Raja Rao's Contribution in Indian Renaissance

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Name : Ruchita Kankrecha

Roll no : 39

Paper no : Indian writing in English language

Class : Sem 1

Topic : Raja Rammohan Roy’s contribution in Indian renaissance

Enrolment no : 2069108420190024

College : Department of English

Email Id : ruchikankrecha06@gmail.com

Submitted to : Department of English M. K. B. University

INTRODUCTION :

                          “ success is not final, failure is not fatal. It is the courage to carry on that counts “

-        Winston Churchill

  The 19^th century is very important period in history of Indian renaissance. It was a period during which English educated Indians were determined to reform Indian culture, society and religion and English educated Indians sought inspiration from Vedas and Upanishad. They were also influenced by Western thoughts like Hindu leaders Raja Rammohan roy, Rabindranath Tagore, Keshav Chandra Sen, M. G. Rande, Atmaram Pandurangan, Swami Dayanand Saraswati, Swami Vivekananda and many others Hindu leaders. They condemned evils and abuse. In professor S. Radhakrishna’s words,

“ The baby’s voice now becomes an echo, his life is a question, his soul or brain, and his free a slave to things. “

The movement towards this goal is called as,

‘ The Indian renaissance movement ‘

To prepare to ground for nationalism. Raja Ram Mohan Roy is considered as the pioneer of modern Indian Renaissance for the remarkable reforms he brought in the 18th and 19th century India. Among his efforts, the abolition of the brutal and inhuman Sati Pratha was the most prominent. His efforts were also instrumental in eradicating the purdah system and child marriage. In 1828, Ram Mohan Roy formed the Brahmo Samaj, uniting the Bhramos in Calcutta, a group of people, who had no faith in idol-worship and were against the caste restrictions. The title 'Raja' was bestowed upon him by the Mughal emperor Akbar II, in 1831. Roy visited England as an ambassador of the Mughal King to ensure that Bentick's regulation banning the practice of Sati was not overturned. He died of meningitis in 1833 while residing in Bristol, England.

DEFINITION OF RENAISSANCE :

Renaissance means,

“ Rebirth, Reawakening, and Intellectual Awareness “

But cultural Awakening and Cultural revivalism are different terms which are used for renaissance in history. After thirteenth century, under the changing condition of the time,

“ Man tries to discover the man and the world. “

So, It was like awakening to the true realities about the nature and man and this awakening is referred to as renaissance. Renaissance is French word which means to wake again from a sleep. Some authorities have called it rebirth. So we can say that,

“ It was an Intellectual, Liberal and cultural movement and it is not a political movement. “

Raja Rammohan Roy as social reformer :

During the late 18th century the society in Bengal was burdened with a host of evil customs and regulations. Elaborate rituals and strict moral codes were enforced which were largely modified, and badly interpreted ancient traditions. Practices like child marriage polygamy and Sati were prevalent that affected women in the society and The most brutal among these customs was the Sati Pratha. The custom involved self-immolation of widows at their husband’s funeral pyre. While the custom in its original form gave choice to the women to do so, it gradually evolved to be a mandatory custom especially for Brahmin and higher caste families. Young girls were married to much older men, in return for dowry, so that these men could have the supposed karmic benefits from their wives’ sacrifice as Sati. More often than not the women did not volunteer for such brutality and had to be forced or even drugged to comply.

RAJA RAMMOHAN ROY – BRAHMA SAMAJ :

Raja Rammohan Roy is famous leader of Indian renaissance. He was born in 1774 in an orthodox Bengali Hindu family at a place called ‘Radharpura’. His father was employed in the kingdom of a local nawab. He studied Sanskrit literature, Hindu philosophy and Arabic. He made a deep study of Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam and Christianity. He was employed in English East India company and he was in pursuit of a comparative study of different religions.

In 1817, Rammohan roy started “ The Atmiya Samaj “ in culctutta were he preached against social events like the cast system, sati pratha, child marriage and untouchability and he also attacked ideal worship and polytheism.

In 1829, Rammohan found the “ Brahma Samaj” in culctutta. The Brahma Samaj stood on the twin pillars of human reason, Vedas and Upanishad. He wanted to restore Hinduism to the position of ancient glory, a society with no cast, no child marriage, no untouchability etc. He was told that,

“ I am not Hindu, nor a mussalman, nor a Christian. “

In the brahma Samaj raja Rammohan roy adopted “ The best practice of all religious. “ He believed in the lofty ideal of Christianity and Islam. He also wrote the book called ‘ the precept of Jesus’. He thus stood for a synthesis of the east and the west.

“ Raja Rammohan roy was a champion of the cause of women”.

He encouraged women’s education and even he encouraged widow remarriage. He was in favour of English education and western science and he opened the Anglo Hindu colleges and Vedanta colleges  were both Indian and western subjects were thought. So that we can say that,

“ The Brahmo Samaj is the social order of the Brahmo religion”.

Raja Rammohan roy had a deep love for his country and his people and he was a champion of liberty.

“ He was the brightest star in the Indian sky in 19^th century “.

And he was rightly called

“ The father of modern India”.

He was died in 1833 at ‘ Bristol’ in England. He published two journals,

“ The samband Koumudi “

“ The Mirat-ull-akbar”

So that we can say that,

“ Raja Rammohan roy was a social reformer who also wanted to bring religious reform”.

Raja Rammohan roy as educational reformer :

Ram Mohan Roy was educated in traditional languages like Sanskrit and Persian. He came across English much later in life and learned the language to get better employment with the British But a voracious reader, he devoured English literature and journals, extracting as much knowledge as he could and He realised that while traditional texts like Vedas, Upanishads and Quran provided him with much reverence for philosophy, his knowledge was lacking in scientific and rational education. He advocated the introduction of an English Education System in the country teaching scientific subjects like Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry and even Botany. He paved the way to revolutionizing education system in India by establishing Hindu College in 1817 along with David Hare which later went on to become one of the best educational institutions in the country producing some of the best minds in India. His efforts to combine true to the roots theological doctrines along with modern rational lessons saw him establish the Anglo-Vedic School in 1822 followed by the Vedanta College in 1826.

Religious Contributions by Raja Rammohan roy :

Ram Mohan Roy vehemently opposed the unnecessary ceremonialism and the idolatry advocate by priests. So that He had studied religious scriptures of different religions and advocated the fact that Hindu Scriptures like Upanishads upheld the concept of monotheism. This began his quest for a religious revolution to introduce the doctrines of ancient Vedic scriptures true to their essence. He founded the Atmiya Sabha in 1928, nd the first meeting of this new-found religion as held on August 20 that year. The Atmiya Sabha reorganised itself into the Brahma Sabha, a precursor organisation of the Brahmo Samaj. The primary facets of this new movement were monotheism, independence from the scriptures and renouncing the caste system. Brahmo religious practices were stripped bare of the Hindu ceremonialism and were set up following the Christian or Islamic prayer practices. With time, the Brahma Samaj became a strong progressive force to drive social reforms in Bengal, especially women education.

BRAHMASAMAJ AFTER RAJA RAMMOHAN ROY :

Rabindranath tagor and later keshav Chandra Sen are the two famous leaders of brhama Samaj after raja ram Mohan roy. But the reaching of Raja Rammohan roy was continued. Later on Rabindranath tagor and his followers broke away and established the “Adi brahma Samaj”      
                              

Conclusion :

So that we can say that Raja Rammohan roy give important part in the Indian English literature.