his countrymen, “What capability of improvement do they possess ?”, Rammohun said briefly : “They have the same capability of improvement as any other civilized people” (Rammohun’s English Works ed. by Nag and Burman, Part III p. 66). The curt answer proves very clearly that the “natural inferiority” of his countrymen to other “civilized” peoples of the world, was no idée fixe with Rammohun. Further the following remark of his, made in a private letter, dated January 13, 1828, deserves to be remembered in this context : “I agree with you that in point of vices the Hindus are not worse than the generality of Christians in Europe and America” (cf. above, p. 213). His treatise entitled Brief Remarks regarding modern encroachments on the ancient rights of females according to the Hindu Law of Inheritance (written in 1822) is also found to close with the same note : “But should the Natives receive the same advantages of education Europeans generally enjoy, and be brought up in the same notions of honour, they will I trust, be found equally with Europeans, worthy of the confidence of their countrymen and respect of all men” (Rammohun’s English Works ed. by Nag and Burman, Part I p. 9). It is clear from all these instances that Rammohun believed the Indian nation to be capable of improvement and progress just like any other civilised nation of the world. He was quite conscious of the decadent state of the India of his day and naturally hoped that a long period of contact with the West would be necessary to drag the country out of this stage of coma. But his great admiration for the western civilization was never blind or uncritical ; it did not for a moment destroy his faith in the potentialities of his countrymen or the legitimate pride he took in the great heritage of India’s past.

‡ So Leonard in his History of the Brahmo Samaj, pp. 36, 37.

• Babu Nagendranath Chatterjce, in a letter of January 2, 1883, states that Babu Nandakishore, Bose, favourite disciple of Rammohun Roy, told his son Babu Rajnarayan Bose, that “his religion, was Universal Theism. Whenever he spoke of this Universal religion, he was so much moved that tears came out from his eyes”. (See also Rajnarayan Bose’s Bengali autobiography entitled Atmacharit Second Ed., Calcutta 1912, p. 30 ; and Nagendranath Chatterjee Mahatma Raja Rammohun Rayer Jibancharit 5th. Ed. pp. 613-14.—Editors).

† Babu Rajnarayan Bose’s “Little Stories” in Tattvabodhini, Nos. 444 and 445 (Śrāvana and Bhādra, 1802 Śaka, pp. 73-77 and pp. 93-99 respectively).

• Nagendranath Chattarjee in a speech at the commemoration of Rammohun Roy, January,1879.

† Babu Rajnarayan Bose at the same meeting.

‡ In a letter to the Author.*

• In a letter to the Author.

• i. e. The case against the son. The case against the father was only settled in Nov. 10, 1831. (Should be Nov. 10, 1830.—Editors).