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The Modern Renaissance of HinduismFrom Raja Ram Mohan Roy to Aurobindo GhoshIn the middle of the 19th century Hinduism was at one of its lowest points. The influence of the Bhakti Movement had waned. The British were totally in control.
The State of Hinduism in the Mid 19th Century Dr. Karan Singh describes the state of Hinduism in the middle of the 19th century [1]. Superstitions and undesirable practices had replaced the purity of Vedantic though and Puranic tradition. The hereditary caste system was totally entrenched. Hindus returning from travel abroad had to undertake purificatory rites. The condition of women was pitiable. They had become virtual slaves in the joint family system. The practice of Sati and female infanticide was rampant. Widows suffered a fate worse than death. Social ReformIn order to reinstate Hinduism to its former glory it was first essential to reform society. Raja Ram Mohan Roy (1772-1833) of Bengal founded the Brahmo Samaj in 1828 for this effect. This was targeted to the educated elite, who had to be reformed first because they were the opinion makers of society. One of the greatest contributions of Raja Ram Mohan Roy has been towards the abolition of Sati and child marriage. He opposed idol worship and advocated the worship of the formless Supreme Being of the Upanishads. The Prarthana Samaj (Prayer Society) was formed in Maharashtra, which mirrored the Brahmo Samaj as far as the social reform platform went. On the religious side it sought strength from the works of Marathi saints like Namdev, Tukaram and Ramdas. The leading guides of this movement were Sir R. D. Bhandarkar and Justice Ranade. A movement that was more widespread and more aggressively Hindu was the Arya Samaj founded by Dayanand Saraswati in 1875. The main objective was to spread pure Vedic instruction throughout the country. For a time The Arya Samaj was associated with the Theosophical Society. Religious ReformParallel to social reform was the process of religious evolution. One of the earliest leaders in this respect was Sri Ramakrishna (1836-1886) of the Dakshineshwar temple at Kolkata. From an early age Ramakrishna had ecstatic visions and trances. Then he achieved nirvikalpa samadhi or personal contact with the Supreme Being. Ramakrishna was able to replicate his experiences using practices from Islam and Christianity. Because of his experiences people from all walks flocked to meet and hear him. He asked his followers to stop squabbling over different religious beliefs and to approach God with a pure heart. He also stressed the experiential aspect of religion. It was Sri Ramakrishna’s pupil Swami Vivekananda (1863-1902) who spread awareness of Hinduism throughout the world on a mass scale. The Parliament of Religions in Chicago in 1893 gave Vivekananda a platform to state his views on religion and Hinduism. He stressed the essential unity of all religions and the need to coexist rather than convert. Vivekananda often quoted the verse from the Riga Veda, which said that religion had the twin purpose of salvation of the soul and the welfare of the people. To fulfill the latter objective he founded the Ramakrishna Mission, which even today is at the forefront of service to the poor, downtrodden and hungry. In the early twentieth century Aurobindo Ghosh (1872-1950) gave a new interpretation to Hinduism. After retiring from political activism he devoted full time to religious thought. He completely negated individual salvation as an objective of religion and spoke of raising collective human consciousness. He advocated complete surrender to the divine and by using practices like yoga to raise human consciousness to a supramental level and thereby create a paradise on earth. Please check my course on Hindu Mythology Please check my articles on Mythology from India [1] Dr. Singh Karan, (2005) The Sterling Book of Hinduism, New Dawn Press Inc. U.K., pp-59-61.
The copyright of the article The Modern Renaissance of Hinduism in Hinduism is owned by Harsh Nevatia. Permission to republish The Modern Renaissance of Hinduism in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
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