Social Reformer And Philosopher

May 22, 2002, 12.01am IST
MELANIE PRIYA KUMAR.


Raja Ram Mohan Roy’s efforts to abolish the despicable practice of sati and the setting up of the Brahmo Samaj is more well-known than the fact that he was also far ahead of his time in interpreting religion.

Much of what he said more than 200 years ago is relevant even today, despite the passage of time and attendant changes in the social fabric.

He mastered Persian and Arabic, read the Qur’an and the works of Sufi mystics in the original as well as Arabic translations of the works of Aristotle and Plato.

When Raja Ram Mohan Roy was barely 16 years of age, he set out on a journey, through northern India and Tibet to get first-hand knowledge of Buddhism. He continued with his travels for three years. He went to Varanasi where he learnt Sanskrit and studied ancient Hindu scriptures. He was also influenced by Western liberal thinkers.

In his first publication Tuhfatul Muwahhiddin in Persian, Roy said, ‘‘I travelled in the remotest parts of the world, in plains as well as in hilly lands, and I found the inhabitants thereof agreeing generally in believing in the existence of one being who is the source of creation and the governor of it’’.

He felt that while it was natural for every human being to look up to an eternal being, conditioned responses from sectarian beliefs passed on from one generation to another caused turmoil between faiths.

Ram Mohan Roy felt that through observing creation and the laws of nature, man ‘‘has an innate faculty in him by which he can infer that there exists a Being who (with His wisdom) governs the whole universe’’.

He emphasised self-reliance rather than blind belief in interpreting texts and wrote, ‘‘the fact of God’s endowing each individual human being with intellectual faculties and senses implies that he should not, like other creatures, follow the examples of the fellow brethren of his race, but should exercise his own intellectual power with the help of acquired knowledge, to discern good from bad, so that his valuable divine gift should not be left useless’’.

Roy believed that morality cannot be separated from religion and spirituality.

He said that the Vedas and the Upanishads indicated that moral principle is a part of the adoration of God and quoted from the Katha Upanishad: ‘‘No man can acquire a knowledge of the soul without abstaining from evil acts’’.

Ram Mohan Roy also studied the Bible and wrote three lengthy tracts on the theme, ‘‘An appeal to the Christian public in defence of the precepts of Jesus’’.

These tracts focused on love; love of God and of one’s fellow men. A belief in God as a loving father and one’s fellow-men as brothers was a message that echoed Roy’s own convictions. Roy’s efforts in setting up the Brahmo Samaj was with the idea of amalgamating the best in Hinduism and other religions.

His attempts at religious reform were motivated by his desire to see the barriers and antagonisms removed between the adherents of world religions. His view was that God is not limited to any one way.

Raja Ram Mohan Roy is often referred to as the father of Indian renaissance. He refused to accept traditions blindly and was willing to give them up if they were found wanting.

He exhorted Indians to be forward-thinking as well as past-oriented. Roy’s most valuable contribution is his belief in the unitarian concept of God and His mercy that is best summed up with the concluding chant of all Brahmo worship: Brahma kripa hi kevalam, Brahma kripa hi kevalam, Brahma kripa hi kevalam. Om Shanti, Shanti, Shanti, Hari Om .

(Today is the 230th birth anniversary of Raja Ram Mohan Roy)