Baird, Robert - Religion in Modern India_excerpts

xrv / RELIGION IN MODERN INDIA

ARVIND SHARMAProfessor of Religion, McGill UniversityERIC J. SHARPEProfessor of Religious Studies, University of SydneyDONALD R. TUCKProfessor of Religion, Western Kentucky UniversityGEORGE M. WILLIAMSProfessor of Religious studies, carifornia State University, chicoBOYD H. WILSONProfessor of Religion, Hope College

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I

THE BRAHMO SAMAJ:INDIA'S FIRST MODERN MOVEMENT

FOR RELIGIOUS REFORM

Spencer Lavan

Charismatic leadership appears clearly to be a hallmark ofmodern religious reform movements in India. The focus of renewalaround one person-Dayananda Saraswati in the Arya Samaj, SriRamakrishna in the Ramakrishna movement, Mirza Ghulam Ahmadin the Ahmadiyah Islamic reform movement - who stands overand above both the leading disciples and the later organizationalexpertise, seems to be the rule. The Brahmo Samaj may be theexception among the reform movements under study in thisvolume, for the Brahmo Samaj may be said to have had twofounders and at least four major figures dominating its organizationduring the nineteenth century.r

More than the other three reform movements, the BrahmoSamaj spoke in its most effective way to an educated generation ofyoung Bengalis seeking as educated Hindus, to respond religiouslyto the world in which they were living. In a real sense the BrahmoSamaj was the first modern religious movement in India reacting toevents precipitated by the presence of the British East India Com-pany and, after 1813, by the increasing activity of evangelicalChristian missionaries.

The period of Mughal rule in India from 1560 to the death ofAurangzeb in 1707, during which an Islamic presence was domi-nant throughout the subcontinent, was a period of sharp decline for

2 / RELIGION IN MODERN INDIA

Hinduism. The Rajput princes in western India, and especially the

militant Shivaji, attempted to reassert Hindu devotional values in

face of Islamic polit icat supremacy' Reformers such as Kabir'

Ramananda ,andGuruNanaka t temp tedass im i l a t i onso fwha t theybelieved to be the best in Hindu and Muslim teaching. Nanak's pi-

ety and reform led to the creation of the Sikh movement' whose

mlmbers' bitter experiences in the struggle against the Mughal em-

perors turned them away from the broad reforming ideas of Nanak

ioward a self-consciously organized new religious movement'

A new day of Hindu self-awareness' neither militant nor

assimilationist, began during the period 1797-1805, when the Mar-

quis Wellesley, a conservative English aristocrat, was sent to India

u, gou"rno.-general. Fearing French expansion into India under Na-

pol-"on, and telieving many of the Company's civil servants to be

unp , "pu . "d fo r the i rdu t i es ,We l l es leyp roc la imed in1800 the fo r -rnution of Fort William College, whose purpose it would be "to fix

and establish sound and correct principles of religion and govern-

m e n t i n t h e i r m i n d s a t a n e a r l y p e r i o d o f l i f e . . . w h i c h c o u l d . . .provide for the stability of British power in India."2 wellesley en-

uisuged a college modeled on Oxford or Cambridge, with a staff of

professors teaching Arabic, Persian (the language of government at

ihe waning Mughal court), Urdu and Sanskrit, as well as courses

on Muslim and Hindu law, English jurisprudence, and traditional

European studies such as the classics'

An interest in and revival of "oriental studies" had started sev-

eral decades earlier with a loosely established Asiatic society of

Bengal. Following the founding of Fort Will iam College' the two

instiiutions came closer together, especially after the death of Sir

william Jones, founder of the Asiatic Society. Many of the trans-

lation projects of Hindu scriptures he began were continued by

groupr of scholars at the college. Two kinds of issues emerged

irorn the work being done at Fort William: those developed by

scholarly interest in India's antiquity and those which would help

the East India Company civil servants govern more effectively'

One particular group of Christian missionaries' those at

Serampore-, first a Danish and then a British territory, combined an

interest in oriental studies and a renewal of ancient Hindu culture

through the study of texts. At the same time they sought to con-

vert iindu Bengalis to Christianity. The reason for discussing Fort

William College, the Asiatic Society, and the Serampore missionar-

THE BRAHMO SAMAJ / 3

ies is that all three were sources providing an impact on increasingnumbers of young Hindu intellectuals learning English and under-taking academic studies. This was the generation of Bengalis whoalso served as tutors of the indigenous Indian languages to the En-glish civil servants at Fort Will iam College. The educational en-counter did not provide a sudden enlightenment leading to a repu-diation of Hinduism or conversion to Christian orthodoxy. It repre-sented instead a developing realization by a new generation of Hin-dus of the benefits of English education as well as a renewedawareness of the potential value of long forgotten Hindu roots. Theintersection of these forces has been described as the "Bengal Re-naissance." It was from this renaissance that Rammohun Roy, "Fa-ther of Modern India" and founder of the Brahmo Samaj, emerged.

It is significant at this point to note in some detail the impactof Western education and Rammohun's involvement with Christianmissionaries as a prelude to discussing the Brahmo Samaj. ThatRammohun died in England and was buried in 1833 in a UnitarianChurchyard in Bristol, eulogized by the Rev. Lant Carpenter, wasno accident. He came to England in 1830, shortly after he had es-tablished the Brahmo Sabha or Brahmo Society, a trust deed forwhich had been signed on January 23 of that year.

The events leading up to that signing begin with Rammohun'sdiverse and complex education and his early exercises reinterpret-ing the Upanisads. Rammohun's focus on monotheistic VedanticHinduism had already been noticed in Western publications beforehis controversy with Dr. Marshman, the Christian missionary, be-gan in 1820.r Before beginning his The Precepts of Jesus, Ram-mohun had been acquainted with Christians in Calcutta for at leastfbur years. He may have learned some Greek and Hebrew. Thusfar he was reforming Hinduism on an academic level. It, therefore,seemed appropriate to him that he should study other religions. Outof a deep concern for ethics and morality, Rammohun began astudy of the Gospels in order to separate the ethical teachings ofJesus from the "accretions" the missionaries were teachins asChristianity.

"The simple code of religion, and morality," he wrote, "is soadmirably calculated to elevate men's ideas to high and lib-eral notions of one God, who has equally subjected all livingcreatures, without distinction of caste, rank or wealth, tochange, disappointment, pain and death, and has equally


admitted all to be partakers of the bountiful mercies which

He has lavished over nature, and is also so well f i tted to

regulate the conduct of the human race in discharge of their

various duties to God, to themselves, and to society, that I

cannot but hope the best effects from its promulgation in the

present form."a

From his writ ings about Christianity, it is clear that Rammohun

was an Arian, or Unitarian. His writ ings emphasize the ethical

teachings of Jesus extracted from the theology and Christology of

Christianity. For his unusual efforts Rammohun received crit icism

rather than praise from missionary Joshua Marshman. This led to a

continuing debate between the two men and the publication by

Rammohun of three additional "Appeals" to The Precepts to

strengthen his case for an "enlightened" Christianity.

While one might think that such a controversy would have in-

timidated Rammohun, it actually led him to establish a close rela-

tion with two other Baptist missionaries, the Revs' Will iam Yates

and Will iam Adam. Together, the three undertook a translation of

the New Testament into Bengali, with Yates and Adam rendering

the Greek text into English, and then, with Rammohun's assistance,

into Bengali. The work of the translation went well unti l the three

men reached the third verse of the first chapter of the Gospel of

John. There a new controversy arose ov€r the Greek preposition

diq and whether it should be rendered "by" and "through" in the

phrase "All things were made through Him." Fearing the tinge of

Arianism if "through" rather than "by" were used, and that the po-

s i t ion of Chr is t in the Tr in i ty would thereby be compromised,

Yates withdrew from the Project.sAs outcasts, Adam and Rammohun Roy became close friends.

Both decided while finishing the translation that there was indeed

no proof of the Trinity to be found in the New Testament. The im-

pact of Adam's decision to publicize his change in theological ori-

entat ion was h is expuls ion f rom the Bapt is t church miss ion ' For

their outspokenly l iberal positions, Rammohun and Adam were

now opposed both by the brahmins and the Christians in Calcutta'

Together they decided to establish a Unitarian church' This de-

cision coincided, by striking chance, with the founding of orga-

nized Unitarian movements in Boston and London. Journalists in

both countries had already reported to Unitarians Rammohun's con-

t rovers ia l s tand wi th Hindus and Chr is t ians. Adam had received


..cnnons by the Rev. Will iam Ellery Channing, father of Americanl'rrir irrianism. By 1823, a correspondence between the two Calcutta,rr.. u.d both the American and British unitarian organizations hadl , r ' ; ' , 1 t , . r '

' [he excitement of this new relationship was short-l ived.

( .rlr 'urta's requests for money to support a mission took months to( r()\s the ocean. The financial responses were too small to allowl'r itny significant development in Calcutta. By far the largest f i_rrrncial support came from Rammohun himself and froml)rv:rrkanath Tagore, a wearthy merchant, father of DebendranathI rrgore, the next major Brahmo leader, and grandfather ofR:rhini1sn61h Tagore, the poet. The other pervasive problem in the(':rlcutta-England-American axis was the Unitarian desire to de-.t ribe Rammohun as a "Christian." This suggested a level of pater-rrrrl isrn at work in the rerationship. unitarian services, while. thev'rcre held under Adam's leadership, were conducted in Enelisilr . r thcr than in Bengal i .

I ly 1828' Rammohun and his closest friends fert that a reform*rthin Hinduism would be a far better approach than that of at_t('rrpting to establish a Unitarian church where Hindus would never1'l:ry a leadership role equar to rhat of Brit ish members. while wil-lr.rrrr Adam was disappointed not to have them as part of his strug_r' lrrrr: unitarian community, he takes credit in letters written t-of lrrsr<rn in the winter of 1828 for having urged the brahmin reader-' l '1r .f the unitarian movement to go in the direction of an indig-' t r i l l l \ f e f o fm mOVemen t .T

Adam also provides us with the earliest description of Brahmor'rrrhip in a letter he wrote to the Rev. Joseph ruckerman of Bos-r" ' in 1829' The serv ice i l lust rates how the Brahmo Samaj in i ts'rrlrest days helped upper-caste inteilectual Hindus to reform their

r r ' r , l r r i .n wi thout c los ing of f re l ig ious, cu l tura l , or caste ident i ty .The service begins with two or three of the pandits singing,or rather, chanting in the cathedral style, some of the spiri_tual portions of the Ved, which are next explained in thevernacular dialect to the people by another Bengali...andthe whole is concluded by hymns both in Sanikrit andllengali, sung with and accompanied by instrumental music,which is also occasionally interposed between other parts ofrhe service. The audience generally consists of from fifty tosixty individuals, several pandits, a good many Brahmins


and all decent and attentive in their demeanor'E

Finding a sense of religious identity which could speak to the

needs of a more educated' lntellectual' brahmin-botn elite seems

clearly to have U""n if'" earliest motivation for establishing the

Brahmo Samaj. Disappointed but understanding of what had hap-

;"fu, William Adam wrote again to Tuckerman:

Rammohun Roy, I am persuaded' supports this institution

[the Brahmo Samaj] not b""tu'" he believes in the divine

authority of the V"i' Uut solely as an instrument for over-

throwing idolatry' To be candid' however' I must add that"'

in my mind"' he employs Unitarian Christianity in the same

way, as un in't'ut"nt for spreading pure and just notions of

God, without i"i ieuing in ihe divine authority of the Gos-

pel. '

Thus it was that the Brahmo Samaj had its origins' Rammohun

Roy combined in his fersonality and intellect a depth of spirit that

saw new light from th' t*o tiaditions essentially confl icting ' in

Calcutta. On the one hand, Vaisnava sectarianism with its practices

such as sati (widow Uutningl una hghfy emotional bhakti seemed

to offer nothing to 'p"uL tl'tn" nt"ai of.the early nineteenth-cen-

tury educated urban i{il"' On the other hand' the British East In-

dia Compan, p'" '"*"' ' *ith its new educational institutions and'

after 1813, a Christian missionary participation, evangelical in its

orientation, also did not speak io the needs of Hindus such as

Rammohun.

From Brahmo Sabha to Samaj: Debendranath Tagore

Although a detailed discussion of Brahmo institutional devel-

opment and the fo,."' ut work in it would require a study of the

depth of that undertaken recently by David -Kopf it is here impor-

i"'ii i" "ri" "t least Akkhov Kumar Dutt (1820-69) ut :n" ":l:"î

*r-, of Debendranath Tagore who brought a different perspectlve

to the liberal religious tJlt"t"nt' A product of both Hindu and

Christian education, puil Ito attended Calcutta Medical College

shortly after it opened in 1835' His philosophical orientation was

centered in rationalism, deism' and scientism'to Although he was

accused of being un utft"l" and can certainly be labelled a'secular-

ist. Dutt's conception oi ift" Oiuint rested not on a Christian doc-


trrnc of prayer or a Vedantist experience of union with brahmin,l)ut rather on an understanding of science and the natural lawsrvlrich revealed the harmoniousness and interrelatedness of the uni-vt'rsc. Dutt represents one extreme to which the combined presenceol Western and Hindu education could lead a keen mind.

The Charter of 1833, which put an end to all restrictions on('hristian missionary activity, led to new kinds of responses amongtlrc Calcutta intelligentsia. Renewal movements such as the BrahmoSabha (Samaj) organized to include a broader base of the educatedyoung Bengali generation meant that Dutt, who did not come fromrr wealthy family background and who held rather radical views,could find a place in the movement. The new freedom of Christianrnissionaries led also to a considerable amount of anti-missionarypropaganda by the vernacular press, as well as rising opposition inthc Hindu community to any attempts to teach Christianity in either

tr'overnment or missionary schools.By 1839, Dutt had discovered Debendranath Tagore and had

ioirred his Tattvabodhini Sabha, a reform movement roughly paral-lcl to the Brahmo Sabha but more clearly dedicated to opposingthc Christian expansion into Bengal. That Tagore, who was veryrrruch more a mystic and theist, should welcome the more theologi-. rt l ly radical Dutt is a sign that Hindu religious l iberalism was wil l-rrrg, at this stage, to be accepting and expansive. By the mid-I840s,l)rrtt was a teacher in Tagore's school and editor of the BrahmoS;rrrraj newspaper, the Tatnabodhini Patrika.tl

Debendranath Tagore stands out as a figure markedly differentlrorn others of his generation. This is because he was already a..ct'ond generation "Brahmo," the product of a wealthy landowningt.rrrri ly steeped in Western l iberalism and eclectic in its l i fe-style.I rrrtt, by contrast, was the first in his family-as were so many,'thcr young men of the 1840s-to experience a break with conser-\ir l ive caste-dominated Hindu culture. Western education, the sci-.n(cs, openness in examining the meaning of l i fe , were new to1 i l i l 1 .

Tagore married early in the traditional Hindu style, but wasr'\poSCd to non-Hindu practices of meateating and wine drinking at. 'n carly age. The death of his grandmother in 1835 seems to havel\( 'cn ir traumatic experience for him. His autobiography also re-prrrrs thot Debendranath turned to religious concerns during a deep,l( ' l)rrrssion and after accidentally f inding a passage from the


Upanisads that spoke almost mystically to him'12

This direct experience of God turned Tagore away ftom the

luxurious and sensuous ways of his father' He gave up meat and

*in", und rebelled directly against his father in other ways' For a

;;;i;; he studied traditional Hindu scriptures and theologv' becom-

ing O""pty aware that in his father's house traditional idols contin-

u"i ,o t" pr"r"nt, in direct contradiction of Brahmo values repu-

Aiu,ing poiytheism. The yearly celebration of Durga Puja in the

home, and the fact tt,at arter oining with Europeans, members of

tne f,our"totd purif ied themselves by washing in the Ganges' were

both sources of distress to Tagore'rl

Because of his father'' "io'"

ties to Rammohun Roy and the

fouJing of the Brahmo Sabha' Debendranath stood back for a

time to assess what was happening in calcutta' During the period

of his first spiritual crisis in iS:S or age eighteen' Thomas Babington

Macauley and Governor-General Lord Will iam Bentinck were ad-

vocating secularized Western education as a salvation for India

over against the Orientalist tradition' which had for several decades

been attempting the '"'totution of traditional cultural values' After

1830, Alexander Dutf, a Presbyterian frol Scotland' also played a

*lo, -f" in combining the power of Christian missions with a ra-

tionalist and modernisi outlook' Duff turned out to be a major op-

;;;;;, of brahmin Hindu intellectuals during the 1840s'

It is in this context that one needs to see why Debendranath

tugor" established the Tattvabodhini Sabha before joining forces

with the Brahmo Sabha, changing its name to the Brahmo Samaj'

The explicit purpose of the organization n-ewly established in Octo-

ber 1839, was to stem the rapid gro*th of Christianity while famil-

iarizing the Hindu fopulation *ittt i tt own scriptural tradition

through extensive puUtitution'' Even when Debendranath joined the

Brahmo Sabha in f A+:, tte kept his other organization alive' The

Tattvabodhini Sabha continued- its work and grew in membership

up to 1859, when it merged with the Brahmo Samaj' Tagore's

main tools against the miisionaries were a school he founded in

1840 to oppose the values of Duff's missionary school' where all

teaching was in Bengali rather than in English' and the

Tattvobodhini Patrika, an outspoken newspaper'

The new association held weekly meetings to discuss religious

and theological matters' This provided members with a chance to

clarify questions and to come to some consensus about their be-


lrcfs. Debendranath wanted to use the organization to allow him to,lclcnd Hindu cultural values over against those of Christianity,*' l i i le at the same time allowing the rational faith of Brahmoism tor'rrtch hold among the young Bengali intell igentsia. It was in such.rn atmosphere that Tagore and Dutt, coming from different orien-t,rt ion.s and backgrounds, could sti l l work together.ra

On December 21, 1843, Tagore and twenty others took an oathlrinding them to the tenets of the Brahmo Sabha. This action,'pened the way for the Tattvabodhini and Brahmo Sabhas to con-rrcct officially. Because the organizing by-laws of the BrahmoSlbha did not contain strong statements of ideology, Tagore's actot affirmation rvith the Sabha seems clearly to have been a turningpoint for both Tagore and the organization which Rammohun hadI'cgun in 1828. Because the Brahmo Sabha was relatively inactivebctween 1833 and 1843, some scholars date the real establishmentol the Brahmo Samaj from the date Debendranath Tagore took hisorr th.

Tagore quickly developed a new statement of faith for theS;rrnaj, expressing clearly the theological position of the renewed, ' rganizat ion.

| . God is a personal being with sublime attributes.I God has never become incarnate.l. God hears and answers prayers.'1. God is to be worshipped only in spiritual ways. Hindu asceti-

cism, temples, and fixed forms of worship are unnecessary...all castes and races may worship God acceptably.

5. Repentance and cessation from sin are the only ways to for-giveness and salvation.

(r. Nature and intuition are sources for the knowledse of God. Nobook is . r j

Debendranath's great strength seems to have been as an orga-rrrzcr of the rejuvenated organization. In the year 1845-46, therrrt 'rrrbership rose sharply from 145 to 500. Many college studentsr, 'rnctl. Clearly Tagore's two reform movements were the most sig-r r r l ruunt such organizat ions in Bengal unt i l wel l in to the 1860s.

l ly l850, Debendranath prepared a codification of Brahmor,',rr lr ing, emphasizing both ethics and theology, entit led BrahmoItlt,trnut. Shortly before this, Debendranath had decided to removerlrt ' Vedantic element of Shankara" from the Brahmo Covenant.16

IO / RELIGION IN MODERN INDIA

Brahmos with a more rationalist bent than Debendranath were

overjoyed on learning that their leader, f inding no way for the

Vedas or traditional Vedanta to make sense for modern Hindus,

had decided to remove those teachings. The theological part of the

Brahmo Dharma was drawn almost entirely from the Upanisads'

While texts from traditions other than Hinduism were not included,

there was no diatribe directly against Christianity. A sense of uni-

versalism pervaded the introduction. Here Tagore wrote that "to be

a theist or a professor of theism, it is not necessary to belong to a

particular country, age or nationality' The theists of all countries

have the right to teach about God."r?In the ethical portion of the book, evidence of the Brahmo

"Puritan" ethic appears. While one might get the impression that

the influence of John Calvin had worked upon Debendranath in

this section, it appears that as a Hindu modernist he was rewrit ing

the Code of Manu to meet the needs of the times. Debendranath's

moral precepts inc lude carefu l ly expla ined dut ies of husbands'

wives. and children, one to the others. The rules are not stated for

their own sake, but are rationalized, offering the basis for family

harmony. writ ing that social good was derived from such qualit ies

as "sincerity, devotion, purity, forgiveness and gentleness,"rs one

might almost see the influence of Confucius at work in Debendra-

nath's writ ings. As well, he developed sections from Manu on the

nature of work reminiscent of Benjamin Franklin: "Acquire knowl-

edge, religion and the habit on industry early in life" or "Do not

be enchanted with earthly things in forgetfulness of the transitory

character of l i fe."'e Such Puritan ethics were soon to become the

basis for the Brahmo doctrine of Keshub Chunder Sen'

Keshub Chunder Sen: Prophet of Harmony

Where some have declared Rammohun Roy to be founder of

Brahmo Samaj and others held Debendranath Tagore to be the

moving organizational force for the movement, sti l l other scholars

and observers would insist that it was Keshub Chunder Sen who

truly turned the Samaj to a national religious reform' Born in 1838

to a Vaisnava family, Keshub was educated at Hindu College and

exposed at an early age to the pervasive influences of Brit ish and

Christian culture in Bengal. Already religious, and even bordering

on the ascetic as a young man, he l ived in two worlds, exposing

THE BRAHMO SAMAJ / II

hirnself to western missionaries and also maintaining his traditionall l indu ties. Although married in 1856 at the age of eighteen, it ap_pears that by 1857 Keshub had made a conscious decision..not tobe overly fond of wife or world."2' During his period of university.studies, in his interactions with such missionaries as the social ac-tivist Reverend James Long and the unitarian charles Dall, andduring his involvement in public organizations such as the Good_will Fraternity, Keshub had begun a search for religious meaningthrough devotionalism and a moderately ascetic l i fe.

Keshub's conversion to Brahmoism took place after he read apamphlet, "What Is Brahmoism?" written by Raj Narain Bose, aclose colleague of Tagore and Dutt. About that t ime Keshub andhis cousin, Protap Chunder Mazumdar (the fourth major figure inthe movement) saw Debendranath Tagore fbr the first t ime. Senwas impressed. "He was tall, princely, in the full glory of hislrealth and manhood; he came attended by l iveried servants, andsurrounded by massive stalwart Brahmos, who wore long goldchains and impenetrable countenances. We who were very youngrnen... were highly elated and encouraged by such company, and itwas an inducement to follow with zeal our religious career."2t

After reading the Bose tract, Keshub wrote, ..I found rhat itcorresponded exactly with the inner conviction of my heart, thevoice of God in the soul. I always felt that every outward bookrnust be subordinated to the teachings of the inner Spirit,_thatwhere God speaks through the Spirit in man all earthly teachersrnust be silent, and every man must bow down and accept in rev_crence what God thus revealed in the soul. I at once determinedthat I would join the Brahmo Samaj, or Indian Theistic Church."22

The basis of Keshub's rise to leadership in the Brahmo move-rnent was above all religious. Yet, as early as 1860 in.his speechI. "Young Bengal", the fraternal organization of secularized Hinclu\(udents, there were'overtones suggesting that social and polit ical'cforms would also be needed to regenerate India. Keshub's ideaswere not highly original. Many views he espoused had been in therrir since the time of Rammohun Roy. Many were similar to thoseviews opposing the Christian mission movement. Many among theYoung Bengal group saw the need for a religious faith, freed fromthc l-etters of traditional vaisnava Hinduism, which would raise thell indu pgrsonality out of the social and religious predicament inrvhich it found itself. Keshub's skil l seems to have been as the

12 / RELICION IN MODERN INDIA

reshaper of ideas already in the air. It was not long before he dis-

covered that, through his speaking and vigorous organizational

skil ls, he could make a significant impact on the Bengali Hindu

community.His biographer has written that "from the moment he had en-

tered the Brahmo Samaj, he had taken the vow of finding in it 'a

Religion of Life', as opposed to a religion of theories. Every prin-

ciple that he developed, every reform that he undertook, was the

result of that vow."2lWithin a few years after the time the young Keshub had joined

the Samaj in the shadow of the awesome Debendranath Tagore, he

was lecturing and leading a dynamic new missionary thrust for the

movement well beyond the borders of Bengal. Social concerns

were first and foremost on his mind in the early years' In an 1863

lecture, "social Transformation in India," he asserted that once all

people came under one church and one God, all caste distinctions

would ..naturally perish in the uncongenial atmosphere of religious

brotherhood."2a It was this kind of idea, drawn from both Brahmo

and Western ideas of social reform, that was the basis of the

Goodwill Fraternity, an organization whose members, in 1861'

voted to end caste distinctions within that group while pledging to

educate their wives and to abstain from alcohol already taking its

toll among the younger secular generation. Keshub was part of this

movement. Throughout the 1860s, young Brahmos, under the influ-

ence of Keshub's personality and his teachings on social and reli-

gious reform, began publication of The Indian Mirror, the earliest

English language newspaper published by Indians' They convened

as well public meetings to draw government attention to the need

for educational reform and programs to alleviate poverty'

What was unusual about Keshub's religious leadership was the

model he offered Young Bengal. It was not one normally to be ex-

pected in Calcutta. Keshub's exemplar was Jesus, the center of

Christian salvation. Keshub's Jesus, however' was adapted to an

Asiatic context, the reformer who was "meek" like an Indian and

not "rough, stern, imPulsive and fiery as Europeans were'"25 Jesus,

the Asiatic. was the force of creative civilization West and East. It

was not the English, but the spirit of christ ultimately at the root

of English rule, that was responsible for the progressive changes

that had occurred in India. Jesus' life was the ultimate symbol of

selflessness which, when considered in the Indian context, meant


.rrr cnd to caste distinctions and wil l ingness to work for the greaterlootl of all humankind.26

But for Keshub, Brahmoism was to be sharply differentiatedlr.rn christian sectarianism. His position sounded much like that ofl,rrc nineteenth-century Brit ish and American Unitarianism, despiterhc lact that Keshub claimed that even Unitarian Christianity wasno "3[5elu1s religion." The essence of Brahmoism, as Keshub ar-ticulated it in his 1860 essay "Religion of Love," was ..Love God,rs thy Father and man as thy brother."27 Keshub seems clearly toluve been fully motivated by the concept of Christ, revering him;rbove all prophets and teachers, even above so major a figure toItcngalis as Chaitanya. But for Keshub, Jesus, I ike Chaitanya, couldnot be a mediator between God and man, for Brahmoism out ofrts Vedantic tradition was a faith based on belief in God asl,nthnmn, the One without a second. "Christianity," Keshub argueclrn an 1863 lecture, "has prepared the world for the Brahmo Samaj,lrLrt has not given birth to Brahmoism," for God, not the Bible, wastlrc source and inspiration of Brahmo ideas.2t

Throughout the 1860s, Keshub and the other Brahmos engagedrrr polemics and controversy wi th Chr is t ian miss ionar ies. Keshubrlrrcctly answered charges when attacked by the Reverend Dyson ofKrishnagar, by the native preacher Lal Behari Day, and also by a\eo(tish Christian merchant who had deliberately insulted the In-,i irrn character. The impact of Keshub's work was far reaching. In1s62, ten per cent of the enter ing c lass of the Univers i ty of( l lcutta declared themselves "Universalists, Brahmos, pantheists,. lc is ts or atheis ts . " Whi le Keshub would not have agreed wi thrlrose in the latter category, he was certainly pleased to see youngllcngali students moving away from declared anti-Hindu secularismrr) nlore sophisticated theological positions.

The attacks on or rebuttals against the missionaries were but,nc stage in Keshub's quest to articulate a sense of identity forr , rung l ibera l re l ig ious Hindus. A sense of patr io t ism comesr l r rough in the words spoken in 1860 when Keshub was onlyr \ \c l l ty- two years o ld:

Rest assured, my friend, that if in our country intellectualprogress went hand in hand with religious development, ifour educated countrymen had init iated themselves in the l iv-ing truths of religion, patriotism would not have been a merematter of oration and essay, but a reality in practice; and na-


t ive society would have grown in heal th and prosper i ty ' . '

and effectually surmounted many of those diff iculties in the

way of social reforms which are not constituted insuper-

able.2e

In "Jesus Christ: Europe and Asia," Keshub exhorted the new

generation of Indians to reject the selfishness he believed to be the

pr inc ipal negat ive character is t ic of Indians, so long a "subject

race."We have too long been under foreign sway to be able to feel

anything l ike independence in our hearts. Socially and reli-

giously we are l itt le better than slaves. From infancy up we

have been trained to believe that we are Hindoos only as far

as we offer slavish obedience to the authority of the Shasters

and the priests, and that any want of disobedience would be

so much a want of our nationality.rt)Although Debendranath Tagore had defended the Brahmo

movement against the incurs ions of Chr is t ian i ty , Keshub's words

and call for a new religious and national identity were far louder

an<I clearer. Perhaps the time was now more ripe for such a call. In

1866, Keshub Chunder Sen stood at the turning point of his career'

He hacl taken a stand for Christ, but for Christ in a universal

sense; he had called out for needed social reform, which also im-

plied polit ical reform. All this would require a major change in at-

t i tude and a re l ig ious revolut ion among the Hindus. I t would not

be enough to speak of reform; significant action was required.

Keshub's s tance against caste was especia l ly controvers ia l '

Debendranath Tagore was not prepared to give up the sacred thread

of brahminism in favor of a t rue democracy for Brahmoism. In

1865, Keshub and his supporters had taken control of the Brahmo

newspaper, The Indian Mirror, while also beginning a far more dy-

namic program of miss ionary expansion for the Brahmo Samaj ' r '

More than anything else, it was Keshub's two strongly articulated

lectures, "Jesus Chr is t : Europe and Asia," and "Great Men," in

which he quoted from Christian history almost directly, that dem-

onstrated his sharp refutation of the historical stance of most Hin-

duism.The time was ripe. Keshub led a split in the Samaj in Novem-

ber 1866, establishing the Brahmo Samaj of India' Debendranath's

faction was now to be known as the 'Adi or Original Brahmo

Samaj. The split between the two groups also had its roots in

THE BRAHMO SAMAJ I 15

Keshub's 1864 decision to carry out a major missionary journeythroughout India. By this time, the Brahmo Samaj and its opposi-l ion to the efforts of Christian missionaries was well enoughknown for him to want to pursue a more broadly based religiousrcfbrm movement beyond the borders of Bengal. Well received inMadras, Bombay, and Poona, it was only a matter of t ime beforerrctive chapters would exist there. Debendranath, while concernedwith social service in needy areas of India, did not have a visionthrough which the Samaj would be carried into non-Bengali areas.Neither could he accept the kind of social reform which wouldrnean strong advocacy of legal status for Brahmos to conduct theirown inter-religious marriages, widow remarriage, and intercastenrarriage. Perhaps the greatest difference and that which eventuallysplit the two men was Keshub's "Christian training" and his desiret() integrate the best of Christ into the Brahmo religious movement.

Although Keshub's lecture "Jesus Christ: Europe and Asia"lrad as its fundamental statement the concept that Christ was anAsiatic and not a European, his second major 1866 lecture, "GreatN,len," had the basic purpose of using Christ as one example oflrow God sends great men to serve and save humanity. HereKcshub's fami l iar i ty wi th b ib l ica l l i terature and teaching standstrut . In the lectures "Regenerat ing Fai th" (1868), "The Future( 'hurch" (1869), and " the Kingdom of Heaven" (1874) Keshub wasrr t i l iz ing Chr is t 's concept of an ideal re l ig ious s i tuat ion to set anrrlcal before his Indian audience.32 He was describing "an invisiblercll i ty which must be sought in the domain of the spirit, and not intlrc world of matter."3l

The contrast between Keshub's approach to Christ andl(rrrnmohun's approach to Jesus is clear. Where the latter came toIt 'sus because of a sense of the inadequacy of the Hindu spirituallr lc of his time (the 1820s), the former came to Christ (not the hu-rrrrr) Jesus ) for the opposite reasons: to spiritualize a generation of\r)ung Bengal which had fallen from faith, albeit a corrupted\ ' ; r i snav i sm.

In reaching out to a new audience, Keshub tried to synthesize,r'.1)ccts of Hindu devotionalism and f'estivals in an attempt to for-rrrrrlut€ a non-Western but also anti-traditional, anti-caste religious, , , rnrnuni ty . Debendranath Tagore had turned Rammohun Roy's',1,'rrls around by l imiting the Samaj to brahmin membership. By, ,nt rast . Keshub bel ieved h is Brahmoism was not iust a var iat ion

16 / RELICTON IN MODERN INDIA

or reformation of Hinduism, but a "catholic" religion, a religion in

which all the various sects and people of India could be reconciled

to each other and live in Peace.In 18?0, Keshub's impact reached well beyond India' He trav-

eled to England, where he met and spoke before Unitarian and so-

cial reform organizations' In meetings with figures such as Lord

Lawrence, Sir Charles Trevellyan, the Dean of Westminster' and

oxford scholar F. Max Miil ler, Keshub was well received. His abil-

ity to communicate with Westerners was quickly evident from the

text of his first sermon in a Unitarian chapel. He chose the passage

from Acts lT, "ln Him, we live and move and have our being"' a

text appropriate enough for a Christian, a Unitarian' or a Vedantic

Hindu.3aIn his English speeches, Keshub did not hesitate to sPeak out

f o r r e t b r m s i n l n d i a , n o r d i d h e h e s i t a t e t o c r i t i c i z e f a i l u r e s o fchristian culture. He made it clear that he was not in England to

study christian doctrine as much as he was there to observe "the

t r u l y C h r i s t i a n l i f e a s d i s p | a y e d a n d i l l u s t r a t e d . ' ' ] 5 W h i l e i m p r e s s -ing h is hosts wi th k indness towards them' Keshub in la ter

. p - e " c h e , a t t a c k e d C h r i s t i a n s w h o b e a t H i n d u s a n d e n s l a v e d t h e m ,,ira.pty crit icizing the English propagation of l iquor and opium in

India. He called fbr much more significant roles for educated In-

dians in government, and improved education and life-styles for In-

dian women.16In his lecture of May 18, 1870, Keshub spoke as a Hindu the-

ist about the significance of Christ for his l i fe and why he did not

become a Christian. He explained his Christology: "I studied christ

ethically, nay spiritually-and I studied the Bible also in that spirit

and must tonigttt acknowledge candidly and sincerely that I owe a

great deal to christ and to the Gospel of christ";3? "Jesus is not a

iroposition to be believed, nor an outward figure to be seen and

uOoi"a but simply a spirit to be loved, a spirit of obedie nce to God

that must be incorporated into our spiritual being'"3t

I f there is s igni f icance in d iscussing Keshub in England and

his vibrant impression upon liberal Christians there' it is to dem-

onstrate that in the l iberal wing of the Brahmo Samaj there was a

sense of mission beyond that which Keshub had already carried

from Bengal to outer India' Keshub believed fervently that the

B r a h m o S a m a j h a d a m i s s i o n f o r t h e W e s t e r n w o r l d a s w e l l . U n t i lSvami Dayananda of the Arya Samaj and Svami Vivekananda car-


rictl the concept of mission outreach much further in their ownnrovements, what Keshub was doing was truly radical within Hin-t lu is ln-nn apologet ic and new dimension of ec lect ic ism for h ist : r i t h .

A New Dispensation

The Brahmo Samaj reform program that developed during thelate 1860s and the 1870s under Keshub's leadership was impres-sive. The Brahmo Marriage Act was passed in 1872 after fouryears of education and lobbying. In spite of opposition from the'Adi Brahmos the Act reformed the practice of child marriage andallowed Brahmos to ignore the old practices of caste associatedwith marriage. The liberalization and simplif ication of other l i fe-oriented ceremonies accompanied the marriage reforms in theSamaj. Keshub and his followers were also instrumental in found-ing the Indian Reform Association, a normal school for girls, anda campaign for temperance.3e

By 1876 and 1877, Keshub Chunder Sen had taken theBrahmo Samaj in a new direction. He felt an increasing pull to-wards bhakti or traditional Hindu devotionalism. At the same time.he drew his closest followers into an increasingly ascetic commu-nity which developed meditative disciplines over and above thoseusually practiced in the Samaj. But a new crisis arose for thernovement in 1878 when Keshub announced that he had arrangedtirr his daughter, very much underage, to marry the youthful Maha-rajah of Kuch Behar. Loud crit icism arose immediately on threecounts: (l) that this was a breach of the Brahmo Marriage Act inregard to age, (2) that the marriage could not be performed with-out idolatrous ceremonies taking place, and (3) Keshub had ar-ranged the marriage because of the material benefits that would!'ome to his family. Keshub, on the other hand, justif ied the deci-rion with claims that God had revealed to him the fact that hervas in the right. While Protap Chunder Mazumdar, Keshub'seousin, and Gour Govind Roy wrote to defend Keshub's actions,, 'pposition continued adamant. Many of Keshub's early followers*' ithdrew to establish the Sadharan Brahmo Samaj, the Samajlrranch active to the present day. Keshub himself continued aslcader of the Brahmo Samaj of India. By 1881, however, his group, alled itself the Navavidhan or Church of the New Dispensation.

18 / RELIGIONINMODERNINDIA

The attitude of Brit ish and American Unitarians towards

Keshub changed markedly after these events' His claims in lec-

tures justifying ttre Kuch Behar maniage and his increasingly de-

votion;l theology flew in the face of the clear-headed' rational re-

former they had seen in Keshub in England a decade earlier' A

survey of articles in the western church press indicates clearly

compiete opposition to Keshub because of what he had done'4o

in reuruary lgg0, Keshub's reassociation with Vaisnavism be-

came clear. He and his followers conducted a major procession

through Calcutta. Stopping at one point, Keshub called on his fol-

lowers for a religious ievival of bhakti ' The procession was fi l led

with flags, musical instruments, and Brahmos' some of whom had

come from as far away as Bombay and Sind' This event seems to

have been one of the first clearly identified with the New Dispen-

S a t i o n . I t s e m o t i o n a l a n d r e v i v a l i s t c h a r a c t e r s e e m s t o h a v e f u s e dSalvation Army and traditional Vaisnava appeal' Some 5'000 Hin-

dus are reported to have prostrated themselves before Keshub'

chanting a krrtan especially written for the occasion'

ThJ same year Keshub also began a process of seminars on the

teachings of the world's great prophets such as Socrates' Moses'

and Muhammad. It was more than an academic experience for

those who joined in it. It was very much of a pilgrimage in which

the participants would hold a dialogue with a speaker representa-

tive of the prophet under study' Much in the spirit of Ramakrishna'

who was emerging about the same time, Keshub was drawing his

followers together' with strands from many differing faiths' towards

a universal world faith.

While many would argue that Keshub's preoccupation with de-

votional matters in the lglOs foreclosed his involvement in social

reform, other supporters claim that his concern was to provide

moral transformation of individuals before attempting new major

social changes. For all this he came under severe crit icism from

Sadharan Brahmos who wanted to follow his earlier reform and

missionary path for a rationat Hinduism to speak to the needs of

the modein age. Four essays Keshub wrote in his new periodical'

The New Dispensation, might have led his readers to the conclu-

sion that he was an honesf mystic, or else that he had gone mad'

In these he spoke of his own "madness," of being haunted by the

Holy Ghost, or hearing speakers everywhere that had no tongue'

Serious physical illness was affecting him' His death came quickly


in January 1884.11Although the leadership of Keshub Sen spiralled the Brahmo

Slrnaj to new prominence, it had also created a three-way split inrhc rnovement. One might think that such a split would cause therrrovement to lose its effectiveness. In one sense, the BrahmoSlrrraj of the post-1880s gave way to new movements whose first-lrcrreration enthusiasm stirred Indian minds and hearts in more dy-nrrrnic and emotional ways. On the other hand, one more figurecrncrged in the movement, making an especially strong impact forthc Samaj in England and America-Protap Chunder Mazumdar,Kcshub's cousin and associate throughout his career.

Two years younger than Keshub, Protap remained in theslndow of his cousin during Keshub's l ifetime. An heir-apparent,lrc failed to take over the leadership of the Samaj in 1884 on hisrclurn from a trip around the world because of the predominance,rl Keshub's neo-Vaisnava and bhakti-oriented followers who didn()r want the Westernized, well-traveled, urbane Mazumdar to be-, rrrre their leader. A second factor involved was the meteoric rise,rl Svami Vivekananda, once a Brahmo himself, who caught the1'rrblic eye despite Mazumdar's presence as the official representa-trvc of Hinduism to the World Parliament of Religions in Chicagor r r 1 8 9 3 .

Some of Keshub's followers, such as Bijoy Krishna Goswami,rvrrrrted to propagate Brahmoism among rural and less well-edu-, .rtt'rl peoples, while Protap Mazumdar, himself educated, Western-,'ncnted, and deeply influenced by Christian Unitarianism (this isr'rrrlcnt from his numerous writings), preferred to travel throughoutlrr, l i :r by train, joining Keshub on his missionary journeys to Ma-,lr,rs, Punjab, and elsewhere. While the Brahmo Samaj might be' .1 ' r t ' r rd in the Bengal i language in the envi rons of Calcut ta orl ).rt t ir, tsnglish, rather than Tamil, Urdu, or Marathi could be usedrn {rthcr areas.n2 Throughout his travels in India, Mazumdar appearsr,r |v;1vg been a major factor in organizing chapters, keeping them,lrrc, :rrrd moving them towards polit ical and social reform.

lrr rnany respects, Protap Mazumdar is best known by his wrif,rr1,., lf is tlrst book, The Faith and Progress of the Brahmo Samaj,\ , . r rn I882 defense of Keshub's "spi r i tua l universal ism" pub-.,. lrr ' t l irr Calcutta. This volume was dedicated to Rammohun Roy,rr,,11 1'111, described as "one who first cast on the wild waters ofl l,rr, lrr rrciety, the bread, which, in the writer and others, has been


returned a hundredfold."a3 The image was biblical if the reference

to Rammohun was not'

Mazumdar's letters to oxford Professor F. Max Miiller indicate

as early as l88l the extent to which Protap Mazumdar was.dis-

turbed Ly Keshub's move away from unitarian-oriented Brahmoism.

Impressed by Miil ler's comparative method in the study of reli-

gions, t.otai wanted to see it applied to faith and devotion in the

Ion,"*t of the Brahmo Samaj' "The fatherhood of God is a mean-

ingless abstraction unless the unity of truth in all lands and all na-

tions is admitted. And the brotherhood of man is impossible if

there is no recognition of the services which the great people of

the earth have rendered unto each other"'4

Protap's book The Oriental C/rrisr helped make him a favorite

of American Unitarians. Here he developed in a different way the

K e s h u b i t e d o c t r i n e o f C h r i s t t h e A s i a t i c . H e w a s c a r e f u l n o t t opresent Christ in an uncritically universalist manner' writing that he-had

come to Jesus out of a secular vacuum' He had been awak-

e n e d . h e s a i d , t o . . a S e n s e o f d e e p i n n e r u n w o r t h i n e s s ' ' a n d . . astrong sense of sin."as Keshub and the general Indian environment

of thJ times, rather than a direct association with Christianity' were

the source of his commitment to Christ' His experience seems to

have combined views of Rammohun and those of Keshub' Protap's

encounter was with both the human Jesus and Christ as an ideal'

Protap drew his specific theology from two of Keshub's lec-

tures. Denying that eiiher he or the Brahmos were pantheists' he

nevertheless appeared as something of a Vedantist when he wrote

of the experience of samadhi' This was a direct experience of

Christ rather than the understanding of Christ one would receive

tiom the European dogmatic tradition' In his 1893 work' The Spirit

of God, Mazumdar set forth a comparative evolutionary principle

between Hinduism and Christianity' Here he compared the Vedas

to the Old Testament' the Puralas to the Gospels' the Upanisads to

the le t t e r so fPau l ' asse r t i ng tha tChr i s t i an i t yc lea r l yo f f e redad i s -p e n s a t i o n o f t h e F a t h e r a n d t h e S o n b u t v e r y l i t t l e o f t h e S p i r i t .ihe Brahmo Samaj was the one worshipping community in which

one could see that the Spirit of God was drawing all religions to-

gether. "socrates is for the Greeks, Moses is for the Hebrews'

Lonfucius for the Chinese, Krishna for the Hindus' But there is a

need for a central figure, a universal model' one who includes in

himself. all these nario-us embodiments of God's self manifestations'"6

THE BRAHMO SAMAJ / 2I

Christ was this figure.Although Protap Mazumdar's voyages to England and America

rn 1874 and 1884 were major events in his career, his presence atthe chicago world Parliament of Religions in rg93 was surely ahigh point for him personally as well as for Brahmo outreach io a.ew generation. The Parliament, organized as a humanistic adiunctto the technology of the fair, was conceived of by American reri-gious l iberals. one hundred seventy-two addresses by representa-tives of dozens of religious groups were heard. It was surely thetirst t ime in human history when representatives of all the world'srcligions were gathered to hear one another, even if christians pre-r lominated.

Protap's two speeches, "The Brahmo Samaj" and ..The World'sl(cligious Debt to Asia"aT were both profound, intellectual, and in-tcll igible. The speech on the Brahmos emphasized both history and'.cial reform, while the second and longer lecture stressed thercnse of immanence, mysticism, and spiritualism, so much a part.l the Asiatic traditions. Protap made clear his broad knowledge of' ' \sian religiousness, presenting something of universalism but l i tt le, r t nat ional ism in h is ta lks.

That Protap made such a strong impression on his Americanl ln i tar ian l is teners was evident f rom the inv i tat ions he received.Ihcse inc luded the four Lowel l lectures in Cambr idge, Massa_, l ruset ts , in the fa l l o f 1893, and the ra is ing of a pension, whicht,rovided Protap with an annual stipend unti l his death in 1905. Al_tlr.ugh the traditional historical record makes Svami vivekananda,r r r t to be the Hindu hero of the Wor ld 's par l iament , protap\ l r rzumdar 's impact was far reaching in a more subt le way. Hisr,rlc hn5 only recently been uncovered.

whatever impression protap Mazumdar made on his Americanrrr,l icnces, he was never able to become the leader of the Brahmo'rr,r 'clnent in India that Rammohun, Debendranath, or Keshub hadr', t rr. Most l ikely his defense of Keshub and his affi l iation with the

", r ' I) ispensation movement had worked against him in the eyes

'I rlrose in the'Adi and Sadharan Samaj groups. At the same time,t , r , West€ro ways d id not endear h im to the neo_Vaisnavas whoI r, l l)cen attracted to Keshub's later devotionalism.

Sivanath Sastri and Ananda Mohun Bose were prime moversrlrc Sadharan Brahmo Samaj, which consisted of those who re_,rrrctl behind from Keshub's original split with Debendranath but


f.

who did not join the Church of the New Dispensation. TheSadharan Samaj maintained the traditional Brahmo practices offaith in a personal God, belief in practicing congregational prayer,and condemnation of "mysticism and sentimentalism" which di-verted religious enthusiasm away from "channels of practical use-fulness." The Sadharan group also emphasized brotherhood, op-posed caste distinctions, urged freedom of conscience, and lastly,urged members to use their "moral energy" to promote the "spiri-tual regeneration of the race."aE These were precepts very much inthe spirit of the early Keshub. They remain the backbone of theexisting Samaj to the present day. Where the emotionalism ofKeshub's Navavidhan could not survive organizationally, the well-ordered program of the Sadharan did. The Sadharan, of course, didnot speak of the polit ical issues of the twentieth century asRammohun and the young Keshub had spoken of the social andreligious issues of the nineteenth.

The meaning of the Brahmo Samaj and its significance for re-l igious trends in modern India is several-fold. First, charismaticleadership in at least four major and several minor figures demon-strated that the old Hindu tradition of the guru could be trans-planted to a setting in which modern social reform was called for.Second, the Brahmo Samaj demonstrated that theological reform inresponse to Hindu decline could be indigenous and at the sametime draw on the best of what foreign, in this case Christian, cul-ture had to offer. Third, the example set by Christian missionarieswas first picked up and effectively used as a counterfoil to themissionaries themselves. What the Brahmo Samaj proved it coulddo successfully was soon to be imitated by the Arya Samaj, theRamakrishna movement, and the Ahmadiyah movement in Islam.But for a Hindu religious organization to seek to convert, and towelcome to its membership those of varied castes, was to breaksignificant new ground. Finally, the Brahmo movement built i tsmembership on those who had fallen away from traditionalVaisnava bhakti and brahmin caste practices, and who felt a reli-gious vacuum in their l ives.

