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Young World
THE GREAT ONES
Raja Ram Mohun Roy
V.K. SUBRAMANIAN
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Raja Ram Mohun Roy (May 22, 1772 — September 27, 1833) emphasised the basic oneness of all religions and stressed the need for a rational approach to religion.
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Illustration: V.K. SUBRAMANIAN
Raja Ram Mohun Roy, scholar, writer, journalist and social reformer,, is considered the inaugurator of the modern age in India and the harbinger of Indian renaissance.He fought for individual liberty, freedom of the press and the rights of women.
He emphasised the basic oneness of all religions and stressed the need for a rational approach to religion. He condemned religious superstition.
One of Ram Mohun Roy’s successful fights for the uplift of women was the abolition of Sati. He proved from ancient scriptures that the self-immolation of a widow was nowhere enjoined as a duty. A life of piety and self abnegation was considered more virtuous. His persistent efforts resulted in the Government’s abolition of Sati in 1829.
An idealist
While appreciating the finer aspects of western education, Ram Mohun wanted Indians not to lose sight of their basic culture and values.
He propagated the philosophy of Vedanta, by founding a Vedanta College.
He founded the Brahmo Samaj, where he envisaged that people professing different religious beliefs could worship God in a common and cosmopolitan temple of prayer. It was an idealistic Unitarian vision. Ram Mohun Roy wrote and published 15 books. His ideas became the nucleus for the Indian National Movement.
This is an extract from the book The Great Ones by V.K.Subramanian, Abhinav Publications,
New Delhi
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