Ram Mohan Roy

Ram Mohan Roy
(oil painting)

Raja Ram Mohan Roy or Rammohan Roy ( Bengali , রাম মোহন রায় , Rām Mohan Rāy , born May 22, 1772 in Radhanagar , Bengal ; † September 27, 1833 in Bristol , England ) was an important reformer of Hinduism and the founder of Brahmo Samaj . He was also a Bengali writer , journalist and fighter against social grievances.

Life

Ram Mohan Roy came from an Orthodox Brahmin family from a village in the Bengali district of Murshidabad , which was close to the Mughal rule. He learned Persian and Arabic in Patna, a. a. at a madrasa , a school for Islamic sciences, and studied several Arabic translations of Aristotle and Euclid here. He then studied Sanskrit and English in Varanasi . From 1803 to 1814 he was a tax clerk in the British service with the East India Company and was introduced to English literature by his superior. After 1814 he lived on his fortune and devoted himself to studying religious and social problems. By continuously reading English newspapers, he also stayed in touch with what was happening in Europe. As the emissary of the Grand Mogul, he made a trip to England in 1831 and was given the title of Raja by the latter shortly before . His mission was successful, but he succumbed to illness in England in 1833.

meaning

Ram Mohan Roy wrote several writings in which he combated the worship of images , the caste system , child marriage , general superstition and widow burning . He envisioned the liberal democracy of England and a modernized teaching system as models for India. He was also the first to publish a magazine in an Indian language. At his endeavor, widow burning was banned by law in British India in 1829 .

When Roy came to Kolkata in 1815 , he began to advocate a departure from the practice of pure Sanskrit schools and the study of only the Vedic text traditions. He was of the opinion that in addition to the English language and one's own mother tongue, training in natural sciences and mathematics was necessary. The government agreed to look into his objections, but it was not implemented until some time after his death.

When studying the ancient Indian texts, Ram Mohan Roy came to the conclusion that some customs and traditions had crept in later. He saw a pure monotheism realized in the Vedic religion , which however was later defaced.

In 1814 Roy first founded the Atmiya-Sabha, an association that came together to read and discuss texts and to which several wealthy and influential men from Kolkata belonged.

In 1828 Ram Mohan Roy founded the Brahmo Samaj , which was supposed to carry out reforms in Hinduism. The aim was to restore the image-free, monotheistic original religion of the Veda and thereby pave the way for a future universal religion. Book Although Ram Mohan Roy the authority of the Vedas, the Upanishads and the Brahma Sutras stressed the Brahmo Samaj of all movements was Neohinduism the movement that approached to Christianity most. In the Vedic writings, Roy attached importance to the aspects that corresponded to a monotheistic idea and an image-free worship of God. Its historical significance lies in the fact that it initiated the discussion about a renewal of Hinduism (despite the low number of members) and thus paved the way for further reform movements ( Arya Samaj , Ramakrishna Mission ). It was not uncommon for the public to believe that Brahmo Samaj was Christianity in a different guise. The anti-ritualist attitude was certainly one reason why the Brahmo Samaj never became a religion of the masses.

Ram Mohan Roy also wrote poetry and prose in Bengali. The best known is "Gaudiya Vyakaran".

In 1803 he wrote his first work in Persian, the short theological treatise Tuḥfat al-muwaḥḥidīn (Gift of the Believers). In 1822 he founded the Persian-language magazine Mirat-ul-akbar . After 1803, according to Wilhelm Halbfass, Islam did not play a significant role in his thinking and in his writings.

However, in his first work Tuḥfat al-muwaḥḥidīn the doctrine of the oneness of God can be found and therefore does not differ in its fundamental religious position from his later works. This Persian-language work with an Arabic foreword is addressed to Islamic readers or readers who were Islamic - like Ram Mohan Roy himself. That this education is important for the understanding and the effect of the text is shown, for example, by the fact that the author uses an Islamic terminology, that he argues in a form based on Islamic tradition or that he quotes the Koran. In terms of content, however, there is a distance to institutionalized Islam: In Tuḥfat al-muwaḥḥidīn , Ram Mohan Roy discusses that all religions share fundamental ideas. The differences that are nevertheless evident between the individual religions stem from historical developments, such as the establishment of certain religious rites and customs. He makes a distinction between "natural religion" (an "intuitive" form of worship that is inherent in human nature) and a "traditional religion" (worship that is institutionalized by rules, guides, rites and customs ).

Here one can also draw a connection to one of the most important topics of Ram Mohan Roy's work: The widow burning "suttee" arises from a "traditional religion", which the author criticized in his 1803 Islamic treatise. With his desire for reforms, in this case a change in the practice of widow burning, Ram Mohan Roy can be viewed from three different perspectives: 1. He was a particularly innovative Indian who tried to go back in tradition and proved that there is no requirement for this custom in the Hindu scriptures. 2. It was influenced by European ideas and, in the course of Europeanization, softened ancient traditions. 3. By rejecting widow burning, he agreed with the general opinion of Indian Islam.