The threads of the Brahmo Samaj story are far more complexthan have been described here. The chronology of events as wehave traced them should suffice as an introduction to both the in-tellectual and organizational developm€nt of this first modern [n-dian challenge to foreign domination, Christianity, and internal re-


ligious disintegration'.For its t ime it was an answer to those whocoutd find their identity wittr tie ;;;;;,. The Brahmo impactrcached far beyond i,, numbers uut in-ir,"'end faired to speak torrre needs of India's masses. Likewise, the third and fourth genera-(rrns of Brahmos, without having 1" iigir;-ri. barrre of first genera-ti.n Brahmos, tived comfortabli; ;;ru;, Iiberatism, unable torcspond criticaty ro rhe crisis

"i trr" rsb?";tition of B"ngut o, tfthc massacre at Amritsar. wr,at"uer ;;;;fi"", one may make oflhe Brahmo Samaj in the context

"il*""r,.rt_century political., venrs, rhe movement,s contribut;on-io-iil 'tcenth century is without parallel.

new age of the nine-

Notes

l . The definit ive work onfhe Brahmo Samaj is, without doubt, DavidKop,f's monographs, rn" nrohno i"î,',M o d e r n na *1 il n d r pri n..ton,"irffi ; ",J:r:::r,:i K:::,'r{; :;I wish to express my. appreciation to David Kopf for the inspirationhis work as a historian'r '* p."ui i"o"i"" in urr my studies of theBrlhmo Samaj and its inte.action;;;,

1u1anis1, For the perspecrive offered on ,h"tll1n

and English Uni-Lavan, Ilnitarionr' or-i-,-.)ll.

";':::,"" tne rnteraction see spencer(Boston: Beacon ,and

India: A study in Encounter and Response

ilj j,"'I"j:#ffi:,,l?lli,"'."j,n,*""0:Jt1:.ff;ijlili:iDavid Kopf, British Or,

^ r. y, un i ue, J ;; ;: ; ; ;,:,';:X' : :i,X!,',h{uf ,",, i "'nf " n a i s s a n c e (B e rke.Spencer Lavan, IJnitaritx_rvls uno o ;;;:^':,";;:rr#ii!;r;|,?, of Ram,nohun Roy, part5 (Calcuua: Sadharan_Brahrno" I"rrq,'ina:rrl, p. 4 of the ..Inrro_.

tluction'' rc The precepts of Jesus.t.lrvdn, Unirarians and India, pp. 4l_42.Wil l iam Adam and Ram

Henry ware) n"u,iu) lhun Roy' Corresponde,nce (with the Rev.

!::;:*i:':,;;;;;ir"-,1!,,',i;::;;",,:tr"'f;::l:;i::iit;.\cc also Dil ip Kunwar Biswas, "ai.,

f i"Tirr"spondettce of RaiaRanmohun Roy, (Calcuua, Saras*at t; ir*i, ' iSSzl'';i'!" oPJfiii !ij,"j;":t" R:i;,:;;;;;l'.;, D K Biswas and

t()62), p.227. rev. (Calcutta: Sadharan Bruh." a;; ; j ;

l l t rd., p. 226.I l tr<l . , . ,rr .

THE ARYA SAMAJ IN BRITISH INDIA'L87 5-L947

Kenneth W. Jones

Founder and Founding

The origins of the Arya Samaj are embedded in the personality

Scholars have long agreed that the Arya Samaj was a signifi-

cant force in Brit ish inAia, y"t the first overall sketch of this

movement appeared in 1919 as a chapter in Modern Religious

Movements ii'tndia by J.N' Farquhar' Since that time general ac-

counts were written in uinal and specialized studies in English'I

but no general assessment of the Arya Samaj existed in English'

This chapter will attempt to fill this gap with a sketch of the Arya

iumu; f-rn its foundin! in 1875 to the-creation of India and Pak-

istanin 1947. A detailel examination of the Samaj remains beyond

,tr" ,.op" of this study, but we can provide an outline of its found-

ing una^ growth through this period, the complex of institutions and

p."og.urnJ created Uy tire Samaj, and the major historical forces that

ii"p"J ,rt" history of tnit movement' Among all the socio-religious

movements founded in nineteenth century colonial India' the Arya

Sama jc rea ted themos tex tens i ve ins t i t u t i ona l s t ruc tu re , s t re t ch ingover much of north and central India and beyond into the world of

"rnigrunt Indian settlements in Africa' Southeast Asia' the South

pa"if ic, and the Caribbean' Beginning as a small sect' the Samaj

gr"* ,o resemble denominationi ut *" know them in the West' It

created its own Arya Jagat, or Aryan world' an<l it is this world we

hope to delineate in the next few pages'

THE ARYA SAMAJ IN BRITISH INDIA / 27

of its founder, Svami Dayananda Saraswati. Born in lg24 in thesmall town of Tankara located in the Kathiawar peninsula,2 youngDayananda demonstrated a strong involvement in religion, but hebegan to raise numerous questions about the rituals and beliefs ac-cepted by his parents. Unwilling to be married and accept the nor-mal duties of a householder, Dayananda fled his home at the ageof twenty-two. He became a wandering sanyasi, joined theSaraswati order with the name of Dayananda, and focused his at-tention on a personal pursuit for salvation. After searching for anacceptable guru, Dayananda met Svami Virajanand in November1860. He studied with the blind Virajanand for three years atMathura and left him in 1863 to continue his ascetic existence.There was, however, a crucial change in Dayananda, for he nolonger sought a personal goal. After leaving Virajanand, Dayanandaturned increasingly toward reforming contemporary Hinduism,which he felt was corrupted with superstition and error. The basictools needed to comprehend this reform was the study of grammar.Dayananda believed that all truth lay in the Vedas and could beperceived only through a proper reading of these texts. To do soone must know the works of the grammarians panini and patanjali.Then the Vedas could be read correctly and truth revealed. ForDayananda the Vedas were arsha, i.e., derived from .rsis, inspiredsages of antiquity. The Vedas containetl all truth and were the ul-t imate authority against which other texts were to be compared.Those works, which did not agree u'ith tire Vedas, were consideredunarsha, that is, false, i l legitimate, and fi l led with error.3

Dayananda's vision of Vedic Hinduism rejected most of themajor elements of the Hindu religion: idolatry, polytheism, thePuranas, priestly privilege, popular rituals, and deities. Dayananda'sreligion was monotheistic, open to all, rationalistic, and compatiblewith modern science. For him it was, as well, the one true faith.Not only did he reject popular Hinduism but also all other religionsincluding Buddhism, Christianity, Islam, Zoroastrianism, for thesetoo were false beliefs, since only Vedic Hinduism contained thetruth. In his basic ideological treatise, the Satyarth prakash, firstpublished in 1875, Dayananda laid out his beliefs and his crit icismsof other religions. In his writings he also provided an explanationof the present degenerate state of Hinduism. He declared that theMahabharata, that great war of antiquity, had led to the loss ofcorrect Vedic knowledge, which in turn began a lengthy process of

2


decline among the Hindus. Because of their lack of proper know-

ledge the Hindus were defeated first by Muslims and later the

Christian English. To become, as Dayananda saw them, a subjected

people steeped in error and superstition.

After leaving Virajanand, Dayananda began to preach his own

vision of Hinduism. He entered into debates with orthodox pundits,

visited religious fairs, and travelled extensively throughout northern

India. He spoke in Sanskit and primarily addressed members of

the brahmanical community. In 1872 Dayananda visited calcutta

where he met with leaders of the Brahmo samaj. This encounter

led him to change his tactics for reforming Hinduism' He began to

speak in Hindi and to address the l iterate middle classes of the

Hindu community. He found the educated elite far more responsive

to his message than the priestly groups' With their support

Dayananda founded schools and published periodicals to express

his ideals. He also wrote extensively, publishing two versions of

the satyarth Prakash, one in 1875 and a second rewritten edition

in 1883, p lus numerous other books and pamphlets '1 In 1875 he

founded the first successful Arya Samaj in Bombay' This new

organization prepared a l ist of principles and regulations, which

exf,ressed Dayananda's ideas as well as his program for the reform

of Hindu society. Although the Bombay Arya Samaj continued to

exist, it was in north India that Dayananda found the greatest

acceptance of his message.in lg77 Dayananda travelled to Delhi for the Durbar in honor

of Queen Victoria where he met with prominent Hindus from the

Punjab, who invited him to visit that province' Dayananda jour-

neyld north from Delhi, reaching Lahore on April 19, 1877' He

stayed in the Punjab unti l July l l , 1878. Yet in these few months

Dayananda either directly or indirectly established the Arya Samaj

in Lleven different cit ies. Many Punjabi Hindus responded to his

ideas with enthusiasm and religious fervor, especially among the

young college-educated men of Lahore' Hindus of the Lahore

lrouf t"*tote and condensed the lengthy statement produced by

the nomUay Arya Samaj into ten short, easily grasped principles'

On July Z,q, ft l l , at its f irst meeting the Lahore Arya Samaj

adopted these principles, which then became the standard creed for

all Arya samajes. Afterwards the Lahore samaj evolved into the

organizational center of the fledgling movement' When Dayananda

lefl the Punjab, behind him were a growing collection of Samajes

THE ARYA SAMAJ IN BRITISH INDIA I 29

throughout the province. Through their mil itant ideology newlyfounded Arya Samajes created an arena of religious controversy.sAryas clashed openly with orthodox Hindus, other Hindu reformgroups, and Christian missionaries.

After his visit to the Punjab, Dayananda toured the UnitedProvinces, preaching, holding debates, and founding branches ofthe Arya Samaj. In spite of two extensive trips throughout this areahe had succeeded in adding only six more Arya branches by 1880.6Some of these were established while he was still present in a par-ticular town, others either before or after his arrival. The responsehe met in the United Provinces proved less enthusiastic than that ofthe Punjab, yet in time this would be the province with the largestnumber of Aryas. Numerically the Arya Samaj had its core in thewestern districts of the United Provinces and throughout thePunjab. Its leadership, however, was heavily Punjabi and would re-main so, although as long as Dayananda lived, he was the spiritualand to a degree practical head of the movement. Yet Dayanandasoon turned his attention elsewhere. In May 1881, he arrived inRajasthan, where he spent the last year and a half of his l i fe.Dayananda hoped to persuade the ruling Hindu princes to accepthis concepts of a reformed Hindu state and thus open the way fora return to previous Hindu greatness. During this period inRajasthan Dayananda remained in contact with numerous AryaSamajes, but did not provide direction for the young movement.As a result each of the Samajes tended to act on its own initiativeand according to its own interpretation of Dayananda's ideas.Meanwhile, Dayananda toured Rajasthan, preached to the rulingprinces, and in October 1883, after visit ing the state of Jodhpur,fell seriously ill. After returning to Ajmer he died on October 30,l gg3.7

The death of its founder, rather than restricting the progress ofthe Arya Samaj, acted as a catalyst. The common reaction toDayananda's death was that the Aryas should create a memorial tohim, preferably a school or college in which Vedic Hinduism alongwith the regular English-oriented curriculum would be taught.E Thel-ahore Arya Samaj provided the leadership for this educationalrnovement. In January 1886, after raising funds for the proposedschool, they established the Dayanand Anglo-Vedic Trust and Man-rrgement Society and approved an educational scheme drafted underthc leadership of Lala Lal Chand. The Dayanand Anglo-Vedic High


School opened in Lahore on June l, 1886. Lala Hans Raj' a bril-

liant young graduate, became the principal of this institution on the

basis of his agreement to serve in this position without pay and for

l ife. The school quickly proved a success' enroll ing 550 students

by the end of the month. By 1889, it became a college that was

recognized as such by the Punjab University'e For many Aryas this

was their first and foremost "cause." They raised funds for it and

recruited students with great success' The Lahore school provided a

model for local Arya Samajes, who soon founded elementary and

middle schools upon the lines of the Dayanand Anglo-Vedic Col-

lege. By the end of the century, this single school became the

foundation-stone for a system of schools throughout the Punjab, the

United Provinces, and adjacent areas. The Arya Samaj not only

won converts and established new branch Samajes, but it also

began the process of institution building.

The success of the Lahore college stimulated increasing ideo-

logical strain within the new movement. Each Samaj and each in-

dividual Arya could develop his or her own conccpts of what it

meant to be an Arya and of the historic tole of its founder. Two

differing schools of thought began to emerge' One group, "the

moderates", saw Dayananda as a great reformer, a teacher and a

guide to religious and social practice- They were heavily involved

in the Dayanand Anglo-Vedic College and would, in fact, be called

the "College Party". Opposed to them were the "militants" who be-

lieved Dayananda to be a rsi or divinely inspired teacher, whose

words were infallible. For the militants the Arya Samaj represented

4 new religion that demanded a total commitment from its follow-

ers. The differences between these two groups surfaced first over

the nature of the education to be provided the new school. The

moderates wanted and got a school curriculum that was essentially

the same as the government and missionary schools, with the addi-

tion of Arya samaj principles. The militants wanted a dramatically

different education, one which would be taught primarily in Hindi

and Sanskrit with considerable time devoted to the study of scrip-

tures, Arya writings, and the correct methods needed to interpret

Vedic texts.roDebates over the nature of an Arya education soon fused with

other issues that were to divide members of the movement' The

militants maintained that all Aryas should be strict vegetalians,

while the moderates claimed that diet was a personal matter and

THE ARYA SAMAJ IN BRITISH TNDIA i 3I

not a part of the Arya code. This issue of vegetarianism came tosymbolize each party. By the lg90s open struggles for contror haderupted, first in the Dayanand Anglo_Vedic Trust and ManaqementSociety and secondly in the Arya pratinidhi Sabha, tunja-b. thePratinidhi sabha was founded in october lgg6 as the piovinciarrepresentative body for the punjab. simirar provinciar ,ubhu, *"."created to provide some central point of coordination for the ex-panding Arya world. By 1893 the punjabi Aryas were bitterly di_vided. The moderates retained control over the schoors through theDayanand Anglo-Vedic Management Society, while the miiitantstook over the Pratinidhi Sabha and a majority of the rocal AryaSamaj branches. This division created a crisis for both groups. sup-porting the Lahore college and its associated schools nao ueen themajor task for all Aryas. Now those in charge of the schools re_tained their "cause" but had lost most of the organizational struc-ture needed to sustain it. Conversely, the militants retained thestructure and resources but needed new activit ies to uti l ize them.'In contrast the moderates faced a financial crisis.

The moderates succeeded in maintaining their schools and be-gan to establish their own branch Arya Samajes, with the resultthat in many Punjab towns there were two Arya Samajes, eachallied with a different faction. In 1903 the moderates founded theArya Pradeshik Pra.tinidhi Sabha, a provinciar body parallel to theolder Arya Pratinidhi Sabha.12 power and readership among themoderates remained, however, centered in the Dayanand Anglo_vedic Trust and Management Society. It contained representativesfrom all the Samajes allied to the moderate party, controlled a sys-tem of schools and the funds raised to support these schoolr. tt"moderates, however, did not rimit themselves to educationar work.As a group they tended to see Hindus as members of a communitv.a group of individuals sharing a simirar religious heritage. As a re-sult the moderates turned to various forms of

"ornrnunity service,

to famine relief, care for orphans, and, in time, to politics. Leadingrnoderates, such as Lala Lal Chand and Lala Laipat Rai, woulihave a deep involvement in both the nationalist poiit i", of the In-dian National congress and later the openry Hindu polit ics of thePunjab Hindu Conference and the Hindu Mahasabha.13

Support for the Indian National Congress during the lggOs and| 890s fluctuated from enthusiasm to apathy, depending largely onwhether the Congress and punjabi Hindus shared simiiar goats. tn


1900 Aryas flocked to the Congress meeting in Lahore, but shortly

afterwards turned away from politics in general and the Congress

in particular. The partit ion of Bengal in 1905 brought a wave of

enthusiasm for the Congress, a wave which merged with the

Punjabi polit ical unrest of 1907. At this time Lala Lajpat Rai and

a number of moderate Aryas became politically active, condemning

the Brit ish government openly and with considerable passion. The

arrest and deportation of Lajpat Rai, followed by the jail ing of

other prominent Aryas, opened a period of government suspicion of

and hosti l i ty to the Samaj.ra They saw the Samaj as a seditious or-

ganization that must be guarded against and, if necessary, sup-

pressed. The government was particularly hosti le to the moderate

party because of its schools and supply of activist students. Thus

Lala Hans Raj and other leaders of the Dayanand schools took a

position against polit ical activity by the Samaj. They feared that

the schools might be closed by the government and sought above

all else to maintain the institutions to which they had dedicated

their l ives. The last major folit ical shock prior to World War I

came in 1909-1910, when the Sikh state of Patiala arrested numer-

ous Aryas and closed down the local Samajes. Gradually the era of

polit ics and government suppression eased, especially for the mili-

tants, as the government made clear its approval of religiously-

oriented Aryas.rsOne major result of these governmental actions was the first

meeting of the Punjab Hindu Conference. Hindu fears reached a

climax in the year 1908-1909 as they increasingly saw themselves

faced with a de facto all iance between the Brit ish government and

the Muslim community and the possibil i ty of extinction. A vision

of doom was portrayed in a series of letters to the Bengalee writ'

ten by Lt. Col. U. N. Mukerji under the tit le "A Dying Race"'

Mukerji focused on the relative decline in numbers of Bengali Hin-

dus in relation to the Muslim community and the possibil i ty of de-

struction that faced the Hindus of Bengal. Lala Lal Chand ex-

pressed another set of concerns in a series of letters to the

Punjabee, entitled "Self-Abnegation in Politics." Lal Chand turned

his attention to the uselessness of the Congress, calling for the es-

tablishment of a new organization that would be openly Hindu in

its politics. The Punjab Hindu Conference, which met for the first

t ime on October 2l-22, 1909, in Lahore, became just such an or-

ganization. It met annually and was transformed in time into the

THE ARYA SAMAJ TN BRITISH INDI,A / 33

Akhil Bharat Hindu Mahasabha.t6 The evolution of the Mahasabhareceived Arya Samaj support and leadership, but it also moved be_yond the l imits of the Samaj, which remained divided in its polit i-cal attitudes. Many Aryas were firm advocates of the Indian Na_tional congress, others of the Hindu Mahasabha, while some re-mained relatively apolit ical.

The militants, with their vision of the Arya Samaj as a reli_gious movement and a religious experience, turned to a concern forVed prachar, preaching the Vedas. They developed a system ofpaid missionaries, updEshqks, which aimed to transform popularHinduism into the ('purer"

vedic form of that religion. The mili-tants afso extended and uti l ized the institution of shuddhi.Dayananda performed shuddhi to return a christian convert to Hin-duism. Following this example Aryas use of shuddhi to reconvertHindus from either Christianity or Islam increased throughout the1880s and 1890s. A Shuddhi Sabha was established and conductedby Aryas and Sikhs, since both groups faced the same religiouschallenges.rT By 1896 the Aryas began to perform shuddhi withgroups of people and by 1900 had exrended shuddhi to a new area,the uplift of untouchables who were transformed into "pure caste"Hjndus. On June 3, 1900, mi l i tant Aryas pur i f ied a group ofRahtias, Sikh untouchables, much to rhe horror of the Sikh commu_ni ty . rs This opened the door to both winning back those lost toHinduism as well as ending untouchabil ity.

concern for untouchability stemmed in part from the reariza-tion that this segment of society was the most l ikely to convert toanother religion. The success of christian missionaries among un-to'uchable Hindus and Muslims had demonstrated this possibil i ty, ashad Islamic conversion prior to the arrival of the Brit ish. In theyears before World War I shuddhi campaigns were conductedamong various untouchable groups in the northwest: Odes, Meghs,Doms, Rajputs, and the Sheikhs of Larkhana in Sind. On June 23,l9 l l a t Al lahabad, the Al l Ind ia (Bharat) Shuddhi Sabha wasfounded by Ram Bhaj Datta. The Arya Samaj had developed'shuddhi as a weapon of defense from the conversion threat poiedby both christianity and Islam.re Anxiety over the future of theHindu community and Aryan ideology merged to produce radicalattacks against caste privilege as well as militant efforts atproselytism, conversion, and reconversion. The aggressive stanceof the Arya Samaj heightened religious competit ion as they en_


gaged in a multi-sided struggle with orthodox Hinduism, reform

organizations, and militant groups from other religious communi-

ties. certain Aryas, such as Pandit Lekh Ram, specialized in criti-

cism of a particular religion, in his case, against Islam' In

speeches, tracts, and newspapers he condemned Islam as a religion

founded on greed, violence, and ignorance. In 1897 the bitter ri-

valry between Aryas and Muslims peaked in the Punjab with the

murder of Pandit Lekh Ram. The resulting religious conflict was a

preview of the more extensive violence of Partition'20

The militant Aryas, determined to create the new world of

Aryanism as envisioned by Dayananda, engaged in radical social

,"ior*. To do so they performed new Vedic life-cycle rituals of

birth, marriage, and death. They entered the field of education for

women by founding the Kanya Mahavidyalaya of Jullundur on

J u n e t 4 , l s g 6 . T h e K a n y a M a h a v i d y a l a y a w a s a g i r l s ' h i g h s c h o o lwhich would in time add college classes as well. Aryas preached

widow remarriage and began to practice this within their own fami-

l ies. In addition they sponsored education for widows and built

homes for them. In order to create a new Hindu, an individual who

would not be tainted by contemporary corruption, the militants, led

by Lala Munshi Ram (later Svami Shraddhanand), moved to create

a dramatically different educational system. In 1902 they opened

the Gurukula Kangri, just outside of the city of Hardwar' This was

a resident educational institution, teaching students from the ele-

mentary through the college level. As at the ancient Hindu institu-

tions, itudents remained at the Gurukula under the direction of re-

ligious teachers and separate from their families and from society.

I -

truction was in Hindi and Sanskrit, with a heavy emphasis

placed on religious training, although much of the standard curricu-

lu* *ur retained. This institution sought to mold the entire person-

ality of its students into the patterns of life and thought demanded

by Arya ideology. Its graduates would be the first truly reformed

Vedic Aryas.2r with the creation of the Gurukula Kangri the mili-

tants completed their own institutional structure as a rough parallel

with the moderates, although both groups would continue to add

new institutions for specific purposes.

The division between two groups remained a specifically

Punjabi phenomenon. only in the Punjab were there two provincial

sabhas with rival branches allied to each. AII other provinces had a

single representative organization. whatever differences of interpre-


tation existed did so within individuals, and were not institutionar-ized. Also, it must be remembered that rivalry between the twoparties contained elements of personal struggle between two en-trenched organizations, as well as opposing interpretations of theSamaj. These differences, howeu"., iid not-mean that either partywas prohibited from joining with members of the opporing grou;to support similar causes, or rhat either group did noi iut" ,ipinae'-pendently similar work being carried oui by'th" other. Both wouldengage in preaching, missionary work, shuddhi, and various pro_grams of social reconstruction. AIso, the growth of the Arya Samajtended to make this division ress crucial than it had been duringthe nineteenth century, even though the separate institutional struc-tures within the Samaj continued to exist and sti l l do today.

Expansion of the Arya Samaj

During the first twenty_five years of its existence the Aryafamaj

grew steadily. In r89l the census report recorded a toral of39,952 Aryas, and ten years later the total had jumped to 92,419,an increase of l3l per cent. This upsurge indicated piimarily an in_tensification of the Samaj in two provinces, the punjab *ittr ZS,OOOAryas and the new center of the movement in the l-inited provinceswith 65,268.22 The Samaj also began to move outward in all direc_tions. This expansion led to the establishment of new provincialQtratinidhi) sabhas in the United provinces, lgg6; Rajasthan, lggg;Bengal/Bihar in 1889; a joint Madhya pradesh/Vidarbha Sabha,also in 1889; and the Bombay provincial sabha in 1902.21 sustainedgrowth of the Samaj created the need for a centrar coordinatingbody, even as expansion at the provinciar level had made th;founding of pratinidhi sabhas a necessity. Dayananda did leave be_hind one central organization, the partpkarini Sabha. He estab_l ished th is sociery on August 16, lgg0, wi th the wr i t ing of f r iswil l.2a The Paropkarini sabha was to act, and did so act, as the ex_:::19.

of his estare, particularly in regard to his wriften works.While it could have provided overali leadership for the e.yaSamaj, it failed to do so, largely due to the appointive nature ofits membership, who did not necessarily speak for major constitu_e ncies of Aryas. Instead there was a growing consensus that theSamaj needed to found a new coordinating organization that wouldbe able to act on behalf of all Arvas.


A number of Aryas, who attended the Bharat Dharam

Mahamandal meeting in pettri during 1900' began discussing the

need for such an organization' Nothing concrete was done' how-

"u",, untit 1908, when at the anniversary celebration of the

Gurukula Kangri a subcommittee was chosen to draft the regula-

rions and srruclure of the proposed Sarvadeshik (All-India) Sabha'

On i"pt".Uer 15, 1908, a full committee met in Agra with repre-

sentatives of the various provincial sabhas and on August 31' 1909'

the Sarvadeshik Arya praiiniani Sabha convened its first meeting in

Delhi. Twenty-seven delegates were elected to the Sarvadeshik

Sabha from six provincial pratinidhi sabhas' All provincial socie-

ties were represented 'uu" on", the Arya Pradeshik Pratinidhi

Sabha of the Punjab, which had been created by the moderate party

in tf,at province. The organizers of the Sarvades,n'U t"Ol1-::l-"Ô

the Punjabi moderates to send representatives to the new organlza-

tion, but were told they would do so only if the Pradeshik Sabha

would be the sole reprlsentative body of Punjabi Aryas' This w.as

unacceptable to the organizers and so the Arya Pradeshik Pratinid.hi

Sabha, Punjab, remained the sole provincial group outside the

newly instiruted Sarvadeshik Sabha'25 Over the years efforts were

made to incorporate this group into the overall representative body'

but without success. In sfite of tn"i. formal separation, the Punjabi

moderates did cooperate with the Sarvadeshik Sabha on numerous

occasions.26The new Sarvadeshik Sabha presided over a steadily expanding

movement as the Arya Samaj gradually extended beyond those

areas in which it was originally located' It also added members

within those areas. The Samaj had penetrated into the Muslim state

of Hyderabad during the late nineteenth.century' but significant

movement south wo;d wait until historic forces brought the Samaj

ti"tt in the 1920s.2? In the meantime the Arya Samaj began to

follow the flow of Indian immigrants abroad. In 1896 the Saryarth

Prakash was carried to Mauritius by members of the Bengal In-

fantry.28 Within the next two decades Arya Samaj branches-were

founded there in what became the first major center of thesamaj

outside of Brit ish India. ln 1911 two Arya leaders, Dr' lvlaniklal

and Dr. Chiranjiv Bhardwaj, succeeded in publishing the M,aurit ius

Patrika, an Arya Samaj newspaper'2e The Samaj traveled further

west in 1904, when panait Purnanandji went to Nairobi' He was

followed in the next year by Bhai Parmanand' who reached Durban


and then went on an extensive tour of South Africa. South andliast Africa became centers of successful Samaj missionary activi-ties, as branch Samajes were opened throughout the area and weresupported by the local Indian communities.30 By the 1920s theSamaj had also reached the Fiji Islands, and by l92l had becomesufficiently settled there to open a girls' school.3t Diffusion abroadnroved in a pattern of waves as the Samaj penetrated new areassettled by Indian immigrants.

In 1933 another period of overseas expansion began with thedeparture of Pandit Ayodhya Prasad for the World Fellowship ofI.'aith Congress held that year in Chicago. The Pandit visited thisconference and then spent a year preaching in the United States.'Ihe

next wave of Arya expansion began, however, when he leftthe United States. Pandit Ayodhya Prasad first visited Trinidad,where he preached and performed shuddhi ceremonies to reclaiml{indus who had converted to Islam and Christianity.32 Next thel'andit travelled to Dutch Guyana and Brit ish Guyana. AryaSamajes were founded in all these areas and grew steadily throughlocal efforts, as well as through continual visits of Arya missionar-rcs. During the 1920s and 1930s overseas Aryas organized theirown provincial sabhas which became affi l iated with theSarvadeshik Pratinidhi Sabha: British East Africa, 1922; South Af-rica, 19271, Fij i , 1928; Maurit ius, 1930; and Dutch Guyana, 1937.13('ontinued growth within India brought additional provincial sabhasrnto the central'organization. Bihar joined a separate body in 1930rrnd in 1935 a provincial sabha was established for the Muslim-rkrminated state of Hyderabad.3a

Continued growth of the Arya Samaj was recorded by the de-tcnnial census reports in British India. Even without the figures fortlrc widely spread Arya movement outside of India, there still was,rrr impressive growth. By l91l the total given for the Samaj was.'.11,000, an increase of over 163 per cent from 1901. A decadelrrtcr the Aryas had doubled again to 467,578 and in 193 I reachedtlrc total of 990.233.15 The census of l94l and all censuses there-.rltcr no longer carried figures for the Arya Samaj, but it is safe to,r\\urfre that growth did not end. In 1947 the Samaj must have been,,'nrcwhere between one and a half to two million members, bothrnsrrlc Brit ish India and throughout the world. This growth in num-l'. 'rs carried with it the addition of provincial and local Samajes.llr Arya Dairectori of l94l indicates over 2,000 Arya Samajes af-


filiated with the provincial sabhas'36 The creation of new local

Samajes led to a continual development of specialized organiza-

tions, particularlY in education'

The Dayanand Anglo-Vedic movement began with a single

school in Lahore and th-en grew rapidly as elementary' middle' and.

ligrt ,.toot, were foundedlhroughout the province' The picture of

educational institutions, however, is complex' A number of schools

were controlled by the Dayanand Anglo-Vedic Trust and Manage-

ment Society, but many also were under the administration of local

erya Sama;es or various provincial sabhas- It was a fluid situation

wiih schools being opened, occasionally closed' and at times taken

over by other groups when it appeared that they might not survive'

ey tfre 1940s the educational *-ta of the Samaj stretched through-

ou, tndiu, as far south as Sholapur in Maharashtra and the state of

Hyderabad. By then there were 179 schools and l0 colleges in In-

dia and Burma. These included regular art schools' industrial train-

ing institutions, girls' schools, Sanskrit Pathshalas' and religious

trining centers.3iln addition the Gurukula Kangri had become the

model for an alternate system of education' Schools patterned after

the Gurukula Kangri were founded at all levels' Some of these

were affiliated with the Arya Pratinidhi Sabha' Punjab' and others

were administered locally' In 1921 the original Gurukula became a

university and by the 1940s there were seven other major institu-

tions in the Gurukula system' The Arya Directory listed a total of

thirty-three establishments labelled as "Gurukulas"'rE One of these

*ur'u women's college, the Kanya Gurukula' located in Dehra

Dun, founded in 1923. Like the Gurukula Kangri this was a na-

tional school' drawing students from throughout India'3e As with

the Lahore high schoJl, the Gurukula Kangri became the basis of

an entire educational system'

ln 1947 when-India and Pakistan became independent the Arya

Samaj had evolved into a complex world' an "Arya Jagat"' of as-

sociations at the local, provincial, and central level' These associa-

tions in turn managed and maintained numerous institutions-

schools, orphanagei student hostels' widows' homes' reading

rooms, l ibraries, tract societies, newspapers, journals' missionary

societies, and various organizations dedicated to social reform' par-

ticularly among the uniouchables' Clearly the most fundamental

task of the Samaj lay in administering and financially supporting

these organizations. i co*pl"^ of programs in differing socio-reli-


gious areas was maintained by the Samaj, providing an organiza-tional impact that is diff icult to examine but should not be under-estimated. The original message of Svami Dayananda Saraswatiwas magnified and molded by the establishment of the Arya Samajand its growth over the decades prior to Independence. The origi-nal dynamics of Dayananda's ideology were modified by historicalforces, particularly during the 1920s and 1930s.

The Arya Samaj from World War I to Independence

The outbreak of World War I had litt le direct effect on theArya Samaj, but the intensification of the nationalist fervor at theclose of the war and just afterward drew many Arya Samaj leadersinto active involvement with the Indian National Congress. SvamiShraddhanand, for example, became a major figure in the campaignagainst the Rowlatt Bil ls. He and others then went on to supportMahatma Gandhi's f irst non-cooperation campaign.aO At the heightof this movement, in August 1921 , a group of Muslims, theMoplahs of Kerala, rose against the Brit ish and their Hindu neigh-bors. The Aryas were shocked and horrif ied since the Moplahs notonly attacked Hindu property and person, but also conducted anumber of forced conversions to Islam. Lala Hans Raj heard thencws and at a meeting the next day of the Arya pradeshikI'ratinidhi Sabha in Lahore sponsored a resolution to send help tothe Hindus of Kerala. This they did, as Pandit Rishi Ram, SriyutKhushal Chand, and Pandit Mastan Chand were dispatched toKcrala. Others would follow. The prime service the Aryas could,rrrd did provide was the institution of shuddhi, which they used tol,ring converted Hindus back into the fold of their religion and so-( rcty. In doing so the Aryas won considerable acceptance ofrltuddhi by orthodox Hindus. Originally leaders of Hindu orthodoxylr;rt l stronfl ly opposed the use of shuddhi, but at this time it was the,'rrly effective weapon Hindus possessed to counter forced conver-,r.11. dls6, Aryas provided financial aid and assisted in rebuilding,l.rrnaged Hindu temples. The Moplah affair marked a major step inrlrt ' introduction into south India of ideas and institutions developedrrr t lrc northern areas during times of acute religious conflict. Onrlrrs occasion northern attitudes of communal defense flowed into.rn irrca already the center of religious competit ion.ar

Irollowing the cessation of the non-cooperation campaign in

40 / RELIGIONINMODERNINDTA

February 7922, north India sank into a morass of religious conflictand violence. Major riots erupted in many cit ies: Multan and

Saharanpur in 1922, Delhi in 1924 and 1926, Kohat in"1924. lnfact, no city was without its share of religious strife as such inci-dents became endemic in even small towns and villages.a2 Althoughmany conflicts arose spontaneously, emerging from inherent points

of conflict between Islam and Hinduism, each community grew in-

creasingly aggressive about its rights, particularly in regard toproselytism, conversion, and reconversion. A community of Mus-lims, the Malkana Rajputs, had requested re-admission into Hindu-ism. This group, l iving in the area where three provinces,

Rajasthan, and Madhya Pradesh, and Uttar Pradesh, converge hadbeen converted to Islam, but still retained much of their Hindu cul-ture. The All-India Kshatriya Mahasabha at its annual meeting in

Agra on December 31 , 1922, agreed to accept the Malkanas backinto the fold of Rajput society. On February 13, 1923, a body ofapproximately eighty representatives of caste sabhas and variousHindu groups-Aryas, Sanatanists, Sikhs and Jains-met in Agra toplan this proposed reconversion campaign. Svami Shraddhanand at-

tended and at his suggestion they organized the Bharatiya HinduShuddhi Sabha. Shraddhanand became president and Lala Hans Rajfirst vice-president.a3 The Shuddhi Sabha raised funds, supportedmissionaries, and began an extensive campaign to win back theMalkanas. Although this was a broader movement than the AryaSamaj, its leadership was mostly Arya and included individualsfrom both wings of the Samaj, for this of issue transcended divi-sions within the Hindu community.

The work of the Shuddhi Sabha heightened communal compe-tit ion between Hindus and Muslims. Almost immediately Muslimgroups in north India formed counter-movements to send mission-aries to persuade the Malkanas and others to remain within the Is-lamic community. Among Hindus the twin slogans of shuddhi(conversion) and songathan (unity) expressed their heightened reli-gious aggressiveness. Muslims reacted with their parallel move-ments for tonz.im and tablrgh. The Arya Samaj with its institu-tional base, resources of money, and manpower, became deeplyinvolved in this religious competition. In turn, the Samaj was di-verted its program by other demands of communal defense. Per-haps no issue better typifies this period of history and its atmos-phere of strife than does the case of Mahasaya Rajpal, a bookseller

TI{E ARYA SAMAJ IN BRITISH INDIA / 4I

and devout Arya Samajist. In 1924 he published an urdu tract en-titled Rangila Rasal, the Merry prophet. This was a vicious attackon the Prophet Muhammad that offended many Muslims throughoutthe north. They tried to have it banned by the governmeni andfailed, but in the process Rajpal became a bitter symbol for all ag_gressive Hinduism.e As a result Rajpal was attacked by a Muslimin September 1927, and finally kil led on April 3, l93l.ai TheRajpal affair illustrates the tensions and underlying violence of thisperiod' During these years the Arya Samaj reacted to such events,which stimulated Samaj programs, particurarry on the issue of con-tinued caste prejudices within the movement. At the 1922 anniver-sary celebration of the Lahore Arya Samaj, Bhai parmanand pre-sented a vigorous condemnation of the caste system, particurarly itspersistence among members of the samaj. Shortly afterward camethe establishment of the Jat-pat Todak Mandal dedicated to the re-moval of all caste distinctions. The MAndal decided to work firstamong Aryas, since it was necessary to remove caste distinctionswithin the Arya Samaj in order to facil i tate the incorporation ofnew members brought in through shuddhi.a' concern for an end tocaste distinctions, shuddhi, and communal defense were linked andreinforced each other.

within the context of communal tensions a new Samaj institu-tion began to evolve. In September 1920, at. a meeting of scholarsand sannyasi-r held in Derhi, it was decided to hord a centenarvcelebration of Dayananda's birth at Mathura. A managing commit-tee was selected and the celebration scheduled for February 15-21,1925. Among the eighty-six members of this committee were rep_resentatives from the Sarvadeshik Sabha, both pratinidhi Sabhas ofthe Punjab, the Paropkarini Sabha, and various other groups.aT Thetwo wings of the Samaj, which had cooperated in the Moplah andMalkana shuddhi campaigns once again worked togethei, as thelong-standing division within the samaj tended to close under thepressures of communal conflict. when this centenary celebrationconvened, Aryas came from all sections of the Samaj. They stayedlnd worked in Arya Nagar, a tent city with fourteen

"u.pr, fiu.

hazaars, one huge mandal, and four smaller ones. A p.o""rrion *a.held, hymns sung, and rituals conducted, along with speeches andthe passing of resolutions.a8 This meeting had two purposes, f irstthe celebration of Dayananda's birth with all the pomp that couldhe mustered, and, secondly, the passing of resolutions, which pro-


vided direction and goals for the movement. Such a grand meetingoffered a new method for gathering opinions of leading Aryas andexpressing them in a series of statements. For while such a gather-ing could and did advocate various steps for the Samaj to take, ithad no machinery to carry out a particular program. That wouldhave to be left to others, such as the Sarvadeshik Sabha.

The centenary celebration contained more than one meeting.The planning committee had established a Dharm Parishad (reli-gious council) and an Arya Vidvat Parishad (a learned council),which met continuously in the smaller mandals. In addition, therewere a number of conferences on different religions, a gathering ofindividuals who had met Dayananda, and a poetry conference. Fol-lowing the centenary celebrations various Arya groups held theirown sessions. These included the Arya Swarajya Sammelan, theArya Kumar Sammelan, the Daliotoddhar Sammelan, the Jat-PatTodak Sammelan, the Pradeshak Sammelan, a Gau Conf'erence, aKshatriya Conference, and Brahman Conference.ae Among themany resolutions passed, the Arya Vidvat Parishad recommendedthat a Dharmarya Sabha be established. This group would act todecide religious issues and remove doubts within the Samaj.50 Theexecutive committee of the Sarvadeshik Sabha, at a meeting onJanuary 27, 1928, decided to establish such a sabha and thus carryout the resolution passed in 1925. The Dharmarya Sabha func-tioned extensively for the next twenty-five years.sr The centenaryconference also decided to hold a second celebration at Tankara,Dayananda's birth place. Arya Samajists gathered at Tankara onFebruary 12, 1926, conducted a grand nagar kirtan and visited thehome of Dayananda as well as other historic sites in the area.52This was solely a meeting in honor of Dayananda; no working ses-sions were held nor resolutions passed. The 1925 gathering hadmanaged to set a precedent that would be followed in 1927, al-though this next conference would be stimulated by a different setof causes.

Religious violence turned bitter in 1926 and 1927 with theArya Samaj a major target of the Islamic community. At least thatwas how the Aryas saw events of this period. The assassination ofSvami Shraddhanand at the close of 1926 was followed in early1921 by riots in the Bareilly area on the occasion of Muharram.Arya Samaj individuals and buildings were attacked, allegedly withthe assistance of the local police. The Sarvadeshik Sabha met on

THE ARYA SAMAJ TN BRITISH INDI-A / 43

Iuly 24, 192'7, and called for a series of meetings to take place innorth India on August 7, 1927. At these meetings, Hindus, Sikhs,Parsis, and Jains, as well as the Aryas, were asked to pass resolu-tions expressing their anger at the apparent police hostility towardHindus and at the violence that resulted. The conferees were thenrequested to send copies of these resolutions to all levels of thegovernment. In September a managing committeee was establishedto organize the first Arya Mahasammelan, or great conference, totake place early in November in Delhi.5r Unlike the Dayanandacentenary conference, this gathering was called specifically to dealwith the question of religious violence and of the Hinducommunity's reaction to it. The Delhi Mahasammelan became thefirst of four such conferences to be held prior to Independence.

The Delhi Mahasammelan followed in organization and func-tion the model of the 1925 centenary celebration. Once again allfactions of the Samaj participated. The president of the meetings,Lala Hans Raj, was joined by both leading members of the mode-rate and militant Aryas. During this conference they passed a seriesof eighteen resolutions, beginning with a tribute to Svami

Shraddhanand in which the Aryas stated their general view thatthey recognized the hatred and anger of the Muslim leaders fromthese provinces have towards the Hindus in general and the AryaSamaj in particular.sa They then went on to pass the remaining sev-enteen resolutions, which accused the government of tail ing to pro-

tect the Hindu community, condemned Muslim violence, called formore extensive shuddhi campaigns, continued work among the de-pressed castes, and asked for an end to caste distinctions among allAryas. All eighteen resolutions centered on communal defense andsolidarity, on shuddhi and sangathan. Two new institutions werecreated, the Arya Raksha (Defense) Committee, and the Arya VirDal.55 Branches of the Vir Dal were founded throughout the Samaj,funds raised, and volunteers recruited. This militant arm of theSamaj served on a variety of occasions, from the satyagrahastruggle in Hyderabad to the upheavals of partition in the Punjab.56The Delhi Mahasammelan clearly grew out of and focused on theissue of religious voilence, while the normal functioning of theSamaj's other institutions and programs drew litt le attention. Asimilar set of circumstances lay behind the Bareil ly Maha-sammelan of 1931.

One of the by-products of the religious tensions during the


1920s was a number of restrictions imposed on religious demon-strations at both the local and provincial levels. The Arya Samajistsfound it necessary to take out licenses from the local police beforethey could hold processions or march singing through the streets ofa particular town. Occasionally permission was not granted and theannual anniversary ceremonies could not be held in the traditionalmanner. Both Hindus and Muslims had become increasingly ag-gressive in demanding their traditional rights as they saw them andin objecting to those rituals employed by the opposing communitywhen they seemed to interfere with their own religious practices.Hindu processions complete with hymn singing were offensive toMuslims, especially when they passed a mosque at prayer time.From the standpoint of the Aryas all attempts to limit, let aloneban, their normal rituals were seen as elements of oppression bythe government and its de facto all ies, the Muslims. By 1929 theArya Pratinidhi Sabha of the United Provinces was engaged in alengthy quarrel over such limits in that state. Similar diff icultiesarose in the Punjab, as it seemed to the Aryas that all governmentswere acting to curb their activities.sT In response to rising frustra-tion the Sarvadeshik Sabha decided to hold a secondMahasammelan on February 193 l, in Bareilly, because they had al-ready concluded that Mahasammelans would be called whenever amajor problem faced the Samaj.

The Bareil ly Mahasammelan considered a wide range of issuescentering on the needs of the community for self-protection. TheArya Vir Dal was praised and all Aryas urged to support it, byfounding local branches, raising both funds and finding recruits forthe Dal. The main task of the Dal was to protect Aryan culture, as-sist the oppressed, and provide social services.st Educational deve-lopments, the system of Arya preachers, and internal social reformamong members drew attention and produced new resolutions. Twoareas, though, are of special interest. Now that the Samaj sawsatyagraha as an important tool for itself and others, it shiftedconcerns to the rights of Hindu prisoners, particularly Arya prison-ers. Consequently, the Samaj they passed a resolution demandingthat jail regulations be changed to allow Aryas to practice theirown religious rituals while interned. The Mahasammelan alsoturned its attention to restrictions on various Arya Samaj activitiesin the major Muslim states, specifically Hyderabad, Bhopal,Bahawalpur, and Rampur.se This last concern would grow rapidly


during the 1930s to finally culminate in the Arya Samaj's f irst.satyagraha campaign.

Unlike the Delhi and Bareil ly Mahasammelans, the third onewas focused on the fift ieth anniversary of Svami Dayananda'sdeath. The idea of holding such a meeting may have been dis-cussed at the Mathura conference, but the first concrete plan camefrom the Paropkarini Sabha at the suggestion of Sriman NaharSingh. The Sarvadeshik Sabha agreed to assist in thisMahasammelan, which was planned for October 14-20, 1933, andfinally held in Ajmer.m The lack of a major overriding problem be-hind this conference meant that resolutions, nine in all, tended tobe relatively general, covering the major themes of the move-ment.6r By contrast the important of this celebration stemmed fromthe wide variety of Arya institutions and organizations that partici-pated. Special meetings and programs were presented fromthroughout the Samaj. An Arya Mahila Sammelan (Ladies Confer-ence) met with representatives of women's groups, especially theKanya Gurukulas, to pass twenty-th-ree resolutions on issues par-ticularly important to women.62 A special conference was held ofthose who had met Dayananda, and another group presented ademonstration of physical exercises and training.63 The Arya VirDal and the Arya Kumar Sabha met as did special sessions focusedon Hindi, Sanskrit, poetry, sannyasis, overseas Indians, untouchabil-ity, and widow marriage.6o This was to be the last Mahasammelanfor eleven years. There were no centenaries to celebrate during thenext decade and the intensity of religious conflict in the north hadabated somewhat. Instead Arya Samaj attention began to be in-creasingly focused on the Muslim-dominated state of Hyderabad.

The Arya Samaj had been in the Hyderabad state since thenineteenth century, but only in the late 1920s and early 1930s wasthere an expansion of its role. New Samajes were founded andArya missionaries extended their aggressive campaigns beyond thelimits of Hyderabad. By 1932 the first of a series of clashes be-tween the Samaj and the government of Hyderabad took place. AnArya missionary, Pandit Chandra Bhanu, was charged with being apolitical agitator, and the Samaj a political organization. The SamajIrttempted to answer these charges both to the Nizam's governmentand the Brit ish Indian government but did not succeed in doingso.65 Over the next few years incident after incident took place asrelations between the Arya Samaj and the Hyderabad government

46 / RELIGION IN MODERN INDTA

steadily deteriorated. Also relations became severely strained be-

tween the Hindu majority and the Islamic minority in this state.66

In 1935 the Arya Pratinidhi Sabha of Hyderabad was organized as

the number of Samaj branches and institutions continued to in-

crease. The Nizam's government grew steadily more suspicious of

the Samaj. As they saw it, "The Arya Samaj has been working in

the Dominions of his Exalted Highness for several years. It has

eighteen organizations in the Capital City while its central organ-

ization, known as the Arya Pratinidhi Sabha, Nizam Rajya, is lo-

cated in Udaigir with branches in different parts.. ' . Ostensibly, its

principal functions are to hold periodical congregations, organize

processions, establish akhadas (gymnasiums) and employ mission-

aries for Shuddhi and Sangathan work. Outside preachers are often

invited to deliver lectures and enroll fresh converts'"67 Tensions be-

tween the government and the Samaj accelerated unti l 1938, when

they resulted in open conflict.The Arya Samaj had been particularly active in the Marathi-

speaking areas of Hyderabad, and it was here that frustrated Aryas

began to engage in saryagraha against the government.6t These

were local affairs with some support from Arya Samajes across the

border in Bombay Province. The Sarvadeshik Sabha, in response to

requests from the Hyderabad Aryas for support, decided to hold an

Arya Conference at Sholapur just beyond the borders of

Hyderabad. It met on December 24-26, 1938. By this time the

Samaj had begun to rally its support for the coming struggle and

had also received offers of aid from other Hindu organizations, es-

pecially the Hindu Mahasabha. The Sholapur Conference aired

Arya grievances, particularly those against the Nizam's police.

"Our chief complaint of very, very long standing is that the un-

scrupulous Police of the Nizam's Government fabricates unfounded

lies against the Arya Samajists, sheer out of bigotry."6e By this

time the Nizam's government published its own view of the Samaj

and Samaj activities:

Audiences have been exhorted to rise, fight the Muslims, kill

them and overthrow them as the country belonged to the

Hindus and not the Muslims. In certain areas' they have

gone so far as to exhort the ryots not to pay land tax and to

boycott Government officials and Muslims' Every act and

intention of the Government is deliberately misinterpreted in

order to bolster up complaints that they and the Hindu com-


munity generally are being "oppressed". ... In addition towritten and spoken propaganda, definite acts of lawlessnesson the part of Arya Samajists have now become common.Instances are the taking out of Arya Samaj processions indefiance of the orders issued by the local authorities in theinterest of public p€ace, the processionists being armed withdeadly weapons, shouting offensive slogans, singing provoca-tive songs and firing guns in crowded localities.To

Both sides feared and distrusted each other and both saw theother as motivated primarily by religious fanaticism. As in thenorth the Aryas felt that their traditional rights and privileges werebeing taken from them by the Nizam's government, which in thiscase was an expression of the Muslim community. A struggleproved inevitable.

