Father of Women Emancipation and Liberator from the shackles of Harmful Customs

 

Celebrating 250^th Birth Anniversary of Rajarshi Rammohan Roy

 Father of Women Emancipation, Education and Liberator from the shackles of Harmful Customs

Who was Rajarshi Rammohan Roy? Part 3 of 6

2^nd Edition - January 2, 2023, by Sri Bandyo

 

Highlights: Dedicated to Women and Girls

 

·         Rammohan rescued India's Education System from the worst ever disaster and First to re-introduce Scientific learning

·         First Indian to re-introduce Women education in India

·         First to stop Harmful social Customs

·         Raja Ram Mohan Roy was first to raise voice against Polygamy

·         Rammohan's oath to prevent satidah

·         First to raise voice for the Property rights for Hindu women

·         First to cross kala pani and broke through the walls of India’s exclusiveness

 

 Rammohan rescued India's Education System from the worst ever disaster and First to re-introduce Scientific learning

Some allege that he was responsible for ‘de-sanskritisation’ of the Indian education system and introducing English Education system. Both allegations are false.

On the other hand, Rammohan averted the worst ever education disaster in India.

Historian RC Majumdar noted in his Glimpses of Bengal in the Nineteenth Century that “Equally erroneous is the general belief that Rammohan Roy was the pioneer of English education and founder of the Hindu College". He observed that long before Roy settled down in Calcutta “we find a growing appreciation of the value of English as a medium of culture on the part of the educated Bengalis, especially the Hindus". This preponderance of the view is also evident from the meeting held at the residence of Hyde East, the then Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Calcutta in 1816, just about a year after Rammohun reached Calcutta. More than 50 “most respectable Hindu inhabitants of rank and wealth" including a number of Pandits met at East’s house and raised nearly half lakh rupees for setting up a college that would impart education in the European system. Almost all leading intellectuals of the time, however, can be accused of the same, including Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay and Swami Vivekananda.

This spirit was a reaction to the honest acknowledgement of the extremely poor quality of contemporary Sanskrit and Arabic education system, which was drastically different from the rosy picture of a thriving culture of Vedic religion and science assumed by the social media celebrity critics of Roy.

We know that not only in surgery, ayurveda, maths, astronomy, but India was much ahead in literature, philosophy, agriculture, metallurgy, navy and so on when there was no English or other top European language. That was past and at that time we were out of touch with the latest discoveries and development. With Moghul invasion all our education and cultural system was collapsed and it needed change. Thus, Sanskrit was almost a dead language then and was losing to even the regional ones.

In the meantime, East India Company showed interest to start a Sanskrit College in Calcutta. The accusation some have against Rajarshi Rammohun is that he perceived Sanskrit as the creator of darkness. To clarify that he never said SANSKRIT AS A LANGUAGE is bad. He mentioned that having Sanskrit College will take up much of the allocated education funds which could have been used to teach mathematics, modern science etc. Therefore, he commented that if British wanted to keep Indians under darkness, then they should go ahead with Sanskrit Colleges instead of teaching engineering or other relevant subjects, especially when India had thousands of Sanskrit Schools already.

His critiques conveniently ignore that in the same letter he also wrote that if British really cared to help promoting Sanskrit, they should provide funding to the existing Sanskrit schools such as various Tols and Chatuspthis. Eventually British did accept his advice as during Charles Eliot, they provided funds to chatuspathis.

Let’s get real and pragmatic! In the event that there were two choices of education – in English and Sanskrit, it was certain that most of the people would have gone for English medium as that would have given them job security and social acceptance like what we see today as in Bengal Bengali medium schools are not getting enough students and in UP, the Yogi Adityanath converted SIXTEEN THOUSAND Hindi medium schools to English medium.

Hence Rammohan came up with a brilliant solution that averted the worst ever education disaster which would made all Indians to speak in English.

He created a model of tri-lingual system. 1st and foremost everyone must learn his or her mother tongue. Thus, he promoted vernacular languages, Bengali, Hindi etc. He emphatically stated that without knowing his/her mother tongue, learning a foreign language would be fruitless.