The last point in particular is often marginalized in biography writing and research. Ram Mohan Roy was close to Indian Islam simply through his education: he attended a school for Islamic studies, spoke not only Persian but also Arabic, and published a Persian and a Bengali newspaper. His life in Bengal and the direct or indirect influence of Islam in everyday life must not be ignored: Many families (including Ram Mohan Roy's own family) were close to the Mughal rule, perhaps followed Islamic fashion, read a lot of Persian or Arabic. These aspects of Ram Mohan Roy's life are often named without being further elaborated or qualified. The question arises whether the European influence on Ram Mohan Roy is overestimated, the Islamic influence for it is underestimated. Depending on the perspective from which you look at the "father of modern India", you can combine your ideas with ideas of the European Enlightenment, without taking into account that these and other ideas are not limited to Europe in the 18th century. The importance of Ram Mohan Roy is thus dependent on the perspective: As a rule, its importance for the modernized India that is approaching Europe is emphasized.

Ram Mohan Roy was educated in three traditions (the Brahmin, Christian and Islamic traditions) and addressed three traditions by trying to deal with these three traditions. The fact that direct controversies only took place with Christians and conservative Hindus, but not with Muslims, certainly contributed to the fact that his Persian tradition - in which he was, as you can see in his biography - fade into the background.

In the modern Hindu discourse, Ram Mohan Roy often experiences an exaggeration into the mythical, as he is referred to as the father of modern India and as the one who awakened Hinduism from a long torpor. Numerous examples from recent research show that the framework of this “resurrection” is largely shaped by the influence of colonialism and Islam. Ram Mohan Roy does not necessarily see himself as an "innovator", but rather accuses the orthodox opponents of turning away from the authoritative texts of the Upanishads. However, it is precisely these sacred texts on which Ram Mohan, in alliance with reason and common sense, builds the basis for his thinking. Ram Mohan's work around the Brahmo Samaj must be seen as directed specifically at other, foreign recipients. In a way, Ram Mohan is thus performing an intercultural self-representation of Hindu India. Ram Mohan's willingness to adopt Western means of self-expression shows that this can be seen as an initiative for the interpretation of Indian tradition by the West. What should be mentioned here is his belief in the superior universality of Hinduism, which he sees as given in the sacred scriptures of the Upanisads and Vedanta. According to Ram Mohan, the "first dawn of knowledge" has risen in India, so the rest of the world owes the Indians. In view of such statements, the myth of Ram Mohan as the “father of modern India” becomes understandable and even if this image seems exaggerated, its reform as a trigger for Hinduism to reflect on itself in its confrontation with the West is decisive for our current image of India Culture.

See also

• Bengali Renaissance

literature

• Jan Gonda: The Religions of India II. The younger Hinduism . Kohlhammer Verlag, Stuttgart 1963.
• Dermot Killingley: Rammohun Roy in Hindu and Christian Tradition. The Teape Lectures 1900. Newcastle upon Tyne 1993.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Dermot Killingley: Rammohun Roy in Hindu and Christian tradition. The Teape Lectures 1900. Newcastle upon Tyne 1993. p. 5.
2. ↑ Kavalam Madhava Panikkar: A Survey of Indian History . Asia Publishing House, Bombay, 3rd ed. 1956, p. 215.
3. ↑ Kavalam Madhava Panikkar: History of India . Progress-Verlad, Düsseldorf 1957, p. 285.
4. ^ Percival Spear: A History of India . Vol. 2, Penguin, Harmondsworth 1973, p. 161.
5. ^ Rām Mohan Roy, Tuḥfat al-muwaḥḥidīn .
6. ^ Wilhelm Halbfass: Rammohan Roy and his hermeneutic situation . In: Ders .: India and Europe. Perspectives of their spiritual encounter . Schwabe, Basel 1981, p. 228.
7. ↑ Dermot Killingley: Rammohun Roy in Hindu and Christian tradition. The Teape Lectures 1900. Newcastle upon Tyne 1993. p. 52.
8. ^ Rammohan Roy: A Present to the Believers in One God. In: The English works of Raja Rammohun Roy. With an English translation of Tuhfatul Muwahhiddin. Volume IV. Allahabad 1906. pp. 941-958.
9. ^ For example, Wilhelm Halbfass or Brian A. Hatcher: Bourgeoise Hinduism, or the Faith of the Modern Vedantists. Rare Discourses from Early Colonial Bengal New York 2008.
10. ↑ Halbfass, Wilhelm: Rammohan Roy and his hermeneutical situation ", in: Ders .: India and Europe: Perspectives of their spiritual encounter, Basel: Schwabe Verlag, 1981, pp. 222–245.
11. ↑ Halbfass, Wilhelm: Rammohan Roy and his hermeneutical situation ", in: Ders .: India and Europe: Perspectives of their spiritual encounter, Basel: Schwabe Verlag, 1981, p. 243.