Arya Samaj
(1875)
The founder of the Arya Samaj was Dayananda Saraswati
(1824–83). Dayananda, a Gujarati, left home in his youth to become an ascetic.
For seventeen years he wandered around India. In 1863 he became a wandering
preacher, and five years later he added the establishment of schools to his
activities. In 1872 he met the Brahmos in Calcutta. In 1875 he founded the Arya
Samaj and published his major work the Satyarth Prakash. In his view,
contemporary Hinduism had become degenerate. Therefore he rejected puranas,
polytheism, idolatry, the role of Brahmin priests, pilgrimages, many rituals
and the prohibition on widow marriage. As a good Sanskrit scholar, he made a
call to“Back to the Vedas”. He wanted to shape society on the basis of the
Vedas. He disregarded the puranas. Like the other social reformers, he
encouraged female education and remarriage of widows.
Swami Dayananda’s sphere of influence was largely in
the Punjab region where the trading community of Khatris experienced great
mobility in colonial times. However, in the Punjab region, there was much
communal conflict among Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs. Dayananda’s Shuddi
(purification) movement i.e., conversion of non-Hindus to Hindus was
controversial and provoked controversies especially with the Ahmadiya movement.
Arya Samaj is considered to be a revivalist movement.
Dayananda’s influence continued into the twentieth century through the
establishment of Dayananad Anglo Vedic (DAV) schools and colleges.
Ramakrishna
Mission (1897)
As we saw above, the early reform movements in Bengal
were radical, questioning and criticising tradition very strongly. In response
to this emerged the Ramakrishna Mission as an important religious movement.
Ramakrishna Paramahamsa (1836–1886), a poor priest in a temple at Dakshineswar
near Kolkata, had no formal education but led an intense spiritual life. He had
a deep faith in the inherent truth of all religions and tested its belief by
performing religious service in accordance with the practices of different
religions. According to him ‘all the religious views are but different ways to
lead to the same goal.’ In a backlash, the later generation of Western educated
intellectuals were drawn to Ramakrishna’s broad view, mysticism and spiritual
fervour. He expounded his views in short stories and admirable parables which
were compiled by an admirer as Ramakrishna Kathamrita (The Gospel of Sri
Ramakrishna).
The most famous among his disciples was a young
graduate of the Calcutta University named Narendranath Dutta, afterwards
famously called Swami Vivekananda(1863–1902). Emphasising practical work over
philosophizing he established the modern institution of the Ramakrishna
Mission. He carried Ramakrishna’s message all over India and the world. His
learning, eloquence, spiritual fervour and personality gathered round him a
band of followers across the country, many of whom also joined the national
movement. He attended in 1893 the famous, ‘Parliament of Religions’ at Chicago,
and made a deep impact on those congregated there. The Mission opened schools,
dispensaries and orphanages and helped people during their time of distress
caused by calamities.
Swami Vivekananda was a personification of youth and
boldness and referred to as the Morning Star of the Modern India. In the words
of Valentine Chirol, ‘the first Hindu whose personality won demonstrative
recognition abroad for India’s ancient civilization and for her newborn claim
to nationhood.’
Theosophical
Society (1886)
Even as Indian intellectuals felt challenged by
western Enlightenment and rationalistic movements, there was a strain of
thinking in the West which looked to the East for spiritual salvation. From
this idea emerged the Theosophical Society, founded by Madam H.P. Blavatsky and
Colonel H.S. Olcott in the United States of America in 1875. They came to India
in 1879 and established their headquarters at Adyar in 1886. Under the
leadership of Annie Besant, who came to India in 1893, the Theosophical Society
gathered strength and won many adherents. The Theosophical Society started
associations across south India. Though involved in many controversies, the
Society played an important role in the revival of Buddhism in India.
Iyotheethoss Pandithar, the radical Dalit thinker, was introduced to modern
Buddhism through his interaction with Colonel Olcott who took him to Sri Lanka.
There he met many Buddhist monks including the renowned revivalist Anagarika
Dharmapala and Acharya Sumangala.