Secondly, knowing the importance of English, modern sciences and mathematics, he proposed to include English as a language but sciences and mathematics should eventually be taught in the vernacular languages. He himself wrote various subjects in Bengali, Hindi, for example, to promote the vernacular languages.

Thirdly, he also made sure that Sanskrit should be taught as well.  He started the Vedanta College and Hindu College that combined traditional Indian learning with Western scientific studies. It had two sections — a  pathshala to impart instruction in English, Bengali, Sanskrit, Grammar and Arithmetic and a  mahapathshala, which had in its curriculum the teaching of languages as well as of History, Geography, Chronology, Astronomy, Mathematics, Chemistry and other sciences. Iswar Chandra Vidyasagar implemented his vision adequately by opening numerous schools of that model throughout Bengal.

Writes Dr. P. Thangamuthu, “At a time when scientific education had not received any important place in the curricula of even Western Universities, the far sighted Rammohan insisted upon the inclusion of science in the educational system of our country. He was fully convinced that without scientific education no future progress was possible for any country, much less for India.

While Macaulay firmly believed that a single shelf of English books was far superior to an entire library of Oriental Knowledge, whereas Rammohan held that there was not a single book in entire Europe equal to the Scholastic Philosophy of the Hindus.  The Raja pleaded for the displacement of Scholasticism by science, of dialectics and metaphysics by useful knowledge. He did not ask for Western as against Eastern education for its own sake. He was not prepared to have Western Scholasticism in preference to Eastern Scholasticism.

In fact, he wanted science instead of Scholasticism. Rammohan wanted scientific and useful education for the national regeneration of India. On the other hand, Macaulay wanted English education by 'cutting Indians educations from the roots of national life. The Raja was in favor of bringing about modernization in India through useful sciences and real knowledge. But Macaulay wanted to Anglicize India so that she could carry on her shoulders more willingly and efficiently, the throne of English Rammohan's educational movement was not for 'Anglicization 'of India but for scientific education in India. - Dr. P. Thangamuthu

Hence Rammohan rescued from the worst ever education disaster by making mother tongue important, making sure that our root language Sanskrit is revived and alive and having English so students can be up to date with world activities in all spheres.

For anyone interested to know, there are hundreds of easily available books and papers that demonstrate how this new system of education led to Bengal and eventually India becoming the battleground for progressive ideas over the next hundred years.

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First to Promote Vernacular Languages

He wrote books, articles in Bengali and Hindi to promote vernacular languages. He was on of the most respected  writers in Hindi Language.

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First Indian to re-introduce Women education in India

“According to Raja Ram Mohan Roy, in ancient India, all men and women were treated equal. He advocated equality between the two sexes and declared that women were not inferior to men morally and intellectually. Raja Ram Mohan Roy believed that unless women were freed from inhuman forms of oppression like illiteracy, child marriage, sati, purdah, Hindu society cannot progress.

Ancient India had many learned women. There were two types of scholarly women - the Brahmavadinis, or the women who never married and who studied the Vedas throughout their lives; and the Sadyodvahas who studied the Vedas till they married. Lilavati, Bhanumati, Gargi Maitraiyee were learned women in Ancient India who had thorough knowledge of all the Sastras/ancient texts. He supported equality between the two sexes and declared that women were not inferior to men, morally and intellectually. So, Ramhohan Roy was a great supporter of women’s education and he strongly believed that women should not be in purdah or confined to their homes but should get equal education as men so that they could stand against the atrocities against them and also fight various social evils. In 1822, Roy founded the Anglo-Hindu school where both boys and girls could study together. The Brahmo Samaj found by him in 1828, did immense work for the propagation of women’s education and encouraged families to send their girls/ women to school.” - Dr. Bipasha Sinha.

People in his days used to believe that women were destined to damnation' they had neither the right to nor the ability for the acquisition of rational ideas. But Rammohan felt that Reason was indispensable for the humanity and all women as a part of humanity are entitled to it.

Rammohan was convinced that humanity would remain incomplete without the elevation and promotion of woman hood of the country. He pointed out that in Indians glorious past there was no dearth of cultured ladies like Maitreyi, Lilavati, the wife of Kalidas and others.