A satyagrahc campaign against the government manned byArya Samajists within the state had started in October, well beforethe Sholapur Conference. The Aryas found all ies in the newly-formed and almost immediately-banned Hyderabad State Congress.The Sholapur Conference declared January 22, 1939, as HyderabadDay in order to popularize the movement and bring supportthroughout the country. On January 31, 1939, the Arya Samaj be-gan its satyagraho.TtWith the backing of the Sarvadeshik Sabhaother Arya groups, such as the Arya Vir Dal, joined this cam-paign, as did students from the Gurukulas as well as Arya leadersthroughout British India. The Hindu Mahasabha also sent parties ofits followers to perform satyagraha. This campaign continuedthrough spring and into early summer and ended when the Nizam'sgovernment announced a set of political reforms on July 17, 1939.By this time approximately 8,000 Hindus had been jailed. 72 OnAugust 17, all political prisoners were released and the satyagrahacampaign was discontinued by the Arya Samaj and the HinduMahasabha.T3 This marked the first successful satyagraha campaignfor both organizations. It also was another instance, as in the caseof the Moplah uprising, of Arya Samaj penetration into an area ofthe south already caught up in Hindu-Muslim conflict. Only insuch an area did thc Arya Samaj find an acceptance of their ideo-logy and techniques; in the rest of south India barriers of languageand culture madc it extremely difficult for the Samaj to gainndherents.

Following the Hyderabad satyagraha the Arya Samaj once


more became involved in Hindu-Muslim conflicts in the north. Theconstitutional reforms of 1935 opened the way for parliamentarygovernment in the provinces. With the outbreak of World War IIthe Indian National Congress resigned its elective positions, butthe Muslim League did not. Muslim-dominated provincial govern-ments established themselves in those provinces with a Muslim ma-jority, one of which was Sind. As in the Muslim princely statestensions developed between a Muslim-dominated government andthe Arya Samaj. In the case of Sind, however, the majority of thepopulation was also Muslim. The Hindus of this area were a smallminority located primarily in the cities and towns. By 1943, theSind provincial government found itself under pressure from vari-ous Muslim grcups to ban the SaryArth Prakash of SvamiDayananda Saraswati. Muslims objected in particular to Chapter14, in which Dayananda attacked Islam at considerable length, at-tempting to show that it was a false religion based on ignoranceand greed. On June 25, 1943, the Hindustan Times clumed that theSind government was considering just such a ban. This angered theArya Samaj and they saw it as another examplc of Muslim intoler-ance. The Sarvadeshik Sabha telegraphed its answer to the Sindgovernment: "Shocked learning your ministry's contemplated moveproscribing Satydrth Prakash, Aryas' indispensable religious book.If materialised, all Aryas will accept challenge. Ready sacrificingall for religious l iberty as in Hyderabad State. Please give upunwisest proposed step avoiding bitter struggle."Ta The Sind gov-ernment responded that it would not take action, but there was in-creasing pressure from Muslim groups, particularly the MuslimLeague to initiate the ban.

On August 13, 1943, the League passed a resolution urging allMuslim governments and the government of India to ban theSatydrth Prakash. It reiterated this demand at its annual sessionheld in Karachi during that December.Ts The Arya Samaj objectedand stepped up its pressure by calling a Mahasammelan. It metin Delhi on February 20-22, the fourth and last such gathering be-fore Independence. The Delhi Mahasammelan had as its presidentDr. Shyama Prasad Mukerjee, a non-Arya but prominent leader ofthe Hindu community. Three thousand delegates came and accord-ing to Arya estimates, fifty thousand men and wom€n attended.Numerous resolutions were passed but the center of focus remainedthe issues in Sind and relations between Hindus, Muslims, and the


Brit ish regime. The Delhi Mahasammelan brought together Aryasand also members of the Sanatana Dharm Sabhas, who saw ban asa symbol of the Hindu-Muslim struggle.T6 Other units within theSamaj held meetings during the spring and summer. The Sind gov_ernment vacillated but finally on october 26, 1944, announced that"The Government of Sind is pleased to direct that no copies of thebook entit led 'Satyarth Prakash' written by Swami DayanandaSaraswati shall be printed or published unless Chapter XIV (Chap_ter fourteen) thereof is omitted."77

The Arya Samaj continued its campaign against this ban and inAugust 1945, the sind government announced a modification of itsruling.Tt This was, however, unacceptable to the Samaj, but sincethe ban had not been effectively enforced and was due to lapse inSeptember 1946, they waited to see what would happen next.Within ten days of its lapse, the Sind government restored theban.7e This was the last straw, and on January l, lg47 , the All-India Satyarth Defense Committee led by Mahatma Narayan Svamiannounced that:

The Sind provincial elections are now over. people of Sindcannot now legitimately ask for further postponement ofSatyagraha on the issue of ban on the Satsnarth praktish inSind.

I, accompanied by Rajguru Pandit Dhurendra Shastri andLala Khushal Chand Anand, am reaching Karachi on 3rdJanuary, 1947. Satyagraha wil l be launched in consultationwith the workers of the Sind provincial Arya pratinidhiSabha.

I call upon the Aryas, Arya Samajes and provincial AryaPratinidhi Sabhas to send to me the names of the personswho may reach Karachi to offer Satyagraha on a week'snot ice. 's

The saryagraha campaign began in ernest on January 14, 1947,and was over by the 20th. The Sind government simply ignored theSatyagrahrs and refused to arrest them even when they publiclydefied the ban. The Aryas interpreted this as a capitulation by theSind government and so terminated their campaign as another suc-cessful struggle for the protection of their rights. Following theSind campaign the Arya Samaj was soon engulfed by the chaosrrnd confusion of Partition and Independence. The Samaj lost pro-


perty and valuable institutions; such as the Lahore Dayananda

Anglo-Vedic College in the area of the newly-created state of

Pakistan, and thousands of its members became refugees. In the

1950s and 1960s the Samaj went through a period of re-establish-

ing lost institutions and re-organizing itself.We have seen here only a brief outline of the Arya Samaj, yet

that outl ine is impressive because of the scope and variety of

Samaj achievements. The personal vision of Svami Dayananda

Saraswati was transformed into an ideology and a movement. This

ideology was sufficiently persuasive to attract individuals who, in

many cases, made a l ifetime commitment to the Arya Samaj. These

ideas provided for numerous individuals a coherent explanation of

the past and present as well as a method for the creation of a re-formed Hinduism and a return to ancient greatness. Converts to

Arya ideology gave to this movement their personal abil it ies and

resources, which in turn were used to create, manage, and sustain

a large number of organizations and institutions. The Samajlaunched programs in the areas of education, proselytism, commu-

nal defense, social uplift, and social service. As they struggled to

defend their own ideology and give substance to Dayananda'sv is ion, they a lso contr ibuted to the heightening of re l ig ious ten-

sions, f irst in the north and then into south India. The Arya Samaj

also was able to continue to draw new members into the move-

ments and to expand its institutional structure within and beyond

India. As a result the Samaj played an important role in nineteenth-

and twentieth century India. Its impact can only be estimated at

this time, since extensive research would be needed before we

could compile a detailed and verif ied account of its history and of

the areas of its influence. Scholars have been correct in seeing theArya Samaj as historically significant, but we must await the future

before this significance can be clearly delineated. In the meantime

this article can act as a starting point for students of the Arya

Samaj and its place in recent history.

Notes

l. J.N. Farquhar, Modern Religious Movements in India (New York:Macmillan, l9l9), pp. 102-129; and Lala Lajpat Rai' The AryaSamaj (London: Longmans, Green, 1915) are both generalized intheir approach. In Hindi the best general history of the Samaj is

THE ARYA SAMAJ IN BRITISH INDIA / 5I

the two-volume work by Indra Vidyavachaspati , Arya Samaj kaIt ihas (Delhi Arya Pratinidhi Sabha, 1957). For a srudy of theSamaj in the Punjab, see Kenneth W. Jones, Arya Dharm: HinduConsciousness in I9th-Century Punjab (Berkeley: (Jniversity ofCali fornia Press, 1976) and his art icle, "social Change and Reli-gious Movements in Nineteenth-Century Punjab," in Social Move-ments in India, ed. M.S.A. Rao (Delhi: Manohar, 1979), 2: l-16.The most recent sketch of the Samaj is in Kenneth W. Jones Socio-Religious Reform Movements in British India, The New CambridgeHistory of Inida, Vol. I- I I I (Cambridge: Cambridge UniversityPress, 1989), pp. 95-106, 192-199. For addit ional bibl iographic ref-erences, see Kenneth W. Jones, "Sources for Arya Samaj History",in W. Eric Gustafson and Kenneth W. Jones, eds., Sources ofPunjab History (Delhi: Manohar, 1975), pp. 130-170.

2. Numerous biographies of Dayananda have been writ ten, but the mostauthoritat ive and scholary work is by M.F. Jordens, DayanandaSaraswati, His Life and Times (Delhi: Oxford University Press,1978). A useful, older biography was done by Har Bi las Sarda, Lrleof Dayananda Saraswati, World Teacher (Ajmer: Vedic Yantralaya,t946).

3. For a discussion of Dayananda's basic ideology see Jordens,Dayananda Saraswati, pp. 99-126, 245-295: and Jones, AryurDharm, pp. 30-36.

4. Sarda, Li. fe of Dayanand, pp. 405-412, and Yudhishthir Mimansak,Risi Dayananda kd Granthon ka ltihas (Ajmer : Prachyavidhya-Prathishthan, 1949), pp. l6-46.

5. Jones, Arya Dharm, pp. 36-50.6. Sarda, Life of Dayanand, has lengthy lists of those places

Dayananda visi ted with the dates of each visi t . see pages 337-347.7. Jones, Arya Dharm, pp. 43-44, and Sarda, Lrk of Dayanand, pp.

324-336.8. Jones, Arya Dharm, pp. 67-77.9 . Ib id . , p . 85 .

10 . Ib id . , pp . 88-90 .l l . I b i d . , p p . 9 0 - 9 3 .12. Ibid., pp. 330-331; also see Vidyavachaspati , Ary-a Samaj ka lr iha.s,

2:212-213.13. Jones, Arya Samaj, pp. 235-241 .14. Ibid., pp.24l-219: also see N.C. Barrier, "The Arya Samaj and Con-

gress Poli t ics in Punjab, 1894-1908". Journal of Asian Studies, 26.no.3 (May 1967), and by the same aurhor, "The Punjab Covern-ment and Communal Politics, 1870-1908", Jounnl of Asian Stutlies,37 , no .3 (May 1968) .

15. Jones, Arya Dharm, pp. 299-303.

1I1i


16. lbid., pp.280-299.17. Kenneth W. Jones, "Ham Hindu Nahin: Arya-Sikh Relations, 1877'

1905", Journal of Asian Studies, 32 no.3 (May 1973): 436'

18. Ib id. , p . 471.19. Jones, Arya Dharm, pp. 303-312; for a study of the aftermath of

Arya Samaj uplift work among untouchables' see James Sebring'"The Formation of New Castes: A Probable Case from North In-

dia", American Anthropologisr, June 1972: 48'l-600.20. Ibid., pp. 193-202.21. Ib id. , pp.215-223.22. Census of India, l90l General Report Subsidiary Table No' I' pp'

289-395.23. Radhuvir Singh Shastri, SarvadEshik Arya Pratinidhi Sabha ka

Sankshipt ltltras (New Delhi: Sarvadeshik Arya Pratinidhi Sabha'

vikrami samvat 2018), P. l.24. Jordens, Dayananda Saraswati, p.215.25. Radhuvir Singh Shastri, Sarvaddshik, pp. l-6.26. Ibid., p. 8.27. Carolyn M. Elliot, "Declines of a Patrimonial Regime: The Telengana

Rebell ion in India, 1946-51," Journal of Asian Studies, 34' no' I(November 1974): P. 56.

28. Vidyavachaspati,Arya Samaj kn lihas, 2: 4'1 .29. Ibid., p. 48.30. Ib id. , pp. 41,47.31. Ib id. , p . 48.32. Ib id. , p . 186.33. Radhuvir Singh Shastri, SarvadEshik' p' 534. lbid., p. 5; also see Vidyavachaspati,Arya Samai kz ltihas, p' 5'

35. Census of India, General Reports for 191 l, 1921' and 1931'36. These figures are approximate and may be on the low side and ex'

tensive research would be needed to establish accurate data on the

Arya Samaj. See Arya Dairectart arthat Samvat 1997 Vikrami kt

Arya Jagat kr Pragatiydn ka Vivaran (Delhi: Arya Pratinidhi Sabha'vikrami samvat 1978), PP. 43-81.

Arya Datrectarr, pp. 120-133.Ibid., pp. 86-119. No definit ion was given as to exactly which insti-

tutions were classed as Gurukulas and why'Gurukula Kangri Vishwayavidyala, An Inlroduction (Hardwar:

THE ARYA SAMAJ IN BRITISH INDTA / 53

43. Ibid., see Bharatiya Hinda Shuddhi Sabha ki Pratham Varshik Report(Agra: Shanti Press, vikrami samvat, 1980) and other annual reportsthrough 1927.

44. N. Gerald Barrier, Banned: Controversial Literature and PoliticalControl in British India, 1907-1927 (Columbia: University of Mis-souri Press, 1974), p.99.

45. Vidyavachaspati, Arya Samaj ka hthas, 2: 26't.46. Iames Reid Graham, "The Arya Samaj as a Reformation in Hinduism

with Special Reference to Casre" (Ph.D. dissertation, Yale Univer-sity, 1942) pp. 53?, 563-569.

47. Radhuvir Singh Shastri, Sarvadeshik, pp. l8-47.48. Ibid.49. Vidyavachaspati, Arya Samaj ka Inhas, pp. 136-141.50. Radhuvir Singh Shastri, SanadEshik, p. 19.5 1 . I b i d . , p . l : 1 4 1 .52. Ibid., p.2553. Vidyavachaspati, Arya Samaj ka hthas, 2:157.54 . Ib id . , p 158.55 . Ib id . , p . 158-164.56. Radhuvir Singh Shastri, SarvadEshik p. 99; Thursby, Hindu-Muslim

Relations, p. 92 and Vidyavachaspati,Arya Samdj ka lihas, 2:162-163. Considerable competition and animosity developed between theArya Vir Dal and the Rashtr iya Swayam Sevak Sangh. SeeSarvadEshik Pratinidhi Sabha kE Nirnay (Delhi: SarvadeshikPratinidhi Sabha, vikrami samvat 2018), pp. l5-17.

57. Vidyavachaspati, Ar)d Samaj ka Inhas,2: 169.58. Ibid., p. 172.59 . Ib id . , pp . 68-71 .60. Radhuvir Singh Shastri, SamadEshik, p. 25.61. Vidyavachaspati, Arya Samaj kA ll,has, 2: 175.62. Ibid., p. 116.63. Ibid., pp. 116-117.64 . Ib id . , p . 180.65. Radhuvir Singh Shastr i , SanadEshik, p.45.66. Elliot, "Decline of a Patrimonial Regime", pp. 30-356'1 . The Arya Samaj in Hyderabad (Published by order His Exalted High-

ness the Nizam's Government, n.d.), p. l .Elliot, "Decline of a Patrimonial Regime", pp. 35-36.The Arya Samaj in Hyilerabad, p.2.Nizam Defence Exsmined and Exposed, A Rejoinder to the Pamphlet

"The Arya Samaj in Hyderabad" (Delhi: International Aryan

I

37 .38.

39. 68.69.'to.Gurukula Kangri Vishwavidyalaya, 1962) p- 25.

40. Svami Shraddhanand, Inside Congress (Bombay: Phoenix Publica-

tions, 1946), PP. 46'125.41. Vidyavachaspat i , Arya Samaj ka l i lhas, 2: 130- l3 l ; G R Thursby,

Hindu-Muslim Relations in British India (Leiden: E'J' Brill' 1975)'

p p . 1 3 7 - 1 4 5 .42. Thursby, Hindu-Muslim Relations, p. 161.

League, n.d.), p.5.71. Vidyavachaspati,Arya Samaj kd ltilns, vol.2.72. Elliot, "Decline of a Patrimonial Regime", p. 36.


73. Vidyavachaspati, At]4 Samaj ka lfihas, 2" 209-2lO'

74. S. ihandra, The Case of the Satyarth Prakash (The Light of Truth) in

Sind (Delhi: International Aryan League, 194'l)' p'20'

75. lbid., p. 27.

?6. Vidyavachaspati, Arya Samaj ka lihas, 2" 42-43'

77. Chandra, The Case of rhe Sarlarth Prakash' pp' 60-61'

78 . Ib id . , p . 71 .79. Ibid., p. 82.80. Ibid., P. 94.

3

THE RAMAKRISHNA MOVEMENT:A STUDY IN R.ELIGIOUS CHANGE

George M. Williams

The pattern of ult imate concern of an organization or move-ment can be more complex to portray than that of an individual.Such is indeed the case with the Ramakrishna movement. Thismovement has been credited with championing the cultural revivalor renaissance of modern India, defending the total religious heri-tage of the Hindu tradition when others were in retreat, and purify-ing Hindu monasticism so that its menrbers have become exemplarsof Indian spirituality.

This study wil l focus on the religious ideals of this movement,seeking to articulate what has been of ult imate concern.r Init ially,nine descriptors of the pattern of ult imacy of the Ramakrishnarnovement wil l be presented. Then, the second portion of this studywill offer a diachronic examination of this general pattern ofult imacy, which has led to three findings: (l) There are variationsdiachronically in the relative emphases given different elements ofthe pattern of ult imacy. As in cooking, all the ingredients may bethe same, but different portions yield cake, bread, or saltine crack-crs. For a mayAvadi, in this case a historian of religions, the differ-cnce in taste is worth noting.2 (2) There are inner tensions withinrhe major elements of the pattern of ult imacy. None of the centralideals of the movement are without an internal dynamism whichprohibits later followers of the realization of Sri Ramakrishna fromcnrphasizing an aspect of a central ideal. (3) Six periods of relativerrnphasis of various ideals emerge over the century of existencet lt i80-1980) of the Ramakrishna movement. Because of the l imits


of this study, a full discussion of each period cannot be attempted;rather, a selective discussion will be undertaken to emphasize sa-lient religious changes within the movement. The reader wil l need

mentally to relist general ideals which do not change in each pe-

riod.

IThe General Descriptors of the

Ramakrishna Movement

During the history of the Ramakrishna movement, nine de-

scriptors have been used repeatedly by members and others to de-

scribe it. It has been portrayed as monistic, monastic, universal,tolerant, non-sectarian, liberal, humanitarian, progressive, and scien-

tific. These descriptors are linguistically rooted in the religious fer-

ment of nineteenth-century Indian religion. Yet, all of them con-

tinue to be used to describe the Ramakrishna movement today. The

descriptors have a general linguistic history but also serve the spe-

cial function of carriers of truth claims for the movement's teach-

ings. It is this latter function of the terms which wil l be brieflypresented in this section. These descriptors reveal the invisible

"convictional world view" of Ramakrishna Vedanta. What follows

is a general overview of the nine descriptors:Monistic. True Ramakrishna movement found in the Vedanta a

central truth: that truth is one. Unity of life, of mankind, of reli-gion, of the self, of God, is an unequivocal one. The Personal Godand the Impersonal are the same.

Monastic. True spirituality requires renunciation of the fruits of

one's actions. The monastic life promotes spiritual growth through

actual renunciation.ILniversal. The Ramakrishna movement, its organizational su-

per-structure of the Ramakrishna Math and Mission, or its messageof the sanatana dharma (the eternal principles) are not a religion.

Its teachings are the universal foundation of all religions or, moreproperly, of spirituality itself.

Tolerant. The Vedanta of the Ramakrishna movement pro-

claims that all religions are true. It teaches humanity the basis for

universal tolerance, which is "unity in diversity." RamakrishnaVedanta teaches that all faiths-Hindu, Muslim, Christian, Bud-dhist-lead to the Godhead.

THE RAMAKRISHNA MOVEMENT / 57

Non-sectarian. The Ramakrishna movement is not a sect withinHinduism, but a defender of the entire Hindu tradition. It demon-strates that each of the paths (ifiana-marga, bhakti-marga, andkarma-marga) and any secr (whether Vaisnava, Saiva, or Sakta) istrue. All spiritual tendencies lead to the goal of unity.

Liberal. The movement is dedicated to the social uplift ofmankind through the goals of l iberty, justice, equality. Accordingto the principles of the sanatana dharma, religion and societythroughout the world can be reformed.

Humanitarian. The Ramakrishna movement is dedicated to theservice of all creatures. Its programs of relief in famine and floodare renowned throughout India. Service to the suffering is serviceto the Godhead.

Progressive. Education aids the progress of humanity. TheRamakrishna movement has emphasized the need for mass educa-tion, especially for the lower and underprivileged classes. That edu-cation has as its central purpose to raise the masses to the level atwhich they may realize the eternal principles.

Scientif ic. As truth is one, so also is true science and truespirituality. Western science and the eternal principles can betaught and practiced together. Both will awaken mankind.

This delineatjon of these nine descriptors of the Ramakrishnamovement is necessarily stark. If we now proceed diachronically tostudy these descriptors, we will see how they are valued within thepattern of ult imacy which the movement perceives as unified, asunified as the sanatana dharma itself .

IIThe Historical Periods of the

Ramakrishna Movement

Our interest in the various periods of the ideals of theRamakrishna movement leads us to suspend judgment concerningthe validity of its central truth claim (i.e., that the teachings of SriRamakrishna are the eternal principles of spirituality). Instead, wewill look at each period to see how the descriptors function as el-t:ments in the pattern of ultimate concern in each period.

l'eriod One. Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa (c. 1880-86): Birth

By 1880 a small movement had begun to form around the person


of a Kali priest at the Dakshineswar Temple outside Calcutta. Theywere drawn to a priest of an endowed temple who had deviatedsignificantly from his expected role as pujari or brahman ritualist.Sri Ramakrishna behaved as a sannyasl; even though he was mar-ried to Saradamani Devi, the marriage was never consummated.Years of practice of various siidhaniis (spiritual disciplines) led himto teach that all religions were essentially true. He taught that theGod of each, whether Vaisnava, Sakta, Christian, or Muslim, wasthe same and could be worshipped according to one's inherentpreference for the type of religious practice. He demonstrated ex-ceptional spiritual powers (siddhis), being able to go into prolonged

trance states such as nirvikalpa samadhi or induce altered states ofconsciousness in others.

The message of Sri Ramakrishna centered on God-realizationand renunciation of "women and gold." Professor C.T.K. Chari cor-rectly observed a unique feature of Ramakrishna Vedanta: the de-nial of the law of the excluded middle.3 Brahman, the impersonalabsolute, and Sakti, the personal Godhead, were the same. Jfianaand bhakti led to the goal. Ramakrishna realized that even the phi-

fosophies of advaita, vii istadvaita, and dvaita (monism, qualif ied

monism, and dualism) were different only because of the varyingspiritual tendencies within the individual, but that they ultimatelyresolved themselves as different ways of expressing the same truth.Ramakrishna taught that he could know this because he was aniivarakoti, one who could merge with the Absolute and return. Byimplication, he taught that he was an avataro, for he was not dif-ferent than l(1sna or Rama.

Sri Ramakrishna appears to have instructed his disciples in twoways regarding renunciation. For householders he taught the men-tal renunciation "of the Gita," but for those who had never touchedwomen, he taught that they also renounce "in actuality." His re-quirement to renounce "gold" set them against the world of mate-rial goods and left only mendicancy.

The monastic order which bears his name did not solely come

from his message or his practice. He initiated no one as a sannyasiin his l i fetime. He entit led no one svami nor set a rule for them.He did ask his favorite disciple, Narendranath Datta, the futureVivekananda, to keep his "boys together" and to "teach them."

The differences between the teachings and practice of SriRamakrishna as noted from direct evidence, and the message


(saniitana dharma) of the Order (the Ramakrishna Math and Mis-sion) which followed him can be demonstrated by briefly reviewingthe nine descriptors. Ramakrishna's monism dissolved advaita,vii is.tadvaita, and dvaita into the experience of truth's unity.Ramakrishna's monasticism was as a brahman pujdri in a Saktatemple, not a monastery. It entailed total abstinence from sexualcontact and the touching of money. Ramakr ishna's universal ismwas total; at the highest level, there were no distinctions. Liberalreligion in the 1880s taught that religion based on reason could ridthe wor ld of superst i t ion, ido lat ry , and the socia l i l ls whichweighted down the men and women. However, Ramakrishna wasnot interested in any of these issues. and therefore, cannot bejudged a religious l iberal. Non-sectarianism was addressed by SriRamakrishna when he stated that he did not want to start any sect.T'his may rvell have been the reason he init iated no one and taughtthat all Hin<Iu sects-Vaisnava, Saiva, Sakta, Tantra-wer.

"qrullytrue. He himself did not affi l iate with any of the existing monasticorders in India. Yet, he affirmed their worth as,equally capable ofbringing one io God-realization. He practiced Sakti-puja (worshipof the Mother Goddess Kali) and taught that the best palh (marga)in this evil age was bhakti (devotionalism).

The descriptor of tolerant, as used by the Ramakrishna move-ment to stress non-conversion to another faith, because all faithsare true does nnt f it Sri Ramakrishna. He did believe in reconver-sion of Indians to Hindu sects. Sri Ramakrishna used all his spiri-tual powers to bring Narendra to do puja to Kah in her manifesta-t ion at the Dakshineswar temple as a basal t image. In so doing,Narendra was "converted" from his faith and practice as a BrahmoSamaj i .o Ramakr ishna's humani tar ianism was t radi t ional ly Hindu.He taught service to all beings (the five danas) and taught nothingof work (karma-yoga) or its dignity for sannS,asis. Ramakrishnawas not the source of the Ramakrishna movement's teaching aboutbeing progressive, in the way in which the term acquires meaningin the Hindu renaissance. He was anti- or non-intellectual. He didnot believe that education aided spiritual growth. In f 'act, he oftenstated that too much study was not helpful. Finally, Ramakrishnawas not scientif ic. He did teach the oneness of truth, but was notscientif ic, even in the peculiar sense of the Indian renaissance.

Sri Ramakrishna's extraordinary achievements were in the areaof the human spirit, not in the intellectual realm, for he was almost

60 / RELICIONINMODERNINDIA

illiterate. His humility, humanity, and purity are a monument to theheights that few reach, even the most saintly. But Ramakrishna wasnot the single source of the Ramakrishna movement's teachingsand practice.Period Two. Svami Vivekananda's 'Mil itant Hinduism' (1886-

1902): Infancy

The death of Sri Ramakrishna in August 1886, left a nascentmovement with an appointed leader and the single instruction of"staying together." Yet, the four final years of their master's lifehad left "his boys" with the resolve to continue his central con-cerns of God-realization and renunciation of "women and gold."Some began to exhibit spiritual powers such as those so amplydemonstrated by Ramakrishna himself, but Narendra discouragedthe acquisit ion of these powers. They all practiced severe disci-plines (sadftanas) in order "to see God." Visions occurred but cer-tainty about God did not, at least for Narendra.

The main spiritual routine during their master's l i fetime hadbeen bhakti. Ramakrishna-puja was now added to Kalt-puja. Themovement had become a traditional localized ascetic group ofbhaktas, dedicated to devotion for their guru and KalI. WhenNarendra left the group in 1890, he condemned their practices.s Heintended never to have contact with them again, due to his frustra-tion with their excessive devotionalism. Yet, he contacted themfrom America in 1893, after years of silence, and tried to win themto his mission. When he returned triumphantly to India in 1897, hesoon encountered almost total resistance to his plan from hisformer fellow disciples.o Only through the dominance of his wil lwere these iakta-sannya.sis moved from their central focus on God-realization through renunciation and puja to trying "his plan" and"the Mission," which involved work in the world.

Vivekananda actually used all nine descriptors which are repre-sentative of the elements in the Ramakrishna movement's patternof ultimacy. He joined the realizations of Sri Ramakrishna with theliberal ideals of the Brahmo Samaj.T

Monism. Advaita Vedanta was the rational articulation of theAbsolute and the principles of oneness. The mtiyavada doctrine ofSankara was accepted as definitive. But in the realm of multiplic-ity, vii ista-dvaita validated one's involvement in the world.Ramakrishna's radical destruction of the epistemological differencesof advaita, vifis.tadvaita, and dvaita in his experiential harmony of

THE RAMAKRISHNA MOVEMENT / 6I

all approaches can be portrayed by the model of the wheel withthree spokes coming to the oneness of truth at the center.Vivekananda's solution to the same problem used the model of theladder and postulated, as Professor Nalini Devdas correctly ob-served, "a reasoned system in which dvaita and viiistadvaita arethe stages and advaita is the goal."E

The thirst for the realization of God as brahman or iakti orKali or even in Ramakrishna as the avatAra of the satya yuga wasrelegated by Vivekananda to a subordinate role for intermittent pe-riods of time after 1890. What became more important than realiz'ing God and attaining mukti was his "God the poor and the miser-able." But as a viiistadvaitan the poor and God were the same,only perceived from different levels of reality. For the poor hewould forego his own liberation-the traditional reason for the to-tal renunciation of the sannyasi. Nor did it matter much experien-tially whether or not Sri Ramakrishna was really God. Epistemo-fogically, Ramakrishna's avatara nature vouchsafed the unity ofbrahman and fukti, for only an avatara could return from mergerin the oneness of the Godhead and know its identity with the Godof form. Yet Vivekananda's ladder model placed advaita at the topas the truest philosophical expression and relegated avataras to therelatively real of vivarta (appearance).

Monasticism. Narendra became Svami Vivekananda at the sug-gestion of the Raja of Khetri. When Vivekananda went to America,he claimed to be a monk of the oldest order of sannyasis in India,that of Sankaracharya.e He allowed himself to be known as abrahmin, he identified himself as being from Bombay or even Ma-dras, and was credentialed to speak before the World Parliament ofReligions on the basis of these verbal claims. After his remarks indefense of Hinduism and often at the expense of other Indian reli-gious groups (the Brahmo Samaj and Theosophy, in particular),some attacked him as a liar. These attacks almost aborted his workin America, but he managed to get resolutions of support from theRaja of Khetri and from lay disciples in Madras proving that herepresented pure Hinduism. His former gurubhais did not providehim with the needed credentials.

When Vivekananda returned to India in 1897 and asserted hisleadgrship over the circle of Ramakishna monks, he accommodatedmore to their monasticism than they did his. (This will be treated inthe next period.) When they accused him of being Western and


said that his teachings were not compatible with those of SriRamakrishna, Vivekananda responded "with great fervour": ..How

do you know that these are not in keeping with his ideas? Do youwant to shut Sr i Ramakr ishna, the embodiment of in f in i te ideas,within your own limits? I shall break these limits and scatter hisideas broadcast all over the world. He never enjoined me to intro-duce his worship and the l ike. The methods of spiritual practice,concentration and meditation and other high ideals of religion thathe taught-those rve nrust realise and teach mankind. Infinite arethe ideas and infinite are the paths that lead to the goal. I was notborn to create a new sect in this world, too full of sects already.',ro

Vivekanancla 's monast ic ism would lead the movement awayfrom total renunciation of gold to its use for mankind. His was an"in-the-world" asceticism which was not practiced by their master,Sri Ramakrishna.

Universalism. The nineteenth-century quest for the foundationsof universal re l ig ion which proved the uni ty of a l l re l ig ions wasfbunded by Svami Vivekananda in Vedanta. He equated the prin-ciples of Vedanta and sanatana dharnn. These were the principiesof sp i r i tua l i ty wi th i ts real izat ion of the One. This was the pureHinduism.

Toleration. Sri Ramakrishna had realized all religions as true.This was experiential and grounded in the special nature of his ex-per iments wi th Is lam, Chr is t ian i ty , and the Hindu sects (such asTantra, Sakta, Vaisnava, Saiva) . Neirher Svami Vivekananda, norany other monk known to the author, ever carried out his own ex-periments. They all accepted the truth of alt religions on rhe basisof their master's work. Svami Vivekananda tried to lead in somecomparative studies-reminiscent of those at the Brahmo Samaj.But no one actually went into the practice of Islam or Taoism. TheRamakrishna movement's outer form would be Hindu.

Vivekananda's message asserted that Hinduism is the most tol-erant of all religions in the world. It accepted all as true. Unitywas the basis of tolerance. But as the defender of Hinduism at at ime when cul tura l in fer ior i ty was a b i t ter real i ty , SvamiVivekananda often lapsed into what Sister Nivedita (MargaretNoble, a Br i t ish d isc ip le) termed his "mi l i tant Hinduism." Takenout of this historical context, many of his remarks about Christian-ity, Judaism, Buddhism, and Islam appear hypercrit ical and do l itt leto further this ideal of tolerance. But these crit ical remarks were


often cherished more by his countrymen desiring some area of su-periority than the mild statements of unity and tolerance.

Non-sectarian. Vivekananda applied the doctrine of universalityto the Hindu tradition and sought to lessen any divisiveness amongits sects. He wanted to lead all Indians to a purif ied Hinduism, di-verse enough for all. Following Sri Ramakrishna's realizationsabout difference resting on the variety of spiritual paths (margas),Vivekananda taught that there were four tendencies through whichmankind sought God. Hinduism was the only religion that recog-nized that the religious capacities of persons vary according totheir inner tendencies (sahskaras).rr These capacities must be chan-neled into a proper method or path (yoga), and only Hinduismtaught the four yogas (jfidna, bhakti, karma and raja).|z Each ofthese paths had the same goal, oneness with brahman. (He did notseem to notice that jfiana yoga and mja yoga covered much of thesame spiritual territory-the non-rational or intuit ional knowledgeof the Absolute).r3 Vivekananda insisted that karma yoga was thebest path for the present and even sannyasis should fbrsake otherpaths and work for the awakening of all.

Liberalism. Liberal religion in the nineteenth century wasfounded on beliefs in universal reason, in progress, and in the po-tential of the masses-democracy or socialism. Justice, l iberty, andequality were l iberal religion's principles. These taught that thelack of food and clothing was unjust and a social rather than a per-sonal i l l . Therefore, l iberal religion sought social reforrn throughlegal redress and educational uplift for the underprivileged anddowntrodden. These ideas came to Vivekananda as part of his edu-cation in Scottish Church College in Calcutta and through his in-volvement as a member of the Brahmo Samaj (1878-85) . Theseideas were not primary concerns of Sri Ramakrishna-not in theseways. When Svami Vivekananda acted as a l iberal, he called forthe end of puranic superstitions and for a refbrm of the religion of"don't touchism" (a reference to untouchabil ity and defi lement bytouch) and the religion of the kitchen (a reference to the restric-tions on intercaste dining). At t imes he even predicted an end tothe caste system itself because the principle of sanatana dlmrma,and consequently purif ied Hinduism, was oneness-even of caste.In the satya yuga, which was coming into being through thepreaching of "f iery mantras" to the masses, all would becomebrahmins. Svami Vivekananda was especially crit ical of priestcraft.


He predicted it would lose its business. He was hurt deeply whenhis gurubhais resembled puranic priests instead of advaitasannyasis. He attacked their devotions on many occasions beforehe finally lapsed into silence:

You think you understand Sri Ramakrishna better than my-self? You think Jnana is dry knowledge to be attained by adesert path, kil l ing out the tenderest faculties of the heart.Your Bhakti is sentimental nonsense which makes one impo-tent. You want to preach Ramakrishna as you have under-stood him which is mighty little. Hands off! Who cares foryour Ramakrishna? Who cares for your Bhakti and Mukti?Who cares what the scriptures say? I wil l go to hell cheer-fully a thousand times, if I can rouse my countrymen, im-mersed in Tamas, and make them stand on their own feetand be Men, inspired with the spirit of Karma-yoga. I amnot a follower of Ramakrishna or any one, I am a followerof him only who carries out my plans! I am not a servant ofRamakrishna or any one, but of him only who serves andhelps others, with caring for his own Mukti.ra

Vivekananda demanded that his gurubhais be "in-the-world"ascetics. He demanded that these sannyasis who had renounced theworld to gain mukti must become servants of the poor and under-privileged. He called it karma yoga, but as professor A.L. Bashamhas observed, this respect for physical work is a purely Westernidea.15 Vivekananda's genius was to establish the connection bet-ween the Bhagavadgtta's call to action with India's modern awak-ening, ignoring its demand that all action be given to Krsna aspuja. This awakening linked social reform in India to liberal, pro-gressive education of the masses. In the nineteenth century l iberalreligionists believed that this was the formula for world reform. Itwould end in a brotherhood of mankind and a commonwealth ofnations.

Humanitarianisn. Svami Vivekananda's l iberal principles forsocial reform were supported by humanitarian commitments. His"Practical Vedanta" taught karma yoga as service to all creatures(seva dharma). He formulated "the Plan" for dedicated sannyasis toteach the masses industrial and agricultural technology, developthem intellectually, and then raise them to their true nature throughthe highest principles of Advaita Vedanta. He differed with Sri


Ramakrishna in that he believed that even householders could betaught the principles of unity with the Absolute, the relative realityof the universe (mayavada), and renunciation while remaining inthe world of duty and toil. He believed that even sannyasis shouldgive up their selfish goal of mukti and work to feed, educate, andlift the masses to their true greatness, in full knowledge of the Di-v ine wi th in.

Progressive. Nineteenth-century l iberal religion l inked socialreform, humanitarianism, and progressive education. Education wasthe key to awakening the masses of the world from the darkness ofignorance. Progressive education was universal in principle anddemocratic in philosophy. Vivekananda believed that proper studywould help the paralyzing i l ls of poverty and superstit ion. The ba-sic content of these studies would be the Vedanta, to learn theprinciples of true spirituality, and Western science, to uti l ize thediscoveries which would better material existence. First one musteat; then one can explore spirituality's heights.

Scientif ic. As just mentioned, Svami Vivekananda sought tobring the science of the West to India. He believed that Vedantawas the only scientif ic religion. Since its principles were groundedin the Absolute, there could be no incompatibil i ty with science.16

Period Three. Svami Brahmananda and the Young Order (1902-22): Adolescence

When Svami Vivekananda returned to Calcutta after sevenyears' absence, he asserted his right to lead his fbrmer gurubhais,who were then staying in their Math in Alambazar. SvamiVivekananda called a meeting on May I, 1897, at a layman's homein Calcutta and founded the Ramakrishna Mission. Through fundsfrom his Western disciples Vivekananda purchased property forBelur Math and brought the monks together there. He appointedtheir implicit spiritual leader, Svami Brahmananda, as head of theMath. The monks called Brahmananda "the son of Ramakrishna,"because of his high devotional qualit ies, and maharaj, because theyrecognized him as their spiritual leader. Brahmananda was later ap-pointed head of the Ramakr ishna Miss ion, s ix months beforeVivekananda died (1902). The official histories of the Order notethat Svami Vivekananada had lost interest in these organizationsseveral years after founding them.r?

Svami Brahmananda placed spirituality above humanitarian


service. He placed total control of the Mission under monks. Heorganized the monastic l i fe and slowly incorporated Vivekananda's"plan" of action to feed, educate, and spiritualize the "poor andmiserable" of India.

The nine descriptors of the Ramakrishna movement's pattern ofult imacy received a different emphasis during this period. The pro-cess of harmonizing may again be observed. The realization of SriRamakrishna and the teachings of Svami Vivekananda were joined

as one.Monism. Svami Brahmananda did not share Vivekananda's pe-

riodic rejections of bhakti. He made it a central part of theRamakr ishna Math and Miss ion 's act iv i t ies. Bi r thdays ofRamakrishna, Vivekananda, Sarada Devi were celebrated with pujaalong with the major Hindu festivals and the birth of Christ.rE Hebrought into the cultus a wide variety of orthodox Hindu ceremo-nies such as Rama-, Radha-, and Siva-Sarnktrtanas.te

Vivekananda's ladder model with Advaita Vedanta at the topwas established as the unquestioned interpretation of the stages ofphilosophical development. Realization of God at the highest levelwas the impersonal absolute (brahman), but in the world of mani-festations worship of one's own favorite expression of God or ofgodly men was not only helpful but often necessary.

Mor,asticism. Svami Brahmananda established the process of along tenure before init iation as a sann)-asi. Eight or more years oftraining were necessary before sann)'asa might be awarded.:0 Al-though the Order had few rules, the process of a long inspectionperiod allowed the instrumental nature of the spiritual practices(sadhanas) to have their result. This extremely long period of spiri-tual infancy under the guidance of senior monks allowed the ma-ture monk to be sent out in relative freedom, carrying the unwrit-ten monast ic ru le wi th in.

Brahmananda believed that the ratio of spiritual training to hu-manitarian service was three parts to one. He would teach: "The

only purpose of l i fe is to know God. Attain knowledge and devo-tion; then serve God in mankind. Work is not the end of l i fe. Dis-

interested work is a means of attaining devotions. Keep at least

three-fourths of your mind in God. It is enough if you give one-fourth to service."2l

IJniversality and tolerance were easily harmonized and fixed in

the pattern of ult imacy of the Ramakrishna Order. Any strident


tones of spiritual militancy were softened. Complaints by Vaisnavasand Theosophists about Svami Vivekananda's tendency to condemntheir religious ideas and practices would cease. No longer wouldone hear: "We implore the Svami (Vivekananda) to spare us suchsweeping denunciations and judgments on men and things, as usu-ally adorn his l ips in every meeting now."22

The spiritual quest was divorced from polit ics. Brahmananda,and succeeding leaders of the Order, would remember Viveka-nanda's words: "No amount of polit ics would be of any avail unti lthe masses of India are well-educated, well-fed and well cared for."Even "the national ideals of India are religion and service,"23Vivekananda had counseled.

The ideals of a non-sectarian Hindu order were quickly harmo-nized. The four yogas began to be a guide for the completion ofthe monk's training. Karma yoga was subordinated for monks tofourth place. The internal struggles over bhakti were silenced witha clear vision of its rightful place as one of the four spiritual ten-dencies which each monk would develop. Leaders of the Orderwould never again doubt the Ramakrishna movement's use ofbhakti or repeat Svami Vivekananda's fear: "What I am mostafraid of is the worship room. It is not bad in itself but there is atendency to make this all in all and set up that old-fashioned non-sense over again-that is what makes me nervous. I know whythey busy themselves with these old, effete ceremonials. Theirspirit craves for work, but having no outlet they waste their energyin ringing bells and all that."2a More importantly, outsiders wouldcease to draw attention to differences between its two great leaders,as this Vaisnava journal's obituary notice did in 1902: "Though adisciple of the Paramahangsa, Vivekananda chalked out a path forhimself. The Paramahangsa was a bhakta, but Vivekanandapreached yoga, and there is a wide divergence between the twocults. Vivekananda also preached the Avatarship of his Guru, theParamahangsa, and this led Svami Abhayananda (Madam MarieLouise), whom he had init iated and who is now in our midst de-lighting the Calcutta public by her sweet discourses on the religionof the Lord Gauranga to secede from him."25

Humanitarianisru. When Svami Vivekananda got ochre-robedmonks to do relief work for the first t ime in 1900. the resultscould not be measured in physical terms. The Indian press foundnew heroes, servants of the suffering who were neither Christian


missionaries nor foreigners. Despite whatever doubts the gurubhais

may have had about a sannydsi laboring for social change, once

they were recognized as archetypes of a new spirituality, or an an-

cient spirituality recovered, there was no turning back' By practic-

ing this ideal, they had adopted it.26

Progressive. The dedication of the Order to progressive educa-

tion was firmly established in this period. As the monks prepared

themselves to teach and preach the sanatuna dharma, studies of the

glory of Hindu spirituality emerged. Translations and commentaries

on t-tr" ..most spiritual" scriptures of the Hindu tradition were made

available in English and the regional languages of India. These

translations often required a more formal study of Sanskrit, En-

glish, and at least one regional language other than their own'

Mass education meant the founding of schools and colleges and the

beginning of journal and magazine publications. The Brahmavadin

had been started even before the gurubhais of Ramakrishna had be-

gun to work on Vivekananda's "Plan"-and that by lay Madrasi

disciples in 1895.2?ihe descriptor of scientific was harmonized into the pattern of

ultimacy of the order. By working with this ideal in the speeches

of Svami Vivekananda, editors were taught the place of science

alongside the sanatana dharma. Monks no longer had to have di-

rect exposure to Western educational institutions; they had

Vivekananda's canonical statements.

Period Four. A General Convention (1926): Young Adulthood

During the third presidency, that of Svami Sivananda, tbere oc-

curred an event that would suggest that the Ramakrishna movement

had reached a new period in its development. This was the first

General Convention in 1926'28 Svami Saradananda, in giving the

Chairman's Address of Welcome, pointed out that the movement

had passed through "two stages of opposition and indifference" and

had now entered a stage of acceptance.2e Warning that this might

bring "a relaxation of spirits and energy," he called upon the Order

to "keep close to their purity and singleness of purpose, their sac-

rifice and self-surrender."roSvami Sivananda told the Convention: "What we after all

know is that sri Ramakrishna was the mainspring of all that the

Svamiji (Vivekananda) spoke and did. It was the Master's message

that Svamiji carried from door to door, elucidating it to all in the


light of what leading he had from the Master himself."3r From thepoint of view of the Order there could be no doubt about the har-mony between the teaching of Ramakrishna and Vivekananda.

The Order's monism was so well established that no time waswasted defending its relation to worship. Their collective mindseemed to move between the levels of the real and relative realitywhen shifting from oneness with brahman to puja before images ofKah or Ramakrishna. These aids meant nothing on the higher level(Vivekananda's model of the ladder); but the warmth of bhaktiwas as legitimate as any other form of worship (Ramakrishna'smodel of the spoked wheel with all leading to God-realizationequal ly) .

This period in the life of the movement had three major em-phases: a repetit ion of the central principles, a justif ication of itsstand against polit ical involvement, and an administrative concernabout the significant growth of humanitarian and educational opera-t ions.

Svami Saradananda's summary of the realizations of SriRamakrishna at the convention indicates that the descriptors of mo-nism, universality, tolerance, and non-sectarianism had been routin-ized. They would be expressed more or less elegantly throughoutthe succeeding decades, but their meaning was set. One shouldnote in Saradananda's summary that spiritual practices were againproducing the siddhi of "religion transmitted by touch." This seven-lirld summary emphasized the spiritual rather than the humanitarianrrspects of the movement,32 even as they became increasingly in-volved in the latter:

( l) Every sincere devotee of any religion whatsoever will haveto pass through the three stages of dualism, qualif ied mo-nism and ultimately monism.

(2) As all jackals howl in the same pitch, so all devotees of anyreligion whatsoever have declared in the past and will con-tinue to do so in future, their oneness with the Deity onrealising the heights of monism.

(l) That there need not be any quarrel between dualism, qualifedmonism and monism, for each comes in turn to every devo-tee in accordance with the growth and development of hisspiritual l i fe.

(.1) The positive part of every religion, in which are found theway and the method of procedure through that, as well as

70 / RELIGTON IN MODERN INDIA

the goal which its sincere follower would reach in the end-

is true. But the negative, which speaks of punishment and

damnation, eternal or otherwise, for the straggler' is not so'

being added to the former for keeping the members of the

community from deserting and straying to other folds'

( 5 ) T h a t r e l i g i o n c a n b e t r a n s m i t t e d t o o t h e r s b y w i l l a n d t o u c hbY the great teachers.

(6) In the Sanatana Dharma of the Vedanta are to be found the

eternal principles and laws that govern every single manifes-

tation ol religion in a particular time, place and environment'

(7) Stick to your own religion, and think that the followers of

other religions are coming to the same goal through different

paths.-Svami Saradananda (1926)11

Ramakrishna's concern for humanitarian service was portrayed

t o t h e c o n v e n t i o n b y S v a m i S i v a n a n d a i n a r e t e l l i n g o f S r iR a m a k r i s h n a ' s d e n i a l o f N a r e n d r a ' s r e q u e s t t o b e i n i t i a t e d . T h elack of the Master's init iation was to be interpreted as having a

spiritual end. (A more novel interpretation within the order is the

notion of a valid init iation "by touch")'

The Admonition of his Master to forego the selfish enjoy-

m e n t o f S a m a d h i a n d d e d i c a t e h i s l i f e t o t h e w e l f a r e o f t h emany, seeing Him alone immanent in the Universe' haunted

him day and night ever since that memorable day when Sri

Ramakrishna in a mood of inward absorption handed over to

his i l lustrious disciple the precious fruits of his own

realisations reaped in the course of the crowded period of his

Sadhana and made him the happy conduit for the flow of the

elixir of spirituality that the world needed at a great psycho-

logical Period of its historY.-Svami Sivananda (1926)3'

The inner tension between spiritual liberation (mukti) and so-

cial service (sevc) was resolved organizationally rather than philo-

sophically. Svami Sivananda stated that "Any attempt to make.a

cleavage between the existing Math and Mission works is distinctly

againsi the ideal of Svamiji and therefore stands self-condemned."sr

It-was further "unholy and dangerous."r6 "This Math represents the

physical body of Sri Ramakrisfna. He is always present in this in-

stiiution. The injunction of the whole Math is the injunction of Sri


Ramakrishna. One who worships it, worships him as well. And onewho disregards it, disregards our Lord."37

Institutionalization had occurred, though in a youthful form.The institution could now speak as a body. Sannyasis, free andrenunciate to the world, now worked and spoke as a body. Theywere now svamis-bound by the wil l of an Order.

