Art. VII. THE BRAHMOS OMAJ.*

By REV. A. BROADHEAD, D.D., Allahabad, India.

IT may be questioned whether the Brahmist movement in India has assumed sufficiently definite proportions to enable one to form a correct judgment as to its value. It is certain, however, that it may be regarded as a permanent quality among the forces that are to act upon the Hindu mind and assist in determining the form of religious development in the Indian Empire. As yet the area in which the influence of this new religion is felt is limited. It had its origin in Bengal, and for the most part its progress thus far has been confined to that province. The word Somaj may be taken as the equivalent for our word Church, used in its generic sense. There are, probably, not more than one hundred individual Brahmo churches-or Somajes, to form from the word an English plural--throughout India, and none of these have a very large membership. The intensely conservative nature of the people of India, which manifests itself not more in their unwillingness to forsake the manners and customs of their forefathers than in their antipathy to any change in their religious views, leads to the belief that a rapid extension is not to be expected for Brahmism or any other system which differs radically from that which has been so long cherished by the Hindus.

The person of greatest prominence at present connected with this departure from the orthodox Hindu faith, is Bábú Keshab Chandra Sen. Although he is not to be regarded as the originator of the movement, he, perhaps, more than any other, has given it an impetus; and it is probably true that its destiny for good or evil is within his control, since much, if not all, of its vitality is due to his personal magnetism. Although it is less than fifty years since Brahmism claimed any place among the religions of India, nevertheless it bears the impress of three leading minds. First among these stands Rájah Rám Mohan Roy, to whom must be accorded the merit of breaking with his caste-fellows and announcing a creed, the mere statement of which raised an insuperable barrier between him and the vast

* The Brahmo Somaj. Rev. Dr. Jardine, Allahabad Conference, 1872. Indian Evangelical Review, October, 1875.

majority of his countrymen. Rám Mohan Roy was a man of considerable culture, having acquaintance with the literature of the West, as well as with that of his own country. There can be no doubt that he was assisted to the position he was enabled to take, not only by the study of writers of the Unitarian school of belief, but by his familiarity with much of the orthodox literature which came into his hands in his own country and in England; and doubtless he was an interested student of the Bible during the latter part of his life. Dr. Jardine, speaking of a publication of the Rájah's entitled "The Precepts of Jesus," says that it is evident that the writer looked upon the teachings of Christ as being the supreme guide to life eternal.

The first Brahmo Somaj was organized in Calcutta in 1830, three years before the death of Rám Mohan Roy. The word Brahmo, if chosen with any reference to its derivation, seems to be an unfortunate one, and subjects those who bear the designation to the charge of cowardice in adopting for themselves a name which, if it has any significance, conveys an idea which is repudiated by the adherents to this new faith. At the Allahabad Conference the late Dr. Wilson of Bombay, than whom no one was better fitted to pronounce upon this subject, passed some severe strictures upon these religionists for adopting the word Brahmo, which, he stated, was used in the Hindu-pantheistic philosophy to denote the deity viewed as the sole existence. This doctrine, although rejected by the Brahmos of the present day, seems to have found some favor with Rám Mohan Roy, who quotes from the Upanishods and other Vedantic writings such passages as the following: "A wise man knowing God as perspicuously residing in all creatures, forsakes all idea of duality; being convinced that there is only one real existence, which is God." "The Veda (Védánta) says all that exists is indeed God." "The soul is a portion of the Supreme Ruler: the relation is not that of master and servant-ruler and ruled-but is that of whole and part." Since the Brahmos have fully adopted the Theistic idea, it certainly seems as though they might have chosen a designation less encumbered with pantheistic notions.

Rám Mohan Roy did not seem ambitious to form a sect, and it was reserved for Debendranath Tajore, and after him Keshab Chandra Sen, to give the movement a permanent shape. Pre

vious to the advent of Debendranath Tajore in 1839, the accessions to the new church had not been numerous; perhaps the larger number of disciples were obtained from among the graduates of the Government schools, the tendency of whose curriculum was to destroy their ancient faith without supplying any other in its stead. The influence exerted by the new leader was in the direction of conservatism and an exaltation of the Hindu shastras, rather than in the taking of any radical positions or showing the superiority of evangelical truth over the errors of the Hindu system. In the year 1857 Keshab Chandra Sen joined the Brahmos. He early began to show adaptation as a leader of men, and since the tendency of his mind was progressive, it was not long before he found himself at the head of a party within the church which was opposed to the tardy methods of the then leader of the Somaj. If we examine the sources from which the three guiding minds. among the Brahmos appear to have drawn their inspiration, we shall find that Rám Mohan Roy had been led to drink largely at the fountain of divine truth. Debendranath Tajore, on the other hand, adhered with great tenacity to the sacred books of the Hindus, and clung to as much of the ancestral faith as was consistent with his somewhat advanced views, while Keshab Chandra Sen evidently pursued an eclectic course; for while he fails to grasp the distinguishing truths of the gospel and denies the inspiration of the Scriptures, rejecting altogether the idea that God communicates his will to men by means of a written revelation, nevertheless he emphasizes the two great truths, of the fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man-truths which could have been revealed to him by the Bible alone, and which cut at the root of polytheism and caste, the twin supports of the fabric of Hinduism.