First to stop Harmful social Customs

Rammohan attacked all the evil practices from which the society was suffering. He led

a dharma Dharma Yudh against the practice of 'Sati', polygamy, child marriage, caste system, untouchability, female infanticide, purdah system and use of intoxicants, His ideas, preaching

and also the practical steps taken for this purpose had created a general mass awakening.

The religious ideas of Raja Rammohan Roy which were the root cause of social upliftment had the basis of the Vedas and the Upanishads, rightly termed Vedanta.

T. N. Madan (1983, 26) suggests Roy was the first Indian intellectual to scrutinize the social backwardness of India and urge for the eradication of superstitions.

The religious ideas of Raja Rammohan Roy which were the root cause of social upliftment had the basis of the Vedas and the Upanishads, rightly termed Vedanta. (or the Resolution of all the Vedas, the most celebrated and revered work of Brahmanical Theology), which held the view that the Supreme Being is incomprehensible and his worship alone is the source of unity and of all happiness.

"It was a matter of time that, Rammohan passionately pleaded and worked for social change; yet he was not a revolutionary. He had, in fact, the shrewdness to understand that Indian society of his time simply did not admit of revolutionary transformation but it did have the flexibility for slow adjustment. And thus, his effort at making reforms – social, religious and economic – from within. It was in this context that Rammohan challenged the prevailing priestly class which invented and perpetuated certain corrupt dogmas and doctrines and derived benefits from them. (Rammohan 1947: 44).

"From this diagnosis, Rammohan concluded that religious reform is both social reform and political modernization. And thus, accordingly, he conceived of setting up of reformist religious association like the Atmiya Sabha in 1815,  and the Brahmo Sabha in 1828, which later became the Brahmo Samaj, as instruments of social and political transformation.

The Brahmo Samaj movement was the most potent and living force, which exercised a profound, though possibly an indirect influence even over orthodox Hindu society. Besides, for the sake of conformity, he wanted to take the Hindu mind back to the pristine glory and simplicity of the Vedas and Upanishads which, like ancient scriptures of other religions, upheld certain basic humanistic values and prescribed little that stood in the way of legitimate human efforts at betterment of material existence (Chakrabarti 2008: 32).

First to raise voice for the Property rights for Hindu women

He demanded property inheritance rights for Hindu women.

"Ram Mohan Roy advocated for girls' property of rights and women's education. He was one of the founders of the women's liberation movement in this country. The c ondition of women inHindu society at that time was very dire. They were treated unfairly and deprived in various cases. According to Ram Mohan Roy, the main reason for the backwardness of Hindu women in all respects was their exclusion from property rights. Hindu girls did not have the right to enjoy their father's property. Even in the case of a married woman, after the death of her husband, the property could be passed on to her childrenbut women had no rights.

In his book ‘Ancient Right’ of 1822, Ram Mohan Roy mentioned that in Hindu society in ancient India, Hindu girls had equal access and opportunities to property rights as men. Ancient sages such as Yajnavalkya, Katyayana, Narada, Vishnu, Brihoshpati, Byas, etc. have said that after the death of the husband, the wife will get an equal share of the property with her sons.

Even Manu has acknowledged the rights of women in his book 'Dayabhaga'.If the husband makes a distribution of property while he is alive, do not deprive the wife of her fair share - this is the provision of Dayabhaga i.e.liability(Dutt, 2002, p. 36). He further mentioned that according to the ancient Hindu scriptures, after the death of the husband, the property was shared equally between the wife and the son, and even after the death of the father, the daughter received one-fourth (1/4) of the property. He has tried to prove that how all kinds of deprivation have led to the loss of girls.