The movement would reaffirm its non-involvement in polit ics.Even when asked by the Gandhi movement for support, theRamakrishna Mission and Math stayed out of the polit ical struggleagainst the Brit ish. National leaders seemed to understand. howeveraloof the Ramakr ishna movement remained, that th is movementwas functioning as "the soul of the nation."38 The movement mightres is t pol i t ic izat ion, but many of Svami Vivekananda's one mi l l ionrecorded words awakened more than quiet spirituatity.

The third concern of humanitarianisnt and progress was cel-ebrated at the convention with calls for renewed effort, without los-ing sight of spiritual goals. The Order's relief and educational workset it apart as the exemplar of spirituality in an awakening India.

Period Five. Indian Independence and the Order: Mature Adulthood

When Independence was won in 1947, even though the Orderhad not taken an active role polit ically, it had become the arche-type of spiritual service. Praised even by Prime Minister Nehru,who otherwise characterized all sadhus as parasites, the movementresponded to nation-building with differing emphases in its thor-oughly routinized pattern of ult imacy. Svami Tejasananda pointedto four ideals of the Ramakrishna movement in this report from1954; they were:

(l) to conduct the activit ies of the movement for the establish-ment of fellowship among the followers of different reli-gions, knowing them all to be so many forms of one EternalRel ig ion;

(2) to train men so as to make them competent to teach suchknowledge or sciences as were conducive to the material orspiritual welfare of the masses;

(3) to promote and encourage arts and industries; and(.1) to introduce and spread among the people in general

Vedantic and other religious ideals in the l ight of the l ifeand teaching of Sri Ramakrishna.se

The descriptors are implicitly there. They seem to have become


so commonplace that the spiritual elements need not be stressed,

while humanitarian concerns head the list. Within the same report

Tejasananda recited an impressive l isting of ten concerns which

were being engaged in by the Ramakrishna movement: "Liquida-

tion of i l l i teracy, rural reconstruction, work among laboring and

backward classes, economic and social uplift, removal of untouch-

ability, female education, relief works in times of natural calami-

ties, preservation of indigenous culture, dissemination of the accu-

mulated spiritual wisdom of the race, and evolution of a cultural

synthesis."{ The movement had grown from the five Maths and

centers in the l ifetime of Svami Vivekananda to 84 Maths and

Missions in India alone.arIts educational work in the year 1949-1950 comprised two full

degree colleges, 17 high schools, 121 lower grade and other

schools, and 50 student houses, with a total enrollment of 27,000

students. Its work for women involved 3,000 students. Its medical

work included 10 general hospitals, one maternity hospital, 65 dis-

pensaries, and reached 13,000 "indoor patients" and two mill ion

"outdoor patients."42While never more than seven hundred monks and a few nuns

served in the Order, their prodigious literary production increased

with more translations, monographs, and series, lectures, cultural

activities, and regular classes. These activities were manifestations

of the vitality of the spiritual quest of the Order'

Professor Gerald Cooke, in a study sponsored by the Christian

Institute for the Study of Religion and Society in Bangalore, re-

ported on the everyday activities of a Ramakrishna Math in south

India in the mid-sixties. Since his study focused on historical and

sociological questions, it is even more impressive that he had such

high words of praise for the movement: "It is not difficult to ac-

knowledge the blessings which the Ramakrishna Math and Mission

brings to India. Indeed it would be humanly and religiously insen-

sitive not to rejoice in the constructive efforts and results of this

movement."a3Yet Cooke noticed that the ideals of universalism and non-sec-

tarianism were working out somewhat differently in history than

the ideal. "For all its stress on a universal, super-sectarian outlook,

the Ramakrishna-Vivekananda movement is rooted in Hindu tradi-

tions and in actuality serves primarily Hindus'"e He noted that mo-

nasticism was not a role of highest prestige "even of young


people who maintain constant contact with the Ramakrishna move-ment."45 This observation is reinforced by the fieldwork of Profes-sor David Miller in Bhubaneswar during 1964.46 Miller noted an-other sectarian feature: "In 1964, the trend seemed to be towardmaking the deity's presence more immediate to the laity throughthe worship of gurus."a7 John Yale and Christopher Isherwood bothspeak of the cult of Sri Ramakrishna and its increasing importanceduring this period.

Period Six. The Call for a Second General Convention: Old Age

By the end of the 1970s, with a sensitivity rare for organiza-tional leaders, Svami Gambhirananda, president of the RamakrishnaMath and Mission, had begun to talk about calling a second Gen-eral Convention of the movement. On the one hand, statisticianswould be comparing the reports on the activities of the movementin the seventies with any very successful business: increased cen-ters, libraries, hospitals, patients, colleges, schools, students, and allother indices of growth, save one. The number of svamis remainedabout seven hundred. On the other hand, there were definite signsthat a new stage in the life of the movement had been entered.

The last of the disciples trained by the direct disciples of SriRamakrishna are reaching their eighties. A totally different genera-tion of leaders will soon take over the movement. Yet to an out-sider their spirituality is remarkable in its own right. But the suresigns of old age are admitted when the body cannot cope with allits demands. The very success of the movement in physical terms(maths, centers, publishing houses, journals, schools, colleges, hos-pitals, and dispensaries) has overtaxed the Order. It has begun toshow signs of not coping fully with life's demands. This pattern ofultimacy does not vary significantly in the articulation (the ideallevel) from the previous period. Yet old age almost invariably de-nrands a comparison of the ideals one has l ived by with actualachievement. There have been questionings in the author's presenceby leading svamis of the movement. The thesis of this study is thatthe Ramakrishna movement has now entered old age because ofthe dynamics of its own pattern of ultimacy. It shows signs of notcoping with the demands of its own ideals.

This is a historical point of view. The historical actuality doesnot address the idealist vision. As Cooke observed in his study ofrhc movement, "It is characteristic of Hindu thought and belief to


regard historical actuality as less decisive for human life than innerprivate experience."aE That ideals will both influence and be influ-enced by historical contingencies is an unstated assumption inWestern thought-an assumption capable of being examined andfalsif ied. Yet, following Cooke's argument, "This devaluation ofthe objective stuff of history may encourage the view that ideasand exhortations and right inner convictions...are enough to consti-tute the ideal."ae The advaita view that the realized ideal is realand the viiistadvaita and dvaita demand that truth manifest itself inthe world reasserts itself. Despite its ways of harmonizing thisproblem, the movement slights history and reform or revolution.

The Ramakrishna movement is being attacked in Bengal byCommunists who actually share the last three ideals of the move-ment (e.9. reform of society, a belief in progress, and a belief inscience). There are increasing incidents of students and lay facultyattacking the curriculum of the movement's schools as supersti-t ious. They find the offerings too narrow to facil i tate progress.They find the movement's commitment to reform of the caste sys-tem hypocritical.50 When the Bengali government began "moderniz-ing" the movement's schools, a lawsuit regained control by arguingthat the Ramakrishna Mission was literally a minority religion andsubject to the constitutional rights of Article 25(l).5r Sadly, in or-der to retain its schools, the movement no longer claimed to beuniversal and non-sectarian.

Another l ine of attack has come from India's new rationalists,who are going back to the very foundations of the descriptors towhich the Ramakrishna movement has been able to claim soleownership for the last eighty of its hundred-year history.52 The ra-tionalists show other ways of actualizing many of the same ideals.For instance, the liberal commitment to social reform is not ham-pered by an idealist commitment to the caste system. The new ra-tionalists are joining the Indian communists in demanding action toalleviate inequality. Sanskrit scholars have argued other idealswithin Indian scriptures than monasticism. And it is not unusual tohear Indian scientists charging that the Ramakrishna movement isanti-scientific in that the method (falsifiability) and scope (everyfacet of l i fe being examined crit ically) have not been uti l ized inRamakrishna Vedanta.

What does this have to do with the way the Ramakrishnamovement currently emphasizes the various descriptors of its vision


of ultimacy? At the beginning of the 1980s in India there is pro-nounced unrest. Whereas it could once be assumed that theRamakrishna movement articulated the spiritual aspirations of theIndian renaissance (and that was the positive conclusion ofBharati's essay),53 these very ideals are calling the movement intoquestion. Of the nine descriptors of the movement only the ideal ofmonasticism is rejected by some as irrelevant for modern India.The other eight have survived into the 1980s but function now tojudge the Ramakrishna movement's contmitment to actualizingthem in history.

In December 1978, the author conducted twenty-five interviewswith svamis of the Ramakrishna Order in India. Among the svamiswere Gambhirananda, Lokeswarananda, and Ananyananda. Theconclusions of these interviews regarding the movement's patternof ult imate concern are (1) that the radical commitment to socialreform inherited from the Brahmo Samaj and Svami Vivekanandahas been lost, (2) that Vivekananda's crit icisms about puranic su-perstitions and ignorant priestcraft are thought by the members ofthe movement to apply in no way to the Ramakrishna Math andMission, (3) that Vivekananda's call to lead worshippers fromlower bhakti characterized by fear and greed does not apply to anyof the worship in the movement's institutions, (4) that reform andspiritual growth are extremely slow processes requiring many life-times and the movement should be judged by the progress made bythe few who are totally engaged in those endeavors, (5) that eter-nal principles realized by Sri Ramakrishna and Svami Vivekanandacan only reach a small portion of the world's population throughRamakishna educational institutions and publications, and (6) thatmonasticism is necessary for God-realization.

Period Seven. Particularistic Hinduism (Ramakrishnaism): A HinduReligion

When governmental interference from Calcutta and the state ofBengal (both then controlled by the Indian Communist Party) be-came intolerable, the Ramakrishna Mission sought the protection ofminiority status in 1985. Swami Bhashyananda stated: "TheRamakrishna Mission made no claim that we are non-Hindu.Our lawyers advised the court that we are Hindus, but specialHindus."5a

The Indian Constitution (1947 and, thereafter) created a political

76 / RELIGIONINMODERNINDTA

entity, the majority religion. This legal fiction had a number of ad-vantages-both ideal and real. It satisfied both secular and religiousinterests. The majority religion was identified by Hindus as theHindu religions of India, from the religion of the Vedas to thethousands of current Hindu religious groups. To the reformers,secular and religious, this legal creation provided a normless entitywhich could be transformed (re-formed) by law. The Indian Consti-tution did not attempt to make India a Hindu state but created in-stead a special category of "the majority religion," which everyoneassumed to be "Hinduism." "Minority religion" also became a cate-gory of the constitution. There are numerous sections of the Con-stitution of India which recognize rights of and demarcate govern-mental controls over these two constitutional entities [Arts. l5(l),l5(2), 16(2), 16(5),23(2),25-28,29(2)1. The constitution does notdefine either "Hinduism" or "the majority religion." The constitu-tion creates a state which is entrusted with jurisdiction over themajority religion.

There were also disadvantages for particular Hindu groups----onthe idea and on the real levels of conceptualization and in theirhistorical contingencies-that were never anticipated. One of theseincluded interference by Indian governmental entities acting con-trary to that Hindu group's interests and aspirations. That was ofcourse unthinkable in 1947 as the Indian Constitution was beingwritten (at least for reformist Hindus), but it became a reality inthe 1980s-first in Calcutta, then in Bengal, and later in Kerala.

It began for the Ramakrishna Mission and Order in a disputein one of their colleges. Prof. Madhad Bandopadhyaya of theVivekananda Centenary College brought a lawsuit against theOrder. At issue administratively for the Order was the privilege torun its schools according to the desires of the Order rather than bythe vote of the various faculties of its schools. The Indian Consti-tution, state constitutions, law, and various departments governingeducation established that educational institutions of the majorityreligion (presumed "Hindu") would be subject to the rules of ma-jority (presumed "Hindu") reform. Minority religious educationalinstitutions could be administered by their own rules, democratic orotherwise. Since the faculty wanted an academic and not a monkas its president and even seemed to want to hire Communists asfaculty the Order filed suit to retain control.

The text of the Order's responding affidavit in 1980 would


seem to affirm Ramakrishna's notion that all religions are essen-tially equal but seek to be a minority religion that is at the sametime the embodiment of the Religion Eternal. "Minority religion"had been substituted for "a purified Hindu religion."

6. Shri Ramakrishna's cult or religion throws a new light on the con-cept of religion, and gives a new meaning and interpretation to all re-ligions of mankind, thereby enriching them with a new value. This newreligion is unique by itself, and comprehends within itself each of allthe other religions, and yet is not identical with any one of them.7. The most important features of this new cult or religion practised

and preached by Shri Ramakrishna, which clearly distinguish (sic.) itfrom all the other cults or religions, including traditional Hinduism, areas follows:-(i) The religion of Shri Ramakrishna looks upon Shri Ramakrishna as

an illustration and embodiment of the Religion Etemal which consti-tutes the core of all relilious ideals, and permits his worship throughhis image (like portraits, photos, statues, etc.), relics or otherwise, withor without any ritual or ceremony.(ii) It not only tolerates all religious (sic.), but also accepts them all

to be true, and it considers all religions to be only different paths lead-ing to the same goal, whereas other religions claim absolute authorityin all matters to the exclusion of all others.(iii) It believes that the underlying truth in all religions is the same

Eternal Truth which is the essence of the scriptures of all religions.(iv) It preaches the harmony of all religions.(v) It prohibits condemnation of any religion(vi) It enjoins no particular ritual or ceremony whatsoever as compul-

sory.(vii) It enforces no restriction regarding food as in many other reli-

gions.(viii) It recognises no privilege whatsoever due to caste, colour, creed,

language, or nationality.(ix) It recommends selfless services (sic.) to man in a spirit of wor-

ship, looking upon him as the veritable manifestation of God, as a suremeans to attain one's spiritual goal.(x) It does not require any person belonging to any other faith to ab-

jure the snme, on initiation into or acceptance of this unique religion ofShri Ramakrishna as is so demanded by other religions.(xi) It does not impose or require any specific ceremony by way of

conversion or purification or otherwise, for initiation into this new re-ligion, unlike other religions.($i) It allows its followers to participate freely in the religious cer-

emonies of all other religions.st


The Ramakrishna Mission's lawyers argued that "Rama-

krishnaism" was a new and minority religion, different from tra-dit ional Hinduism, but st i l l Hindu. When the case reached theSupreme Court, India's judges decided in 1985 that

39. The fact that Sri Ramakrishna never expressly abjured Hindu re-ligion and his disciples had sometimes described them (sic.) as Hindumonks would not be decisive . . .41. . . . But i t was Sri Ramakrishna and his disciples who gave con-

crete shape to the concept of Religion Universal covering not only dif-ferent schools of Hindu faith but also other religions of the world.47. Compared to the members of Arya Samaj the claim of the

Ramakrishnaites (sic.) as rel igious minorit ies, in our view, stands onstronger footing. Ramakrishnaites, who are admittedly much less thanfifty percent of the total population of the State, do not consider them-selves as a reformed sect of Hindus and they profess and practiceWorld Religion. They do not follow Hindu morai code or accept castesystem. even non-Hindus could be followers of the faith . . Hinduway of life retruires obedience to and observance of Hindu code of life.Ramakrishnaism does not prescribe such code of life laid down byH i n d u R e l i g i o n . . .48. The followers of Sri ramakrishna have a common faith. They have

common organisation and they are designated by a dist inct name.Therefore, they constitute a denomination or sect within the meaning ofArticle 26 of the Constitution of India . . . As a religious denominationramakrishna Mission enjoys a right under Article 26(a) to establish andmaintain institutions for religious and charitable purposes. The Missionunder Article 26(b) has also right to manage its own affairs in mattersof religion.$

On October 7, 1985, Judge Bandopadhyaya of West Bengalruled that the "Ramakrishna Mission is a religious minority" and"the cult of Sri Ramakrishna [is] a new religion different fromHindu religion." Bandopadhyaya ruled that the Mission had protec-tion under Article 30(l) of the Constitution, which meanr that itsown religious principles and standards would be the basis for con-tract disputes, as in a civil suit with its teachers, and that it wouldbe shielded from most governmental interference.

Hinduism Today editorialized in March 1987 that "the formaldeclaration of Ramakrishnaism as a new religion is not surprising.The Mission has always been universalist, priding itself in multi-religious membership and resisting any attempt to be pigeon-holed."


(p.3) The paper went on to admit, a bit begrudgingly, that, "Prac-

tically speaking, the Mission's action points out a serious inequity

in India-that minority institutions (Christian, Muslim, etc.) arefree to operate as they wish, while institutions run by Hindus, (be-

cause they are the majority) must follow a different set of rules.

Some analysts project that if the ruling is not overturned, otherHindu sects may take the same route. Ultimately, as stated Mr. J.N.Singhi of Calcutta, "If Government does not stop interference, aday may come when social organizations will not build schools andcolleges." (ibid.)

Throughout the dispute Swamis and representatives maintainedthat the Ramakrishna Mission was still Hindu. Having minority sta-

tus had nothing to do at all with being Hindu or not. Mysore, wasexempted from certain state school requirements regarding appoint-

ment of staff and the admission of students.To get these affirmative rulings the Ramakrishna Mission

argued in the Bengal case that "The religion of Sri Ramakrishna is

the religion separate and different from that of the HindusRamakrishnaism has its separate God, separate name, separate

church, separate worship, separate community, separate organiza-

tion and above all, a separate philosophy . . . An attempt to equatethe religion of Ramakrishna with the Hindu religion as professed

and practiced will be to defeat the very object of Ramakrishnaismand to deny his gospel." (Hinduism Today, July 1989, p.20)

The Ramakrishna Order and Mission won. But it did not win

its views that it could manage its educational institutions withoutstate interference under Article 26(a), the majority religion clause.

It had to win this freedom under Article 26(b) which places mino-

rity religious reform in the hands of the minorities themselves-andnot a concern of the state. The Ramakrishna Order and Mission

had abandoned the majority religion and the locus of reform ofmajority religion to protect its own interests. It won this right foritself-and other religious sects or denominations in India. A reli-gious group simply needed to prove itself a sect or minorityreligion.

By clarifying itself as a minority of 1400 monks and 100,000lay followers, the Ramakrishna Order and Mission accepted anidentify of something more than a numerical minority. It aban-doned the role thrust upon the Order from its beginning in 1897,

that of being the living example of purified Hinduism. If affirmed


that it was both a minority sect but still Hindu; its ontologicalclaim for nearly a century had changed fundamentally.

Inferentially, the Ramakrishna Order and Mission had been

forced to say that it was new. It was a reform religion. It affirmedRamakrishna's circle of equality of all religions, but not unambigu-ously for radical transcendence, since Ramakrishna was still

affirmed as the embodiment of the Religion Eternal. All religionswere equal and true; none was superior. Ramakrishnaism was aminority sect.

Again inferentially, the Ramakrishna Order has been forced by

the lawsuit to understand its own finitude. Legally, it was

Ramakrishnaism. It was legally a particular religion. Perhaps that

does not change the fundamental teaching of the Order: that it is

both purified Hinduism and the living example on earth of the

sanatana dharma, the Religion Eternal. That claim can still be

made, even though "majority" Hindus have more justif ication in

taking it as sectarian.The few Swamis who would talk "off-the-record" about this

crisis claimed that what the lawyers said in court does not repre-

sent the ideal nor has the ideal of the Mission been changed. Theremay be more truth to this position than meets the eye. Hinduismhas always worked well philosophically with two-level ontolo-gies-appearance and Reality, maya and Brahman, aifiana andjfiana, infinitum. But the Ramakrishna Mission's historical claimswere nevertheless compromised-that the gospel of Ramakrishna

embodies Sanatana Dharma in its universal form and as an institu-tion it is a purified Hinduism which is not a sect nor sectarian.

Period Eight. The Ramakrishna Movement and the Future: Deathor Rebirth?

The sixth stage of life can be extended for some time into andpossibly beyond the 1980s. What can be said about the

Ramakrishna movement's future? The extraordinary caliber of

monks and nuns who have been attracted to and trained by the

Ramakrishna Math will no longer meet the needs of the movement.The administration of the publishing, medical, relief, and educa-

tional operations will begin to buckle under the strain of its depen-

dence on monastics as top decision-makers. Much as Roman Ca-

tholicism has already begun to experience, the Ramakrishna Mis-

sion will face an ever decreasing supply of monastic leadership.


But whereas the former has a large cadre of lay workers to relyon, the Ramakrishna Mission does not. Early on, it concluded thatits laymen were not sufficiently interested in its mission nor suffi-ciently spiritual to be given real leadership. There are no age sta-tistics available to document what must be stated as a general ob-servation: the Order is aging faster than it is currently f i l l ing itsranks. How will the Order respond to the deaths which will strikedrastically at its ascetics who are now over sixty? Without dramaticrejuvenation the Order will enter a marked decline in the numberof svamis available to run its operations. It wil l face a dilemma:either allow lay volunteers or hired workers governance of manyactivit ies, or cease their operation. The latter alternative wouldmark a certain decline, while the former may not preserve theOrder's hallmark: the incorruptibil i ty of its spiritual leaders.

But its greatest crisis appears to be similar to that of theBrahmo Samaj when merely speaking great ideals was not enough.The movement has served the poor and given relief to many mil-lions in times of acute need, but now other movements who stressimmediate action and the urgency of changing the social systemare addressing reform and revolution in India. For the Ramakrishnamovement to be reborn, it wil l need to re-experience and re-visionthese nine descriptors in less narrow and less parochial terms.

Notes

l. The Ramakrishna movement designates this religious movement in itsentirety. Its monastic order is known as the Ramakrishna Math,while its humanitarian concerns are administered by theRamakrishna Mission.

2. Of the hundreds of works concemed with the Ramakrishna movementand its leaders, only a few deserve special mention. Until recentlyonly one history has emerged, Svami Gambhirananda's History ofthe Ramakrishna Math and Mission (Calcutta: Advaita Ashrama,1957), which often lacks objectivity. Many svamis have studied thelives and teachings of Ramakrishna and his direct disciples. Thebibliographies in Christopher Isherwood's or John Yale's booksprovide an adequate listing of these in-house works. Although herstudy centers on the work of Svami Vivekananda in America,Marie Louise Burke's contributions are noteworthy: SwamiVivekananda in America: New Discoverres (Calcutta: AdvaitaAshrama, 1958), and Swami Vivekananda: His Second Visit to the


making the Hindu re l ig ion a c losed and r ig id system, made i t soelastic as to accommodate all the religious trends of that age."r0

He uses such phrases as "so-called Islam,' and ,.the very soulof re l ig ion" and " the sal t o f re l ig ion." His cr i ter ion of judgment inall such instances is the person of faith. Such persons may exist inany religious tradition and they wil l be characterized by inner dis_cip l ine, f reedom from vain at tachment to wor ld ly mat ters, ancreadiness to abandon their own security in order to fincl ways tohelp alleviate the sufferings of others. when Zakir Husain refers tothese qual i t ies, he nrakes references to the two great poems ofIqbal, The Secrets of the Self and the Mt,steries of Selflessness)lFor S. Abid Husain, Zaki r Husain and thei r co l leagues at the JamiaMi l l ia Is lamia, both Iqbal and Gandhi are men of fa i th in whomthe sal t o f re l ig ion is d iscerned. The Musl ims of the Jamia Mi l l iaIs lamia stayed wi th India when many of thei r co-re l ig ionis ts d idnot, because they agreed with Gandhi that a type of secularism waspossible fbr India that would not be repressive fbr Muslims.

In the disastrous period after the collapse of the Khilafat andnon-cooperation movements, it had been suggested that the JamiaMi l l ia Is lamia should remove the word Is lamia f iom i ts name i f i twas to s tay in India. Gandhi ins is ted that he would no longer sup_port the institution if they removed the word Islamia. This was oneindication of his concern that Muslims should feel entirely at homein the secular and free India he was working for. Secular in thisIndian context means a polit ical system in which religious commu_nities are free to develop their own religious and cultural l ives. Itdoes not mean a system in which the state is opposed to religion,or actively seeks to replace religion with another set of values. Un_der th is k ind of Indian secular ism, there would be re l ig ious educa_t ion.

We have noted that "true spirit of religion" is one of S. AbidHusain 's expressions. Another one is " the Indian spi r i t . " He haswritten a lot about the history and culture of India, and the roleMuslims have played in India's past and should play in India's fu_ture. He argues that the climate and the experiences of invasionsby many peoples over the long course of India's history have re-sul ted in a d is t inct ive set of at t i tudes which represent the Indianspirit. This is a spirit receptive to contemplation, tolerant, ready toco-exist with many different cultural groups, and open.

The attitude to problem solving in terms of Indian Muslims is

THE SPIRIT OF THE JAMIA MILLIA ISLAMIA / 16I

manifested in the approaches put fbrward in the journals edited by

S. Abid Husain in the last part of his l i fe. The English journal /s-

lam and the Modern Age, which began publ icat ion in May 1970'

gives a good indication of the concerns of its editor.He sees world history as a process of moving away from tribal

cultures, toward the development of larger social and polit ical units

in which reason serves to create bonds of re lat ionship. Is lam he

sees as the last of the great revealed religions. From this perspec-

t ive, Is lamic society is most heal thy when i t exhib i ts conf idence in

human reason, and opens i tse l f to communicat ion wi th others.

S. Abid Husain 's method of problem solv ing is to encourage

discussion and the f ree exchange of ideas. His phi losophical posi -

t ion is sonrewhat Platonic , both in h is cer ta inty that f ina l t ruth is

more than the forms through which i t is presented, and a lso

through his interest in debate and exchange as the way of stimulat-

ing human capacity to improve the world. In the various issues of

lslam and the Modern Age, one finds S. Abid Husain's presence

most of ten as the person behind the scenes organiz ing a confer-

ence, and usually reporting through the journirl on all the points of

view presented. One can discern from the topics dealt with at the

various seminars the concerns judged to be most urgent by S. Abid

Husain and h is f r iends. In the e ight years tb l lowing the establ ish-

ment of Islam and the Modern Age Society the following problems

were considered: re l ig ion and the modern age;r 'z re l ig ion and

peace;r r Chr is t ian-Musl im dia logue;ra re l ig ion, moral i ty and law;15

and the reconstruct ion of re l ig ious th ink ing in ls lam.16 In every

case, contributions came from persons frorn different countries and

diff 'erent traditions.Fur ther , in var ious issues of the journal , topics are deal t wi th

in a themat ic manner. The issues of Musl im law are considered

several t imes.r? The ro le of women in Is lamic countr ies is a lso d is-

cussed.s* S. Abid Husain had h imsef wr i t ten a p lay about purdah

when he was young. The d iscussions about women inc lude intbr-

mat ion about the actual changes tak ing p lace in var ious Musl im

countries. The journal also discusses the Sikh religion.3' Various ar-

ticles deal with aspects of the tension between revelation and rea-

son.a" Hindu-Musl im re lat ionships are analyzed.or A number of ar-

t ic les on aspects of Indian Musl i rn h is tory in India are inc luded, as

rvel l as analys is of other Musl im societ ies, such as Pakistan anc

Turkey.{2 In these latter cases, the focus is on the nature of secular-

I62 / RELIGION IN MODERN INDIA

ism and the problems that have arisen.In relation to the industrialized societies, ihe attitude as stated

in S. Abid Husain's introduction to the first issue of the journal isthat materialism and rationalism have become too dominant, so thathuman values as such are given less priority than they should re-ceive.a3 S. Abid Husain 's own method, as a commentator on thevarious seminars he reports, is to paraphrase the various positionsput forward, and then to suggest possible weaknesses in the argu-ments. The effect of this is not to discourage his readers, but tosuggest that none of these issues are readi ly so lvable. His conf i -dence l ies more in developing mutual sympathy and respect be-tween the persons who are ready to talk, than it is in any particu-lar f inal solution.

His article on "The Power of Faith" perhaps best exemplif ieshis at t i tude to re l ig ion. He wr i tes: "The founta in-head of fa i th isthe myst ic v is ion which came to some great seers at var ious l imesin var ious par ts of the wor ld . . . . This myst ic exper ience invests thegreat seer with a charisma which enables him to attract countlesshuman beings towards h im to k indle in thei r hear ts the l ight offaith and infuse into their l ives the spirit of truth, love and com-passion."{ He uses Guru Nanak and Gandhi as instances of personswho had th is k ind of in f luence on humankind.

One of the most gr im of S. Abid Husain 's ar t ic les is the onehe contr ibuted to the volume honor ing h is f r iend Zaki r Husain 'sseventy-first birthday. After the fifty years or so of close workingtogether and mutual support through diff lcult and bitter t imes, thecommemorative offering of S. Abid Husain to Zakir Husain reflectscertain realit ies close to the hearts of both of them. The harshestreality is the contrast beiween the actual India of the time-1966-and the ideal they had st ruggled a l l the i r l ives to implement . Hedoes not hesitate to blame relision for much of the trouble.

But the most in tense and v igorous form of group egoism isre l ig ious communal ism. I t . is a s t range and h ighly explos ivemixture of religious prejudice and polit ical self-interest thatex is ts to a greater or lesser extent in the minds of many ofour countrymen in a latent form, and at the slightest provo-

cat ion bursts in to f lames of anger and hatred. . . . As the

movements of re l ig ious communal ism bel ieve that they have

Div ine Sanct ion for thei r pol ic ies, they have developed astrong sense of self-righteousness and lost all capacity for

I

THE SPIRIT OF THE JAMIA MILLIA ISLAMIA / 163

sel f -cr i t ic ism.. . . Each re l ig ious communal is t movement isconfronted with its ugly and revolting face reflected in thatof its rivals, but fails to recognize it as its own true image.... Once we start distorting the Moral Law to suit the inter-est of our community we shall be soon doing it to suit ourown personal interest.a5

Rel ig ion in S. Abid Husain 's v iew might be said to have twof'aces. On the one hand, the cumulative tradition contains within itwrit ings, scripture, poetry, biographies, and so forth that can serveto stimulate the kind of integrated moral persons whom he admires,and whom he considers the salt of the earth. On the other hand, re-l igious persons who see themselves as the instrument of a salvationhistory, and therefore justif ied in their mistreatment of other per-sons, are dangerous. In the article presented to Zakir Husain, hecomments on the danger of unthinking adherence to creeds and for-mulas, as opposed to the involving of oneself in attempts to solvereal human problems. This clinging to words instead of actions hesees as one of the worst diseases of India.

"Of the various obstacles in the way of our drooping, decayingfaith thriving afresh and bearing fruit in the impell ing urge to ac-t ion, is our t radi t ional reverence tbr and re l iance upon the a l -mighty Word. . . . I t was a passing phase in our h is tory whenGandhi in fected many of us wi th h is spi r i t o f 'do or d ie ' that inc i -dentally brought us our freedom. Afier he left us we lost no timein reverting to our age-old wisdom of the 'self '-realisation throughthe Word.' "a6

Notes

l. The Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi (New Delhi: PublicationsDivision, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Covernment ofIndia, I965) , l8 : 378, 379.

2. Ib id. , 19 : 34, and Gandhi 's Correspondence, SN 7361, CN 340,Gandhi Memorial Library, New Delhi.

3. M.K. Gandhi, An Autobiography, The Story of My Experiments withIratft (New York: Beacon Press, 1957), p. l12.

4. S.M. lkram, Modern Muslim India and the Birth of Pakistan (Lahore:Ashraf , 1965), p. 159.

5. Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi, l0 : 6-64.6. Rais Ahmed Jafri Nadvi, ed., Selections from Muhammad Ali's Com-

7 .8 .9.

10 .

l l .12.1 3 .14.1 5 .t 6 .1 7 .


rade (Lahore'. Muhammad Ali Academy, 1965), p. I l.Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi, l8 : vii.lb id . . l8 : 387.S. Abid Husain, Gandhij i and Communal Unity (Bombay: Orient

Longmans. 1969). p. 56.Muhammad Ali, Scheme of Studies of National Muslim Educational

Inst i tut ions in India (Bombay: Bombay Chronicle Press, n.d.).Afzal lqbal, ed., My Life a Fragmenr (Lahore : Ashraf, 1942), p. 23.lkram, Modern Muslim India, p. 63.Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi, l9 :'11,347.I b i d . , l 6 : 5 1 4 .I b i d . , l 6 : 5 1 3 .Ib id . , 23 : 56 .Gandh i ' s Cor respondence, SN 14925, Mic ro f i lm, Gandh i Memor ia l

Library, New Delhi.18. Madhooli , Jatnia Ki Kaahani (New Delhi: Maktaba-i Jamia, n.d.).19. M. Mujeeb, Dr. Zakir Husain (New Delhi: National Book Trust,

1972) . pp I04 , 105.20 . lb id . , p . 105.2 1 . I b i d . , p . 2 3 9 .22. lbid., pp. 120, l2l.23 . Ib id . , p . 138.24. S. Abid Husain, The Way of Gandhi and Nehru, pp. xvi, xvi i .25. Anees Chishti , President Tnkir Husain: A Study (New Delhi: Rachna

Prakashan) , p . 18 , quot ing Rasheed Ahmad S idd iqu i "Mursh id"

Mazamen-e-Rasheed, Anjuman Taraqi Urdu, 1946, p.221 .26. S. Abid Husain, The National Culrure of India (New Delhi: Asia

Pub l ish ing House, 1956) , p . 76 .27. Islam and the Modern Age 4, no. 4 : 36-42.28. S. Abid Husain, The Way of Gandhi and Nehru, p.81.29 . Ib id . , p . 83 .30 . Ib id . , p . 65 .31. Zakir Husain, Education Reconstruction in lndia (New Delhi: Publi-

cations Division, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Govern-ment o f Ind ia , 1969) , p . 3 .

32. Islatn and the Modern Age l , no.2 (August 1970).33 . Ib id . , 2 , no . l (February l97 l ) .34. Ibid., 3, no. 4 (November 1972).35. Ibid., 5, no. I (February 1974).36 . lb id . , 8 , no . 4 (November 1977) .3 7 . l b i d . , 5 , n o . 3 ( A u g u s t 1 9 7 4 ) . S e e a l s o v o l . 7 , n o . 2 ( M a y3 8 . I b i d . , 6 , n o . 4 ( N o v e m b e r 1 9 7 5 ) . S e e a l s o v o l . 7 , n o .

1976).39. Ibid., 7, no. 3 (August 1976) : 53-64.40 . Ib id . ,3 , no .3 (August 1972) : See a lso vo l .4 , no .2 (May

THE SPIRIT OF THE JAMIA MILLIA ISLAMIA / 165

41. Ibid., '1, no. 2 (May t976) : 64-82.42. Ib id . , 2 , no .3 (Augusr l97 l ) : 67-88 . See a lso vo l . 2, no. 4 (Novem-

ber l97l).43 . Ib id . , l , no . I (May 1970) : l -9 .44. Ibid., 4, no. 4 (November 1973) :37.45. Dr. hkir Husain Presentation Volume (New

1968), pp. 289-29146. Ibid., p. 299.

Maktaba Jamia.

1976).I (February

1973).

THB PARSI COMMUNITY

John R. Hinnells

The word "Parsi" means Persians and refers to those Persians

who migrated to India from Iran in the tenth century CE to escape

Islamic oppression in their Iranian homeland. At the 1981 Census

they totalled 71,630 in India, making them India's smallest racial-

cum-religious minority. Typically they are city dwellers (96Vo are

classified as urban dwellers). The main numerical center nowadays

is Bombay, although nearly 12,000 live in Gujarat and there are

communities with temples in various cit ies such as Delhi' Calcutta,

Madras, and Bangalore. There are also approximately 3,000 in Pa-

kistan (mainly Karachi) and a small community in Sri Lanka.

The Origin of the Parsis

Theirs is probably the oldest of the world's prophetic religions

since the prophet, Zoroaster (or Zarathustra), is generally dated by

Western academics at approximately 1,200 BCE. Many Parsi writ-

ers would date their prophet much earlier, at 6,000 BCE if not ear-

l ier.r He lived in the northeast of Iran on the Asian steppes and in-

herited much of the Indo-Iranian tradition so that Zoroastrianism

and Hinduism have something of a common parentage' This results

in a number of similarit ies between the two, such as the place of

fire in ancient texts (the Vedas and Avesta) and certain purity laws

and attitudes toward the priests. The common ancestry has been

emphasized by a number of Parsi writers in recent times. It is not'

therefore, a point of merely antiquarian interest.

Zoroaster was a priest who was convinced he had seen God

THE PARSI COMMUNITY / 167

(Ahura Mazda) in v is ions, on the basis of which he taught thatgood and evil were opposed realit ies and that each person had thel'reedom and the obligation to choose between the two forces. Onthe basis of their choice, either to support the path of righteousness(asa, of Yedic rta) or to choose the lie (druj), men (and women-there is no difference between the fate of the sexes) would be

iudged after death. Thereafter, they passed to heaven or hell for re-ward or punishment. Zoroaster saw the world as a battleground be-tween the good Ahura Mazda (Wise Lord) and the evil AngraMainyu (Destructive Spirit). But he looked forward to the day ofrenovation when mankind would be resurrected, the evil ejectedfrom existence, and Mazda's rule established on earth.

The prophet's teachings are preserved in hymn form in an oth-erwise unknown language, Gath ic Avestan, but one wi th ev identf inks with Vedic Sanskrit. The l"l Gathas are preserved in the l it-urgy, and text, of the yasna and have been described as, in part,meditations on this ancient Indo-Iranian ritual.2 The whole of theextant Zoroastrian holy book, the Avesta, is of a l iturgical nature. Itassumed written form at a relatively late date, sometime in the fifthcentury CE, but the teachings and the ritual practices date back toa much earlier period, some to the pre-Zoroastrian era, and some tothe early centuries BCE. For traditional Zoroastrians the whole isthe word of the prophet.

We know virtually nothing of Zoroastrian history from thetime of the prophet unti l the foundation of the first Iranian empire,that of the Achaemenids in the fifth century BCE. Thereafter, itwas the state religion of three successive Iranian empires: theAchaemenids, the Parthians and the Sassanians, unti l the MuslimArab invasion of Iran in the seventh century CE. Each of theseempires ruled over an area stretching from India to what is nowknown as Turkey. Zoroastrianism was, therefore, the world's mostpowerful religion for a millennium.

Within a relatively short t ime of the Muslim invasion Zoroas-trianism became the religion of a persecuted and socially deprivedminority in Iran. Conditions became so bad that in the ninth cen-tury a small group of faithful Zoroastrians decided that, rather thanleave their cherished religion, they must depart from their home-land and seek a new land of religious freedom. The story of theirlong and hazardous journey is related in the Qissa-i Sanjan, "TheTale of Sanjan."3 This was not written down until 1600, so we

7


cannot be confident of the historical reliability of the details, but itdoes show how Parsis viewed their settlement in India. The Qissatells how the exiles were guided in their travels by a wise astrolo-ger priest; how their lives were threatened by a terrible storm at

sea until they were blown safely ashore in India as an answer toprayer. In short, their arrival in India is seen as being due to thewill of God. The Qissa relates how the local Hindu prince gave

them permission to settle on certain conditions: that they speak thelocal language, observe the local marriage customs, and carry noweapons. On receiving the necessary assurances and in view of theParsi account of their religion in sixteen shlokas, which stressed

the similarit ies of Zoroastrianism and Hinduism (for example thereverence for the cow), they were not only permitted to settle butwere also given a plot of land and permission to build a temple.From the Parsi point of view, Hindu rulers have made only mini-

mal demands upon them. None of these have required them tomake substantial change to their religion which they have been al-lowed to practice in peace.

Parsi History in India

For the first 400 years of their history in India, the Parsis ap-pear to have lived in peace and obscurity. When the Muslimarmies invaded Gujarat in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries,the Parsis fought valiantly, but in vain, alongside the Hindus. Theirfears that Muslim rule in India would be as oppressive as it hadbeen in Iran proved unfounded. A much greater impact on theParsi community was effected by the arrival of European traders in

the seventeenth century, especially the Brit ish who took over

Bombay in 1662. Their intention was to use the islands of Bombayas a trading base, free from the political troubles of the mainland.To do this, they offered conditions which would attract migrants tohelp develop what was largely an uninhabited and unhealthy marshland. Two attractive features for minority groups were freedom ofreligion and equality in law. Over the following decades, Parsis mi-grated to Bombay in greater proportion to their numbers than did

any other community. As a result, at the dawn of the nineteenth

century, they owned much of the land and had established them-

selves in leading positions in key areas, for example, the dockyard.When private traders entered India after l8l3 (previously the

THE PARSI COMMUNITY / 169

nronopoly had lain with the East India Company), the port ofl iombay boomed and the Parsis flourished as middlemen in trade.,\s industries such as texti les developed in the nineteenth century,l 'arsis were at the forefront. By the 1850s the main center of thel'arsi community was no longer in the traditional vil lages and cit iesol Gujarat, such as Navsari and Surat, but in the cosmopolitan me-tropolis of Bombay. Wealth brought power and Parsis distinguishedlhemselves for the charitable manner in which they dispensed theselcquisit ions. Sir Jamsetji Ji j ibhoy (1785-1859) was the personifica-tion of the Parsi dream of his generation. Orphaned at an earlyrrge, he started as a batliwala (collector of empty bottles) but maderr fortune, mainly through the China trade. With his wealth, hebuilt schools, hospitals, dug wells, and supported the poor andneedy not only of the Parsi community but of all races. He wasknighted, made a baronet, and given the Freedom of the City ofLondon for his charity-the first Indian to be so honored. His in-l luence with the Governor of Bombay, though rarely made public,rvas significant. He, and others l ike him, gave status and respect-rrbil i ty to the whole community.4

After the "Indian Mutiny" (or "War of Independence") inItt-57, the nature of Brit ish rule in India changed. Government nowlay not with the East India Company but with Parliament in Lon-tkrn, especially in the person of the Secretary of State for India,lnd with the Crown in the person of the Viceroy. Wealth and lo-eal influence were no longer sufficient to affect official policy.Now it was necessary to exert influence with the Brit ish in En-lland, notably at the Parliament in London. What was needed nowwrs an education, preferably in law, which would enable Indians torrrgue with the Brit ish in their own terms. The Parsis were pioneersrn adapting to the changed polit ical situation, largely because the*'ealth of the earlier generation had been used to build schoolsrr,hich a substantial proportion of the community attended. In 1860,lrrr example, although Parsis represented only 67o of the Bombaylrrrpulation, they occupied 40Vo of the places in the city's educa-rr()nal institutions. While the moderates dominated the new Indian\rrtional Congress, that is unti l 1907, Parsis were leading figures,lor example: Dadabhoy Naoroj i (1825-1917) who was four t imesI'rcsident of the Indian National Congress and the first Indian to be,' lccted Member of Parliament (M.P.) in the Westminster Parlia-rncnt , Pherozeshah Mehta (1845-1915), "The uncrowned Kine of

I7O / RELICION IN MODERN INDTA

Bombay," and Sir Dinshah Wacha (1844-1936), who acted as Sec-retary to the INC for some twenty years. Parsis were also leadersin the growing industries of the time, for instance: J.N. Tata (1839-1904) in s teel ; S i r Sorabj i Ponchkanawal la (188t-1937), whofounded rhe Indian Centra l Bank; Si r Dinshah pet i t (1S23-1901),who owned a number of texti le mills. They were also leaders in anumber of socia l movements, for example, S.S. Bengalee (1831-1893) and B.M. Malbar i (1853-1912) in the campaigns forwomen's rights. In the honors, such as knighthood bestowed onthem in the causes they espoused, in the polit ical offices achieved,in the professions they pursued, and in the economic fields theyopened up, the Parsis saw themselves, and were seen by others, asbeing l ike the Br i t ish. At the turn of the century, Bombay pars ifashions in dress, recreation (sport and the theatre), dining, even inpersonal mannerisms (such as the style of moustache, and haircut)and vocabulary were typically Westernized.s

From the Surat conference of the INC (Indian National Con-gress) in 1907, Parsi fortunes began to decline. Squeezed out of theINC by the Hindu militants, they turned polit ically to the NationalLiberal Federation, whose western branch in Bombay they came todominate through such men as Sir Pheroze Sethna (1866-1938) andSir Cowasji Jehangir (1853-1934). But this never became an effec-tive polit ical body. As the mighty battalions of the Hindus andMuslims faced up to each other, the minorit ies in general, and theParsis in particular (being the smallest of the minorit ies), wereeclipsed. Whereas the Brit ish had taken note of parsi opinion inthe nineteenth century, they now ignored it. The wealth and powerthe Parsis had achieved was, of course, out of all proportion totheir numbers and the other communities were now catching up inacquiring their portion. But as militants gained prominence in vari-ous quarters, the Parsis began to fear for their own future, recallingwhat their fate had been in their homeland when religious "enthu-siasts" had assumed power. Many, therefore, began to considerleaving India, some to go to Britain, some to Iran where the newPahlavi dynasty began to show a protecting interest in the ancientreligion. The great majority, however, remained in India.6

The period 185'l-1947 saw a dramatic dispersion of the commu-nity. Although only a relatively small number dispersed for the fearof lifc in India, quite a number migrated for trade and education.Some traveled in India, notably to help develop the commercial and

THE PARSI COMMUNITY /

shipping center of Karachi, others to Calcutta, Madras, Bangalore,and Delhi. Some went overseas. Parsis were pioneers in the devel-

opment of the China trade and communities gradually grew in

Canton, Shanghai, and Hong Kong. After the 1940s and the Com-

munist takeover in China, i t was Hong Kong which became the

home for Parsis in this region. Others settled in Singapore. In the

nineteenth century a number of Parsis, along with other groups of

Indians, migrated to East Africa, notably Aden, Kenya, Uganda,

and Tanzania (to use the modern names). In the 1960s, Asians felt

compelled to leave many African countries. A f 'ew Parsis returned

to India, some went to the American continent, but most settled in

Br i ta in.?Individual Parsis have visited Britain from the early eighteenth

century, but the Religious Association was not founded unti l 1873.

Three Parsis have become Members of Parliament at Westminster,

all representing London constituencies. In addition to Naoroji, who

has already been mentioned, there was Sir Muncherji Bhownagree(1851-1933) and Shapur j i Saklatval la (1874-1936). The main per iod

of growth in the Brit ish Zoroastrian community, however, has been

in the post-Independence period. A number of doctors came in the

late 1940s, attracted by the new National Health Service, but most

came in the 1960s when Britain was attractive for Indian migrants.s

Also in the 1960s and 1970s, Zoroastrians migrated to the United

States and Canada. Precise numbers are not available, but it is es-timated that there are approximately 4,000. After the fall of the

Shah in 1979, they have been joined by a number of Iranian Zoro-

astrians. Another continent which has become home for Zoroastri-ans in recent t imes has been Australia, particularly Sydney. Smallergroups, generally numbering a few hundred, are to be found in the

Gulf states and France. Zoroastrianism is, therefore, now to befound in more countries than at any time in its vast history.e

The dispersion, however, has serious consequences for the par-

ent community in India. Because of a low birth rate (discussed be-

low), Parsi numbers are declining dramatically in India, at the rate

of 2OVo in the decade 197l-1981 to be precise. Out-migrat ion isfurther depleting those numbers. Parsis are not the only Indiangroup to migrate overseas. What is different for them, however, is

that they are the only ones whose numbers in India are shrinking.

There is another problem specific to them. Many Indians who mi-grate come from particular villages and a substantial proportion are

I72 / RELIGTON IN MODERN INDIA

manual workers or small traders. This is not so with Parsis. A re-cent survey has shown, for example, that 92Vo of the Zoroastriansin New York have a university or college degree. Only 5% of thetotal Zoroastrian diaspora are manual workers, whereas lSVo are inthe professions (notably medicine), l5Vo engineers, 74Vo businessexecutives, and l4%o are administrators. Among the Parsis, it is theeducated, enterprising, ambitious, and young people who are mi-grating. That inevitably has a consequence not only for the num-bers but also for the social "mix" left in India.r0

In view of these patterns of migration and the fears with whichmost Parsis viewed Independence, how has the community in Indiafared in the last 40 years? There have been some difficulties. Thenationalization programme took control of Air India and took anumber of banks out of Parsi hands. Prohibit ion took away themain source of income of 5OVo of Parsis in Gujarat. Many of thesepeople turned to their lands for alternative income, but this income,too, was reduced by land tenancy legislation in 1950. But, there isno sense of these policies being anti-Parsi and the community'sexperience at the hands of government has generally been good. Anumber have achieved high office. A Parsi has, for example, heldthe post of head of each of the branches of the Armed Services(Air Marshal Aspi Engineer for the Air Force, 1960-1964; FieldMarshal Sam Maneckshaw for the Army, 1973; Admiral JalCursetj i for the Navy, 1976-1979). India's largest commercial con-cern, Tata Industries, is Parsi owned, as is South Asia's largest pri-vate concarn, Godrej Brothers. Parsis have mad€ substantial contri-butions in diverse fields such as Atomic Energy (Homi Babha,1909-1969); Education (two Vice Chancellors of Bombay Univer-sity, Sir Rustom Masani, 1876-1966 and Dr. [Mrs.] Bengalee, ViceChancellor at the time of the writing); and the Arts (Zubin Mehtawho was appointed Music Director of the New York PhilharmonicOrchestra in 1978). Politics continues to be a field in which Parsisare distinguished. Individuals have held the office of Governors ofProvinces (Sir Homi Mody, Uttar Pradesh, 1949) and Ambassadorin Washington (Palkhiwala in 1977). One of rhe co-founders of theSwatantra Party, Minoo Masani (b. 1904), was a Parsi. But per-haps, the most influential was Feroz Gandhi. He entered Parliamentin 1952 where he became known as a campaigner against corrup-tion. Prior to that, in 1942, he married Indira Nehru-who went onto become one of India's most powerful political figures. Since in

THE PARSI COMMUNITY / I73

parsi terms descent is reckoned through the father, that means, in

the view of many in the community, that technically Sanjay and

Rajiv Gandhi are Parsis. Since Rajiv Gandhi has taken part pub-

liciy in explicit ly Hindu acts, for example, his mother's funeral,

that may not be his own self-perception. Nevertheless, Parsis are

fond of recalling how he resembles his father and believe that he,

like others, illustrates beyond doubt the conviction that Parsis have

not faced prejudice in Independent India.

