Another characteristic feature of the Mission, also practically demonstrated by Ramakrishna, is a belief in the truth of all religions. ” All the different religious views are but different ways leading to the same goal,” was the characteristic expression of the Great Master. As different words in different languages denote the same substance, e.g. ” water “, so Allah, Hari, Christ, Krishna etc., are but different names under which we worship the same great God. He is both one and many, with and without forms, and may be conceived either as a great universal spirit or through different symbols. This catholic and broad view is in striking contrast to the sectarian views which are dividing the modern world into so many hostile camps and making religion a symbol for hate and discord instead of love and brotherhood.
In addition to these two characteristic features, the success of the Mission in and outside India is due to several other causes. In the first place it has no aggressive proselytising zeal. It has no desire to develop into a separate sect like the Brahma or the Arya Samaj and chooses to remain as a purely monastic order, disseminating reforming ideas among the masses without violently uprooting them from their social or religious environments. Secondly, it has put in the forefront of its programme the idea of social service, not as a mere philanthropic work, but as an essential discipline for religious and spiritual life. The Mission has opened many schools and dispensaries, and has always rendered ungrudging help to the people in times of distress caused by famine or flood or other calamity. In particular, the uplift of the dumb millions of India forms the chief plank of the Mission’s platform. In Svami Vivekananda the patriotic and spiritual impulses mingled in a supreme desire to uplift the manhood of India with a view to restoring her to her proper place among the nations of the world. He believed that the present warring world can be saved by spiritual teachings which India alone can impart, but before she can do this she must enjoy the respect of other nations by raising her own status. The Svami had thus both a national and universal outlook and this explains his popularity in India and America.
In addition, the Hindus of India have special reasons for venerating Svami Vivekananda. For the first time in the modern age he boldly proclaimed before the world the superiority of Hindu culture and civilisation, the greatness of her past and the hope for her future. Instead of the tone of apology and a sense of inferiority which marked the Indian attitude towards European culture and civilisation, a refreshing boldness and consciousness of inherent strength marked the utterances of Svami Vivekananda. This, combined with his patriotic zeal, made him an embodiment of the highest ideas of the renascent Indian nation. He was, to quote the words of Sir Valentine Chirol, “the first Hindu whose personality won demonstrative recognition abroad for India’s ancient civilisation and for her new-born claim to nationhood”.
In addition to these two characteristic features, the success of the Mission in and outside India is due to several other causes. In the first place it has no aggressive proselytising zeal. It has no desire to develop into a separate sect like the Brahma or the Arya Samaj and chooses to remain as a purely monastic order, disseminating reforming ideas among the masses without violently uprooting them from their social or religious environments. Secondly, it has put in the forefront of its programme the idea of social service, not as a mere philanthropic work, but as an essential discipline for religious and spiritual life. The Mission has opened many schools and dispensaries, and has always rendered ungrudging help to the people in times of distress caused by famine or flood or other calamity. In particular,
the uplift of the dumb millions of India forms the chief plank of the Mission’s platform. In Svami Vivekananda the patriotic and spiritual impulses mingled in a supreme desire to uplift the manhood of India with a view to restoring her to her proper place among the nations of the world. He believed that the present warring world can be saved by spiritual teachings which India alone can impart, but before she can do this she must enjoy the respect of other nations by raising her own status. The Svami had thus both a national and universal outlook and this explains his popularity in India and America.
In addition, the Hindus of India have special reasons for venerating Svami Vivekananda. For the first time in the modern age he boldly proclaimed before the world the superiority of Hindu culture and civilisation, the greatness of her past and the hope for her future. Instead of the tone of apology and a sense of inferiority which marked the Indian attitude towards European culture and civilisation, a refreshing boldness and consciousness of inherent strength marked the utterances of Svami Vivekananda. This, combined with his patriotic zeal, made him an embodiment of the highest ideas of the renascent Indian nation. He was, to quote the words of Sir Valentine Chirol, “the first Hindu whose personality won demonstrative recognition abroad for India’s ancient civilisation and for her new-born claim to nationhood”.
The Theosophical Society
The Theosophical Society was founded by the ” mysterious ” Madame H.P. Blavatsky and Col. H.S. Olcott in the United States in 1875. They came to India in 1879 and in 1886 established their head quarters in Adyar, a suburb of Madras. The real success of the movement in India is, however, due to Mrs. Annie Besant, who joined the Society in 1889 and settled in India in 1893 at the age of forty-six.
The Theosophical Society from the very start allied itself to the Hindu revival movement. Mrs. Besant held that the present problems of India could be solved by the revival and reintroduction of her ancient ideals and institutions. In her autobiography (I893) she writes: “The Indian work is, first of all, the revival, strengthening, and uplifting of the ancient religions. This has brought with it a new self-respect, a pride in the past, a belief in the future, and, as an inevitable result, a great wave of patriotic life, the beginning of the rebuilding of a nation.”
She started the Central Hindu School in Benares as a chief means of achieving her object. She lavished her resources and energy on this institution, which gradually developed into a College and was ultimately merged into the Hindu University.
The Theosophical Society, with its many branches all over India, has proved an important factor in social and religious reform especially in South India. But in its attempt to revert to the old, it supports some usages and beliefs, which are considered by many to be retrograde in character, and its occult mysticism has alienated many who might have been its followers. Most of its importance in Indian life was due more to the personality of Mrs. Besant than to any inherent strength of the movement.
The general movements described above led to a great upheaval in Hindu society and stimulated the growth of individual and organised efforts for social reform. It is not possible to give a detailed account of them all in this chapter, and we shall therefore refer briefly to some of the more important among them, which might serve as representative types of this kind of activity in modern India, here and in a subsequent chapter. The Deccan Education Society was founded under Ranade’s inspiration in 1884. lt started with the idea that the education of the young should be remodelled so as to fit them for the service of the country, a task which the existing system of education had failed to perform. The members of the Society undertook to serve for at least twenty years on a nominal salary, (Rs. 75 to start with), and thus it was possible without large endowments or donations to start the famous Fergusson College in Poona, and the Willingdon College at Sangli, with a number of preparatory schools to feed them. The ” life-workers of the Society included the famous Gopal Krishna Gokhale ” (I866-1915).
The names of Pandit Iswar Chandra Vidyasagar and Malabari stand foremost in connection with the uplifting of Indian women. Their hearts were touched by the miseries of women, and they carried on a life-long campaign, to better their lot. As a result of unremitting labour and strenuous agitation Vidyasagar succeeded in inducing the Government to pass a measure in 1856 legalising the remarriage of Hindu widows. Similarly, Malabari’s efforts led to the Age of Consent Act, 1891.