Keshab Chandra Sen, in his attempt to dissever himself and his co-religionists more entirely from the Hindu faith, which, he contends, differs from the facts of the Vedas, advanced three propositions, and the defense of these, especially the first of the three, finally led to the separation of the Brahmo Church into two sections; that adhered to by Debendranath Tajore and the more conservative portion of the Brahmos, taking the name of the Adi (original) Somaj, and that of which Keshab Chandra Sen espoused the leadership, being called the Brahmo Somaj of India.

The three propositions announced by Keshab Chandra Sen are as follows:

I. That the external signs of caste distinctions-such as the brahminical thread-should not be used.

2. That none but Brahmos of sufficient ability and good moral character, who lived consistently with their profession, should be allowed to conduct the services of the Somaj.

3. That nothing should be said in the Somaj expressive of hatred or contempt for other religions.

The struggle between the two parties in the Somaj has proved rather an unequal one, and whether due, as before remarked, to the personal influence of Keshab Chandra Sen, or to the fact that his position was a rebound from the stiff, stern, orthodox Hinduism as it had come down through the ages, it is certain that the conservative school rapidly lost ground, and the progressives everywhere are in the ascendant.

It was natural that Evangelical Christendom should regard such a movement as this with great interest, and it may be admitted that possibly too much was expected from this departure from a system which had remained intact for centuries. But Keshab Chandra Sen disappointed the hopes of those who, standing on the advanced posts of Christendom, noted with eagerness everything that might indicate weakness in any part of the enemy's stronghold. In an essay entitled "Jesus Christ: Europe and Asia," delivered in 1866, the Babu took advanced ground in favor of Christianity and its founders, but, as though fearful that he had gone too far, he seized an early occasion to recall some of his more advanced positions, and in his estimate of Christ was careful to give him a place no higher than that of the most perfect among creatures. A few extracts from the writings of the reformer are given. From these it will be apparent that, while having a confused and very imperfect idea of the way of salvation, he is indebted to the Bible for many of the terms which he employs.

1. "Whether we look up to the heavens, or whether we look round to the various objects lying scattered on the amplitudes of nature, every object tells us that the Creator of the universe is one; all historic life, all creation tells us that He who 'guides the universe and the destinies of nations is One and Infinite." (K. C. Sen's English Visit, p. 552.)

2. "To believe in the Fatherhood of God is to believe in the brotherhood of man; and whoever, therefore, in his own heart and in his own house, worships the true God daily, must learn to recognize all his fellow-countrymen as brethren. Declare a crusade against idolatry and ... the very sight of that will drive caste to desperation." (Lectures and Tracts by K. C. Sen, p. 211.)

3. "If every individual were to realize this great fact, and feel that God is near to him as his Father, while as the Universal Father he looks to the grand purpose of the universe as a whole, then, but not till then, would religion be a source of comfort on the one hand and of purity on the other." (English Visit, p. 164.)

4. "There is something in the Bible which has staggered many who stand outside the pale of orthodox Christianity and made them inimical to Christ; I mean his sublime egotism and self-assertion. It is true Christ says, 'Love God and love man, and ye shall have everlasting life;' but does He not also say, I am the way, I am the light of the world?' Does He not say, 'Come unto me, all ye that are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest?' He who said that the only way to eternal life is the love of God and the love of man, also says, 'I am the way.' Jesus Christ, then, truly analyzed, means, love of God and love of man." (Ibid, p. 240.)

5. "It would be an insult to the majesty of God's throne— it would be a blasphemy against Divine mercy, to say that He will wrathfully condemn any sinners to eternal perdition." (Ibid, p. 175.)

6. "If we pray in a humble spirit, if we kneel down and open up the depths of our hearts, our longings, our sorrows, our afflictions, unto the One Living God, He who is plenteous in mercy will hear us and grant our prayers." (Ibid, p. 68.) 7. "In the religion of the world man is his own guide, and to a great extent, his own Saviour. He depends upon his own faculties and powers for the attainment of truth, and for deliverance from sin. Its prayer is, that man's will may be done on earth in the name of God. (In the religion of heaven) God's will is absolute and immutable law, and his judgment final and irreversible." (Lectures and Tracts, p. 100.)

8. "True penitence humbles man to the dust, and makes