Parsi Religious Practice

This brief overview of Parsi history has highlighted the vast

changes which have occurred in the community's fortunes over the

y"u.r. Zotoastrianism emerged from its origins on the Asian

,t"pp"t in the stone age to become, for over a millennium' the

*oitO't most powerful religion, thence to the religion of a perse-

cuted minorlty in its homeland, to an obscure religion of minority

in exile, and finally to the religion of a powerful, respected, but

small community in a different culture. The rest of this chapter is

concerned with how those social and polit ical changes have af-

fected the practices and teachings of Zoroastrianism. It must be

stressed that it is concerned specifically with Zoroastrians in India,

or the Parsis. An account of Zoroastrianism in Iran would be rather

different.Typically, Parsis spend litt le t ime in theological study' Few

know much of the religion's formal teachings. To most Parsis, their

religion is t ied up with their identity. It is something which is

done, not speculated about. The natural place to begin a study of

their Zoroastrianism is, therefore, with the practices, specifically

the life-cycle rites and the daily observances of the lay person. A

preliminary word on the fundamental concept of purity and pollu-

tion, which underlines various practices, is important'

Purity and Pollution

P u r i t y , i t h a s b e e n s a i d , i s n o t n e x t t o g o d l i n e s s i n Z o r o a s t r i a n -i s m ' b u t p a r t o f i t . A c c o r d i n g t o t h e t r a d i t i o n a l t e a c h i n g , d e a t h , i nall i ts forms, is the weapon by which evil seeks to destroy the

good creation of God. The greatest victory of evil ' and conse-

[uently the major focus for its presence, is the death of a human

being.- Fundamentally, the essence of impurity is the presence of

174 I RELICION IN MODERN INDIA

evil. Anything which is conducive to death (for example decayingmatter), or is considered dead, is impure. Whatever leaves the bodyis considered dead. Thus blood, cut hair, semen, urine are all im_pure when separated fiom the body. It is a human religious duty topreserve the natural purity of the creation, for God created it in aper fect and holy, i .e . pure, s tate. Zoroastr ianism has, reasonably,been descr ibed as the wor ld 's f i rs t ecological re l ig ion. Since thehuman body is also part of God's good creation, it is an essentialduty to preserve bodily purity.

Because God is wholly pure, it is vital for worship to be con_ducted in tota l pur i ty , that is , in terms of moral , sp i r i tua l , andphysical purity. A priest is basically a man whose life is dedicatedto the pure, the holy l it-e. obviously, this necessarily involves eth-ics and spiritual concerns. It also requires the strict preservation ofthe purity laws so that he may act in the sanctuary, and in otherrites, on behalf of community members whose daily l ives make itdiff icult for them to preserve the necessary state of purity.

Women also stand at the forefiont of the battle against impu_r i ty . S ince b lood which has le f t the body is impure, the monthlycycle of menstruation means that women are in a regular state ofimpur i ty and, at such t ime they should avoid contact wi th anyth ingthat is holy, for example a priest, the fire or a temple. In Zoroas_trian belief, evil instinctively attacks and seeks to destroy l ife. Be-cause a woman's body is the ultimate focus for the creation of l i feon ear th, she is par t icu lar ly subject to the assaul t o f ev i l . Hermonthly cycle of impurity is, therefore, in no way seen as a moral,or religious, fail ing on her part. Rather she is the innocent victimand temporary abode of evil and impurity. Most religions have arange of purity laws associated with menstruation, child birth, etc.what distinguishes Zoroastrianism is the logic with which it eluci-dates those laws. Apart from these acldit ional laws relating to pu_rity, the religious obligations and practices of men and women arethe same. The same purity laws also mean that a woman cannot bea pr iest . r2

Initiation

Initiation should take place before the age of puberty, but notin infancy, since it is considered important that the young personshould choose to enter into the responsibil i t ies of the religion. Zo_roastrians believe that people have freedom to choose between


good and evil. How they use that free wil l, wil l be what deter-

mines their fate after death. A person's good thoughts, words, and

deeds wil l be weighed in the balances. If the good predominates,

the person goes to heaven, i f the ev i l predominates, they go to

hell. Such a belief presupposes that an individual is responsible for

his or her thoughts, words, and deeds. Since a baby cannot distin-

guish right from wrong, it cannot be responsible for its acts and

hence cannot s in. As the chi ld grows up, i t learns to d is t inguish

and that is the point at which init iation should occur. There is no

sense of c leansing f rom s in, or of in i t ia t ion ensur ing salvat ion,

rather it is entry into the army of God to fight against evil and into

the Parsi comntunity.A 1906 test case in the Bombay High Court formalized in law

what had been normal Parsi practice, namely that only the off-

spr ing of a Pars i male can be in i t ia ted. In modern pract ice, the

child of any interrnarriage is generally excluded. The most common

explanation preferred by Parsis for this is to say that religion is

part of a person's conditioning fiom birth and that it is emotionally

and psychological ly harmful to change re l ig ion. People should be

religious in the tradition into which they were born. Parsis do not,

therefore, typ ical ly see any exclus ive c la im to re l ig ious t ruth. A

supporting practical argument is that because the Parsis are such a

tiny minority, if they were to seek, or even accept, converts, they

would antagonize the dominant communities. As evidence of this,

they point out that they have fared well in India beause they have

not been seen as a threat by the host society. They oppose inter-

marriage because they fear that it wil l inevitably erode the distinc-

tive characteristics of the community. It is not that they necessarily

see themselves as superior, but rather that they wish to preserve

their identity.The r i te of in i t ia t ion, the nauiote (commonly expla ined as

meaning "new bi r th") begins in pr ivate wi th a r i tua l bath. Once

cleansed in body by bathing and in spirit through prayer' then the

child is dressed in clean white "pyjama" trousers, a shawl draped

round the upper portion of the body, and wears a small cap, for

the head is always covered during worship. The child is led into

the room where the nauiote is to be performed. A senior female

member of the family performs a traditional Indian greeting cer-

emony. The child then sits before the officiating priest (there are

usually several present) and in the presence of the fire which, as


the representative of God, is present at all ceremonies. After in-troductory prayers, basically affirming belief in Zoroastrian teach-ing, the child is invested with the sacred emblems of the religion,the sacred shirt and cord, the sudre and kusti.

The sudre is a white, cotton, vest-l ike garment worn next tothe skin at all t imes. It is invested with heavy symbolism, having,for example, a small pocket at the "V" of the neck which is saidto be the spi r i tua l purse in which the indiv idual should store upgood thoughts, words, and deeds. But to many Parsis, the sudre ismore than a mere symbol, it is a spiritually powerful and protec-tive force for the believer. The kusti is a long cord woven (tradi-tionally by the wives of priests) from lamb's-wool. Historically, itis related to the sacred cord of the brahmin, but for Zoroastrians, itis the badge of all believers and not just of the priests. After theinvestiture with the sudre and kusti, the child is then blessed bythe officiating priest with prayers for a long and active l ife in there l ig ion. The chi ld is thus in i t ia ted in to the responsib i l i t ies of thereligion and the fellowship of the community.'1

The Daily Prayers

As the naujote is the same for boys and for girls, so the dailypractice of prayer is the same for each. At f ive set t imes during theday, before bathing, worship, and at the start of many enterprisesor journeys, the cord is untied fiom around the waist (it is not t iedround the shoulders as it is by the brahmin) and then, facing the lightwith the kusti in hand, the worshipper recites prayers in which he af-firms his devotion to God and rejects evil. As the name of God ismentioned, the Zoroastrian bows the head and touches the sudre withhis or her forehead. As evil is mentioned, the ends of the knsti areflicked contemptuously and dismissively. The kusti is passed back andforth around the waist with knots before and behind. As the knots aretied, a resolve is expressed to practice good thoughts, words, anddeeds. The prayers may be said anywhere, though naturally a pureplace should be sought, be that a temple, in the home, or before oneof the creations of God (for example, the waters). It is a practicecommon to all believers, to young and old, to rich and poor, to layperson and priest. in India and overseas.

Temple Worship

Theoretically, there are only two formal l i turgical duties for a

THE PARSI COMMUNTTY / 17?

Zoroastrian, the daily prayers as described above and the obser-

vance of the seasonal f 'estivals, the gahambars. The latter obser-

vance has declined considerably in India, partly due to restrictions

on large festival meals. It is more widely observed in Pakistan and

is important in Iran. Zoroastrianism was originally a religion of the

open air, so that people commonly worshipped not in human con-

siructions of temples but before the divine creation of the sky and

sun or the waters. Temples were a relatively late entry into the re-

l igion, probably in the fifth or fourth centuries BCE, as a result of

western influence. In Zoroastrian lran, they became popular as foci

of royal piety and munificence. In India, there was for centuries

only one permanent ly burn ing f i re , which is now housed at the

quiet seaside vil lage and center of Parsi pilgrimage, Udwada' Wor-

rhip b.fot. the fire was mainly conducted in the home' But as

Parsis became increasingly wealthy in the nineteenth century, they

had the resources to btri ld temples. They also had a new religious

need. Because they employed servants, who were rarely Parsis, the

purity of the home could no longer be preserved in the proper

manner for the ritual fire. Temples were, theretbre, constructed as

centers of PuritY.There are two types of f ire temples which are distinguished

from each other by the grade of f ire which burns within them. An

Atas Bahram houses the highest grade of f ire, the royal Bahram or

"v ic tor ious" f i re . This takes a year to consecrate and, once in-

stallecl, is treated as royalty. There are eight such "cathedral f ire

temples" (as they are somet imes referred to) in India, four in

Bombay, two in Surat, one each in Navsari and Udwada' The "or-

dinary" f ire temple Qlar-i Mihr or "Court of Mithra," also known

as an agiari, Gujarati for "house of f ire") has a less complex con-

secrat ion. There are approximately 160 such temples scat tered

throughout India. At f irst, f ire temples were simply centers of pu-

rity to which a priest would take a fire. In recent t imes, however,

i t has become the ru le to keep permanent ly burn ing f i res in

temples. The fire is not only the "symbol of He who is pure unde-

ri lea l igtrt," but is also considered to be the very presence of God

and sometimes refened to as the Son of God'

A Parsi temple is a complex of rooms or buildings' Near the

gateway is a place for washing and reciting the sudre-ku'fti prayers'

In outer rooms are pictures of the revered figures of the religion

f r o m t h e p r o p h e t t o t h e b e n e v o | e n t d o n o r s t o t h e t e m p l e . T h e s e


pictures are commonly garlanded and worshippers usually pausebefore them and touch them to draw, as it were, their spiritual en-ergy to themselves. Before entering the prayer room, worshippersfl ick off their shoes so that outside impurity is not taken into thecenter of worship. The fire is kept in a sanctuary which is markedof f on one s ide of the room wi th f loor to cei l ing wal ls throughwhich there is a door for the priest to enter and windows for theworshippers to venerate the divine presence. There is no formaltime for prayer in the temple, but many like to attend at one of thefive set t imes when the fire is f 'ed.

Parsi worship before the fire is an intensely personal activity.As worshippers enter the prayer room they normally stand in thedoorway of the sanctuary, kneel and bow the head on the step be-fore the fire, leave a piece of sandalwood as an offering to God,and then take a pinch of ash from the fire, left by the priest in aladle in the doorway of the sanctuary. This they apply to the fore-head, thus receiving its energy and strength. Then, standing (or sit-t ing on a bench if old or infirm), the worshipper wil l offer prayersin the sacred language of Avestan. Afterwards, vernacular prayersmay be offered in petit ion or thanksgiving for a boon. Essentially,therefore, the visit to the temple is an act of pilgrimage in order tosee the l iving fbrm of God, to stand in the divine presence, and toreceive strength from it.rr

Marriage

Marriage is not merely desirable but doctrinally a duty for Zo-roastrians. Because God and his creation are characterized by l ifeand bounty, i t is a re l ig ious obl igat ion to extend His k ingdomthrough marriage and the raising of a family. This is an obligationlaid on all, including priests. Indeed, unti l the last century a priestwas notallowed to perform certain major ceremonies unless he was mar-ried. It is only with the influence of Theosophy, and a tendency to-wards asceticism, coupled with a numerical decline in the priest-hood, that this tradition has been eased. Until the mid-nineteenthcentury child marriage was practiced in common with the rest ofIndian society, but i t has no par t in the ancient re l ig ion and wasquickly dropped once the pressures for social reform began.'5

In the twentieth century, Parsi women have experienced a de-gree of "l iberation" unequalled in Indian society. In 1982, the


literacy rate for Parsi women in Bombay was practically the same

as for men (97Vo and 99Vo respectively). The numbers completing

high school or college education were similar (men 457o, women

127o) and a substantial proportion completed a university course(men 217o, women 16%o). The consequence is that a high propor-

tion of women are in gainful occupation (29Vo compared with 9Vo

of the general female population in Greater Bombay). Because of

these achievements, a high proportion of Parsi women either delay

marriage (the average age of Parsi women at marriage was 25)16 or

many do not marry. Thus in 1982, the index of non-marriage of

Parsi women was 217o, compared with 3Vo for the rest of Bombay'sfemale population. Educational and career opportunities have thusdramatically reduced marriages among Bombay Parsis. The result-

ing declining birth rate is the major reason why numbers are drop-ping so rapid ly , by as much as2OVo in the decade 197l-1981 down

to 71,630. The 1982 survey showed only l%o separated or divorced.Arranged marriages have been common among the Parsis, but,

increasingly in the twent ieth century, prospect ive br ides andgrooms have been consulted. Love marriages are common. It is dif-

f icult to give precise figures because the process is not always

clear ly def ined. I t would be rare for Pars i youth to go d i rect ly

against known parental wishes and virtually unheard of for parents

not to discuss marriage prospects with the children. The role of a

marr iage broker in the o ld sense has pract ica l ly d isappeared,

though as the youth find it increasingly diff icult to find a bride in

the shrinking community (especially in the more widely disperseccommuni t ies outs ide Bombay, and par t icu lar ly outs ide India) , the

Bombay Parsi Panchayat has begun moves for a marriage bureau.

In such a smal l communi ty , marr iage wi th in the wider fami ly is

not uncommon. Ten per cent of women were found in the 1982survey to have married men they were related to by blood, for the

most part their cousins. Out-marriage is reported to be a growingphenomenon, but the 1982 survey found only l%o had done so. Thesituation is diff 'erent among those who have migrated overseas,where over l07o of the young are a l ready marr ied out . I t seems

certa in that an increasing number wi l l do so in the second andthird generations.

The marriage ceremony can be said to commence with be-

trothal. Because a Zoroastrian's word is considered his bond, the

betrothal is thought to be binding. The date of the marriage is

I8O / RELIGION IN MODERN INDIA

f ixed by choosing an auspicious day; eclipses, for example, areavoided. The betrothal is known as a naming ceremony (nampadvin), "naming" this person as the boy or girl they wil l marry.With the wedding itself, there used to be four days of ceremonies,but these are now often performed in one. The bride wears a sari,normally white, and the boy traditional Gujarati dress (dagli andwhite trousers with a hat, pugri). The ceremony takes place in ei-ther the morning or evening. After a purif icatory bath at home, thecouple wil l go to the baug or place of the wedding (though theceremony can be in a temple or the home) in a car bedecked withflowers. They are grand occasions with several hundred guests, inearlier t imes even more. The couple is greeted on their arrival onthe wedding dais by a senior female relative as with the naujote.The boy takes his place first. Present with them on the dais arewitnesses and senior female relatives. It is customary for these tobe married people and it is abnormal for those who have recentlybeen bereaved to participate in this way. The family priest fromeach side shares in the performance of the ceremony. Traditionally,the wedding commences with the couple sitt ing facing each other,but with a sheet between them hiding them from each other's view.This is a practice going back to the time when a couple did notsee each other before marriage. A ball of wool is passed seventimes round the couple, symbolically binding them together. Thesheet is then dropped and, by tradition, whichever partner is first toshower the other with rice is thought to be the dominant partner.The couple then sit side by side facing the priest for the strictly re-l igious part of the ceremony, the public affirmations of betrothal,admonitions, and blessing by the priests.r?

Funerals

The ceremonies associated with death have two main concerns:the restriction of the powerful pollution present and the care for thesoul. If the approach of death is foreseen, it is traditional to movethe dying to a separate part of the house kept specifically for thepurpose. The priest is called and prayers are recited affirming thefaith and seeking forgiveness for sins. When death has occurred, afire is brought into the room and the prayers begin. The body islaid on the ground, the corpse bearers summoned, and a member ofthe family washes the body before it is clothed in a clean, butused, sudre and kusti (a new one would be wasteful. and waste is

THE PARSI COMMUNITY / I8I

sinful in Zoroastrianism). The sachkar ceremony is then performedwhen a circle is drawn round the corpse into which only corpsebearers should enter, for within that area the presence of pvil is po-tent. The corpse is removed to the funeral grounds as soon as pos-sible. Commonly in the twentieth century, this is immediately afterdeath. At the funeral grounds, rooms are set apart which are de-signed for the various ceremonies in a way few households canmanage in crowded city l i fe. The funeral procession is led bynasarsalars, the corpse bearers, who carry the body to its f inalresting place. They and the mourners walk in pairs, with a whitecloth tied between them, binding them together in mutual supportin the face of death. A dog, man's ally in the Zoroastrian tradition,is present now, as at several points in the ceremony, because of itsabil ity to "see" death and to guard man. The corpse is laid on aslab and the bereaved take their last leave before the nascirsalarscarry it into the "Tower of Silence," or daxma, where it is ex-posed to the vultures.

The daxma is generally about thirty feet high. It is round andencircled by high walls so that no one can see inside. There is butone entrance up a fl ight of steps to a door set high in the wall,through which only the nasarsal4r.r enter. Inside, there are usuallythree concentric circles of pavis, or rectangular spaces into whichthe corpse is placed (outer one for males, center one for females,inner one for children). The corpse is stripped and the nasrirsalarsleave. It is estimated that the vultures devour the corpse in ap-proximately twenty minutes, during which time the mourners praynearby. After the bones have been bleached and powdered by thesun, they are cast into a central pit. The mourning ceremonies lastfor four days. On the afternoon of the third day, the L/thamna cer-emony is held at which charities are announced in memory of thedeceased. Charit ies, rather than gravestones, are considered theproper Zoroastrian way to commemorate someone. It is also whenan adopted son is named, if necessary, for a son is required to per-form the various ceremonies at different stages through the year,and annually thereafter, in memory of the deceased.

The Towers of Silence are a noted feature of Zoroastrian prac-tice, which the journalists have too often sensationalized. In theo-logical terms, the daxmas are necessary in order to contain the im-purity of evil. Because earth, fire and water are sacred creations ofGod, burial, cremation, and disposal at sea involve defi l ing the


holy. God created nothing unnecessarily and the purpose of thevulture is to consume that which would otherwise cause unequalledpollution. In practical terms, Parsis argue, this method of disposal

is swift, economic with land, hygienic, and, in short, that it is eco-

logically sensible. As one of the few Westerners now permitted tovisit the funeral grounds in Bombay perhaps I may be permitted apersonal comment. Prior to my first visit I shared the typicalWesterner's apprehension but found them deeply moving centers,

characterized by an air of naturalness and calm. The common Parsihorror of burial and consumption by worms is, on reflection, un-derstandable.rt

Worship

The practices described above are part of the daily life of the

ordinary Parsi Zoroastrian. There are numerous other rituals: the"higher" or "inner" ceremonies of the temple, such as the yasna,

which incorporates the haoma, of Indo-Iranian origin, and

ntrangdtn, in which the bull 's urine is consecrated for use inpurificatory ceremonies and which also dates back to ancient times;

the great nine-day purification ceremony, the barasnons; the initia-

tion ceremonies of a priest; the consecration rites for temples and

daxmas. But important though these undoubtedly are in the history

of the religion, they are not part of the daily life of the ordinaryParsi today. There are other practices which are part of manypeople's l ives-the birth ceremonies (surprisingly rather few in

view of the importance of Zoroastrian attitudes to new life) and thejasan, a ceremony which with small modifications can be used in

memory of the dead, in celebration of family or community occa-

sions, or as an act of petit ion. The devotional l i fe of Parsis is so

rich that it is impossible to provide a reasonable account of it

within the confines of a chapter. What is more helpful is to con-

sider the fundamental Parsi assumption as to the nature of prayer

and worship. The protestant attitude to prayer can, simplistically

but reasonably, be described as dialogue with God, relating to God

one's hopes and fears, expressing gratitude or penitence; l istening

for His response. These can be part of the ordinary Parsi's practice,

but they are not the essence of the traditional understanding.

As described above, the necessary prerequisite for worship is

purity. The words of worship are the words of the sacred liturgy,

the Avesta. It is important that the original Avestan words are


used. In part this is because they are considered the words of theprophet Zoroaster who had direct experience of God, an experiencethe worshipper hopes to share. The words of prayer are considereddead while written down, but l iving forces of spiritual power whenuttered, in purity and devotion, in the rites. The priest is a manwhose life is dedicated to making real and present the spiritualpowers referred to in the prayers. Thus in the yasna, as in otherrites, there are present the representatives of the seven creations(man, fire, water, cattle, plants, waters, metals) overseen and pro-tected by the seven divine forces, the Amesa Spentas. As the priestrecites the prayers, the divine forces named in them are thought tobe actually, not merely symbolically, present. His gaze consecratesthe objects so that they have a sanctity they did not have previ-ously. The words, the actions, the objects all contribute to an actu-alization of holy power. Non-Zoroastrians are excluded fromtemples and many ceremonies (not init iations and weddings) be-cause the fact that they do not observe the purity laws would in-evitably disrupt the aura, the spiritual powerfield, of the religiousactivity. In worship, therefore, there may (or may not) be an ideaof dialogue with God. More fundamentally, it is the individualZoroastrian's immediate experience of the divine forces.

Parsi Religious Doctrine

Zoroastrianism is, on the whole, characterized by substantialcontinuity and the Parsis have typically been remarkably faithful totheir heritage, despite living within easy reach of the "eclectic" at-mosphere of India. They have, nevertheless, not remained unmovedby the changing spirits of t ime and place. There are some evidentsigns of acculturation such as the adoption of the sari by thewomen, the use of Gujarati, the adaptation of numerous "folk cus-toms," and the garlanding and reverence paid to pictures of reli-gious heroes. If a religion is to be "relevant" and "meaningful" tothe l ives of its young practit ioners, it is natural that, in part atleast, it wil l be presented in contemporary terms. Most religiousgroups tend to be more tolerant of doctrinal differences than ofvariations in ritual practice. This is particularly true among Parsis,where the practices are seen as expressions of ethnic identity in away that patterns of belief are not. From the perspective of an out-side historian, one can see three main periods of influence which


have affected the way in which Zoroastrian ideas have been pre-sented in India.

The First Millennium

This millennium lasted from the time following their arrival inIndia when the Parsis lived in relative isolation from other commu-nities. There were some adaptations, for example dress and lan-guage, and the gradual acquisit ion of some patterns of Indianthought, notably the perception of themselves as a distinct caste. Itmay be that the concept of four classes of society was part of theZoroastrian tradition inherited from Indo-Iranian times, but life inIndia does seem to have reinforced the sense of Parsi-Zoroastriandistinctiveness, for example, in attitudes to intermarriage and eatingand drinking with non-Zoroastrians. It was the sense of identitywhich preserved the tiny community in a new culture and amid asea of change.

The Period of British Rule

This can be subdivided into three periods. From the Parsi per-spective, the period effectively begins with the British acquisitionof Bombay in 1662. From then until the early nineteenth centuryParsis, on the whole (a few individuals apart), remained sociallyand culturally distinct. At this stage, there appears to have beenrelatively little change for Parsis in Gujarat from the earlier period.

It was with acquisit ion of wealth and power in the nineteenthcentury that the change occurred. The social dimension of Western-ization among the Parsis was commented on above. A comparabledevelopment can be observed in religious teaching, not so much inthe traditional centers in Gujarat but certainly in cosmopolitanBombay. In the 1830s and 1840s the Scot t ish miss ionary JohnWilson attacked the religion of the Parsis with vigor. His onslaughton what he labeled Zoroastrian "dualism" (with reference to theteaching on good and evil) and "polytheism" (because of the rev-erence for the Amesa Spentas, the divinely created forces not un-like Christian archangels, though less mythologically described), hisdenial of the authority of the Avesta and the status of Zoroasterconverted few, but produced shock waves through the community.The reaction was to develop a religious education system whichwould equip members to rebut such allegations. In the 1860s, theGerman Protestant and Professor of Sanskrit at the Deccan College,


Poona, Martin Haug, produced an exposition of Zoroastrianism

which seemed to many Parsis to harmonize the religion and mod-

crn Western knowledge. It incorporated a range of fundamentally

Protestant assumptions, for example the rejection of later "medi-

cval" teachings as corruptions of the pure teaching of the prophet;

the rejection of elaborate priestly rituals and an emphasis on the

religion of the heart; and the importance of prayers in the vernacu-

lar and not in a "dead" language, so that one could understand the

rneaning of the words.Much Parsi religious l iterature of the late nineteenth century

was concerned to purify Zoroastrianism from the "corruption" of

what were seen as Hindu accretions and superstit ions' The Reform-

ists were often alluded to within the community as "the Protestant

party" because of the influences seen to affect them. Two leading

Pars i teachers were K.R. Cama (1831-1909) and the h igh pr iest in

Ka rach i , Das tu r M .N . Dha l l a (1875 -1956 ) . Cama was a bus iness

man who spent t ime during a European business trip to study old

Iranian languages and history at Western universit ies and then de-

voted much of his l i fe to teaching his fellow Zoroastrians in

Bombay. Dhalla studied at Columbia University, New York, from

1904-1908, under the act ive Protestant professor of I ranian lan-

guages, A.V.W. Jackson. Dhal la was a pro l i f ic wr i ter who sought

to give a perspective on Zoroastrian history and doctrine which

was consistent with western scholarly research, but which also pre-

served for his community the religious insights of Zoroastrianism.

Both men led l ives of simplicity and devotion which inspired many

of their contemporaries. Though both were controversial, each

played a vital role in passing on the religion to the next generation

in the major urban centers of Zoroastrianism of that t ime, Bombay

and Karachi . r 'The third subdivision of the Brit ish era is from the start of the

twentieth century to Independence. This was a period of confl icting

loyalties. Polit ically, most Parsis remained pro-Brit ish, and among

these Zoroastrians, the cultural and religious influences remained,

on the whole, Western, specifically Protestant. As the Independence

struggle developed, however, a number joined the nationalist cause

rrncl among them the influences were inevitably different. Commu-

rr ism was one factor , and so was Hinduism, especia l ly as in ter-

preted by Gandhi. A more potent force at this time was, however,

the occult. The process of Westernization had gone so far so


quickly that a reaction inevitably started. Theosophy provided therationale for many Parsis to preserve such cherished traditions asprayers in Avestan and the rituals which formed part of the dailyl ife for most people. Yet this did so through a teaching with aWestern ancestry that gave it respectabil ity among the Westerneducated.2') Some of the leading intellectuals and reformers towardthe end of their l i fe began to display an interest in Theosophicalinterpretations of Zoroastrianism (notably K.R. Cama). In the earlytwentieth century, however, with the move of Theosophical head-quarters to Madras and the new leadership of Annie Besant, The-osophy was identif ied by Parsis with nationalism and Hinduism. Inthe 1920s, what might loosely be termed a Zoroastr ianized theo-sophical movement began, I lm- i Khshnoom. l t was star ted byBehramshah Shroff, who claimed to have visited a secret race ofZoroastrian giants in Iran who taught him their mystical inner pathsof spiritual knowledge, one opaque to outsiders, especially to West-ern academics. The teachings are not dissimilar from Theosophy:rebi r th, ascet ic ism, vegetar ianism, a bel ie f in the indiv idual aura,and the occult power of traditional prayers and ceremonies.2r Butinstead of attributing religious insight to Tibetan Masters, it tracedits origins to the Zoroastrian homeland which grew in attractive-ness to many Parsis in the twentieth century as their fate in an In-dependent India seemed threatened by re l ig ious conf l ic t and asIran's new rulers, the Pahlavi dynasty promised and provided Zoro-astr ians wi th re l ig ious f reedom. The last hal f century of Br i t ishrule, therefore, saw a cauldron of competing, sometimes conflict-ing, pressures and allegiances. The religious l iterature of the periodreflects that diversity of influences.2?

Independent India

The religious teachings of Parsis in independent India continueto reflect a diversity of influences. The most obvious external in-fluence is no longer the Protestant tradition, so evident in the daysof Brit ish rule. From an outsider's perspective (a Parsi may arguedifferently), it seems that Hinduism is exerting a greater doctrinalinfluence, especially the Grta and some of the great teachers of thelast century such as Ramakrishna and Aurobindo, and such teach-ings as rebirth, yoga, spiritual unfoldment and super-conscious-ness.2r At a popular level, a number of modern holy men have at-tracted a Parsi following, in particular the Babas. The occult


teaching in Khshnoom continues to be popular. Indeed, my im-pression is that it is gaining, rather than losing, influence.

There are two new influences in the 1970s and 1980s. One isthe impact of a charismatic teacher, Khojesti Mistree, who runs aneducational body, Zoroastrian Studies. He studied Zoroastrianism atOxford and London and seeks to provide both an intellectual and aspiritual program. His work has been particularly influential amongthe young and wel l -educated Pars is of Bombay. I t has a lso beencontroversial, not least among some of the established religious au-thorit ies and also becasue some fear that he is introducing "dual-

ism," specifically the idea that evil in the world is due to an inde-pendent force, Ahr iman, and thereby quest ioning God's omnipo-tence. Western academics have general ly considered th is to be adoctrine characteristic of the early religion. But it is felt by manyParsis that such a categorization of Zoroastrianism results in adowngrading of the status of their faith, somewhat in the way thatWi lson d ismissed i t as a dual ism. Whatever scholars may say, v i r -tually no Parsis in India or the West, apart from those influencedby Mistree, nowadays accept this doctirne of evil and are offendedwhen it is attributed to Zoroaster.2a

The second influence at work in the 1970s and 1980s is theimpact of the overseas, or diaspora, communities, above all thosesettled in the United States. The pattern of modern Parsi migrationoverseas is different from that of many other Indian communities.Typically, it is the well-educated and professionally successful whohave migrated. In the United States and Canada, Zoroastrians areconscious of a need to provide an account of the tradition whichwill help their young maintain their heritage in the Western world.In par t , th is involves provid ing an in te l lectual explanat ion whichwi l l be found meaningfu l in the New Wor ld. Consequent ly , thediaspora communi t ies commonly g ive greater importance to re l i -gious education than is general in India, where the young acquirethe tradition by l it 'e in the community rather than through formalc lasses. The pract ices and doctr ines found among Pars is in Indiaare not seen as relevant by those who have assumed a Westernidentity, especially the young, those brought up in the West and bythe Zoroastrians who have migrated from Iran. There is, therefore,a growing tension between sections of the diaspora communitiesand sections of the Indian community. Because the Western groupsare educated and highly literate, they are already producing a body

I88 / RELICION IN MODERN INDIA

of religious l iterature, some of which is f inding its way back toIndia and influencing sections of the community there. Interactionbetween "the old country" and the diaspora is a two-way process.2s

It is not necessarily the case that the diaspora is introducing"new" teachings and practices (though that may also be the case),but more that Zoroastrians overseas are choosing to emphasize dif-ferent aspects of their own history and doctrine. So, for example,the wr i t ings of M.N. Dhal la are widely quoted among groups inthe United States and Canada because his teaching is found helpfulto them.26 The solutions he found to his own religious struggles tointegrate Western knowledge and Zoroastrian devotion inspirefewer people in India than they do in the New World. Diaspora re-l igion may prove influential in the long term not simply because itintroduces new elements, but also because it may affect which as-pects of the tradition are preserved or emphasized. Another dangermany are conscious of is the proliferation of different forms of Zo-roastr ianism. Divers i ty is possib le in re l ig ions wi th mi l l ions ofpractit ioners, such as Hinduism, Christianity, Buddhism, and Islam.But Zoroastrianism, being the religion of such a tiny minority, can-not bear the divisions others enjoy.

Conclusion

The world's oldest prophetic religion is now practiced in morecountries around the globe than at any time in its history. But withnumbers d imin ishing, the consequence is that , in many, i f not inall, centers, the numbers are being reduced to such a low level thatwhat might be called "the necessary self-support system" are be-coming non-functional (for example the diff iculties in finding suit-able marriage partners, the supply of priests and the maintenanceof temples). There is, perhaps, a minimal size at which communitycan perpetuate itself. One danger facing Zoroastrianism is that ithas almost reached that minimal level. The combination of a vari-ety of factors, for example the diminution of dispersal, the conse-quences of economic and social success, pressures of acculturationin various countries, the dramatic decline in numbers in the largestcenter of Zoroastrianism (namely India), and a sense of uncertaintyfor the future in lran, means that Zoroastrianism is, today (1987),under greater threat than ever before. It would be foolhardy towrite off a religion with such a long, noble, and distinguished


history, but the dangers are enormous, not least in India. I t is here

that numbers are dropping most dramatically and the pressures of

acculturat ion, though perhaps less obvious than in America, are no

less real. Few, if any countries, would have provided Zoroastrians

with such security for so long a period. The fact that Parsis have

never experienced the equivalent of European anti-Semit ism says a

great deal about Indian society. Whether that security, identi ty, and

success wil l last for another mil lennium is a question many Parsis

are asking.

Notes

l. For Western views see, for example, M. Boyce, A History of Z'oroas-

tr ianisn, Leiden, 1975 and 1982, vol. I , chapter 7, amended vol. I I ,pp. l-3; G. Gnoli , Zoroaster 's Time and Homeland, Naples, 1980,

ch. 5. For Parsi views see, for example, J.C.Katrak, The Age of

Ttrathushtra, Bombay, 1968; H.D.K. Mirza, Outlines of Parsi His-

tory, Bombay, 1974, pp. 361-366.2. Boyce, Zoroastrians: Their religious beliefs and practices, London,

1979, ch. 2.3. S.H. Hodivala, Studies in Parsi History, Bombay, 1920, chs. l-4;

R.B. Paymaster, Early History of the Parsees in India, Bombay,

1954, ch. l ; P. Axelrod, "Myth and identi ty in the Indian Zoroas-

trian communily," Journal of Mithraic Studies, III, 1980, pp. 150-

65. A short selection of passages from the Qissa and the Sh/o/<as is

in Boyce, Sources for the Study of Zoroastrianisrn, Manchester,

1984, pp. 120-123.4. D.F. Karaka, History of the Parsis, London, 1884, 2 vols.; J.R.

Hinnells, "Anglo-Parsi commercial relat ions in Bombay prior to

184'7," Journal of the K.R. Cama Oriental Institute, (hereafter

"/COI), Bombay,46, 1978, pp.5-19.

5. Hinnel ls, "Parsis and Brit ish Education in Bombay, 1820-1880,"

JCOI,46, 1978, pp. 42-64; C. Dobbin, Urban Leadership in West-

ern India, Oxford, 19'12; C. Monk, "The Parsis and the emergence

of the Indian Naitonal Congress," JCOI, 52, 1985, pp. ll5-243; D.

Melton, "The Parliamentary Life of Dadabhai Naoroji," JCOI, 52,

1985, pp . l -114. On Western ised Pars i soc ia l in te res ts see

H.D.Darukhanawala, Parsis and Sports, Bombay, 1935.

6. E. Kulke, The Parsees in India, Munich and Bombay, 1974, pp. 190-

216.7. Hinnells, An Ancient Religion in Modern Exile : Contemporary Tnro'

astrianism, Oxford (in preparation).

8. Hinnel ls, "Parsis in Bri tain," JCOI, 46, 1978, pp.65-84; Hinnel ls '

9.

t0 .l l .t2.

1 3 .

1 5 .1 6 .

1 7 .

I9O / RELIGION IN MODERN INDIA

"Zoroastr ian migration to Britain: I ts history and impact." WorldZoroastrian, London, 1986, pp. 3-24.

J. Pavry, "Brief Summary of Zoroastr ians Abroad," in The Zoroas-trian Challenge in North America, Proceedings of the Fourth NorthAmerican Congress, Montreal, 1982, pp. 88-94.

Hinnells as quoted in n. 7.P. Nanavutty, The Parsis, Delhi, 2nd ed., 1980.M. Boyce, A Persian Stronghold of Zoroastrianism, Oxford, 1977, ch.

5; K. Mistree, T,oroastianism: An ethnic perspective (hereafter sim-ply Mistree), Bombay, 1982, ch. 12.

J.J. Modi, Religious Ceremonies and Custorns of the Parsees,Bombay, 1937 (hereafter simply Modi), ch. 7; B.K. Karanj ia, Moreof an Indian, Bombay, 1970 (a vivid novcl on the theme of Parsiintermarriage); Mistree, ch. l4; Hinnel ls, "Parsi att i tudes to 'other

rel igons"' in H. Coward (ed), Indian Att i tudes to "Other" Reli-g lons , New York , 1987.

B.B. Patel, Parsi Religious Buildings, Bombay, 1906 (Gujarati) ;Modi, ch. 9; F.M. Kotwal, "Some observations on the history of theParsi: Dar-i Mihrs," Bulletin of the School of Oriental and AfricanStudie.s, l9'74,3'1 , pp. 664-69; Kotwal and J.V. Boyd, "Worship ina Zoroastr ian Fire Temple," Indo-lranian Journal, 1983, 26, pp.293-318: Mis t ree . ch . 18 .

Mod i , ch . 2 l M is t ree . ch . 15 .The f igures vary in dif ferent surveys. The l96l Census of India sepa-

rate vcrlume on The Parsis of Greater Bombay, (p. 12) gave 26.55as the average age of Parsi women at marriage.

M. Karkal, Survey of Parsi Population of Greater BonbaS'-1982,B o m b a y , 1 9 8 4 .

18 . Mod i , ch . 3 ; M is t ree , ch . l l .19 . J .J . Mod i , K .R. Car ra , Bombay, n .d . (approx imate ly 1940) ; N .N.

Dhalla, Saga of a Soul, an Autobiography, (8.T. by B.S.H.J.Rustomji), Karachi, 1975. For an account of Parsi rel igious devel-opments at the turn of the century see Hinnells, "Social change andrel igious transformation among Bombay Parsis in the early twenti-eth century" in Traditions in Contact and Change, P. Slater and D.Wiebe, eds . , Ontar io , 1983, pp . 105-126.

20. K.J.B. Yadia, Fif ty Years of Theosophy in Bombay, Madras, 1931.For an account of contemporary movements in India see J.N.Farquhar, Modern Religious Movenents in India, 1914. A recentParsi theosophical writer is Dastur K.S. Dabu, see for exampie hisHandbook Information on Zoroastrianism, Bombay, 1969.

21. N.F. Mama, Bombay, A Mazdaznan Mystic, 1944; P.S. Masani, T-oro-astr ianism Ancient and Modern, Bombay, 191?; P.N. Tavaria, AManual of 'Khshnoom', Bombay, l97l; M. Master Moos, Life of

THE PARSI COMMUNITY / I9I

IJstad Saheb Behramshah Nowroji Shroff, Bombay, 1981; K'N.

Dastoor, hrasthushtra the Yazata, Bombay, 1984.

H. Langstaff, The Impact of Western Education and Political Changes

upon the Religious Teachings of Indian Parsis in the twentieth cen-

tury, Ph.D. Thesis, Manchester, 1983 (unpublished).

For example, J.K. Wadia, The Inner Man, Calcutta' 1968; F.A. Bode'

Sharing the Joy of Learning, Bombay, 1978' chs. 4-6'

Mistree, ch. 4. Two examples of publications opposed to his interpre-

tat ions are the newsletters of the Zoroastr ian Associat ion in

Montreal (Gavashni) and the Zoroastr ian Centre, Cali fornia, (the

Zoroaslrian).The publication best ref lect ing this process is the Bombay based

monthly magazine, Parsiana.

For example the newsletters of Bri t ish Columbia, Ontario and The

Zoroastrian.

22

23

z+.

25.

l o .

l 4

THE SINGH SABHASAND THE EVOLUTION OF

MODERN SIKHISM. L875.I925

N. Gerald Barrier

Between 1875 and 1925, Sikhism in the Punjab underwent asubstant ia l change that created new re l ig ious inst i tu t ions andboundaries. Prior to that time, many observers believed that the re-l igion had lost its focus and might soon become one of many sectswithin the broad Hindu spectrum. Maintenance of the 5 Ks associ-ated with Guru Gobind Singh and most recently with the Sikhregiments of Ranjit Singh, appeared to be lax. Sikhs and Hindusshared numerous customs and social practices. The traditional Sikhreligious leaders, however, showed litt le interest in articulating aseparate and identif iable sets of doctrines and social practices.While one European scholar declared that "Sikhism is a waning re-l igion, that wil l soon belong to History", while another warned thatl ike a boa constrictor, Hinduism might soon crush and absorb thefragile Sikh faith.l

The reversal of this apparent decline in less than half a centurymarked a decis ive turn ing point in the evolut ion of Sikhism. Bythe early 1900s, Sikhs had experienced a dramatic revitalization oftheir doctrine, institutions, and spirit. The programs of a new andexpanding network of organizations, loosely referred to as theSingh Sabhas, accounted for much of the transformation. Theaccepted view is that the Singh Sabhas halted the decline ofSikhism, reasserted traditional Sikh values, and put the religion andits followers back on the path that originated with the ten Gurus.An increasingly persuasive interpretation is that the Singh Sabhas

THE SINCH SABHAS / I93

played a more complex role, and instead of reviving a lost ortho-doxy, put together elements from diverse and often conflicting tra-d i t ions so as to enhance the d is t inct nature of the re l ig ion. At-tempting to minimize the diversity of practices and sects withinSikhism, the Singh Sabhas gradual ly dominated Sikh publ ic l i fe ,removed ideas and rituals seen as Hindu, and attempted to set fortha coherent and authoritative view of what it meant to be a Sikh.Al though not resolv ing a l l issues, these organizat ions and thei rspokesmen contributed to a strengthened view of Sikh identity, onecommonly associated with Sikhism today.2

Understanding these changes following the creation of the firstSingh Sabha in 1875 involves, f i rs t o f a l l , the h is tor ica l contextwithin which the Sikh resurgence occurred. As Punjabi Sikhs at-tempted to grapple with the challenges arising ftom Western domi-nation, they did so in l ight of teachings associated with the Gurusand Guru Granth Sahib, as well as recent religious experience.This in turn led not to the steady spread of agreed upon doctrinesand practice, but rather to heated in-fighting among Sikhs andgreat confl ict with other Punjabis also experiencing cultural revi-talization, most notably the Arya Samaj. Despite these diff iculties,a common set of ideas and institutions began to emerge between1902 and 1920, which were systematically promulgated by a newcentra l organizat ion, the Chief Khalsa Diwan. The dramat ic ap-pearance of the Gurdwara reform campaign after 1920 brought intoprominence a fresh group of Sikh activists, the Akalis, whose he-roic deeds fostered their claim to be the legitimate leaders of thecommunity. While the Akalis and those Sikhs now controll ing theshrines and major resources of the community opposed many ofthe Singh Sabha leaders polit ically, the public consciousness thatundergird the success of the Akalis and their vision of Sikh reli-gion and polit ics was due in large part to the earlier work of theSingh Sabha movement.

Punjab Sikhs and the Challenges of Colonial Rule

Sikh traditions and beliefs in nineteenth century Punjab re-flected religious developments over four hundred years. The for-mative phase of Sikhism stretched between the birth of the firstGuru, Nanak, in 1469, and the death of the tenth and final Guru,Gobind Singh, in 1708. Guru Nanak emphasized the need for

I


human beings to meditate on the Nam or name of God, while at

the same time combined worship and deep reverence with active

part ic ipat ion in dai ly l i fe , inc luding a fami ly responsib i l i t ies and

serving others. His teachings were transmitted and elaborated by

nine successors, who invested the Sikhs with a sacred scripture, the

Adi Granth, compiled by Guru Arjan, a tradition of love and sac-

rif ice, and numerous sacred shrines and holy places associated with

important events in the evolving tradition. In 1699, Guru Gobind

Singh transformed the Sikhs into a disciplined body or order called

the Khalsa, whose members received a new name' Singh ("l ion")

and symbols ( the 5 Ks: uncut hai r , comb, bangle, sword and

breeches). The authority and function of the Guru became vested

in the Khalsa, the community gathered together (the sangat), and

the scripture, the Guru Crunth Sahib.'The subsequent rise of the Sikh ntisals and the control of the

Punjab by Ranjit Singh (early 1700s-1839) were accompanied by

the spread of Sikh polit ical and social dominance in north-western

India. Although this turbulent period requires more research, the

general outl ine of what was happening seems clear. First, a loose

band of teachers, local saints, and wise men, often associated with

a particular area or shrine, came to be seen as a major source of

inspi rat ion and author i ty among Sikhs. These bhais, gyanis, and

local dignitaries cooperated with the heads of the families de-

scending from the Gurus, such as the Sodhis and Bedis, to con-

duct worship, mainta in a sense of cont inui ty wi th the past , and

provide spiritual an<l moral leadership. Although a scattering of l i t-

erary works were produced, most notably the janamsakhis or tradi-

tional biographies of the Gurus, Sikh culture tended to be trans-

mitted orally.aSimultaneous with the spread of the Sikh tradition in the rural

areas and particularly among the Jats, the religious doctrines found

in the Gurus' teachings were given various interpretations and re-

flected local custom and social practices. Sikhs could be sahaidhari'

clean-shaven devotees of Guru Nanak who respected the Granth

and worshipped regularly in the gurdwaras, or amritrlharis, those

who mainta ined the symbols associated wi th Guru Gobind Singh

and the khalsa tradition and had undergone baptism' Worship of

local gods and saints was common, and in terms of daily ritual and

important events, many Sikhs accepted the role of Brahmins and

lived a l ife style similar to that of other Punjabis. Sikhs had a

THE SINGH SABHAS I Ig5

variety of identit ies, seeing themselves at one point as residents ofa vil lage, then part of a l ineage, and at other junctures part of aspecific caste or belonging to a particular tradition. Boundarieswere blurred, with Sikhs commonry worshipping rocar goddesses orsaints, participating in local festivals, and going on pilgrimage tosacred spots associated with Hinduism. After the late tioos, someSikhs at tempted to regi t imize a par t icu lar v iew of how s ikhsshould l ive by emphasiz ing speci f ic guides to r i tuar and pracr ice(rahitnamas). and opposing casre and Brahmin participation in cer_emonies. On the whole, however, there was no generally acceptedset of traditions, religious beriefs and social noirn, o*ong siitrs,but rather, a diffuse and often competing group of traditions per_petuated by local custom and religious leaclers.s

The transfer of Western institutions and ideology after lg49contributed to the transformation of the world in wnicir sittrs andother Punjabis l ived. The region had arways been an invasion zonecharacterized by a numerous cultures and interactions, with laversof re l ig ious bel ie f and an amalgam of l i fe-styre and varues. iheBr i t ish, however, d i f fered f rom past ru lers in that thei r prcsenceef fected basic changes in punjab society and cul ture which con_tinue to the present. The most obvious innovations arose from theadminis t rat ive st ructures and the pol i t ica l or ientat ion under lv insthem. With in two decades, the colonia l power in t roduced o n" ibureaucratic system, complete with western-style executive and ju-dicial branches. These opened new channels of power and comie_tit ion, accompanied by emphasis .n western education and acqui-s i t ion of sk i l ls necessary fbr new occupat ions in raw, adminis i ra-t ion, and educat ion. The int roduct ion of munic ipar and d is t r ic tcounci ls created other areas of compet i t ion, wi th seats f i l led in i -t ia l ly through patronage and later by e lect ion. The Br i t ish usedthese inst i tu t ions, and re lated means of in f luence such as thegrants, honors and publ ic ceremony, to develop support groupsusefu l in ru l ing the province.6

The Punjab authorit ies soon came to see Sikhs as an importantpart of their coloniar strategy. sikhs were major recruits ior thearmy, provided stabil ity in vil lages throughout central punjab, andhelped meet revenue demands by industrious agricurtural activit ies.Assuming the centrality of religion for the Sikh population, offi_cials carefully supervised administration of holy placis, most nota-bly the Golden Temple in Amritsar, and gave numerous grants to

196 I RELIGION IN MODERN INDIA

insu re the loya l t yo f t r ad i t i ona lS i kh leade rs .B r i t i sho f f i ce rsheadedmonag"ment'committees, named key officials' and in general' pro-

videisupport and finances to buttress Sikh sympathy for the raj'1 .