Naturally, the girls lost their freedom due to looting of property and they became slaves of the family. At that time, the thinking of the so-called intellectual person of the society was that the girls were less intelligent than men. Women existed only physically. The girls had no chance of a second marriage. Ram Mohan Roy strongly protested against all this. “ [1]

“Roy was a fearless and self-respecting man, but he had greater respect for women, making it a point to stand up whenever a lady entered the room. He also advocated for a woman’s share in ancestral property. He was, perhaps, the first feminist in India. This quality, I dare say, arrived neither from his exposure to the West nor from his alleged kowtowing to the English ruling class. It came very largely from his training as a tantrik, a tradition hinging on revering the ‘female principle and her manifestation’ in every woman. This was subsequently bolstered by his copious reading of monistic Vedanta and his larger interest in world-historical events.” [2]

 Raja Ram Mohan Roy was first to raise voice against Polygamy

The Bengali society that he lived in at that time was peculiar. The reputation of a family depended on the character of marriages made by its female members. A kulin Brahmin family (those with titles Banerjee, Mukherjee, Chatterjee, Ganguly etc.) could lose its rank by wrong marriage of their daughter, whereas a non-kulin girl could bring honour to her family by marrying into a good kulin house. The result was polygamy.

In most parts of Bengal kulin boys of ten started their careers as professional bridegrooms and

before they turned twenty usually, they married many wives of ages from five to fifty. Matrimony became a sort of profession among the kulins. The outcome of this system was that it left a large number of women unhappy and barren. They were barren because they were widows or married to husbands with whom they did not generally cohabit.

His attacks on polygamy were based on the shastras. The shastras allowed polygamy with many restrictions, but the practice in Bengal was not according to the Shastric laws. According to the ancient Hindu shastras, a man had to apply to the courts with reasons why he needed a second wife, if his first wife was alive and only with the consent of law could he re-marry.[3]

Rammohan's oath to prevent satidah

Some say that even Rammohan didn't agree with the pervasiveness of sati. Some say that the Sati of Rammohan’s elder brother's wife was not true.

Here is an authentic reference to refute above:

Excerpts from the book " Mahatma Raja Rammohan Roy" by Sri Nagendranath Chattopadhyay, one of the most respected biographers of Rammohan Roy. Page 26 and 27. Translated from the bengali book which was the 5th publication  in 1928 Rammohan's oath to prevent satidah

 Reading the biographies of the great men, one can see that one incident, (maybe in the slightest case) many times,  changes his life completely.  The finger of god  shows them the path of truth and duty through events.

 Who doesn't see the corpse being taken to the crematorium for hundreds of days in life?  But the prince of Kapilvastu saw it and he left the throne to create invaluable deeds all over the world.

 Hundreds of people in the world did not see the death in lightening?  But Martin Luther embraced religion in the world.

 Which child does not beat the little turtle?  But four years old Theodore Parkar, going to kill a turtle saw the act of conscience.

Similarly, who did not see the death of Sati at the time of Rammohan?  But he witnessed the wife of his eldest brother Jaganmohan's immolation and took a vow that as long as he lives he will eradicate this horrible practice.

 He wanted to stop her from Sahamaran. He explained a lot to all who were associated with the incident, but could not succeed.

 "The sati pyre is burning in a daze. To avoid the noise of the cry of the poor lady going out, various instruments are being played with great enthusiasm.

She is trying to escape from the cheetah in fear, but the relatives are pressing her chest with a bamboo ruthlessly.

 Rammohun Roy's heart was overwhelmed with kindness when he saw the cruel act arose, and yet he vowed that he would not die until the custom is abolished. "  [4]

 * This satidah took place in 1811.

First to cross kala pani and broke through the walls of India’s exclusiveness

 

Rammohan was the first to cross Kalapani that broke the isolation of India from rest of the world. He showed the way.

“... we did not go out, that we did not compare notes with other nations--that has been the one great cause of our downfall, and every one of you knows that little stir, the little life that you see in India, begins from the day when Raja Rammohan Roy broke through the walls of that exclusiveness. Since that day, history in India has taken another turn, and now it is growing with accelerated motion." - Swami Vivekananda

 

References:

1. From Article posted by Dr. Anirudh Rakshit on SAMAJ Group

2. Article by Dr. Amiya P. Sen raja-rammohan-roy-was-very-much-a-hindu

3. From the Article, “Raja Rammohan RoyOn Paving the Way for Women’s Education, by  Dr. Bipasha Sinha

4. Rammohan's birthday anniversary speech by Rajnarayan Bose (Leader of Brahmo Samaj and grand father to Sri Aurobindo) who heard above from his father Sri Nanda Kishor Bose, a close friend of Rammohan. From the Book Mahatma Rammohan by Sri Nagendranath CHattopadhyay