The rap idsp reado fChr i s t i anm iss iona ryac t i v i t i esassoc ia tedwith Brit ish rule also introduced a new element in the mosaic of

Punjab religious patterns. Prior to the 1857 mutiny' the government

op"nly slAJa wit-tr the evangelical missionaries' Although the offi-

cial linkage diminished thereafter, tacit support fbr the proselytizing

efforts continued through educational grants and special advantages'

Besides aggressively converting Punjabis' missionaries transplanted

western religious concepts along with more effective means of

communicating their message' The printing press' tract l i terature'

and Western models for organization and propaganda were disrupt-

ing elements quickly adapted by Punjabis' not just to attack Chris-

tians, but each other.EOne of the most significant consequences of Brit ish penetration

involvecl changes in the ways Punjabis viewed themselves and their

traditions. Western social, religious' economic' and polit ical values

helped foster a new intellectual climate in the region' Individuals

and sects re-evaluated thei r h is tory, current c i rcumstances ' and

strategy for survival in terms of foreign categories and agenda' In

questi"ons of religion, for example, how missionaries and teachers

approached matters such as the analysis of texts' theological con-

clptr, ona the interaction of science and belief' shaped the debates

u-ong Punjabis and wi th in sects ' The new pr int cu l ture had re-

structured discourse and opened up new methods of communication

such as journal ism, the fosta l serv ice ' and improved systems of

transportlt ion, which facii i tated the rapid transmission of ideas. By

I 883, there were over a hundred printing presses in the Punjab and

over five thousand books and tracts printed annually. Newspapers

and journals appeared in numerous towns' ' The pr inted mater ia l

s t imu la ted ,ands imu l taneous l y ,p rov idednewposs ib i l i t i es fo rse l f -examination and debate. These intellectual pursuits brought together

European rationalism and Indian traditions' and mixed Western l it-

erary styles with local motifs, symbols, and concerns'r"

The resulting cultural upheaval in key Punjab towns' such as

Amritsar and Lahore, affected the Sikhs from the 1860s onward'

Despite primary education in gurdwara schools or by instruction

f ro rn toca l t eache rs ,anemerg ingS ikh in te l l i gen ts iabegan tos tudyWestern subjects and joined associations discussing religious and

THE SINGH SABHAS / I97

social issues. In Lahore, for example, Sikhs were members of G.W.Leitncr's orientalist Anjuman-i-Punjab, where they became skil ledat l i terary crit icism and debate over historical issues. One particu-larly prominent Sikh, Gurmukh Singh helped foster Sikh concernsabout Punjabi l i terature and eventually taught the subject at theLahore Oriental College.'r The introduction of the Arya Samaj in1875 seemed to open up new vistas for reform and modernization.Some Sikhs sympathized with the energetic Arya emphasis on per-sonal growth and simplif ied rituals. For a decade they gave limitedsupport to it before severing bonds in response to Hindu aspersionson Sikhs traditions and the Gurus.12

The atmosphere of crit ically examining theology and currentpractices reinforced the tendency of some Sikhs to question themixture of t radi t ions and sub- t radi t ions wi th in thei r communi ty .Differences between the Gurus' teachings and contemporary pat-terns were obvious, as was a felt need to revitalize and defineSikhism. These activists built on recent efforts to reform and refineSikhism. Years earlier, for example, the Nirankari sect, descendedfrom the followers of Baba Dyal Singh (1199-1862), opposed wor-ship of Hindu icons and called for a simple message of devotionand distinctly Sikh rituals.13 Similarly, the Namdharis or Kuka sect,founded by Bhai Balak Singh (1799-1862), were instructed toavoid marriage expenses and dowry, to reject meat, wine, and to-bacco, and to lead moral l ives. Under Balak Singh's successor ,Ram Singh (1816-1884), the Kukas became more mi l i tant andchallenged Brit ish authority. Overturning the custom of worship-ping at local shrines and trying to protect the cow, the Kukas ranafoul of the government and were dispersed forcibly.'a

The Kuka uprisings in the late 1860s and continued missionarysuccess in coverting Sikh students and ruling chiefs set the stagelor the creation of a new association in 1873, the Amritsar SinghSabha. Unintended by its founders, that Sabha and its successorswere to inaugurate a dynamic phase in the history of Sikhism thatrcsolved many pressing issues of Sikh identity and conflicting cus-l oms .

Divergent Perspectives within the Singh Sabha Movement

On October I, 1873, Sikhs from Amritsar and surrounding.rreas formed the Amritsar Sinsh Sabha. The Sabha's mission


included propagation of "true" Sikh religion, publishing periodicals

and encouraging the spread of Punjabi, editing and circulating

historical and religious books, developing support from well-wish-

ers (most notably, the Br i t ish) , and educat ion.15 Five years la ter ,

another Singh Sabha was formed in Lahore. By 1900 there were

approximately a hundred similar associations in the Punjab and

neighbouring areas.16 The spread of the sabhas was uneven, decen-

tralized, and often the product of personal interests or ideological

d isputes. The Ferozepur Singh Sabha, for example, emphasized

scholarly research, female education, and improving of home life

because of the influence of Bhai Takht Singh, a regional leader for

almost four decades. To the north in Tarn Taran, Bhai Mohan

Singh Vaid's concern with health, the sanctity of shrines, and de-

fense of Sikhism through tract l i terature, set the tone and program

of the local group. In Bhasaur, Babu Teja Singh's efforts to prune

Sikh doctrine and ritual from any hint of Hindu influence led to a

string of dramatic meetings, resolutions, and social experiments.rT

Two major constellations uncomfortably co-existed in the

Singh Sabha universe. The founding Amritsar Sabha was led by a

group of traditional leaders that included gyanis, bhais and aristo-

crats.ttThese men, such as Thakur Singh Sandhawalia, Khem Singh

Bedi and his son Gurbaksh Singh, and Kanwar Bikram Singh, had

suffered some financial loss because of Brit ish conquest and felt

increasingly under attack from the West and missionaries. They

used an established network of followers and resources to spread

Western education, love for Punjabi, preservation of historical

documents, and general ly t r ied to s t rengthen Sikhism in l ight of

new cultural challenges.As "sanatan Sikhs," however, the Amritsar following recog-

nized the diversity of traditions within the contemporary Sikhism

and championed the primacy of custom in providing answers as to

who were Sikhs and their beliefs. Anyone accepting the teachings

of Guru Nanak, from their viewpoint, was a Sikh, despite any de-

c is ion on mainta in ing the f ive Ks, worship of regional sa ints or

deities, or social practice. A major theme in their discourse, for ex-

ample, was the danger to Sikhism posed by disregarding, custom

and pollution through indiscriminate marriage all iances. Descen-

dants of the Gurus were held in high repute, provided with cush-

ions in worship services, and in general treated with reverence al-

most approximating "l iving" Gurus. Existing divisions among Sikhs

THE SINGH SABHAS / I99

were recognized and considered legitimate. I ldasis, followers ofGuru Nanak who often dressed as Hindu mendicants and super-vised central Sikh shrines, deserved respect. Sahajdhari Sikhs wereportrayed as "slow learners" within the Sikh tradition, who someday might undergo formal baptism and with it, the discipline, therahit maintained by the bearded amritdharis. Those who acceptedthe outward symbols and conduct associated with Guru GobindSingh were applauded, but were not seen as superior to otherSik}rs . re

Sikhs associated with rhe Lahore Singh Sabha had a quite dif-ferent perspective on Sikhism. Drawn from various classes andcastes, including aristocrats, lawyers, teachers, publicists, business-rnen, and officials,,the Lahore group was joined primarily not byeconomic or occupational interests but instead, by a shared experi-ence in Anglo-vernacular education and participation in intellectualdebate in Lahore, the center of the new school system and theemerging print culture. Aware of Western crit icism and the appar-ent vulnerabil ity of a Sikh faith that contained contradictions andf'ew, if any, demarcated boundaries, they sought to present a set ofcoherent principles and actions that would be adopted by mostSikhs.

Their vision of a rejuvenated Sikh tradition came to be knownas "Tat Khalsa", that is, a "true" Sikhism stripped of popular cus-tom and clearly separate from Hinduism. As Harjot Oberoi's de-t' init ive work on the Singh Sabha tradition has demonstrated, theTat Khalsa made three core doctrines-Guru, Granth and Gurdwara-the test for authentic Sikhism. As in the case of the Arya Samaj,which used Vedic teachings to legitimize their program, the Lahoreactivists championed a fiesh emphasis on the teachings and lives ofthe Gurus as models for religion and definable identity. Only Godrrnd his ten messengers should receive particular respect, not theirrlescendants or self-styled leaders who claimed special knowledge.Sirnilarly, only the Adi Granth and not other writ ings often ac-corded honor, such as the Dasam Granth of Guru Gobind Singh,ihould be seen as the source of theology and authority. Since theOranth could not be housed in a space polluted by idols or l icen-l ious act iv i ty , the Tat Khalsa emphasized a c leansing of(iurudwaras and the control of all sacred spots and shrines bySikhs who shared a common commitment to rituals devoid ofIlrahmanical and Hindu influence.2(r Such a worldview also influ-

2OO / RELIGION IN MODERN INDTA

enced the tone and direction of intellectual debate. Historical re-search and theological self-examination was to be encouraged, butonly if such activit ies supported the principal tenets of Tat KhalsaSikhs.2 l

The Lahore and Amritsar Singh Sabhas occasionally attemptedconcil iation, but because of the divergence of their views and aseries of heated confrontations, much of Sikh public l i fe in the lastthree decades of the century was dominated by internecine squabbles.Sikhs fought in the press, in meetings, and in the courts. An attackmight appear in a local paper or tract and then stir controversy andeven a civil suit. In 1887, for example, a leading Tat Khalsa pub-licist, Ditt Singh, lampooned the major Amritsar leaders in a l ightlydisguised play, Svapan Natak. Offensive passages, such as onerefering to a descendant of Guru Nanak as a pretentious "guru ofSatan," resulted in a slander case that left wounds which festeredfor years.22 Any topic or issue could become a battleground. Onefavorite tactic was to tar opponents with the brush of "sedition" sothat official patronage would be withdrawn. The Amritsar SinghSabha was the target of such a tactic in the 1880s when the effortsof the deposed son of Ranjit Singh, Maharajah Dhuleep Singh, toreturn to the Punjab created an explosive situation. The location ofthe first Sikh institute of higher education, Khalsa College, gener-ated similar excitement, as did the proposal in 1897 to l ight theGolden Temple with electricity.23

The most hotly contested argument within the Singh Sabhamovement was whether Sikhs were "Hindu." Sanatanists sawSikhism as an offshoot of a broadly defined "Hinduism." TheVedas and Hindu epics were judged to be important in understand-ing the human predicament and one's re lat ionship wi th God, a l -though the Gurus' teachings, especially the Adi Granth, were tobe given highest respect. Examples from the Granth and accompa-nying literature were used to "prove" that the Gurus had no inten-tion of separating Sikhs from their Hindu roots or from reveredHindu gods and scriptures. Distinct social and ritual boundaries hadnot been prescribed by the Gurus but were subsequent additions tothe tradition. Therefore, they did not have to be honored.2a AryaSamajists supported these views, crit icizing the assumptions of theLahore-based group and ridiculing their scholarship. The tract war-fare over the issue was heated and prolonged.25

"Ham Hindu Nahin" (We are not Hindu) became the battle crv

THE SINCH SABHAS / 2OI

of the Tat Khalsa Sikhs.26 They published at least a hundred tractsrrnd books on the subject. Quotes from the scriptures and historicalanalyses were used to combat what was seen as the most danger-ous threat to Sikh surv iva l . The Tat Khalsa ra ised the f lag of"Sikhism in danger" and fought their opponents at every turn.

The d iv is ions among Sikh associat ions were not l imi ted toideology. Most of the sabhas had their own agenda, and personalprojects and conflicts surtaced frequently regarding where confer-cnces would be held or the degree of respect to be shown to par-ticular individuals. In addition, the race for control of institutionsand honor was compl icated by the regional or ientat ion of Sikhleaders. Competit ion between Sikhs from the Malwa and Majha re-gions was fiequent and bitter.rT

Despite the time and resources devoted to such controversies,the Singh Sabhas did manage to develop a broad network of newinst i tu t ions and pro jects. By 1900, orphanages, a system of Sikhschools, institutions for training preachers and granthis, and otherself-strengthening effbrts garnered broad support from Sikhs in thePunjab and especially from migrant communities abroad.2E In theprocess, the Tat Khalsa interpretation of Sikh history and religionincreasingly came to be viewed as legitimate by both Sikhs and thegovernment. How this was accomplished deserves separate consid-eratron.

Ascendancy of the Tat Khalsa in Sikh Affairs

The Sikhs ident i fy ing wi th the Tat Khalsa t radi t ion def inedSikhism in terms of a theology separate from Hinduism, purif iedrituals, and distinct norms of behavior. Social and cultural bound-aries had to be demarcated successfully in three separate, butsometimes tangled, spheres. First, the Tat Khalsa message had toreach the Sikh population and be recognized as legitimate. Thisrneant confrontation with Sikh opponents, who had conflictingviews and could draw upon time-honored networks of patronageand support. The Tat Khalsa and Sanatan Sikhs were engaged in astruggle to determine who would control community resources andattain a place of authority. Secondly, the Sikh activists had to de-lend themselves and their institutions against external attack, par-t icu lar ly that of the Arya Samaj is ts who a l l ied occasional ly wi thsy'mpathetic Sikhs. Finally, the program centering around the


Lahore Singh Sabha had to be accepted and supported by the pri-

mary patrons in the Punjab polit ical system, the Brit ish rulers. The

government was somewhat ambivalent toward encouraging the re-

surgence of Sikhism, but no matter what its strategy, official per-

ceptions and policies tended to be sympathetic to the maintenanceof symbols and separation from Hinduism.?' The Tat Khalsa had to

convert that attitude into active support such as Srants and recogni-

tion of Sikh claims in legislative and polit ical arenas.The success of the Lahore group in meeting these challenges

was due in large part to the zeal, sacrif ice, and oratorical abil ity of

i ts leadership. Many except ional ind iv iduals ra l l ied to the Tat

Khalsa cause and, in doing so, have been recognized as heroes by

thei r contemporar ies and by subsequent h is tor ians ' Two dr iv ing

forces in Lahore, Gurmukh Singh and Di t t S ingh, became almost

legendary for thei r publ ic serv ice. Wr i t ing books and publ ish ing

papers, they organized meetings, roamed across the Punjab encour-

aging f r iends and repel l ing at tacks, and s imul taneously la id the

groundwork fbr the creation of new organizations.r" Singh Sabhasgenerally had one or more such individuals who provided continu-

ity, money, and spirit. For example, Bhai Takht Singh of Ferozepur

who became known as the z.inda shahid, the "l iving martyr", com-

mitted his l i fe to female education. At one point, he left home on

a world-wide tour and retused to return unti l he had collected suf-

ficient funds to maintain his school for girls at Ferozepur. Takht

Singh succeeded after six hard and often desperate months of

t ravel .3r The powerfu l presence and s ingle-mindedness of Babu

Teja Singh Overseer was unmatched. The founder of the Bhasaur

Singh Sabha and later the Panch Khalsa Diwan, Teja Singh had the

courage and wil l ingness to give and receive abuse, which became

part of the folklore of the Singh Sabha movement.32 The list could

go on to include dozens of talented individuals who, although dis-

agreeing on specific points, were held together by a commitment to

a resurrection of Sikhism in the Tat Khalsa image.Without such devoted Sikhs, the Singh Sabha message would

have not taken root. At the same time, however, these individuals

also were adroit at controll ing the centers of powers and the net-

works of communication that affected daily Sikh l ife. Whether aris-

tocrat, businessman, or official, they shared common experiences

and acquired new skil ls vital to their mission. The spread of mod-

ern means of communication permitted coordination and continuity

- _

THE STNGH SABHAS I 2O3

over time and space. The postal service, for example, facil i tatedregular contact. The diaries and correspondence of prominent TatKhalsa advocates, such as Mohan Singh Vaid, Takht Singh, andTeja Singh Bhasaur, suggest the importance of the rnails in plan-ning.33 The expansion of the railroad meant that leaders could meetpersonal ly in pr ivate gather ings or publ ic sessions. Such innova-t ions a lso furn ished the backdrop for many of the new exper i -ments and organized publicity efforts of the Tat Khalsa.

The Tat Khalsa created and then dominated the rapidly evolv-ing communicat ion fac i l i t ies l ink ing Sikhs throughout the wor ld.Secretaries of the Singh Sabhas circulated annual reports and reso-lut ions through the mai l and the centra l body in Lahore helpedpublish local proceedings. The correspondent system was comple-mented by the circulation of preaching teams and jatha-s, groups ofSikhs (often with a granthi and singers) who traveled widely to en-courage bapt ism, adopt ion of outward symbols, and an end tomennrat ( "un-Sikh") pract ices (such as the worship of localsaints).3a The Tat Khalsa missionary efforts followed the railroadl ines. As soon as the ra i lway expanded, preachers v is i ted the d is-persed Sikhs and t r ied to in f luence thei r act ions.15 Fest iva ls andmeetings also becarne routinized. Sabhas sponsored annual diwans,rnul t i -day occasions that brought together local Sikhs as wel l aszealots f rom outs ide. The larger regional and provinc ia l confer-ences could attract as many as several thousand Sikhs. Moreover,the regular celebrations of the various gurpurabs (birth and deathanniversaries of the Gurus) and related events in Sikh history werepopular ized. Such act iv i t ies prov ided the chance fbr d iscussion,worship, ra is ing funds, and, in general , consol idat ing the TatKhalsa position.16

Schools, too, were an essent ia l e lement in the Singh Sabhaprogram. Not only did Khalsa educational institutions equip Sikhsto compete successfu l ly in the new occupat ions, but they a lsoserved to strengthen Sikh identity. Mixing Western subject with thestudy of Punjabi and religious traditions, teachers were able to in-fluence generations of upwardly mobile students. Founded in 1g94,the Khalsa College at Amritsar became a Tat Khalsa bastion.3T

Although Sanatanists wrote tracts and published newspapers,both of those important ingredients of modern communicationtended to be controlled by Sikhs of the Tat Khalsa persuasion. Asin the case of the Christian, Arya Samaj, and Muslim missionary


efforts, Sikhs produced an increasing number of small tracts andreligious books. Founded in 1894, the Khalsa Tract Society pub-lished didactic and polemical pamphlets regularly. Individuals oftenspecialized in that means of disseminating ideas, such as Ditt Singhand Mohan Singh Vaid who wrote over two hundred books andtracts.38 One variety of tract contained religious scripture and ser-mons, often with emphasis on an issue such as the non-Hindu na-ture of Sikhism. Another related set of pamphlets described inci-dents or told stories that i l lustrated the victory of Tat Khalsa argu-ments. A third popular type called for support of associations or aproject. Appeals or benati were accepted elements of Sikh l ife andcould generate substantial contributions. Finally, the polemic pro-vided entertainment and contributed to l iterary exchanges that canonly be described as tract warfare.re

While production of tracts was impressive, the evolving Sikhcommunication system revolved around an assortment of journalsand papers. Many were short-l ived, but the newspapers that beganto appear with regularity from the 1880s onward reached more andmore Sikhs. The Khalsa Akhbar, founded in 1883 and survivinguntil 1904, served as a base for the Tat Khalsa. Many other paperschampioned specific causes or aimed at particular audiences suchas the Punjabi Bhain (Ferozepur, on domestic life and female edu-cation) and periodicals for one segment of the community, theRamgarhias.()

Approximately fifty Sikh newspapers and journals were pub-lished prior to 1900. Most served several related functions. First,the publications circulated news on events and activit ies of institu-tions and individuals. In addition, newspapers offered an acceptedchannel for benati, appeal for aid. Increasingly Sikhs were calledon to provide money for schools, societies, and special events. Thepapers also served as score-cards, routinely publishing accounts andl is ts of donors. Besides provid ing accountabi l i ty for funds spent ,these reports celebrated public service and good deeds, key fund-raising elements in a society where pride and honor were valuedhighly. The accounts also kept record of how well particular TatKhalsa act iv i t ies were progressing, such as the number of Sikhswho had sopped smoking or quit cutting their hair.ar Finally, jour-nalism helped mobil ize specific groups or the community as awhole on issues and, in general, disseminated a consistent image ofpast events and current dangers facing Sikhism.

THE SINGH SABHAS I 205

This diverse network for disseminating information andgenerating support strengthened the Tat Khalsa position amongSikhs. Dozens of meetings and large conferences were held eachyear and by 1900, over eighty Singh Sabhas sympathetic to DittSingh and his colleagues were active throughout India. Tracts andnewspapers applauded victory after victory, ranging from the scat-tered convers ion of Musl im and apostate Sikhs to dramat ic inc i -dents such as occurred in Bakapur on June l3-14, 1903. At a largediwan, Tat Khalsa leaders fiom all over the Punjab assembled andgave baptism to 35 Muslims and sahajdhari Sikhs. Many of theconverts became prominent in Sikh education, religious debate, andthe gurdwara reform movement.a2 Special committees produced"authent ic" vers ions of h is tor ica l mater ia l , commentar ies on theGranth, and even went so far as to judge the validity of booksand tracts published by others.ar The mounting pressure for reformsand an end to Hindu practices led to public meetings, petit ions forofficial holidays celebrating the birthdays of Guru Nanak and GuruGobind Singh, and successfu l miss ionary act iv i t ies in towns andvil lages. Even foreign collaborators supported the Lahore SinghSabha's content ions about the uniqueness of Sikh t radi t ion. Themost notable example was Max Arthur Macauliffe, a fbrmer Brit ishcivil servant who retired and devoted his l i fe to translating and in-terpreting early Sikh documents. His multi-volume work, The SikhReligion, Its Gurus, Sacred Writing and Authors (Oxford Univer-s i ty Press, 1909) was prepared in c lose associat ion wi th SinghSabha scholars such as Kahan Singh Nabha, and remains one ofthe most substantial English language statements of the Tat Khalsaview of their Sikh heritage.4

Despite the intensity and volume of such activit ies, the LahoreSingh Sabha and its affi l iates had not managed to supplant the en-trenched group of Sanatan Sikhs who controlled shrines andclaimed to be the legitimate leaders of the community. The fightswere long, bitter, and usually inconclusive. The struggle over loca-tion of Khalsa College, for example, was won by the AmritsarSingh Sabha although the better educated Lahore Sikhs came todominate the faculty and curriculum.as Intell igent and articulate de-fenders of the Sanatan views organized their own newspapers andjoined in exchange of tracts. Most notable was Avtar SinghVahiria, the author of influential guides to Sikh history and prac-tice. He argued in voluminous and well documented books that


sikhism was an outgrowth of Hinduism and should mainta in i tsroots within that religion. The Tat Kharsa innovations were recenraddi t ions, he c la imed, and ar t i f ic ia i ly separat ing the two fa i thsmeant confusion in r i tuar , inappropr iate r i tes, and unnecessaryschisms.a6 'rhe

vehemence of the attacks on the Lahore leaders ac-celerated by the late 1890s also suggests their growing power andinfluence. Battles continued, but in terms of numbers ani the abir-ity to control the center of Sikh news and communication, the TatKhalsa were beginning to shape the wide range of Singh Sabhaact iv i t ies.

Also accelerat ing were conf iontat ions wi th the Arya Samaj .Both the Singh Sabhas and the Samaj launched a campaign ofshuddhi (purif ication and conversion ceremonies) after 1g90. Arvasopenly converted Sikhs and cut thei r hai r in publ ic . rne s i t t rshuddhi sabha in Lahore countered by having Musl ims and lowcaste Sikhs undergo pur i f icat ion, receive bapt ism, and then havesocia l re lat ions wi th Singh Sabha members. ' ' rhe

controvers iesraged, as did the tract warfare. The tit les of typical tracts of theperiod suggest the tone and content of the works: "a mouth-breaking reply," "the exposure of haughtiness": "a crushing blow,""a real photo of the stupidity of Dayanancl," and ..as the-face, sothe slap, or a face-breaking repry."rH colroquial Hindi and puniabiare storehouses of insult and derogatory terms and opponents usedthem freely to attack sacred scriptures, readers, and positions. Astensions mounted, the momentum c lear ly was on the s ide of theLahore Sikhs. They managed to sharpen the l ines between Sikhsand Hindus and, in doing so, provoked such opQrr at tacks onSikhism that the Arya tracts probabry injured the position of theirpro-Hindu a l l ies.

Tat Khalsa success with the government was also mixed, al-though there too the Lahore singh sabha tendetr to have high vis-ibil i ty and garnered supporr regularry. The Brit ish had reiiforcedthe legitimacy of the kesdhari Sikhs through military recruitmentpolicy. Only Sikhs with the five Ks could join the army and partof their init iation was baptism and a pledge to maintain .,oriho-dox" practices. western officers encouraged the cerebration of sikhholidays and, in general, tried to ensure the happiness and loyaltyof their men.ae The punjab government was quite aware of thlgrowing tension among Sikhs and tried whenever possible to steerclear of controversy. However, pafionage continued to be given to

THE SINGH .SABHAS / 207

key institutions such as Khalsa College and schools affiliated withlocal Singh Sabhas. In a few instances, district officers also sympa-thized with the Tat Khalsa campaigns to end misuse of gurdwaral'unds by Udasi managers and to remove offensive symbols and ar-t i facts f rom the v ic in i ty of shr ines.5" Simi lar ly , the provinc ia l andcentral governments cooperated in providing l imited funds for thepublication efforts of Macauliffe and his Sikh friends. Assisting theSingh Sabha publishing project was viewed by the Brit ish as a nec-essary corrective to a former act, arranging for Trumpp's transla-tion of the Adi Granth in the 1870s. Trumpp had claimed thatSikhs were Hindus and made numerous scurr i lous remarks aboutthe Gurus and their teachings. Macauliffe's volumes were seen asr e s t o r i n g S i k h h o n o r a n d t r a d i t i o n d a m a g e d b y t h e e a r l i e rw o r k . 5 1

By the end of the nineteenth century, Sikhs stood once againat a crit ical juncture. Acceptance of the Tat Khalsa tnessage wasspreading but as yet had not been inst i tu t ional ized complete ly . Nu-merous institutions had been created, but funding and administra-tion often were haphazard and lacked coordination. A surge ofenergy and resources was evident, but so were persistent patternsof d iv is ion, compet i t ion, and conf l ic t . The Singh Sabhas had ra isedthe cry of "Sikhism in danger" and highlighted the many problemsfacing the communi ty , but so lut ions st i l l had to be worked out .Wi thout uni f icat ion and focus, as edi tor ia ls in Sikh newspapersnoted, Sikhism sti l l remained vulnerable to both external and inter-nal threats.s2

The Chief Khalsa Diwan's Contribution to the

Sikh Revival, 1903-1919

In November of 190 l , a meet ing of prorn inent Sikhs d iscussedthe need for a central body to coordinate and lead the Singh Sabhamovement. Many of the earlier generation of leaders had died orpassed on their mantles, thus making it easier to bind old woundsand deal with problems plaguing the Sikhs. Officially inaugurated ayear later, the Chief Khalsa Diwan began with a handful of affi l i-ated Sabhas and by 1919, had over a hundred member institutions.During that period, the organization was involved in a spectrum ofold and new projects and became acknowledged as the major voicefor Sikhs.53


The CKD had a formal constitution, amended frequently, and acomplex set of committees and procedures. Its aims included pro_moting the welfare of the Khalsa panth, spreading gurbani or theteachings of the Gurus, disseminating information on tradition andcurrent issues, and safeguarding the polit ical rights of Sikhs. Be_hind the organizat ion, however, was input f rom the most act ivesabhas, whose leaders, such as Vi r Singh, Mohan Singh Vaid,Takht Singh, and Teja Singh Bhasaur, participated actively at onetime or another. Sundar Singh Majithia, a Sikh aristocrat long iden-tif ied with the Lahore Singh Sabha, served as secretary and alsohelped guide Khalsa College.5a

CKD decis ions involved both a system of consul tat ion wi thmember associat ions and a pat tern of pr ivate decis ion-making bytwenty or so aristocrats and members of western professions. oftenquest ions would be c i rcu lated in journals and t racts and thendecis ions publ ic ized on a speci f ic issue, such as whether i t wasappropriate to open the Adi Granth in public meetings.55 More con_troversial decisions tended to be reached in private or sometimesavoided totally if circumstances warranted. The Finance committeetended to dominate both the public and private proceedings, insist-ing on full accountabil ity fbr all CKD operarions.

The goals and strategies of the Diwan changecl in l ight of im_mediate or long-term problems. On the whole, its main functionwas the coordination of sikh public activit ies and the building of acommon base on which many, if not all, Sikhs might agree. Thiswas i l lust rated by an edi tor ia l that por t rayed Singh Sabhas asstones f i l led wi th b i ts and p ieces of mater ia l . lack ing st rength.Only if the elements were fused could Sikhs move fbrward and bestrong like iron. The CKD role was to try and assist cooperation,to pull together and lbcus efforts.56

This task involved insur ing the f iscal s tabi l i ty of Sikh enter-pr ises wi th a growing system of checks and balances. Once ac_counts and repor ts were issued regular ly , however, the Diwanturned to the more complex task of developing human resources.It elaborated the existing practice of sending out teams and preach-ers, t ra in ing personnel in preaching, s inging, and publ ic i ty . Out-reach was also enhanced by more attention to scheduling local andregional meetings, with the result that attendance rose dramatically.Some conferences and diwans had as many as 4,000 - 8,000 Sikhsin attendance.JT

THE SINGH SABHAS I 2O9

Concern with panthic resources helped generate new init ia-

t ives in s tudying h is tor ica l documents and publ ish ing "authent ic"

material. Committees reviewed books and issued corrections, ques-

tioning references to mythology and any l ink with "non-Sikh" cus-

tom. While encouraging debate, the CKD urged that the duty of

Sikhs "in days of transition" was the preparation of "standard

books and references" based solely on the teachings of the Guru

Granth Sahib.58Appreciating the importance of influencing communications

among Sikhs, the CKD regularized the flow of information by im-

proving l inks between organizations and publishing more l iterature.

Two newspapers - the Khalsa Samachar in Gurmukhi and the

Khalsa Advocate in English - became its spokespersons and as-

sisted in spreading news and heightening public awareness. The in-

fluence of these and related journals was significant. Individuals

read material aloud in vil lages and copies circulated widely among

students, the army, and emigrant groups throughout the world.

Moreover, the Khalsa Tract Society expanded its operation and

soon was joined by several other societies committed to influencing

Sikhs in areas such as theology, ritual, and social observance.se

The CKD mission of unifying Sikhs and putting self '-strength-

ening projects on a sound footing necessitated creating more insti-

tu t ions. Besides provid ing a id to o ld Singh Sabhas and help ing

form new ones, the Diwan bui l t hospi ta ls and orphanages and

launched a dr ive to expand Sikh educat ional inst i tu t ions. Some

schools fed into the regular educational system, ending with high

school or college degrees. Others such as the updeshak (preacher-

training) school at Gharjakh and the girls schools at Ferozepur

prepared Sikhs fbr other tasks. The Sikh Educational Conference,

first held in 1908, became an annual affair that brought together

thousands of Sikhs who discussed educational issues, the spread of

Punjabi and related matters. The meetings moved fiom place to

place, thus focusing at tent ion on local act iv i t ies. The resolut ions

and speeches usually dealt with history, religion, and current af-

fairs. Besides raising money, the Conference became a symbolic

gathering of Sikhs who shared common viewpoints and goals'n)

The CKD also tried to expand the breadth of the community

and at the same time overcome factionalism and conflict ' Diwan

leaders sponsored the formation of the Khalsa Biradari in 1908, an

organization committed to modifying Sikh attitude towards un-

2IO I RELIGION IN MODERN INDIA

touchabi l i ty . Low caste Sikhs such as Mazbhis, Raht ias andRamdasis had been particular targets for Christian and Arya Samajconversion attempts. Disturbed by this potential loss in numbers, aswell as by the inherent confl ict between current social attitudes andthe message of equality among all Sikhs, the CKD and the Biradarihad some success in improving socia l condi t ions and openinggurdwaras to Sikhs who were considered by some to be polluted.A price was paid, however, because this evoked a sharp reactionthat inc luded boycot ts of CKD act iv i t ies and publ ic confronta-t ions.6 l

Painfu l ly aware that because of "our sel f -murder ing pol icy" ,Sikhs were their own worst enemies (Khalso Samachar, August 16,1905), the CKD sought to end d isputes and resolve inrernal con-f l ic ts . Conci l ia t ion teams assis ted when groups or associat ionsfought openly. In 1917, for example, even the Educat ional Confer-ence became an inflammable issue when the site was moved fromMontgomery to Lahore.('2 Differences of opinion, rivalries, and af-fronts to "honor" consumed much of the Diwan's time and energy.

The CKD used its publicity and influence to institutionalize theacceptance of Sikhism as a separate re l ig ion wi th i ts own r i tuals ,t radi t ions, and sense of ident i ty . General ly pursuing pol ic ies thatwould fur ther demarcate boundar ies and remove l inger ing Hinduinfluence, the Diwan's etlorts helped facil i tate the removal of idolsfrom the Golden Temple in I905 and sparked similar crit icism ofHindu accretions in other local shrines. Another CKD victory, the1907 passage of the Anand Marr iage Bi l l leg i t imiz ing a d is t inctSikh marr iage cerernony devoid of Hindu t rappings, marked ahighpoint in the campaign to spread Sikh hol idays, r i tua ls , anddaily practices.6r

Al though the Tat Khalsa t radi t ion became increasingly domi-nant in all Sikh institutions except fbr the gurdwaras, which gener-a l ly remained in the hands of Sanatan Sikhs or Udasi managers,the CKD did not consistently argue that the only "true Sikhs" werekesdhari or amritdhari (baptized) and that others such assahajdharis were in fact Hindu. Given the diversity sti l l existingamong Sikhs, the Diwan took the posi t ion that those who wor-shipped in gurdwaras and accepted that Sikhism was a separate re-l igion should be considered part of the larger Sikh community.Fully aware of the persistent minority status of Sikhs (approxi-rnately lJ-l3%o of the Punjab population) and also sensitive to the

THE SINCH SABHAS I 2I I

devotion of many of the sahajdharis, the Diwan tried to accommo-tlate and be tolerant of diversity as far as possible. This came outcontinualfy in newspaper stories about prominent sahajdhari Sikhs,such as Hark ishen Lal , as wel l as in d iscussions of proceduresrvithin the Diwan itself.s Although only kesdharl Sikhs could servetln CKD committees, special arrangements were made for regularconsultation with other groups. Moreover, the Diwan resolved thatsahajdharis could play a full role in gurdwara at'fairs and read theGuru Granth Sahib in services.65 To clear up misunderstandings,the official paper of the CKD, the Khalsa Advocate, noted thatcven shorn Sikhs were on the path of re l ig ious searching andshould be kept within lhe panth and made part of Sikhism (July15, 1904). The CKD leaders did have a long-term goal ofseeingal l S ikhs mainta in common r i tuals and symbols, but to lerat ion andopenness were necessary. community interest required such an ap-proach. In the past, sahajdharis, such as Sewa Ram Singh and TejaSingh, M.A., had eventually been baptized and contributed greatlyto Sikhism.66 Others could do the same in the future.

Accommodation and tolerance did l itt le to reconcile Sikhs whoinsisted that they were Hindu. Some attacked the CKD in the pressor openly sided with Hindus, such as Gurbaksh Singh Bedi, son ofKhem Singh Bedi , the head of the ear l ier Amri tsar Singh Sabha.Gurbaksh Singh served as the president of the Punjab Hindu Coq-ference in 1910. On the basis of the public record, however, it ap-pears that most Sikhs tentatively approved of the Diwan's posture.A few individuals and organizations did adopt a narrow and in-creasingly l i tera l in terpretat ion of Sikh t radi t ion. Teja SinghBhasaur denounced his former colleagues, for example, and set upa rival Panch Khalsa Parliament, and tried to rewrite Sikh tradition.Although ostracized and later imprisoned for publishing and editionof the Adi Granth with one section, the ragmakt, excised, TejaSingh persevered in his claim that only amritdharis who followedhis lead were Sikhs.6?

For a decade, the Chief Khalsa Diwan consolidated its positionand had remarkable success at fostering Sikh identity and strength-ening institutions. From approximately l9l2 onward, however, theorganization came under attack fiom different quarters. The expan-s ion of the e lect ive pr inc ip le in munic ipal commit tees and thePunjab legislative council placed fresh emphasis upon numbers and,from the Sikh perspective, underlined their permanent minority sta-

2I2 / RELICION IN MODERN INDIA

tus. The Diwan had a policy of working closely with the govern-ment because continued Brit ish assistance was seen as vital to thefuture of Sikhism. This seemed to be effective, as for example, in1907 when the British responded positively to the orchestrated Sikhagitation supporting the Anand Marriage Bil l. Similarly, the Diwanwas able to have more Sikh holidays placed on the official calen-dar, Punjabi became legitimized in educational and bureaucraticcircles, and turbans accepted in the Indian Medical Service and inthe London Inns of law.68 However, growing militancy among Sikhstudents and Brit ish uncertainty about Sikh loyalty created riftwith the colonial power that led to expanded Brit ish control overKhalsa College and decisions that l imited the influence of SinghSabha members in Golden Temple management.6e

The atmosphere of confrontation changed to renewed friendshipin 1913 and 1914, when the CKD helped negotiate at least a tem-porary settlement to the crisis generated by Brit ish damage to theRikabganj gurdwara in New Delhi. The Singh Sabha's open denun-ciation of terrorism and, particularly, the activit ies of returnedSikhs belonging to the banned Ghadar party (a U.S. revolutionarygroup) strengthened ties with the Brit ish. The First World War alsobrought Sikhs and the government closer together, at least in theearly years. The CKD spearheaded broadbased Sikh support for thewar effort and aided in accelerated recruiting for the army.?"

Although the Diwan continued to be seen by many Sikhs asan authority in polit ical and religious matters, its prominence andclose association with the Brit ish increased the vulnerabil ity ofCKD leaders. The militants who had urged direct action against thegovernment over alleged sacrilege at Rikabganj produced a streamof tracts, against the Diwan's moderate policies and were aided bytwo new papers, the Panth Sewak and the Khalsa Akhbar.lt By1917, Sikh concern over recruiting excesses and other wartime in-justices led the CKD to launch a publicity counter-attack. Morefrequently, however, the charge was made that the Diwan had ab-rogated its responsibil i t ies and engaged in "unpanthic" activit ies.T2

The keystone of CKD polit ical strategy, influencing Brit ish pa-

tronage through constitutional agitation and personal contacts, spedup the demise of its central place in Sikh affairs. Open electionshad not worked for the Sikhs. With only an occasional representa-tive elected to the legislature, frustration over future threats to theSikh minority became apparent even in Khalsa Samachar editorials.

THE SINCH SABHAS / 2I3

The CKD attempted to assert Sikh rights because of their war ef-l 'ort and loyal support for the government, but as a significanttransfer of power loomed ahead after the war, the campaign tohave one-third seats reserved for Sikhs foundered. The British werebeing pressured from all directions and could not meet Sikh expec-tations.T3 The CKD's close association with the administration ofLieutenant Governor Michael O'Dwyer also proved disastrous. Hisexcessive responses to disturbances in the spring of l9l9 led to thenotorious massacre at Jallianwala Bagh in Amritsar. The shootingsalso destroyed much of the CKD's prestige. Sti l l cl inging to apolicy of toleration and dependence on British support, the Diwancriticized officials but in less than stringent terms and far too latefrom the perspective of most Punjabis.Ta

The gurdwara reform agitation grew out of the ashes ofJall ianwala Bagh. Distrust of the Brit ish was rampant and Sikhsfelt the time was right to wrest control of their sacred shrines formthe hands of the managers, who generally sided with the govern-ment and pro-Hindu interests. Earlier the CKD had attempted tocontrol the gurdwaras through negotiations, legal maneuvers, andpublic pressure. Now, losing ground rapidly, its leading membersattempted to play a role in a new militant organization, the CentralSikh League, but there, too, they lost out to more zealous Sikhsbent on confrontation.T5 Since the Diwan opposed the tactic of di-rect action and possible law-breaking to protect Sikh interests, theycame to be seen as hapless and ineffective religious leaders, out ofstep with contemporary needs of the community. In a short span oftime, the organization that had been at the heart of the Sikh resur-gence came to be pictured by its successors, the Akalis, as a threatto Sikhism.T6

The Gurdwara Campaigns and the Future of Sikhism

The rapid eclipse of the CKD and its allies brought to an endfour decades of intense soul-searching and intellectual growth. TheTat Khalsa Sikhs had championed Sikhism as a separate religionwith distinct rituals and other boundaries. Under the leadership ofthe Diwan, that view became prevalent among Singh Sabhas andinfluenced the development of modern Sikh institutions. At thesame time, the intellectual excitement and marked degree of liter-ary activity constituted a high point in Sikh cultural history.

2I4 / RELICION IN MODERN INDIA

Because of the zeal of the movement and the evaluation of its

communication network, Sikhs became more conscious of boththeir historical roots and emerging threats. That consciousness had

continued unti l the present, as have the diwans, the conferences,the new festivals and holidays, tracts, and journalistic endeavors

that remain important in Sikh public l i fe.The Chief Khalsa Diwan influenced the direction and tone of

much that was written and done. Although firmly committed to

the strengthening of a separate Sikh identity, the Diwan supported

an open exchange of ideas, a process of accommodation, negotia-

tion and compromise wherever possible, so that differences could

be resolved and disunity averted. This accounts for the organ-

ization's sometimes avoiding controversial issues and tending to be

unspecific and vague when debating doctrines. There were limits to

toleration, particularly in areas such as editing the scriptures ot

questioning beliefs about the Gurus that were considered sacro-

sanct. But on the whole, the Diwan avoided drawing l ines finely or

excluding those who wanted to be counted as members of the

panth. Such an approach meant that many doctrinal issues were not

resolved. The Diwan, for example, worked hard to develop a con-

sensus on a set of r i tua ls and pract ices appl icable to Sikhs ' but

prior to 1920, no definit ive rahitnama was published. Similarly, the

relationship between kesdhari and sahaidhari remained cloudy, al-

though there was a general sense of each Sikh being able to con-

tribute in his or her own way.Similarly, in the external polit ical arena, the CKD pursued a

strategy combining active defense of Punjabi and other Sikh priori-

t ies with an ongoing effort to create l inkages and collaborationjudged necesszuy to ensure the Sikh minority's continued access to

resources. Sikh identity, from the Diwan's perspective, did not

mean disrespect for others' views or creating Permanent divisionspossibly injurious at a future time. When the trust and mutual as-

sistance that had charcterized Sikh-Brit ish relations broke down

quick ly in l ight of the l9 l9 d is turbances and the new reforms,

however, the Diwan could not adapt quickly. Some leaders such as

Sundar Singh Majithia remained active in the Punjab polit ics and

tried to help Sikh interest through alliances with other Punjabis and

occasionally, with the Brit ish. As an organization, however, the

CKD tended to avoid polit ics and instead emphasized education

and the spiritual dimensions of Sikhism.TT

THE SINGH SABHAS / 2I .5

Acting as a catalyst, the Diwan and the Singh Sabhas hadhelped create the institutions, the identity, and the fervor associatedwith a revived Sikhism. With their task completed, they virtuallydisappeared from the scene. During the next decades, except for in-terest in the Educational Conference and Sikh schools, the Diwanbecame inactive in public debate. Without such a forum for focus-ing debate and exchange of ideas, the intellectual l i fe of Sikhs suf-t'ered. There were significant developments in literature, such as thewr i t ing of Vi r Singh, and in scholarship, such as Kahan Singh'srnonumental Gurushabad Ratnakar Mahan Kosh (Encyclopaedia ofSikh religion, history and literature, 1930), but, on the whole, thequest ioning and the st imulat ion of the Singh Sabha per iod lan-guished. Only after Partit ion and the creation of new centers ofscholarly and religious discourse has there been an attempt to re-capture the vitality and literary renaissance associated with theSingh Sabhas.78

The Akalis dominated Sikh l if 'e during the 1920s, capturing theattention and support of Sikhs everywhere with their heroic deedsand roar ing chal lenges.Te In a sense, they completed the work ofthe Singh Sabhas by controll ing the centers of Sikh power and or-thodoxy, the shrines. The operation of the 1925 Gurdwara Act en-sured the ascendancy of the Akal i Dal and Shiromani GurdwaraParbandhak Comrnittee and permanent Tat Khalsa control of Sikhinstitutions. After the Akalis, there was litt le doubt as to who wereSikhs, what they wore, and how they worshipped. Without the ear-l ier work of the Singh Sabhas, however, the Akal is ' successfu lconf iontat ion wi th the Br i t ish would have been impossib le. Thespread of Sikh consciousness and the ex is tence of a s igni f icantcommunication network helped the Akalis spread their messagequick ly and ef fect ive ly . The Singh Sabha's message of sacr i f iceand martyrdom paved the way for the Akalis to assume leadershipof the communi ty .

Although the Akalis became seen as the legitimate leaders ofthe Sikhs, their attempts to win new polit ical rights met with thesame frustrations experienced earlier. The world in which they op-erated placed more emphasis on population percentages and trans-f'er of power to majority groups or broad-based all iances. Drivenby Akali zeal and growing fear of Muslim politicians, Sikhs tendedto identify more quickly with militant action and intolerance foropponents, especially those within the community who counseled

216 I RELICION IN MODERN INDIA

toleration or compromise. Legislative debate and court cases be-came pivotal events in determining who was a Sikh. DistrustingHindus and, af ra id e i ther of Arya or Musl im dominance, thekesdharis insisted that virtually all aspects of community l i fe beled by "orthodox" Sikhs, that is, those who maintained the five Ksand ostensibly followed set form of action.8" Despite their postur-ing, however, issues such as authority within the panth and whocould legitimately speak for all Sikhs sti l l remained unresolvedand, to some extent, have not been settled today. The awkward re-lationship between custom and a set of accepted practices, rahit,continues as a source of contention within the Sikh community inIndian and abroad.sl

While the definit ion of Sikh tradition was worked out in manyrespects by the Singh Sabhas and finally institutionalized by theAkalis, somewhere in the process, the creative interaction betweenintellectuals and polit icians that characterized the Sikh renaissancebecame dormant. Sikhism today again stands at crossroads. Dis-unity and conflict are evident, as is a renewed sense of challengeand imminent danger. Perhaps a re-evaluation of the recent past

and a careful assessment of the successes and failures of the SinghSabha movement can provide guidance for Sikhs as they strugglewith the implications of Sikhism as an evolving world religion.

Notes

l. Views represented in the Punjab administrative reporls, the observa-tions on Sikhs by John Malcolm, Major Leech, Captain l\ ' l trrray,Dalhousie, and especially the assessment of Max Macauliffe, "TheSikh Religion under Banda and its Present Condition." Calcutta Re-view, CXLY, 1881, pp. 167-68. Also Trumpp's introduction to histranslation of the Adi Granth (1877).

2. The most recent assessment is Harjot Singh Oberoi, The Construc't ion of Religious Boundaries (Delhi: Oxford University Press,1994.) A similar interpretation is summarized in Barrier, The Sikhsand Their Literature (Delhi: Manohar, 1969).

3. Useful introductions to the period of the Gurus can be found in W.H.McLeod, Guru Nanak and the Sikh Religion (London: Oxford Uni-versity Press, 1968); W. Own Cole, Piara Singh Sambhi, The Sikhs:Their Religious Beliefs and Prac'lices (Delhi: Viking, 1978).

4. McLeod raises questions and suggests fresh directions for research inThe Evolution of the Sikh Cornrnunity (London: Oxfbrd UniversityPress. 1976). A review of traditional leadership is found in Oberoi's

THE SINGH SABHAS I 217

Construction and his "Bhais, Babas and Gyanis: Tradit ional Intel-lectuals in Nineteenth Century Punjab," Studies in History, l l(1980), pp.32-62.The rahitnama l irerature, guides to correcr Sikhpractice and r i tual, is reviewed in McLeod, "The Problem of thePunjabi Rahit Namas," in S.N. Mukherjee, ed., India. History andThought (Calcutta: Subarnarekha, 1982), pp. 103-126.

5. Customs are docurnented in Denzil lbbetson, Edward Maclagan andH.A. Rose, A Glos.sary of the Tribes and Castes of the Punjab andNorth-West Frontier Province (Lahore: Superintendent, GovernmentPrint ing, l9l9); art iclcs in Punjab Notes and Queries. Evaluated inOberoi, Construction, pp. 92-257.

6. On early Bri t ish administrat ion and social change, see lan Kerr, "ThePunjab Province and the Lahore Distr ict, 1849-72" (unpub. diss.,University of Minnesota, 1975); Andrew Major, "Return to Empire:The Sikhs and Brit ish in the Punjab, 1939-72" (unpub. diss., Aus-tral ian National University, l98l). Pol i t ical consequences and strat-egies are reviewed in Barrier, "Sikh Poli t ics in Bri t ish Punjab priorto the Gurdwara Reform Movement," in Joseph O'Connell , ed.,Sikh History and Religion in the 20th century (Toronto: Universityof Toronto South Asia Monograph, 1988); Barrier, "The PunjabGovernment and Communal Pol i t ics." Journal of Asian Stutl ies, 27( f967-8) , pp . 523-39.

7. On administrat ion of thc Golden Temple, see Ian Kerr, "Bri t ish Rela-t ionships with the Colden Temple," The Int l ian Econontic andSoc ia l H is to ry Rev iew,2 l (1984) . pp . 139-151.

8. The evolut ion of ninteenth century tract l i terature is reviewed in Ken-neth Jones and Eric Custafson, eds., Soarces on Punjab History(Delhi: Manohar, 1975); Barrier, The Punjab in Nineteenth CenturyTiacts (East Lansing: Asian Studies Center, Michigan State Univer-sity, 1969); Kenneth W. Jones, ed., Religious Controversy in Bri t-ish Indict (Albany: SUNY Press, 1992). On early trends, see Ken-neth Jones, Arya Dharn (Berkeley: University of Cali fornia Press,l 975) .

9. Press data are found in Barrier and Paul Wallace, I'he Punjab Press,1880-1905 (Eas t Lans ing : As ian Stud ies Center , M ich igan Sta teUniversity, 1970); Emmett Davis. Press and Poli t ics in Bri t ishWestern Punjab, 1836-1947 (Delhi : Academic, 1983).

10. Theoretical issues and implications of the introduction of a print cul-ture in the Punjab is presented in Oberoi, Construction; Barrier,"Vernacular Publishing and Sikh Public Life in the Punjab, 1880-1910," in Jones, Religious, pp.200-228.

l l . On the Anjuman, see Jeffrey Perri l l , "Anjuman-i-Panjab as a Com-mon Interest Associat ion and Symbol of Socral Change in Nine-teenth Century Punjab," Punjab Past and Present, l6 (1982), 343-370. Gurmukh S ingh 's background is rev icwed in Obero i , Con-

I2I8 / RELIGION IN MODERN INDIA

struction, pp. 203-205. Also see Gurmukh Singh's My AttemptedExcommunication from the Sikh Temple and the Khalsa Communityat Faridkot in 1897 (privately pub., Lahore, t898). I am indebtedto Harjot Singh Oberoi for a copy of this document.

12. Sikh-Arya relat ions are treated in Jones, Arya Dharnt; Barrier, ̂ Sr,t lsand Their Literature.

13. This is discussed ful ly in John Webster, The Nirankarl Si, t f ts (NewDelhi: Macmil lan India, 1979).

14. On the Namdharis, consult the fol lowing: Oberoi, "World Recon-s t ruc t ion , " pp . 93- l4 l ; W.H. McLeod, "The Kukas , a Mi l lenara inSect o f the Pun jab , " in G.S. Wood, P .S. O 'Connor . eds . , W.P.Morrel l : A Tribure (Dunedin: University of Otago, 1973). pp. 85-103. Documents in Nahar Singh, ed., Gooroo Ram Singh and theKuku S ikhs ,3 vo l . (New De lh i : au thor pub. 1965-71) .

15. Background on the Lahore Singh Sabha can be tbund in the Oberoivo lume and espec ia l l y "Bha is " ; a lso de ta i l s in Harbans S ingh,Heritage of the Sikhs. Other recent surveys of the Singh Sabhamovement include Richard Fox, Lions of the Punjab (Berkeley:Un ivers i ty o f Ca l i fo rn ia Press , 1986) ; and Ra j iv A . Kapur , S i t / rSeparatisnr (London: Al len and Unwin, 1986).

16. The definit ive work on the early Singh Sabhas, on which this studyrel ies heavi ly, is Oberoi, Construction. The relevant tract and inst i-tut ional l i terature, plus interpretat ion, are reviewed in Barrier. .Si i<lr.

17. The fol lowing contain useful biographical information: Attar Singh,Jinda Shahid Nun Moran Lai Vichar Te Tajviz (Amritsar: WazirHind Press, l9l6); Munsha Singh Dukhi, Jlvan Bhai Mohan SingltVair l (Amritsar: author pub., c. 1939); Aduti Jivan Britant PanthRattan Babu Teja Singh Overseer (Bhasaur: Bhasaur Singh Sabha,n.d.); Harbans Singh, "The Bakapur Diwan and Babu Teja Singh ofBhasaur," Punjab: Past and Present,9 (1975), pp. 322-332.

18 . Obcro i , "Bha is " .

19 . Th is i s most c lear ly enunc ia tcd in the fo l low ing works by Av tarSingh Vahir ia: Sikh Dharma Tat Darshan (Amritsar: Wazir HindPress, 1899); Khalsa Dharma Shastra (Anandpur: Ram NarainSingh, 1914, and subsequent edit ions). Sanatan posit ions on numer-ous issues discussed in Oberoi, Conslruction.

20. Background on individuals and the general mil ieu are found inOberoi, Construction, pp. 306-377. Also, summary in HarbansSingh, Heritage of the Slkhs, pp. 234-239.

21. Op. cit . Also for a discussion of dif fering view in Oberoi, "A Histo-r iographical and Bibl iographical Reconstruction of the Singh Sabhain the Nineteenth Century", Journal of Sikh Studies, l0 (198a), pp.108-130. This comes out most clearly in the tracts of Ditt Singh.Also discussed in Barrier, "Vernacular Publishing."

THE SINCH SABFIAS I 219

22. Amar Singh, Gycni Ditt Singh (Amritsar: Kirpal Singh, 1962), pp.66-68; Oberoi, Construction, pp. 389-393. The personali t ies andconflict are summarized in Bhagat Lakshman Singh's personal ac-count, edited by Ganga Singh, Bhagat Lakshman Singh Autobio-graphy (Calcutta: Sikh Cultural Centre, 1965)

23. Episodes are detai led in Gurmukh Singh, My Excommunication;Ganda Singh, A History of Khalsa CoLlege (Amritsar: Khalsa Col-lege, 1949); Harbans Singh, Heritage of the Sikhs.

24. Tracts are cited in footnote 19. Also, see Narain Singh, Sikh Hindu^Flcin (Amritsar: Matbakanuni Press, 1899).

25. Tract warfare is reviewed in several essays in Gustafson and Jones,Sources; Barrier, "Vernacular Publishing."

26. Written by Kahan Singh Nabha, first Punjabi edition, 1899. A recenttranslation with background in Jarnail Singh, ed., Sikhs, We are notHindu (Toronto: Sikh Social and Educational Society, 1985). Also,background in W.H. Mcleod, Sikhism (New York: Barnes andNob le , 1984) , pp . 133-136.

27. References to such conflicts are interspersed in the tract and news-paper accounts of the period. An especially important review is inKhalsa Samachar, August 19, 1913, pp. 5-6. Also see Chief KhalsaDiwan proceedings, August 19, 1917. Originals of CKD documentsare in the Diwan headquarters, Amritsar, but copies are availablewith the author.

28. For a lengthy analysis of l inks between the Punjab and migrantSikhs, see Barrier, "Sikh Immigrants and their Homeland: TheTransmission of Information Resources and Values in the EarlyTwentieth Century," in Barrier, ed., The Sikh Diaspora (Columbia:

South Asia Publications. 1992).29. British policies are reviewed in Barrier, "Sikh Politics;" Fox, Lions of

the Punjab; Kapur, Srki Separatism. Also useful is a confidentialCID memo on Sikh politics and British strategy, D. Petrie, "Secret

C.l .D. Memorandum on Some Recent Developments in Sikh Poli-t ics" Punjab Past and Present,4 (1970), 3Ol-379.

30. References are in footnote 17, and the treatment of publications arein Barrier, "Vernacular Publishing"; "Punjab Politics and the Press,1880-1910," in Margaret Case and Barrier, eds., Aspects of India(Delhi: Manohar, AIIS, 1986), pp. 118-133; The Sikhs and TheirLiterature.

31. Publication of the Ferozepur Sikh Kanya Mahavidyala, and interviewsin December, 1969, with Nahar Sigh, M.A. a close associate ofTakht Singh and his family.

32. Life and works discussed in Harbans Singh, "Bakapur."33. Lai Singh, Kalmi Tasvir; Dukhi, Mohan Singh Vaid.34. Frequent missionary reports in Khalsa Akhbar, 1896-1901.

220 I HELIGIONINMODERNINDI-A

35. For example, missionary activities in Hazwa, Ktursa samachar, Feb-ruary 6, 1913, p. 6.

36. The use of such institutions and the spreading network of contactsdiscussed in Oberoi, Construction: Barrier, ,,Sikh Immigrants.,,

37. Ganda Singh, Ilislory of Khatsa College. Also C.I.D. analysis inPetrie's overview.

38. Major tracts catalogued in Barrier, The sikhs and rheir Literature:Eileen Dimes and Ganesh Gaur, Catalogue of punjabi printedBooks Added to the India Office Library, 1902_1964 (London: For-eign and Commonwealth Off ice, 1975). Background in Barrier,"Vernacular Publishing."

39 Based upon extensive study of the major sikh tracts of the period.The network and particularry its abirity to generate funds fromabroad is discussed in Barrier, .,Vernacular publishing.,,

40. Information on sikh papers is found in Barrier and paul wallace, ThePunjab Press, 1880-1905; Barier, Sikhs and Their Literature.

41. Virtuafly every issue of the Khalsa Akhbar, edited by Ditt Singh, hadstories on contributions and instances of Tat Khalsa success.

42' Harbans singh, "Bakapur." oberoi's various essays and dissertationcontain examples of similar act ivi t ies.

43. Dukhi, Mohan Singh Vaid, pp. 16-lg; Harbans Singh and JagjitSingh, "Singh Sabha Lahir," in Ganda Singh, ed., punjab Igig_1960 (Lu<lhiana: Punjabi Sahit Academy, 1962), pp. 127_128, 139.Discussion of the difficulties in preparing the Faridkot commentaryand reaching agreement on other matters can be found in oberoi.Construcilon.

44. Background in Barrier, "Trumpp and Macauriffe: western Students ofSikh History and Religion,,' in Fauja Singh, ed., Sikh Hi.rtoriogra-phy (Dethi: Orientat, 1978), pp. 155_185.

45. The controversy is discussed in Bhagat Iakshman singh Autobiogra-phy, pp. 89-93; Ganda Singh, History of Khalsa College. Also piesscl ippings and manuscriprs of Bhagat Lakshman Singh with Dr.Ganda Singh, who has shared his substantial colrection ind wisdomwith me for over two decades.

46. His ideology and writings are discussed in Barrier, "Vernacular pub-lishing"; Oberoi, Construction, pp. 102-103, 3g5_3g7.

47. Accounts in Shuddhi pattar, 1986-97.48. Background is in Barrier, The Sikhs and Their Literature; Kenneth

Jones "Ham Hindu Nahin," Journal of Asian Studies.49. See, for example, R.W. Falcon, Handbook on the Sikhs for the IJse

of Regimental Officers (Allahabad: pioneer press, lg96); A.H.Bingley, Sikhs (British Recruiting Manual, rep. patiala, 1970, De_partment of Languages). Background in monographs by Fox andKapur.

50. Teja Singh, Tlre Gurdwara Rrfor^ Movement and the Sikh Awaken_

THE SINGH SABTIAS / 22I

ing (Jullundur: Desh Sewak Book Agency, 1922), pp. 85-l 19.51. Correspondence in Government of India Home Public f i le 1924,

August 1902; February 1908, 99-1024; March 1907, 23A; Home-

Books, June l9O7, l2l-22A. Background in Barrier, "Trumpp and

Macauliffe."52. Notes, letters and editorials in Khalsa Samachar and Khalsa Akhbar,

October-December 1901 ).53. Background on Chief Khalsa Diwan in Surjit Singh Narang, "Chief

Khalsa Diwan," in Paul Wallace, ed., Political Dynamics of Punjab(Amritsar: Guru Nanak Dev University, 1981), pp. 67-81; Surj i t

Singh Narang, "Chief Khalsa Diwan," Journal of Sikh Studies, 12(1981), pp. 97-108; Surveys in Kapur and Fox volumes. Detai led

treatment of CKD and politics is found in Barrier, "Sikh Politics."

The primary documents for the period are reports of two news-

papers, Khalsa Samachar (KS,) and Khalsa Advocate (KA), along

with CKD proceedings.

54. Surj i t Singh Narang essays, and biographical rnaterial in Mihar

Singh Ravel, Sir Sundar Singh tuIajithia (Amritsar: no pub., 1942).

55 . CKD. August 5 , 1915.56. KS, March 15, 1905, pp. 5-6.57. Reports in KS, February-April, July-November 1906. Background and

details are in Barrier, "Sikh Immigrants."

58. KA, February 22. 1905, p. 3.59. Role of the press is discussed in Barrier, "Punjab Politics" and "Sikh

Immigrants." Examples of reports and appeals include material in

KS, January 2, l9l3 and the special reports and Masik Pattar fre-quently publ ished by the CKD. By 1911, the KTS had issued over

400 tracts numbering at least a million copies. The Sikh Handbill

Society issued a flood of small pamphlets, and other agencies, such

as Sikh Book Club and the Panch Khalsa Agency, issued dozens of

tracts a year. On the general milieu, see Dukhi, Mohan Singh Vaid.

60. Education efforts are reviewed in Narotam Singh, "Chief Khalsa

Diwan in the Field of Education," Journal of Sikh Studies, 8(1981), l l8-129. Also useful is a dissertat ion by Gurdarshan Singh

Dhillon, "Character and Impact of the Singh Sabha Movement on

the History of the Punjab" (unpub. diss., Punjabi University, 1972).

61. The Khalsa Biradari published annual reports. One interesting note on

the outcaste situation is in KS (October 12, 1904, pp. 4-5), which

stated that if outcastes were given amrit, 5O,OOO new Sikhs would

be added. The Sanatan reaction is discussed in the Petrie CID note,

and in the accounts in the KS and KA, 1909-1911.

62. Editorials, reports in KS, February-March 1917. Also CKD minutes.

63. Anand marriage agitation and related issues are examined in Oberoi,

Construction. Also, background material is found in K.S. Talwar,

t|


"The Anand Marriage Acts," punjab past and present,2 (196g),400-410. Extensive tract riterature on the subject is risted in sa.rier,Sikhs and Their Literature.

64 . KS, Apr i l29 ,1908, p .2 .65 . CKD minutes , 1902-1906. See a lso CKD, October l , l9 t6 ; KA

comments, July 15, 1904, p. 3.66. Background on Teja singh missionary efforts is in KS, 190g. Lala

Sewa Ram had been important in the Khalsa youngmen Associa-t ion and took amrit in 1904, KS, March 23, 1904, pp. 2-3. Heplayed a key role in the Rikabganj negotiat ions and later CKDaffairs.

67. Discussed in Harbans singh, "Bakapur." A typical tract conveyingTeja singh's perspective in Kharsa Rahit parkasrr (Bhasaur: panciKhalsa Diwan, 1908). Anarysis of ideas in Barrier, "vernacularPublishing."

68. KS, November 25, l9l}, p. 5; KS, September 21, lg}4, p. 7; resolu_tions, CKD, 1904-1908. Discussed in Government of India HomePublic proceedings, 1903-1905.

69" KA, December 16, 1910, pp. 3-4.70. On the Rikabganj agitat ion, Harjot Singh Oberoi, , .From

GurdwaraRikabganj to the Viceregal palace," punjab past and present, 14(1980), 182-198. War effort is reviewed in M.S. Leigh, The punjaband the War (Lahore: punjab Government. 1922); Barier, ..RuiingIndia: coercion and propaganda in Brit ish India During the FirsiWorld War", in De Witt Ellinwood, ed., India and WorM War One(Delhi: Manohar, 1978), pp. 174-10g.

71. Published in Urdu, the Lahore-based Kharsa Akhbar emerged as astrong opponent to the cKD during the Rikabganj agitation. Editedby chanda Singh, the panth Sewak raunched a series of attacks onmoderate sikhs and was warned repeatedly by the British for aile-gations and pro-nationalist activities. Background in annual reportson the Punjab press, CID.

72' Many cKD discussions in lgrT-rglg focused on these chai lenges,which included attacks on readers such as Bhai rakht sineh ihowas charged with mismanaging his gir ls schoor in Ferozepui cKD,February 11, 1917. Attacks and repl ies appear frequently in thetwo major CKD newspapers.

73' cKD, June 3, october 14, r9l ' r . Background on consti tut ionar devel-opments in Gurdarshan Singh, ..Sikh politics in the punjab,,, punjabPast and Present, 3 (1970), pp. 67-7g; Mohinder Singh, the ALliMovement (New Delhi: Macmillan India, l97g). Recent analysis inKapur, Si/<lr Separatism.

74. Discussion in KS, September 16, lg2}, p.3; CKD, August l , Octo-ber 31, 1920. Also press commentary in early sum."r, 1919.

75. The Sikh League and related activi t ies discussed in a series of

THE SINGH SABHAS / 223

articles by Sukhmani Bal in the proceedings of the Punjab History

Conference, 1981-1983. Also, Bal, Pol i t ics of the Central Sikh

Izague (Delhi, National ' 1990)

?6. Kapur, Sikh Separatisrr l , pp.86-100. Akal i reaction to the CKD re-

ports on the period, especially V.W. Smith's memo, "The Akali Dal

and the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbhandak Committee, 192l-1922,"

Government of India Home Political file 459lll, 1922'

77. Background on Sikh politics during the 1920s can be found in books

Uy Fox, Kapur, Mohinder Singh. Two new studies analyze the role

of .ot.unul pol i t ics and the legislat ive arena: Prem Raman

Uprety, Religion and Politics in Puniab in the 1920s (New Delhi:

S ter l ing ,1980) ;andSar f razKhawaja ,s ikhsof thePun jab(Karach i :Modern Book DePot' 1985).

78. Based on a forthcoming study of twentieth century Sikh literature by

N.G. Barrier, to be published in 1995.

79. Secondary sources include those cited in footnote '17. on the Akali

l i t e r a t u r e a n d B r i t i s h r e a c t i o n s , B a r r i e r , B a n n e d ( C o l u m b i a , M o ' :University of Missouri Press, 1974, pp' 91, 195-202); "The British

and Controversial Publications in Punjab," Puniab Past and

Present ,8 (1974) ' PP. 32-60 .g0. competit ion in elect ions and controversies over the definit ion of

. . S i k h ' ' i n t h e l e g i s l a t u r e r e f l e c t e d s u c h a n o r i e n t a t i o n ' T h i s i s d i s -

cussed in the studies by Kapur, Khawaja, and Uprety'gl. The .,off icial" rahit maryada was only publ ished in the early 1950s,

and various editions still circulate. The issue of authority and the

i m p l i c a t i o n s f o r c o n t e m p o r a r y S i k h p o | i t i c s a s s e s s e d i n R o b i n J e f -friy, What's Happening to India.! (New York : Holmes & Meier'

1986). Also, see ongoing discussion in the World Sikh News'

lI

CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA

Eric J. Sharpe

On December 23, 1972, prime Minister Indira Gandhi spoke inNew Delhi at the nineteenth centenary celebrations of St. Thomas,the Apostle of India. She said, among other things, that from theearliest times christianity had been accepted as "part of the Indianmosaic," that as a group, Christians had made significant contribu_tions to India's "composite religious heritage," and although attimes christianity had been "erroneously associated with foreignrule in some minds," since then "Christian leaders have largelyidentified themselves with nationalist aspirations," and deserve theirplace in the new India.'

Each of these points was significant. There have been Christiancommunities in India for a great many centuries; christians haveplayed their part-albeit a somewhat limited part-in the develop_ment of the religious life of India. Christianity was for many yearsassociated in the Indian nationalist mind with foreign rule, as amleccha dharma; and Christian leaders, beginning in the 1920s,have sought and found a place within the national movement.christian history in India is nevertheless a highly complex patternof impulses, missions, churches, personalit ies ancl problems, theoverall story of which is certainly beyond the reach of any onewriter to tell fully, and many parts of which have never beenchronicled.2

The earliest beginnings of Christianity in India are shrouded inuncertainty. Syrian Christian tradition states that the Apostle Tho_mas, one of Jesus' original twelve disciples, came ro the vicinity ofCochin in AD 52, and founded churches on both sides of India'ssouth coast, finally suffering martyrdom twenty years later, in AD

CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA / 225

72. But supporting evidence from outside India is almost entirelyabsent, and what there is, is contradictory or at least ambiguous.3

Similar problems are attached to practically the whole of India'searliest Christian history. Geographical references are fragmentary

and uncertain, not to say confused. It is clear, however, that there

was a Christian Church in India perhaps (on hard historical evi-

dence) as early as the end of the second century, when Pantaenus

of Alexandria visited "the land of the Indians." This is not to say

that the Thomas Christians' own traditions are unreliable: merely

that they are difficult to support from outside evidence. The intri-

cacies of history aside, today's "Thomas" or "Syrian" Christians in

India have a tradition at least as old as that of the greater part of

northern Europe. These communities however have never shown

any great desire to expand beyond their own natural frontiers. Of

their essential "Indianness" there has never been the slightest ques-

tion.The second, a Rotnan Catholis phase of India's Christian his-

tory, began in the 1250s, with the arrival of the first missionaries

of the Franciscan and Dominican orders.n These however were not

successful, and half a century later had disappeared almost without

trace. After 1500, following the Portuguese occupation of parts of

western India, there was fresh influx of missionaries, this time in

strength. Vasco da Gama landed near Calicut in 1498, and although

the Portuguese came chiefly for trading purpos€s, they were also

concerned to extend Christianity in their dominions. In 1500 there

arrived eight Franciscan Friars and eight "secular" priests-the first

of many thousands of such missionaries. The best known of these

included Francis Xavier, who landed at Goa in 1542 and worked in

India for ten years; and Roberto de Nobili, who arrived in Madura

in 1606, adopted a wholly Indian style of l i fe as a sannyasin,

learning Sanskrit and being granted at least some access to the

Vedas. De Nobil i enjoyed some success in converting high-caste

Hindus. but his work was too controversial to survive his retire-

ment in 1645 and his death in the following year.5

In 196l C.B. Firth wrote that de Nobili's culture experiment,

so controversial in his own day, "... is the only thoroughgoing at-

tempt to Indianize Christianity that has yet been made."6 Sixtyyears after de Nobili's death there began the third phase of Chris-

tian history in India, with the arrival in July 1706 of the first Prot-

estant missionaries, Ziegenbalg and Pltitschau, German by birth, but

9

226 I KELICIONINMODERNINDIA

sent to India on the initiative of the King of Denmark and underthe auspices of the (British) Society for the Propagation of the

Gospel in Foreign Parts.? This minute mission was set up in

Tranquebar, one of Denmark's two trading posts in India, and the

first Tamil converts were baptized in September 1707. Generally it

is true to say that Protestants at first were in no position to"Indianize" Christianity beyond the fairly obvious point of using

Indian languages wherever possible. Their concern was rather to

rescue "brands from the burning"-to press for individual conver-

sions against an approaching Day of Judgment-than to operate

within any larger cultural framework. But the situation in the first

half of the eighteenth century was by no means that of the turn of

the twentieth. The Tranquebar mission was tiny, and although it

had some outstanding workers, chief among them C.F. Schwartz(in India from 1750 to 1798) who produced the first Tamii-English

and English-Tamil dictionaries and the first Tamil translation of the

Bible, its field of influence was not large.

The London-based East India Company, founded in 1600,

gained political as well as commercial control over large areas of

India in the middle years of the eighteenth century, and remained

in control for a hundred years. Although many of the Company's

servants were doubtless Christians of a sort, official policy was

firmly against Christian missions, on the grounds that to interfere

with the religious beliefs and practices of the people of India

would endanger the trade which was the Company's sole official

concern, and for which they were publicly accountable. This

policy, which was maintaind unti l 1813, led to some interesting

consequences: on the one hand, to extensive support for Hindu and

Muslim institutions, and on the other, to the shutting out of Chris-

tian missionaries from the Company's territories. On the first

count, most important was the Company's financing of publishing

ventures, including the first English translation of the Bhagavadgita(1785) and Max Miil ler's edition of the Sanskrit text of the Rig

Veda (1849-1862). On the second, it meant that when the English

Baptist missionary William Carey arrived in India-in effect, to

inaugurate the most concentrated phase of Protestant Christian ac-

tivity-in 1793 he was ultimately forced to work in Denmark's

other little trading post, at Serampore.8 However, Carey a few

years later was granted a measure of official Company recognition

by being appointed to teach Bengali (and later Sanskrit and


Marathi) at the College of Fort William. His chief work was in thefield of Bible translation, and by the time of his death in 1834 heand his team of co-workers had translated the whole of the Bibleinto six Indian languages, the New Testament into twenty-three andsmaller portions into ten other languages.e Some of these transla-tions were highly defective. However, this activity, together withthe printing presses Carey established, was of considerable impor-tance for the future of Indian literature generally.

Following successive revisions of the East India Company'scharter in 1813 and 1833, the door was thrown open to Christianmissionaries, though init ially on a fairly small scale.r0 In 1830 thefirst missionary sent by the Church of Scotland, Alexander Duff,arrived in Calcutta, and threw himself into educational work, onthe belief (quite mistaken, as it turned out) that "Every branch ofsound general knowledge which you inculcate, becomes the de-stroyer of some corresponding part in the Hindu system."rr This"general knowledge" was to be communicated in English, and onthat point official policy agreed: in 1835 a protracted controversyon the issue of English versus vernacular higher education in Indiawas resolved in favor of the "Anglicists." This decision was ofmomentous importance for India's future, and assured one of thedirections in which Indian Christianity was later to develop, in andaround colleges and universit ies, most notable in the three centersof Calcutta, Bombay and Madras.

Actual conversions to Christianity from among college studentswere never common, once the initial period had passed, and by theend of the century had dried up almost completely. Most of thestudents were from the highest Hindu castes, and for these, the ac-ceptance of Christian baptism meant social ostracism and isolationfrom the Hindu community. By the 1850s, Protestant Christianopinion in India had settled down into an attitude of total opposi-tion to caste, a more lenient attitude being taken by the RomanCatholics and by a small number of German missionaries (Lutheransof the Leipzig Society) in South India.12 Controversy on this pointwas bitter for many years. Most Protestants, however, were ada-mant: to become a Christian one must renounce caste, f inally andpublicly, whatever the social consequences. They argued that casteas an institution amounted to legalized inequality under Hindu reli-gious sanction. The outcome was that although many individualHindus in India might well be impressed, as Rammohun Roy had

Ii

I

I


been impressed, by the moral character of the teachings of Jesus,the vast majority remained detached from, and critical of, institu-tional Christianity. Those who did become Christians in a formalsense increasingly were those who had least to lose from casteexclusion.

The great Rebell ion (Sepoy Mutiny) of 1857-58 had relativelylitt le immediate effect on the situation of Christianity in India,though once over, it caused a great deal of soul-searching in themissionary community. The 1858 Madras missionary conferenceoutlined the measures that needed to be brousht to bear on theGovernment to prevent further outbreaks:

Al l we requi re is s imple Chr is t ian consistency in a l l the i rproceedings which have a bearing on religion; the introduc-t ion of the Bib le in to a l l Government schools, to be readdaily by those of the pupils who do not object to it; and,especially, the entire cessation of all patronage and counte-nance of idolatry and caste.13

J.W. Kaye urged in 1859 that "... what we have now to do isto possess ourselves in faith, and with faith to have patience; doingnoth ing rashly, noth ing precip i ta te ly , Iest our own fo l ly shouldmar the good work, and retard the ripening of the harvest."ro

In 1858 the East India Company was dissolved, and QueenVictoria beame India's new sovereign. Although Christian in prin-ciple, from the first the new Government proclaimed a policy ofreligious impartiality, in which not even Christianity would enjoyofficial "most favored religion" status. Queen Victoria's proclama-tion of 1858 contained the words: "Firmly relying Ourselves on thetruth of Christianity, and acknowledging with gratitude the solaceof religion, we disclaim the Right and the Desire to impose Ourconvictions on any of Our subjects."r5 From this time Christianityin India was neither favored nor actively opposed, while mission-aries and Indian Christians alike generally lived in a world far re-moved from that of India's Brit ish administration, with which theyhad few direct cohtacts of any kind. This point is worth bearing inmind. Among European Christians working in India during theheyday of the Raj, the only ones to have appreciable contact withthe seat of polit ical power were Anglican chaplains to the Euro-pean community. The remainer would have enjoyed no such con-tact in Britain, nor did they generally do so in India: similarly with


other Europeans and Americans. Held at bay by the unwritten con-ventions of the British caste system, the average missionary neithersought nor possessed political muscle of any kind.

During the second half of the nineteenth century, Christianityin India operated on two widely separated levels: directly at thebottom of society, and for the most part indirectly through theeducational enterprise at the top. On the latter count, in the post-Rebell ion years English-language higher education in India ex-panded rapidly, often (though by no means always) in institutionsadministered by missionary organizations, which included someChristian teaching as part of their general curriculum. Measured byactual conversions of Christianity, their impact was slight. They didon the other hand do a good deal to familiarize the upper strata ofIndian society with Western ideas and values, social, polit ical andreligious. By 1900 the flow of converts from this source, nevermuch more than a trickle, had dried up almost entirely.

Sizeable numerical accessions to Christianity did however takeplace during these same years as a result of "mass movements" inrural areas.r6 This has been a controversial subject in the history ofChristianity in India. Doubtless the motives of those acceptingbaptism were mixed, though arguably the dominant one was a de-sire for social betterment and for protection on both "natural" and"supernatural" levels. Most of the init ial waves of converts wereil l-educated and il l-prepared, and in any case the decision was acollective rather than a personal one. In the short term, these massmovements improved missionary statistics in a remarkable way, thesize of the Christian community in India increasing from about amill ion in 1858 to almost 3 mill ion in 1901 and almost 4 mill ionten years later. In the long term, on the other hand, the massmovements created serious problems, stretching the resources ofchurches and missionary agencies almost to the breaking point. Thesupply of competent priests, ministers, pastors and catechists be-came a matter of pressing concern and many Christian vil lagecommunities had to survive almost without regular pastoral care.Although most Protestant churches maintained their attitude ofhostility to caste, there was little in these circumstances to preventthe new Christian communities from coming to resemble sub-castesin all but name.rT At a later stage it was also possible for the op-ponents of Christianity to accuse the missions of aiming at indis-criminate conversions by unfair means, ultimately for political pur-


poses.In May 1866 Keshub Chandra Sen lectured in Calcutta on

"Jesus Christ: Europe and Asia."r8 The tone of his lecture was re-

markable. Like Rammohun Roy earlier, he expressed the warmest

appreciation of the moral character of Jesus, and held up his char-

acter as an antidote to racial contempt and violence' As Christians,

he said, Europeans "... ought to be baptized into true Christian

meekness; their rough nature will be thereby humanized, and their

proneness to indulge in violence and ferocity wil l be effectually

curbed."reBut previously he had said that to Asiatics, "... Christ is

doubly interesting, and his religion is entitled to our peculiar regard

as an altogether Oriental affair."2o This claim was to be heard very

frequently in subsequent years: that Jesus Christ was of the East

rather than the West, and that Europeans had never been able to

understand him. India, on the other hand, could, accepting him on

her own terms as a moral teacher and even as an avatard-one

among many. Attempts were also made before the end of the cen-

tury to "prove" that Jesus had either been trained in India, or had

died in India, or perhaps both.The rise of the national movement in the last quarter of the

nineteenth century affected Indian Christianity in some ways, and

not in others. It had practically no effect on the vil lage communi-

ties. But at the other end of the social scale, the emerging all iance

between Indian nationalism and renascent Hinduism created serious

problems for Indian Chr is t ians, Hindu movements l ike the Arya

Samaj and hybrids like the Theosophical Society (both founded in

1875) were generally anti-Christian. Anti-Brit ish feeling in India,

especially after the Ilbert Bil l controversy in the 1880s, could and

did spil l over into anti-Christian sentiment. Before 1914, few In-

dian Christians became deeply involved in the national movement

One who did, was Bhawani Charan Banerjea, later known as

Brahmabandhav Upadhyay. A former member of the Brahmo

Samaj, Brahmabandhav became a Christian in 1891. Arrested on a

charge of sedition in 1907, he died of tetanus in prison a few days

later.2rChristian missionaries were generally crit ical of the violent

side of the national movement, though some-most notably Charles

Freer Andrews, later to become a close associate of both Tagore

and Gandhi-were deeply in sympathy with its aspirations. In these

same years, 1900-1914, there was a powerful missionary move-

ment, led by the Scotsman J.N. Farquhar, to emphasize the schol-

CHRISTIANITY IN INDI-A / 23I

arly and sympathetic study of Hinduism and Indian culture gener-ally.22 Another influential Scottish educational missionary was A.G.Hogg (in India from 1903 to 1939), who, as well as beingRadhakrishnan's first teacher of philosophy, helped to create a newclass of Christian intellectual in India from his chair at the MadrasChristian College.23 More and more Indians assumed positions ofleadership. On Christmas Day 1905 there was founded the IndianNational Missionary Society (Bharat Christya Sevak Samaj) underIndian direction. It was never a very great success, but did giverise to many later init iatives, including that of the Christianashram. The first Indian to be appointed Principal of a Christiancollege in India, S.K. Rudra, took up his duties at St. Stephen'sCollege, Delhi, in 1907; the first Indian to become an Anglicanbishop in India, V.S. Azariah, was consecrated in 1912.

After l9l0 the polit ical temperature of India cooled somewhat,though more as a result of government measures than becausegenuine agreement had been reached. Christian missionary apologeticswere best represented at this time by J.N. Farquhar's book Z/reCrown of Hinduism (1913), which argued that Christ (not Chris-tianity) came to "fulf i l"-to bring to completion in a semi-evolu-tionary sense-all the highest spiritual and practical aspirations ofHindu religion and culture.2a

The outbreak of war in 1914 showed India that she could notbe immune from world polit ics; many Indians fought in the war,and in the years between l9l4 and 1918 the internal polit ical andreligious struggle was partially suspended. However, the war itselfdid much to discredit the West, and Western religion, in Indianeyes-added to which, Muslim Turkey's all iance with Germanyagainst Br i ta in af fected Musl im opin ion in India. When the warcame to an end, Indian leaders hoped for an improved polit icalsituation, partly as a reward for war service faithfully performed.This was not to be. Pre-war security measures were continued, andon April 13, 1919 the Amritsar massacre took place. The officerresponsible, Brigadier-General Dyer, was severely censured, butlater in the year won the support of the House of Lords and theconservative wing of the Brit ish press, and Brit ish opinion. Gandhidenounced the Brit ish government as "satanic", and India wasthrown into a period of fresh turmoil, in which polit ics took theupper hand of religious reflection.

The events of l9l9 left a no less deep mark on the Christian


community in India than on Indian society generally. Certainlyfew Indian Christians were prepared to go as far as Gandhi hadgone in his condemnation of the British governmentt but from thattime on there appeared a new phenomenon on the Indian scene,that of the commit ted Chr is t ian nat ional is t . A new journal , theChristian Patriot, was started. Articles devoted to the nationalcause began to appear in the. more l iberal missionary journals,

written by Indian Christians l ike K.T. Paul and P. Chenchiah. Theirangle of approach remained constant for the next dozen years: thatin the forms in which it had been presented to India, Protestant

Christianity (Catholics played less part in this debate) had been a

denationalizing factor, and needed to be reformed and reshaped in

accordance with Indian thought and Hindu spirituality. Some mis-sionaries, most notably C.F. Andrews and Stanley Jones, con-

curred enthusiastically, while others did not. K.T. Paul wrote in the

International Review of Missions on "How Missions Denationalize

Hindus," arguing that for Christianity to find its place in the emer-gent India, far more room than hitherto would have to be found for

Indian forms of cultual expression.2s Eight years later Chenchiah

stated what many Indian Christians by then believed, that

Christ comes to India deeply interwoven in the fabric ofWestern civil ization. Christ and Western civil ization, clearlydistinguishable in their natures and frequently fundamentallyand radically opposed to each other, are cemented togetherby h is tory and brought to India as a uni f ied indiv is ib lewhole.26

Whether the two could be disentangled was a more complex ques-

tion.The "Christian Patriot" group notwithstanding, the most widely

known Indian Christian internationally, the Sikh convert SadhuSundar Singh, deliberatety held himself aloof from polit ics.s? In1920 and 1922 Sundar Singh went on ambitious preaching tours to

the West, being everywhere hailed as living proof that Christianityhad at long last found a place at a deep level of Indian spirituality.He was best known as a preacher; he was also a visionary, andlater in his l i fe was for this reason drawn away from orthodoxChristianity and toward the Swedenborgians.rt Much of what waswritten about him (and he generated a vast l i terature) in the 1920swas of l i tt le lasting consequence. But to the West he appeared in


the Iight of a Iiving Christian mystic, a near-martyr, a gif iedpreacher and a saintly personality. His last years were saddened bya protracted controversy over his bona fides, and by ill health.2e InApril 1929 he set olf on a last missionary tour to "Tibet," and wasnever seen or heard of again. He left a romantic image, but wastoo individualistic to leave a succession; nevertheless his contribu-tion remains to this day unique.

Of more lasting importance was the "Christian Ashram"movement, which began and flourished, though on a fairly smallscale, in these same years. Inspired by the tradition of St. Francisof Assisi (who was in many ways "rediscovered" in the late nine-teenth and early twentieth centuries), by Tolstoy, by Social Chris-tianity in Europe and North America, and above all by the exampleof Gandhi , dur ing the 1920s and 1930s numerous Chr is t ianAshrams were set up in India. Their prototype was the ChristukulaAshram in Tirupattur, begun in l92l by two medical doctors,Savarirayan Jesudason and Ernest Forrester-Paton.i0 In 1922 JackWinslow, together with five other Europeans and five Indians, be-gan the Christa Seva Sangha in Ahmednagar, on Franciscan prin-ciples of fellowship and service.3r Many more were to follow. Nonewas, however, large. It must be allowed, on the other hand, thatthey had some success in overcoming ear l ier object ions to the"foreignness" of Christianity in India.

Those who became convinced after l9l9 that Christianity wasin a l l essent ia ls the re l ig ion of a fore ign power were not easi lypersuaded to change thei r minds. St i l l Chr is t ian i ty in India wasgreatly dependent on overseas support. The growing polit ical crisisdid nothing to improve matters. Polit ically-minded Christians wereon the whole few, a mixed company of radical Indian Christiansand liberal missionaries, having very few contacts with the seat ofpolit ical power. In 1925 an American missionary, Stanley Jones,stated the Indian case in his widely-read book The Christ of theIndian Road.32 Two years later a diametrically opposite point ofview was taken by another American, Katherine Mayo, in her no-torious book Mother India.1l Miss Mayo was not a missionary, andwas widely suspected of having written her book for polit ical pur-poses. But she, l ike Jones, was an American, and in the economicclimate of the time, American support was becoming increasinglytmportant.

Another significant American-based organization was the


Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA)' whose position as a

Christian agency in India had long been advantageous. The YMCA

was administered, not from London, but from New York.sa It was

not a church, being rather a non-denominational para-church orga-

nization. It had always been prepared to advance Indians to posi-

tions of leadership, and often individual YMCA men had taken a

pro-nationalist position. In 1920 J.N. Farquhar (himself a YMCA

Secretary) had written that

The Associat ion is . . . a t th is moment the one form of

Christian organization which is trusted and welcomed every-

where. At the height of th is menacing cr is is , i t can be

friendly with all the groups, can play the peacemaker be-

tween the races, and do the work of thc servant of India'rs

During the troubled years that followed, the YMCA was often able

to fi l l this role, through its student centers, conferences and par-

ticularly its publishing programme. However, it was becoming pro-

gressively secularized throughout the period, moving from worship

and evangelism to sport and "character-building." In YMCA circles

"secular dialogue" was practiced long before the term became

fashionable.16It was quite natural, given the circumstances of the time, that

in the inter-war years christianity in India should have settled

down into the role of a socio-ethical agency in which (apart from

Sundar Singh) the practices of spirituality were l itt le regarded'

Litt le original theology was being written, and much of what was,

followed western patterns rather closely-for instance in the work

of A.J. Appasamy, in which, though the material was to a large

extent Indian, the treatment owed far more to Hartford and

Marburg than to Benares. Appasamy's best book was perhaps his

christianity as Bhakti Marga (192'r.); worthy of mention is also his

selection of Hindu scriptures for christian use, published in 1930

by the YMCA as Temple Bells- Here the argument was that if

christ is to be regarded as the "fulfiller" of Hinduism as he was of

the Jewish tradition, then logically at least parts of Hindu scripture

might replace the old Testament in the Indian church. This move,

however, won little favor among Indian Christians generally'

In 1938 the International Missionary Council held an important

conference on the new campus of the Madras christian college,

Tambaram. In preparation, various volumes were produced, one of


which was-and sti l l remains-perhaps the most stimulatingsymposium of Indian Christian writ ing ever assembled. RethinkingChristianity in India contained essays by seven Indian Christians,Job, Chenchiah, Chakkarai, Devasahayam Jesudason, Asirvathamand Sudarisanam. It was not uncontroversial. In various ways itmaintained the tone of the Cftristian Patriot of earlier years, whilemoving somewhat further in a Hindu direction: "Christ cannot op-pose Hinduism nor does He," Chenchiah affirmed. And further:"Christianity is not going to drive a wedge in national solidarity.Nor is the Eastern Christian l ikely to be a good child and acceptthe theology and the Church of fered to h im by h is moni tors. . . .Let it be clearly understood that we accept nothing as obligatorysave Chr is t . . . . "17

Disunity among Christians has always been a problem in India,as indeed it has in most parts of the world. In the nineteenth cen-tury this began to be tackled by the setting up of local missionaryconferences (which Indian Christians generally were not expectedto attend) and by the "comity" principle of allocating different ar-eas to different missionary organizations. This clearly did not gofar enough. The founding in 1905 of the National Missionary So-ciety, under Indian leadership, was the most important step. There-after there followed more and more intricate schemes of unionamong Protestant Churches, in both north and south India, stimu-lated equally by the situations in India and in Europe. Although by1938 the south Indian scheme was well advanced. Chenchiah wasnot impressed:

It appears to a convert indescribably funny [he wrote] thatanybody should entertain the idea that by knocking togetherthe Church of England, the Church of Scotland, Swedish andLutheran and American churches, an Indian Church would beproduced.sE

The scheme did, however, reach fruit ion almost simultaneouslywith Independence in 1947. The Church of South India, comprisingfourteen dioceses and about a mill ion members spread over fourmajor language areas, came into being in the month following In-dependence, on September 27, 1947.3e

It had taken twenty-eight years of hard work to bring the Churchof South India into being. In North Atlantic terms, the experimentwas a bold one. It was not able to be fully comprehensive, how-

E


ever. Most notably it did not involve the Roman Catholics or theLutherans. And although of importance for the future of Christian-ity in India on the organizational level, it in the end made a some-what greater impact on Christianity in the West, as a prototype ofwhat might be achieved in the ecumenical age. A similar schemewas brought to fruition in North India some years later, in 1970.

Back in 1926, W.E.S. Hol land had cr i t ic ized the Chr is t ianChurch in India for its disappointing foreignness, summing up that"The foreign garb such a system wears is by no means its mostdisastrous consequence. The deadly thing is that a church so exoticin character and expression can have litt le of creative l ife or ex-pansive energy."a0 In post-Independence India every effort had tobe made to overcome that foreignness. On the Protestant side, whatth is chief ly involved was a concentrat ion on socio-eth ica l issues.The new India was to be a secular state, in which the seeking ofconverts was always frowned upon, and often expressly forbidden.Analyz ing Chr is t ian socia l thought in post- Independence India,Bengt R. Hoffman drew attention to two focal points, "to exposeimproper motivations for Indian nationhood, and to strive for unityin the midst of plurality."a' Missionaries on the old pattern were nolonger welcome in India (and st i l l less so in Pakistan) . Secularworkers in a secular state, on the other hand, were. A new genera-tion of Indian Christian theologians emerged within the Protestantcommuni ty , ch ief among them P.D. Devanandan and M.M. Tho-mas, fo l lowing a largely socio-eth ica l l ine and making extensiveuse of sociological inquiry in the pursuit of its aims. The ChristianInstitute for the Study of Religion and Society in Bangalore, andits journal Religion and Society assumed a position of leadership inthis regard. From the early 1960s on, a stream of valuable publica-tions emerged tiom this source.

Fol lowing the Second Vat ican Counci l in the mid-1960s, theRoman Catholic Church in India, which for a century had lived itsown life largely separate from Hindu society on the one hand, andfrom other Christian bodies on the other, was l iberated from manyof its earlier restrictions. The Council having affirmed the principleof dialogue, numerous Catholics threw themselves into the practiceand the theory of inter-religious rapprochement, most notably onthe level of soirituality.a2 Many names might be mentioned in thisconnection; special places were however occupied by Christiancontemplatives: H. le Saux (who took the Hindu name of Swami


Abhishiktananda) and Dom Bede Griff iths. On a different level,important contributions were also made by Raimundo Panikkarand Klaus Klostermaier, and by many contributors to the Journalof Dharma (first published in 1975). On the level of worship,many experiments were made to Hinduize the Church's l i turgy bythe introduction of elements from the temple and bhakti traditions.At f irst these met with a mixed reception, but some have graduallygained wider acceptance.

From an emphasis on inter-religious dialogue and shared spiri-tuality in the late 1960s, in the 1970s one wing of Catholic opin-ion in India moved in the direction of social activism, in the styleof Latin American "l iberation theology." Father Joseph Vadakkanin Kerala asked: "What is the responsibil i ty of a priest of Christ...? Will i t be sufficient if he prays in street corners? Or should hefight for a Government which wil l feed the hungry and clothe thenaked? This is the issue before me now."ar Some Protestant lead-ers were asking the same quest ion under s imi lar in f luences, onegoing so far as to state categorically that in the modern world,Christianity has no other function than to place economic power inthe hands of the economically powerless.

Since the 1970s, the situation of Christianity in India has beeninextricably bound up with developments in an increasingly com-plex world order, and has reflected in one way or another what hasbeen tak ing p lace e lsewhere in the wor ld. In 1982 S.J. Samarthawrote:

We are in the process of reshaping an ancient, powerful andintricate civil ization into new cultural and social patterns, inresponse not just to impersonal technological forces but alsoto the clear, vocal and aggressive demands of oppressedpeople for a reasonably satisfying human life here and now.Basically it is a cultural struggle in which cunently the eco-nomic component is cruc ia l . New pol i t ica l inst i tu t ions tobring about effective change are desperately needed, as wellas spiritual resources to undergird the struggle to redeem itfrom self-righteousness and direct it toward a hopeful fu-ture.aa

In 1980 there were some 27 mill ion Christians in India out of a to-tal population of almost 700 million.as This amounts to no more than3.9Vo of the population. But Christianity is arguably, for better or


worse, the most international of religions. Christianity in India hasnever been free from outside pressures, social, economic and politi-cal as well as religious in the narrower individual sense. Increas-ingly it has chosen an Indian way, to the extent to which it hasbeen free to choose. But that freedom has been bounded by cir-cumstances over which it has never been able to exercise morethan a l imited control. But that the Christians in India have sin-cerely and successfully sought to serve India, often anonymouslyand with l itt le or no public acknowledgement, is beyond all doubt.

Statisticsa6

Year Christians Percentage ofPopulation


8. Ibid., pp. l87ff. Cf. E.G. Hinson, "Wil l iam Carey and EcumenicalPragmatism," in Journal of Ecumenical Studies (1980), pp. 73ff.

9. Firth, op. ci t . , p. 147.10. On the 1800-1914 period, see K.S. Latourette, A History of the Ex-

pansion of Christianiry, Vol. 6 (New York: Harper and Row, 1944),pp . 65-2 t4 .

l l . A. Duff, Missionary Addresses (Edinburgh: Johnstone and Hunter,1 8 5 0 ) , p . 1 9 .

12. On the caste question generally, see D.B. Forrester, Caste and Chris-tianity: Attitudes and Policies on Caste of Anglo-Saxon ProtestantMissions in India (London: Curzon Press, 1980). Cf. also E.J.Sharpe, "Church Membership and the Church in India," in J. Kantand R. Murray (eds.), Church Menbership and Intercommunion(London: Darton, Longman and Todd, 1973), pp. 155-179.

13. M. Winslow et al. (eds.), Proceedings of the South India MissionaryConference... . i858 (Madras, 1858), p. xi . Cf. A. Duff,The IndianRebell ion. I ts Causes and Results (London: Nisbet, 1858).

14. J.W. Kaye, Christianitl- in India: An Historical Narrative (London:Smith, Elder, 1859), p. 500f. Cf. J.B. Mozley, " lndian Conversion,"in Essays, HistoricaL and Theological II (London: Rivingtons,1 8 8 4 ) , p p . 3 l 2 f f .

15 . Ne i l l , op . c i t . , I I , p . 428f .16. J.W. Pickett, Christ ian Mass Movements in /ndia (Cincinnati :

Abingdon, 1933).17. Cf. C.C. Delhi, Church and Shrine: IntermingLing Patterns of Culture

in the Lifu of Some Christian Groups in South India (Uppsala,I 965) .

18. K.C. Sen, The Brahmo Somaj: Four Lectures (London: W.H. Al len,1870) , pp . 3 -36 .

t9 . Ib id . , p . 3 t .20. Ibid., p. 26.21. K. Baago, Pioneers of Indigenous Christ ianity (Bangalore: CISRS,

1969), pp. 26ff.22. E.I. Sharpe, Not to Destroy but to Fulfil: The Contribution of J.N.

Farquhar to Protestant Missionary Thought in India before 1914(Uppsa la , 1965) .

23. Idem, The Theology of A.G. Hogg (Bangalore: CISRS, 197 l).24. Sharpe, Not to Destroy .. . , pp.329 ff .25. K.T. Paul, "How Missions Denational ize Hindus," in International

Review of Missions (1919), pp. 510-521.26. P. Chenchiah, "Present Tendencies in Indian Religions," in M.

Stauffer (ed.), An Indian Approach to India (New York: MissionaryEducation Movement, 1927), p. 60f.

2'1 . A.L Appasamy, Sundar Singh: A Biography (Madras: Christian Lirerature Society, 1966) is the most recent book-length study.

l 8 8 ll 8 9 l1 9 0 11 9 1 It92li 9 3 1195 Il 9 6 lt9't I

1,862,6342,234,3802,923,2413,876,2034,754,0006,296,7638,392,038

10,728,086t4,223,382

0.730.790.991.241 . 5 01 . 7 92 . 3 52.44

2.s96

Notes

l. Text circulated by Bharat Sevak Samaj, New Delhi, January l ,19'73.2. The historical l i terature is vast. Of recent works, see especial ly S.C.

Neill, A History of Christianity in India I-II (Cambridge UniversityPress, 1984-85), which however only covers the period down to1858. A mult i-volume history is also under preparation by theChurch History Association of India. A useful one-volume summaryis C.B. Firth, An Introduction to Indian Church History (Madras:Christ ian Literature Society, l96l ).

3. L.W. Brown, The Indian Christians of St. Thonas (Cambridge Uni-versity Press, 1956).

4. The Capuchin Mission Unit, India and i ts Missions (New York:Macmil l ian, 1923), pp. 8lf f .

5. V. Cronin, A Pearl to India (London: Hart-Davis, 1959).6. Firth, op. cit., p.126.7. On the Tranquebar Mission, see Neill, op. cit., ll, pp. 28ff.

T342 / RELICION IN MODERN INDIA

Rammohun's opponents not only argued that his involvement

in theological debates was inappropriate because of his g.rahstha

life, they also argued that the open and public context in which he

engaged in these discussions was inappropriate. In fact, Kavitaker

said that the publication of Rammohun's books was undermining

dharma and causing uncounted evils and natural calamities.3s He

said that if Rammohun was genuinely concerned about the good of

the people he would recognize that most people were not compe-

tent to benefit from reading and hearing the translations of the

Upani;ads which Rammohun was publishing. It was better for

people to read the simpler Sastras, the Puranas, before they read

the Ilpanisads. If they read the Upanisads without the proper pre-

disposition they would l ikely become confused and irreligious.36

Rammohun disagreed. He argued that most people were ca-

pable of understanding that the world was created and governed by

a Supreme Being who could not be adequately understood through

the stories in the Puranas and who could not be properly wor-

shipped through the use of images. Therefore, when he established

the Brahmo Samaj in 1828 he inaugurated a form of worship con-

sistent with these assumptions. The worship was congregational.

The service consisted of readings from the Upani;ads' Brahma

Sutra and Vedas, exposition of these readings, prayer, and singing.

In the worship service there were no prohibitions against the atten-

dance of any caste, religion, or nationality.3iThe objections to Rammohun's translations of the Upanisads

and to the worship of the Brahmo Samaj were based on a funda-

mental disagreement over man's natural capacity to understand re-

l igious truth. Hindu social and religious l ife is based on the

premise that there are significant natural differences between indi-

viduals. This is expressed in the concept of adhikara-bheda, which

denotes the differences in capacity or competence between people.

The adhikara. competence, of one person may be significantly dif-

ferent from the adhikara of the next.Part of the elaboration of this concept of the uniqueness of in-

dividual inclinations has been the traditional distinction between the

three (sometimes four38) ends of man: kama (pleasure), artha

(wealth), and dharma (order). It is considered natural that men may

wish to pursue pleasure, wealth, or order' Some will pursue one

more than the others, while other men may pursue all of these ends

simultaneously or serially. It is assumed that the end which is

RAMMOHUN ROY / 343

pursued wil l be determined by the individual's inclination and ca-pacity.

Another way in which this concept has been elaborated isthrough the discussion of the three basic qualit ies (gunas) of hu_man beings: sattva (goodness), raTas (passion), and tamas (igno_rance). Again, i t is assumed that each indiv idual wi l l have someunique combination of these qualit ies. These categories are broadbut not restrictive. They acknowledge what might be cailed the dif-ferent psychological dispositions of people and describe appropriatelife-styles for those in each category.

This concept of adhikara-bheda is also at the basis of the so_cial structure. The general varna structure of Indian society can beunderstood as a very basic sketch of several fundamentally differ-ent groups of people. These classifications are not intended to l imitresourcefulness, but they are intended to point to general character-istics of people in the different roles in society.

This recogni t ion of var iety is equal ly important in re l ig iousmatters. Radhakrishnan suggests that Indian religion and philosophyacknowledge the inherent variety in human inclinations by the veryterminology which they use. He points particularly to the worddarsana, which is customarily translated as ..philosophy., ' The wordmeans a view or a viewpoint, a perception; it suggests that all phi_losophy is essentially a particular view or vision of reality held byone person or one school of thought . That v iew is based on theparticular capacities and experiences which that ..viewer" has had.This means, says Radhakrishnan, thar "the Hindu philosophy of re_ligion, starts from and returns to an experimental basis. Only thisbasis is as wide as human nature itself."3e As Aurobindo puts it inThe Foundations of Indian Culture, "Indian religion has always feltthat since the minds, the temperaments, the intellectual affinit ies ofmen are l imited in their variety, a perfect l iberty of thought and ofworship must be allowed to the individual in his approach to theinfinite."{)

Rammohun shared the assumption that people had a great va-riety of dispositions and capacities. But he states repeatedly thatthese capacities were being underestimated. In his judgment, all buta very small minority could understand the basic teachings of theUpanisads. He did not expect everyone.to benefit fully from theteachings of the Upanisads, but he argued that the effect producedin each person would be proportionately successful "according to


his state of mental preparation."a' Certainly he did not agree thatpeople would be confused or made irreligious by hearing the

Upani;ads read and exegeted in theological debate or worship'

Rammohun's discussions of qdhikara and the g.rhastha l ife

were challenges to the assumption that religious truth was esoteric.

This assumption is widespread in the Hindu tradition. One expres-

sion of it is the prohibit ion against permitting certain members of

society to hear the Vedas being recited. Another manifestation of

this assumption is the distinction made between what can be taught

to the initiated (dtksita) and to the uninitiated (ad*sita). Rammohun's

introduction of congregational worship, his public distribution of

vernacular translations of Upanisads, and his defense of g.rhastha

participation in theological discussion were among the first signs of

an egalitarian emphasis in religious and social reform movements

in modern India.A third major theme which emerges from the l ife of

Rammohun was identified very aptly by Kissory Chand Mitra when

he referred to Rammohun as a "religious Benthamite."a2 By this

Mitra seemed to mean that Rammohun evaluated religious beliefs

and practices largely by whether they seemed to improve human

life. There is ample evidence of this in Rammohun's works.

Even in the Tuhfatul, where Rammohun was most cynical

about religious beliefs, he acknowledged that there was some uti l-

ity to religion. Two essential religious beliefs, he said, were a be-

lief in a soul and a belief in an after-l ife during which the soul

was rewarded or punished according to the deeds done in this

world.a3 He acknowledged that the truth of these beliefs could not

be demonstrated, but yet it was reasonable to perpetuate them. It

was reasonable, he said, because these beliefs heiped to restrain

people from participation in immoral or illegal acts. Religion, in its

essence, functioned to maintain social order.

His concern for the social implications of religious doctrine

contributed significantly to his interest in the teachings of Jesus. As

he wrote in his introduction to The Precepts of Jesus, "This simple

code of religion and morality is so admirably calculated to elevate

men's ideas to high and liberal notions of God ... and is so well

fitted to regulate the conduct of the human race in the discharge of

their various duties to themselves, and to society, that I cannot but

hope the best effects from its promulgation in the present form."{

It was also largely his concern for the social well-being of his

RAMMOHUN ROY / 345

countrymen which made him so relentless in his attack on polythe_ism and image worship. He was convinced that polytheism and im-age worship resulted in the destruction of "every humane and so-cial feeling."{' In the introduction of his Translation of an Abridge-nrent of the Vedantat6 he charged that the "rites introduced by thepeculiar practice of Hindoo idolatry" destroy the ..texture of soci-ety." He acknowledged that significant religious change needed tooccur for the sake of his countrymen's "polit ical advantage and so-cial comfort." His campaign against .rdtr was a good example ofhis own determination to bring about such change.

Rammohun also opposed polytheism and image worship be-cause he u'as convinced that they led to immorality. Stories of&lna, he wrote, encouraged the belief that uncleanness, nudity, de-bauchery, and murder were sanctioned by the example of Krsna.The worship of Kalr was even more offensive, since it includecl hu-man sacrif ice.aT

There seems to be ample evidence to support a growing num-ber of scholars who have recently interpreted Rammohun primarilyas a religious uti l i tarian whose central concern was the well-beingof society. Susobhan Sarkar remarks that Rammohun's reason for"reviving public interest in the Vedanta was prompted by his desireto promote the comfort of the people and to unite the differentgroups into which society had split up. He considered the forms ofdirect worship as a l iberation from priestly tyranny and a means ofreal izat ion of human brotherhood."as Rammohun's socia l concernsignaled a change from an emphasis on "mystery and metaphysicsto eth ics and phi lanthropy."o, This change of enrphasis whichRammohun's work expresses so clearly is characteristic of a sub-stantial amount of nineteenth-century Indian thought. Theology andrnetaphysics became tools of ethics and social change.

Rammohun's contr ibut ions to modern Indian re l ig ious thoughtare diverse. Some of thern, such as his emphasis on the [Jpanisadsirnd Brahnn Sutra, and his iconoclasm, are a continuing legacymaintained by the Brahnro Samaj. Others have been more diffusein thei r impact : that is , i t is d i f f icu l t ro derermine what in f luenceRammohun's posi t ion has had on subsequent th inkers. Whetherthose continuities can be traced or not, several significant featuresof his religious thought can be noted in summary.

Fi rs t , Rammohun's rat ional is t ic theism provided h im wi th ahermeneutic by which to evaluate crit ically his own tradition and

I


Christianity. In the early years of the nineteenth century this was a

useful means of refining the Hindu tradition and challenging the

Christian. He could be a student of "comparative religion" without

making one tradition normative for others.50 Second, Rammohun's

arguments in support of the g.rhaslftc involvement in religious dis-

cussion, and his personal campaign of publication and debate, con-

tributed to the individualization of religious authority. To some ex-

tent he was assisted by technology. Printing technology has made it

possible for more individuals to read scriptures outside the influ-

ence of religious leaders. Privately nurtured interpretations soon be-

gan to question the accepted wisdom of traditional authorit ies.

Rammohun not only took advantage of the possibil i ty of doing

this, he also argued strongly in favor of greater individualization of

authority. Third, Rammohun's uti l i tarian approach to religious

thought and social practice challenged the established priority of

salvation (moksa) over social order (dharma). Rammohun wrote

very l itt le about salvation but a great deal about the social order.rr

Fourth, Rammohun shifted the focus of ethical discussion fiom as-

ceticism to humanitarianism. He argued that the many regulations

of food and drink were burdens which obscured people's abil ity to

see and respond to the needs of other people.

Although Rammohun never systematically developed these as-

pects of his thought into a unified philosophy, it is worth noting

that these features of his thought provide adequate premises for ar-

ticulating a philosophy of a secular state.

Notes

L For example, Dwarkanath Tagore (1764-1846) was a dominant inf lu-

ence in early Indo-Brit ish commercial relat ionships. Radhakanta

Deb (1784-1867) was instrumental in the development of numerous

educational and publishing projects. Mritunjay Vidyalankar (1762-

1819) was an instructor at the College of Fort Wil l iam and later a

pandit attached to the Supreme Court.

2. Rammohun's press was known as the Unitarian Press, established in

1823. He used i t to publ ish his pamphlets. His newspapers, the

Bengali Sambad Kaumudi and the Persian Mirat-ul-Akhbar, began in

1821 and 1822 respectively and were not published at his own press

For more information about his publishing activities see Sophia Dob-

son Collet, The Life and lztters of Raja Rammohun Roy, 3rd ed'

(Calcutta: Sadharan Brahmo Samaj, 1962)' pp. 157-205 passim'

RAMMOHUN ROY / 347

3. Collet, Lif t and Letters, pp. 25l-266,346,537.4. Rammohun's most famous protests were against the press ordinance

of March 14, 1823 (see Collet, Life and Leuers, pp. 423-454), andthe Jury Act which became effective in lg27 (see colret, Life andLetters, pp. 266-269).

His precise involvement in the establ ishment of educational inst i tu-t ions such as the Hindu colrege has been questioned in recentyears. See Ramesh Chandra Majumdar, On Ranmohun Roy(Calcutta: The Asiat ic Society, 1972), pp. 20-39. But his commii_ment [o a broadly based educational system is not in dispute.

He was aware that he was establ ishing a precedcnt by doing this. Heremarks on this in "A Defence of Hindoo Theism" (lgl1.), in TheEnglish Works of Raja Rammohun Roy, eds. Kalidas Nag andDebajyoti Burman (Calcurta: Sadharan Brahmo Samaj, 1946], 2 :8-5. Hereafter this collection of his Engrish writings is referred to asWorks.

7. A l ist of Rammohun's publ icat ions is incruded in colret, Life andLetters, pp. 525-41 . More recently a l isr of Rammohun's ," l igiou,publicarions has been included in Aj i t Kumar Ray, The nefigiousIdeas of Ramrnohun Roy (New Delhi: Kanak publications, lb76),p p . 9 9 - 1 0 3 .

8. Two terms are used interchangeably here. Nastik refers to one whodoes not bel ieve, an atheist. pasanda refers to a heretic or to onewho falsely assumes the character of a Hinou.

9. The most extensive summaries appcar throughout the biography writ-ten by Collet; in Amitabha Mukherjee, Refornr and Rcgeneration inBengal, 1774-1823 (Calcutta: Rabindra Bharati University, l96g),pp. 125-202: and in several Bengali biographies, most notablyNagendranath Chattopadhyay, Malntnra Raja Rammohun Ray;rJiban Cluri t ,5th ed. (Altahabad: Indian press Ltd.. l92g).

10. The most noteworthy analyses are those by Aj i t Kumar Ray, The Re_ligious ldeas of Rammohun Roy; by Sisir Kumai Das, inNiharranjan Ray, ed., Rammohun Roy: A Bi_Centenary Tribure(New Delhi: National Book Trusr, 1914), pp.7l_91 ; and by severalauthors in V.C. Jo.shi, ed., Rammohun Roy and the process of Mod_ernization in India (New Delhi: Vikas publishing House, 1975).

I l . one such issue is the deveropment of rel igion in eighteenth-centuryIndia For a brief descript ion of how eighteenth-century rerigiouithought is usually dismissed, see James N. pankratz, ..The ReligiousThought of Rammohun Roy" (ph. D. diss., McMaster Universitv.1 9 7 5 ) . p p . 7 - 1 0 .

12. This claim was made often during the 1972 bicentenary celebrations,most dramatically in a speech read on behalf of Indira Gandhi inCalcutta in June at the National Librarv.

E

I-T

1 5 .1 6 .t 't.1 8 .1 9 .


13. Majumdar, p. 40.14. Published in English as Tuhfatul Muwahhiddin or a Gift to Deists,

trans. Moulavi Obaidullah el Obaide (Calcutta: Sadharan BrahmoSamaj, 1949).

Tuhfatul, n.p.I b i d . , p . l l .Ib id . , pp . l l -12 , l6 - t7 .Ibid., pp. 6-7.Rdmmohun Ray, Rammohun Cranthabali , eds. Brajendranath

Bandyopadhay and Sajanikanta Das (Calcutta: Bangiya SahityaParishat, n.d.), 2 : 4l-64. Hereafter ci ted as Grantlmbalr.

20. "The Precepts of Jesus: The Guide to Peace and Happiness" (1820)in Works ,5 : l -54 .

21. This is essential ly his point in his "Translat ion of an Abridgement ofthe Vedant " (1816) . in Works . 2 : 57-72 .

In fact, his involverrent in theological debates with Christ ians seemedto convince many of his contemporaries that he was probably in-cl ined toward Christ ianity and thus a traitor to his Hindu tradit ion.

His response to Christ ians is contained in various publications norvcol lected in Works, vols. 4-6. Christ ian cri t icisms were mostly di-rected against the sectarian rather than the phi losophical l i terature,and Rammohun's approach diverted the cri t icisms substantial ly.

This debate may be found at Granthabah, 2 : 6'l-93.Among the many examples Rammohun cited were Janaka, an ancicnt

phi losopher-king of Mithi la; Yajfravalkya, a famous sage andteacher; and Vasistha. the sage of the Rg Verla, Epics, and Puranas.

See especial ly "Translat ion of the lshopanishad" (1816) in Works, 2' .43-44; and "Brahmanistha Grhasther Lakshman" ( I 826), inGranhabalt, 4 : 29-33.

Granthabalt, 2 : 75.Brajendranath Bandyopadhyay, ed., Sangbad Putre Sekaler Katha,

2nd ed. (Calcutta: Bangiya Sahitya Parishat, (1949), | : 327.Gaurikanta Bhattacharya. Ji iananjan,2nd ed. (Calcutta, 1838), pp. 4,

t4- t7.30. Collet, Lift and ktters, p. 125, records how careful Rammohun was

not to give evidence for this accusation.Kavitaker raises this issue at Granthabalt. 2 :72-73.Tuhfatul, p. l .Works. 2 : 88.I b i d . . 2 : l 1 4 . 1 5 9 .Granthabalu 2 : 7l- '12.Ib id . , p . 78 .For a descript ion of the establ ishment of the Brahmo Samaj see

Collet, Lift antl Letters, pp. 209-50. The Trust Deed outlining thepurposes of the Brahmo Samaj is reprinted in ibid., pp. 468-471 .

RAMMOHUN ROY / 349

38. The fourth end, moksa (liberation), is sometimes regarded as one ofthis group and at other t imes is considered a separate goal whichinvolves turning away from the other three.

39. S. Radhakrishnan, The Hindu View of Lde (London: Unwin Books,1960) , p . 16 .

40. Sri Aurobindo, The Foundations of Indian Culture (Pondicherry: SriAurob indo Ashram, 1959) , p . 138.

41 . Works ,2 : 132.42. Kissory Chand Mitra, "Rammohun Roy," Calcutta Review, 4 (July-

December, 1845) : 388.43. Tuhfatul, p. 5.4 4 . W o r k s , 5 : 4 ./ < th : , { ' t < ta J , r u t w , . a , J L ,

4 6 . [ b i d . . 2 : 6 0 .4'1. lbid..2 : 92.48. Susobhan Sarkar Bengal Renaissance and Other Essays (New Delhi:

Peop le 's Pub l ish ing House, 1970) , p . l l .Iqbal Singh, Ramrnohun Ro-v (Bombay: Asia Publishing House, 1958),

p . 78 .Many authors have credited him with being the "f irst student of com-

parative rel igion."His most clear, although very short, statement about salvation/l ibera-

t i o n i s i n W o r k s , 2 : 1 9 7 - 1 9 8 .

22.

23.

3 t .-t z.

J J .

34.J ) .

36.3'1.

49.

50

5 la l l

25.

26.

27.28.

29.

t4

SVAMI DAYANANDA SARASVATI

Arvind Sharma

Modern India, that is to say, the India of the nineteenth andthe twentieth centuries, produced several remarkable thinkers towhose originality the other chapters of this book bear witness. Butwhen we speak of Svami Dayananda Sarasvati,r we are talking ofa case in which both the man and his message were not merelyoriginal but perhaps unique. He was unique as a man in the sensethat while all the other thinkers of the period under discussion hadan effective knowledge of the English language, Svami Dayanandawas innocent of i t . "When Keshub expressed h is regret thatDayananda d id not know Engl ish, s ince i f he had he could havebecome his companion on his next visit to Britain, Dayananda re-torted that it was a greater pity that the leader of the BrahmoSamaj knew no Sanskr i t and spoke in a language most Indianscould not understand."2 And his message was unique in the sensethat while the other thinkers of his time were moving away, in oneway or another , f rom the dogma of in fa l l ib le revelat ion, SvamiDayananda declared that "the Vedas were not only true, but theycontained all truth, including the ideas of modern science."3

This essay, therefore, naturally falls in several parts. The firstpart wil l deal with the man, especially with his changing ideologi-cal patterns and the directions of that change. This wil l naturallylead us finally to identify his more mature thought, chronologicallyand hopefully logically as well. In the rest of the essay his viewson Vedic revelation, attitudes to other religions, reconversion toHinduism and social and polit ical issues wil l be considered.

SVAMI DAYANANDA SARASVATI i 35I

Changing Ideological Patterns

To begin with, the main events of the l ife of Svami Dayananda(1824-1883) may be narrated, though necessar i ly wi th a cer ta ineconomy.

Dayananda was born into a Brahman farnily in a princelystate of Gujarat, a section of western India relatively un-touched by Brit ish cultural influence. His well-to-do fatherinst ructed h im in Sanskr i t and Shaiv ism f rom the age offive, but Dayananda revolted against idol-worship at four-teen, and to avoid being married ran away from home atnineteen to become a sannyasi (religious mendicant) of theSarasvati order. He spent the next f ifteen years as a wander-ing ascet ic , l iv ing in jungles, in Himalayan ret reats, and atp laces of p i lgr image throughout nor thern India. A tough,blind old teacher completed his education by l iterally beatinginto him a reverence for the four Vedas and a disdain for alllater scriptures.

For the rest of his l i fe Dayananda lectured in all parts ofIndia on the exclus ive author i ty of the Vedas. T ime af tertime he challenged all comers to religious debates, but fewcould withstand his forceful forensic attack. Idol-worship isnot sanctioned by the Vedas, he pointed out, nor is untouch-abil ity, nor child marriage, nor the subjection of women tounequal status with men. The study of the Vedas should beopen to all, not just to brahmans, and a man's caste shouldbe in accordance with his merits. Such revolutionary teach-ings evoked the wrath of the orthodox and numerous at-tempts were made on Dayananda's l ife. His great physicalstrength saved him from swordsmen, thugs, and cobras, butthe last of many at tempts to poison h im succeeded. L ikeJohn the Baptist, he accused a princely ruler of loose living,and the women in quest ion inst igated h is death by havingground g lass put in h is rn i lk .a

An ideological-analytical approach, as opposed to a merelybiographical-factual one as presented above, enables one to distin-guish six more or less clearly marked phases in Dayananda's l ife.

The first one may be dated from 1824-1845 and represents the pe-

r iod of h is s tay wi th h is fami ly , dur ing the course of which he

- ^


formed an intense desire to seek his personal salvation-a decisionto which the loss of his sister and f 'avorite uncle must have madeits contribution.5

The second phase must be dated f rom 1845-1860, when theyoung man, now turned Svami, roamed the sacred regions of northIndia,6 and especially the Himalayas, in search of salvation throughyoga, during the course of which he temporarily took to usinghemp as well.7

The third phase, which may be dated from 1860-1867, is rep-resented by his discipleship of Virajananda,E which was a turningpoint in his career as it turned him from a private spiritual aspirantinto a public religious crusader.

The fourth phase is represented by the period from 1867-1872which witnessed Dayananda's first efforts in the direction of re-fbrming Hinduism. It was also a formative period in the growth ofhis new ideology. The climactic event during this phase was pro-vided by the famous debate over the Vedic sanction of idolatry atBanaras.

The fifth period, from 1872-1875, is extremely significant, as itsaw Svami Dayananda come in contact wi th the Hindu e l i te ofCalcutta. This did not affect the content of his teachings,'! but didmuch to change his style. As a matter of fact Keshub Chandra Sengave "the Svami two useful concrete pieces of advice, which hereadily accepted," namely, that the Svami cover his body fullyrather than appear in a loincloth, and that he lecture in Hindi ratherthan Sanskrit. It was also at Calcutta that the Svami discovered theimportance of public lectures and publication.r') His public lectureswere enthusiastically recetved and the Satyartha Prakaia, his well-known work, appeared in 1875."

The last phase of the Svami Dayananda's l i fe is covered bythe period 1875-1883, which saw the formation of the Arya Samaj

and its success, especially in the Punjab. It ends with his death in

the course of his efforts to enlist the rulers of Rajputana on his

side. During this period he also produced a revised edition of the

Satyartha Prakaia, among other works.We will now concern ourselves with a few examples of the

changing pat terns of h is values. I t may be par t icu lar ly usefu l to

choose those areas in which his thoughts changed significantly over

the years. It may further be useful to choose aspects of mature

thought in some important areas associated with Svami Dayananda

SVAMI DAYANANDA SARASVATI / 353

which g ive the impression of being set f rom the very beginningthough they really underwent a process of gradual crystall ization.

The last chapter of the Satyartha Prakaia (last edition)t2 con-ta ins a statement of Svami Dayananda's bel ie fs and d isbel ie fs . I tmight be i l luminat ing to subject some of these to the analyt ica lprocess out l ined above,

(l) "I hold that the four Vedas (the divine revealed knowl-edge and religious truth comprising the Samhita or Man-tras) as infall ible and as authority by their very nature."r3

Until 1870 Svami Dayananda seems to have held the view that theBrahmanas c<lu ld be considered as Veda a long wi th the Samhi taportions.r{As a matter of fact the process of the gradual narrowingof the focus on the Sarnhita and especially on the Rig-veda-samhitaalone had been detected long ago by B.P. Pal, as the historian R.C.Majumdar pointed outr5 when he observed:

The absolute ly author i ta t ive character of the Vedas, andVedas alone, formed the fundamental creed of Dayananda.At f i rs t he inc luded wi th in the Vedas both Brahmanas andUpanishads, but when it was pointed out that the Upanishadsthernselves repudiated the authority of the Vedas as the high-est or the only revelat ion, Dayananda modi f ied h is v iews.Ultimately the Samhita portion of the Vedas, and particularlythe Rigveda Santhita, was alone held to be the real Vedicrevelation at least for all practical purposes.'6

We may next take a case which exempl i f ies change in theo-logical or ientat ion over the years.

(2) "There are three th ings beginningless: namely, God,souls and Prakrit i or the material cause of the uni-verse." l7

This is a fairly standard position in non-advairlc Vedanta butin the first edition of the Sctyartha Prakaia Svami Dayananda hadpropounded what is a strikingly Christian idea: the concept of cre-ation ex nihilolrt The Lord was regarded as being close to a cre-ator in the Chr is t ian sense in 1875. But th is meant that the uni -verse was not beginningless and endless-and this is indeed whatSvami Dayananda believed. The theological transformation involvedhere has been discussed in detail bv J.T.F. Jordens.re

t

tt ,


(3) "Moksha or salvation is the emancipation of the soul

from all woes and suffering and resumption of

earthly life after the expiration of a fixed period of en-

joying salvation'"2{)

In 1875, however Svami Dayananda had declared moksa to be

an eternal state.2r But by the time of the second edition of the

Satyartha Prakaia, Svami Dayananda had departed from this posi-

tion and come round to the view expressed above. The logic under-

lying it seemed to relate to the logic of karma. J'T'F' Jordens

points out:

The second edition omits all these special powers of the

sannyasi'. he remains bound by works. It clearly states that

the i iva's knowledge, even in moksha, can never become un-

limited, and goes as far as declaring that "the relation be-

tween the iiva and karma is an eternal one " The essence of

Dayananda's argumentation is as follows: moksha is achieved

by the appl icat ion of cer ta in means' these being r ight ac-

tions. Whatever change is affected by the application of

means can be undone by the application of means of the

same order. Moksha, a change of condition effected by hu-

man action, can be undone by human action' Man's activity

itself is an eternal quality, but its effects, even its major ef-

fects, bondage and liberation, are necessarily of l imited dura-

tion'. moksha, therefore, must be limited in time'22

Sometimes, even when the ideas themselves did not change'

the logic underlying them was extended or refined over time' In

1875 Svami Dayananda was perhaps already rnoving in the direc-

tion that the Sudras had a right to study the Vedas, but the argu-

ment had to be somewhat circuitous. He began by maintaining that,.the shudras who in a properly structured society are those lacking

the necessary intell igence, are excluded"23 from the study of the

vedas. It could, however, be understood that this did not "refer to

the Shudras of the time, because the society has not yet been prop-

erly structured."2a Technically, therefore, the Shudras were to be

"*tlud.d, but actually it may not be so' Subsequently' however'

Svami Dayananda became forthright in the advocacy of the right of

the shudras to study the vedas and liberated himself from the ves-

tigial traces of the orthodox tradition by arguing could God be "so

biased as to forbirJ the study of the Vedas to them and prescribe it


for the twice-born?"25 He also brings his familiarity with the Vedicco{pus to bear on the point and quotes Vedic verses indicating thatVedas could be studied by the Shudras. The verse quoted is Yajur-Veda 26.2.26

Thus it is clear that the thought of Svami Dayananda wasmolded by the experiences he had, the men he met, and the situa-tions he encountered. His mental f irmament, l ike that of any dy-namic thinker, was in motion even while giving the appearance tobeing unchanging. If, however, there was any orientation to thiscosmic movement of his thought, it is to be found in the polar rolethe concept of Vedic revelation came to play in it. After a some-what diachronic study of his ideas, it is to a synchronic study ofthis concept of his to which we must now turn.

Scriptural Authority

When the Arya Samaj was founded by Svami Dayananda topropagate his ideas, one of these was represented by the motto;"Go back to the Vedas."2? What then was Svami Dayananda's atti-tude towards the Vedas as representative of scriptural authoritywi th in Hinduism?28

The "Veda is precisely the sign, perhaps the only one," ofHindu orthodoxy,2e as distinguished from Hinduism, so that oneneed not be surprised if Svami Dayananda offers the traditionalsalutation to the Vedas. But while "even in the most orthodox do-mains, to reverence the Vedas ha[d] come to be a simple 'raising

of the hat, ' in passing, to an idol by which one no longer intendsto be encumbered later on,"30 it became, in the case of Dayananda,a direct "source of inspiration."rrDayananda preached in "favour ofreturning to an unqualif ied adherence to the Veda, and claimed thatexplicit principles of pure monotheism and of social and moral re-form could be found in the hymns."32 A key aspect, therefore, ofDayananda's attitude towards spiritual authority is his wholeheartedacceptance of the Vedas, which he regarded vitally and not merelyformally as the "ult imate source of religious authority."rr This atti-tude may be contrasted with that of Ramakishna who "did not fearto teach that 'the truth is not in the Vedas, one should act accord-ing to the Tantras,"'x although elsewhere he "is more moderate, orlet us say, indifferent."3s And although Vivekananda's attitude wasperhaps "more deferential"s6 even he is known to have remarketl


that "in India . . . i f I take certain passages of the Vedas, and Ijuggle with the text and give it the most impossible meaning

all the imbeciles wil l follow me in a crowd."3? These remarks may

be contrasted with the forthright statement by Dayananda in his

statement of Beliefs and Disbeliefs (svamantavyamantavya) on the

acceptance of Vedic authority quoted earlier.The intensiry of belief in the Vedas Dayananda seems to share

with the Mimarhsa and Vedanta schools of Hindu philosophy,38 al-

though the form of his belief seems to be more in the tradition of

the Niyaya school, for he bases the authoritativeness of the Vedas

not on the doctrine of their eternal self-existence,3e but on the

Niyaya belief that "the Vedas were uttered by Isvara himself."{)

However, although Svami Dayananda agrees with most of Hin-

duism in paying homage to the Vedas and surpasses much of it in

his commitment to them,4' he departs radically from tradition in his

definit ion of the corpus of l i terature which may legitimately be re-

garded as the Veda.a2 Thus, although, "In accepting the Vedas as

the only authority Dayananda was practically on a l ine with Raja

Rammohan Roy,"'tr he differed with him both in the definit ion of

the corpus of the Veda and in its interpretation. Rammohun Roy

turned to the Upanishads for inspiration, but though at f irst

Dayananda "included within the Vedas both Brahmanas and

Upanishads . . . when it was pointed out that the Upanishads them-

selves repudiated the authority of the Vedas as the highest or the

only revelation, Dayananda modified his views."*

Dayananda also held to "the four Brahmanas of the four

Vedas, the six Angas and Upangas, the four Up-Vedas, and the

ll27 Shakhas of the Vedas as books composed by Brahmas and

other Ris/ris, as commentaries on the Vedas, and having authority

of a dependent character. In other words, they are authoritative in-

sofar as they are in accord with the Vedas, whatever passages in

these works are opposed to the Vedas, I hold them as

unauthoritative."as This rather "narrow" conception of the scriptural

base of Hinduism is generally believed to have limited the appeal

of his movement.4 D.S. Sarma writes:

It is regrettable that, while insisting on the authority of the

Veda, Svami Dayananda has not sufficiently emphasized the

importance of the Upanishads, which explain and amplify

what is really valuable in the Samhita, and that he has not

recognized the authoritativeness of a scripture l ike the Gita,


which is the essence of all the Upanishads, because he wasapparently repelled by the Puranic pictures of Krishna givenin the Vishnu Purana and the Bhagavata. He could havestrengthened his hand a thousand-fold if he had included theGita in his canon and rightly interpreted its dynamic gospelof action so congenial to his own temper and outlook. As itis, Dayananda arbitrari ly l imited the extent of the Hindu re-l igious canon and thus to a certain extent stult if ied himself,as the leaders of the Brahmo Samaj stultified themselves bytheir blatant rationalism and the right of private individualjudgment at every step in going through the Hindu scrip-tures. But probably the very l imitation of his canon added tothe powerfulness of his message and served his immediatepurpose of purifying Hinduism and bringing all Hindus underone banner and enabling them to ward off the attacks ofalien religions in India. For there is no doubt that the AryaSamaj, which Dayananda founded, is the church militant inthe bosom of Hinduism.aT

The significance of these developments may now be assessed.The attitude of Svami Dayananda may be described as "dogmatic"in that he accepted the doctrine of the infall ibil i ty of the Vedic au-thority in Hindu philosophical speculation.as According to B.C. pal,in this Dayananda was following the example set by Christianityand Islam,ae although Dayananda crit icized severely the claims ofChristianity and Islam to be regarded as revealed religions.s,)Dayananda was in turn crit icized severely by Mahatma Gandhi forthe severity of his crit icisms.sr Mahatma Gandhi's crit icism seemsto stem at least in part from the fact that Dayananda's positionseems to repudiate Hindu tolerance of other religions. One maynote here, however, "the view of Jaimini and Kumarila (acceptableto all authorit ies such as Mankara and Ramanuja) that the Vedicfaith is exclusive" which "shows that Hinduism is as exclusive asthe Semitic faiths and brooks no rivals."52 Thus Dayananda's dog-matic exclusiveness could as well be related to a strand within theHindu tradition itself. It may be pointed out, however, that al-though Dayananda gave his own interpretation of the Vedas, "theo-retically every member of the Arya Samaj is free to form his ownconclusions," though "in practice, the Sahhin of the Rigveda, asinterpreted by Dayananda . . . formed the bedrock on which stoodthe entire structure of Arya Samaj."sr If, as wil l be shown later,


Dayananda (l) meant only the Sarirhita portions of the Vedas by

the term Veda;sa and (2) also believed in the doctrine of karma and

rebirth55 then (3) if in the vedas and earlier Brahmana literature the

doctrine of transmigration is nowhere clearly mentioned,s6 one is

faced with something of a problem.5? Another consequence of this

concept of the Vedas was that Dayananda came to recommend cer-

tain social usages which had gone out of vogue' Thus Rig-Veda

X.40.2 refers to Niyoga or levirate's8 Dayanada allows it '5e although

it had gone out of vogue.d)Dayananda has been criticized for trying

to revive an "immoral" practice.6'

Dayananda ' semphas i son theSar i rh i t a ra i sesno ton l y the theo -logical and sociological issues; his concept of scriptural authority

alio raises epistemological issues' In Hindu thought the means of

valid knowle dge Qtramanas) constitute one list and the sources of

Dharma (dhaiar-nrula) (see Manusmrti II '6', etc') a separate l ist '

although in both cases Vedic authority is regarded as supreme'

Dayan-anda, working on the basis of the supremacy of Vedic au-

thority, it would appear, combines these two lists under the name

of pa-rikhas or tests of knowledge into one and remarks: "There are

f i v e k i n d s o f t e s t s o f k n o w | e d g e . T h e f i r s t i s t h e a t t r i b u t e s , w o r k sand nature of God, and the teachings of the Veda' The second is

eight kinds of evidence such as direct cognition' etc' The third is.Laws of Nature.' The fourth is conduct and practice of aptas; the

fifth is purity and conviction of one's own conscience' Every man

should i ift truth from error with the help of these five tests' and

accept truth and reject error"'62

bayananda's attitude toward the scriptures of Hinduism dif-

t'ered fiom that of many other leaders of the Hindu renaissance not

only on the question of what these scriptures were but also the

runn", in *trich they were to be interpreted' Thus' while Raja

Rammohan Roy "'accepted the authority of the Vedas as inter-

preted by the exegetics of ancient Hinduism" Dayananda altogether

ieSectea the commentaries of Sayana and Mahidhara and did not

consider any other commentary as binding on anyone' Dayananda

therefore gave his own intepretation,"63 which' strikingly' though at

variance wittr Uottr the traditional and the modern approaches to the

Vedas, tries to read in the Vedas the results of modern science'

Thus, Dayananda's approach is not "scientif ic" in the scholarly

sense but is science-oriented in the sense that he uses his scholarship

to show the presence of science in the Vedas' Such an interpretation


of the Vedas is of profound significance in the context of his atti-tude towards scriptural authority. This significance may be summa-rized thus:

The word Veda means "knowledge." It is God's knowledge,and therefore pure and perfect. This transcendent and heav-enly knowledge embraces the fundamental principles of allthe sciences. These principles God revealed in two ways: (l)in the form of the four Vedas . . . and (2) in the form of theworld of nature, which was created according to the prin_ciples laid down in the Vedas . . . The Vedas, then, beingregarded as "the Scripture of true knowledge," the perfectcounterpart of God's knowledge so far as basic principles areconcerned, and the "pattern" according to which Creationproceeded, it follows that the fundamental principle of Veclicexgesis wil l be the interpretation of the Vedas in such a wayas to find in them the results of scientif ic investigation.M

The significance of this position, in the l ight of the traditionalHindu attitude towards scriptural authority, is nothing less thanrevolutionary. The traditional Hindu position on scriptural authority,especially as developed in the school of Aclvaita Vedanta, has beenthat scr ip tura l author i ty is supreme only in the supra-senuousrealm. It is not supreme in the realm of experience represented bythe senses, the mind, etc., for pramanas such as perception and in-ference suffice to provide us with valid knowledge of this realm ofexperience. It is in matters relating to dharma, or the determina-tion of right and wrong, and brahman, or the nature of ult imate re-ality, that scriptural authority is supreme. Hence Mankara's well-known statement that even if a thousand scriptures were to tell usthat f ire is cold they wil l have to be disregarded because the scrip-ture here is making a statement outs ide i ts proper jur isd ic t ion.6sWhether fire is hot or cold is to be determined properly bypratyakha and not by sabda. Such an attitude towards scripturalauthority disjoins religion and science and may in fact be one ofthe factors why the conflict between religion and science was feltless keenly within Hinduism than in certain other religions. SvamiDayananda, however, reverses this position by bringing the resultsof scientif ic investigation within the scope of scriptural inquiry.

Svami Dayananda thus gave his own interpretation to theVedas, defined as consisting of the Sahhita portion only.66 If the


sincerity of Dayananda's motives has occasionally been doubted6T

his methods ancl results have far more often been criticized6s with

varying degrees of intensity.6e In view of this generally adverse re-

""piioi to1i, int".pretation, for which Max Miil ler uses the ex-

prirrion .. incredible"70 and which Renou describes as "extremely

a b e r r a n t ' ' ' , b u t n o t w i t h o u t r e a l i z i n g i t s c u l t u r a l s i g n i f i c a n c e , i t i sremarkable that Sri Aurobindo should remark:

The re i s thenno th ing fan tas t i ca l i nDayananda ' s i dea tha t theVeda contains truths of science as well as truths of religion.

I wil l even add my own conviction that the Veda contains

other truths of a science which the modern world does not at

all possess, and, in that case, Dayananda has rather under-

stated than overstated the depth and range of the Vedic wis-

dom. Immediately the character of the Veda is f ixed in the

sense Dayananda gave to it, the merely ritual' mythological'

polytheistic interpetation of Sayanancarya collapses' and the

meiety mateological and materialistic European interpretation

collapses. We have, instead, a real scripture' one of the

world's sacred books and the divine word of a lofty and

noble religion.T2

One circumstance renders Aurobindo's endorsement remark-

able. While Dayananda was innocent of English and Western cul-

ture, Aurobindo "was sent by his father to England when he was

only seven..' and returned to India only in his twenty-first year' af-

ter iompleting his education in London and Cambridge' He became

a scholar in breek and Latin and got record marks in these lan-

t*"t in the Indian Civil Service examination' He also learned

ir"n'"tt, German and Italian and could read Dante and Goethe in

theo r i g i na | . , , 7 ] l nasmuchas themodernWes te rn in te rp re ta t i ono fthe Vedas draws on comparative l inguistics' that Aurobindo' not-

witfrstanding his wide acquaintance with classical and modern lan-

g""g"t st oitO not have opted for the Western method (or for that

itu,Lr, the traditional Indian) but for one "who stands absolutely

alone as an interpreter of the Veda"?a is remarkable' It should be

noted, however, that Dayananda himself regarded his beliefs to be "in

comformity with the Ueiiefs of a'll the sages from Brahma down to

Jaimini."?s Now back once more to Aurobindo' Is it a mere coinci-

dence that Dayananda incorporated science in the interpretation of

the Vedas and his admirer in this respect' Aurobindo' incorporated

SVAMI DAYANANDA SARASVATI / 36I

evolution into the interpretation of Hinduism? Be that as it may,Aurobindo "shares a return to the Vedic hymns with DayanandaSarasvati, whom he admired for his attempt 'to re-establish theVeda as a l iving religious scripture,' though rejecting the detail ofDayananda's interpretation."?6 To take an extreme example of suchdetail, Dayananda interpreted fg-Veda L2.7, usually regarded asan invocation to Mitra and Varuna to mean that "water is gener-ated by the combination of hydrogen and oxygen."77

The attitude of Svami Dayananda towards scriptural authorityalso differs in another crucial respect from that of his forebears andpeers. It was shown earlier how he establishes their correspondencewith nature. It was also shown how he regards the Vedas as thesole revelation of God. Accordingly, Svami Dayananda argued thatthe Vedas were "the fountainhead of science and religion for allmankind."78 Thus, the "principle that all the sciences have their re-vealed source in the Vedas is enlarged by the further principle thatall religions have their original and inspired source in the sameearly l i terature."Te

Attitudes toward other Religions

At this point the attitude of Dayananda toward other religionsand his attitude toward scriptural authority intersect. Before oneproceeds further, however, the attitude of Dayananda toward otherre l ig ions cal ls for a c lar i f icat ion. Dayananda is bel ieved to havebeen hosti le toward religions other than Hinduisms')-perhaps moreso than any other leader of the Hindu renaissance--but his positionneeds to be analyzed with greater care than seems to have been be-stowed on it.8r He clearly states in his autobiography that "My soleobject is to believe in what is true and help others to believe in it.I neither accept the demerits of different faiths whether Indian oralien, nor reject what is good in them."s2 It is noteworthty thatDayananda "at tacks what he cal ls 'untrue e lements ' in Is lam orChristianity the same way as he does in regard to Hinduism. Heshows no leniency to the latter on account of its being his own, orthat of his fore-fathers' religion."83 It is well-known that SvamiVivekananda attended the Parliament of World Religions at Chi-cago in 1893; it is not as well-known that Svami Dayananda "wentso far as to invite a conference of the representatives of all reli-r ions on the occasion of the Delh i Durbar in 1877. Keshub


Chandra Sen, Sir Syed Ahmed, and Munshi Alakhdari were among

those who responded to the invitation. Dayananda's proposal was

premature, but his idea that the exponents of various faiths should

put their heads together to evolve a formula of united activity was

unique in those days."*o In the introduction to Saryartha Prakafu

he writes: "At present there are learned men in all religions' If

they give up prejudices, accept all those broad principles on which

all religions are unanimous, reject differences and behave affection-

ately towards each other, much good wil l be done to the world'

The differences of learned people aggravate the differences among

the common masses with the result that miseries increase and hap-

piness is lost."85 It is also noteworthy that he concludes his state-

ment of beliefs and disbeliefs with the following comment;

In short, I accept universal maxims: for example, speaking of

truth is commended by all, and speaking of falsehood is con-

demned by all. I accept all such principles' I do not approve

of the wrangling of the various religions, against one another

for they have, by propagating their creeds, misled the people

and turned them into one another's enemy' My purpose and

aim are to help in putting an end to this mutual wrangling'

to preach universal truth' to bring all men under one religion

so that they may, by ceasing to hate each other and firmly

loving each other, l ive in peace and work for their common

welfaie. May this view through the grace and help of the Al-

mighty God, and with the support of all virtuous and pious

men, soon spread in the whole world so that all may easily

acquire righteousness, wealth, gratif ication of legitimate de-

sires and attain salvation, and thereby elevate themselves and

live in happiness. This alone is my chief aim''o

These are noble sentiments. However, to argue on their basis

that Dayananda had moved from his position that "all truth is

found in the Vedas''s? to the position that ..truth, wherever it is

found, is of the veda."E8 is perhaps unwarranted. For the one reli-

gion under which all were to l ive in harmony seems to have had

for him both a moral and a revelatory component. Men of all reli-

gions could act together on the moral plane but if they were to be-

Iong to one true religion it had to be the Vedic revelation.8e In or-

deito accomplish this latter goal it was the duty of the Arya

Samaj ..(a) to recall India to the forsaken vedic paths and (b) to

pr"o.h the Vedic gospel throughout the whole world''q


Reconversion to Hinduism

Before the gospel could be preached to the world, however, ithad to be preached in India. But this presented a problem. Hindu-ism, especially in the nineteenth century, was regarded as a non_missionary religion.et It existed, however, in the midst of religionswhich were actively missionary, especially Islam and Christianity.This meant that these two religions, to the extent that their mis_sionary activit ies were successful, continued to gain adherents atthe expense of the Hindu community. This state of affairs did notgo down well with Svami Dayananda,e2 as the logic of his positionunfolded itself. First, if the Vedic message had to be broadcast inthe world one had to begin with India. Second, if the Vedic reli-gion was meant to purify Hinduism, should it not also be used topurify those Hindus who had ceased to be Hindus, that is, had be-come Muslims or Christians but could now be purif ied and read-mitted into the Hindu fold? Thus the themes of conversion of theworld to Vedic Hinduism and the reconversion of the Indian Mus-lims and Christians to Vedic Hinduism converged-indeed, the lat-ter in a sense geographically if not necessarily logically precededthe other. It was in the Punjab that Svami Dayananda reconvertedsome Christians and according to J.T.F. Jordens "this was the onlyarea where Dayananda showed an active interest in shuddhi, al-though he occasionally reiterated his stand that shuddhi was aproper and necessary procedure."er Although Svami Dayananda didnot pursue the idea with particular zeal, it was to become a majorelement in the activit ies of the Arya Samaj, which he fbunded, insubsequent years.q

The repercussions of the Suddhi movement were far-reaching;on the one hand it infused a missionary spirit in Hinduismes but bythe same token, i t contr ibuted to the increase in communal ten-sion,e6 especially in the Punjab.eT

Social and Political Issues

Svami Dayananda's v iews on socia l and pol i t ica l issues maynow be briefly considered. Dayananda emphasized the value ofeducation, especially with a Vedic orientation for all, irrespectiveof caste and sex. As for English he "advocated its study for onehour a day and the rest of the time was to be devoted to the study

IE