Reminiscent of Ram Mohan Roy who coined the word ‘Hinduism’

Ram Mohan Roy (also spelled Rammohan Roy) was born in Radhanagar, Bengal, on April 22, 1772.

Roy, a towering intellect, seeker of justice and religious reformer, deserves to be better known outside India. He is generally believed to have coined the term ‘Hinduism’ as a general term for the family of religions in the Indian subcontinent. To be honest, just for that…

Roy has been called the father of the Bengal Renaissance, an astonishing cultural, religious, intellectual and artistic era that began with him and continued into the twentieth century. He was an advocate for women’s rights, best known as a fierce opponent of sati, the practice of “suicide” by widows, calling for a major reform of the caste system, and inspiring and leading a call for a unitarian-inspired reform of Hinduism. .

His biographical article at the UUA notes that Roy “promoted a rational, ethical, non-authoritarian, worldly and socially reformist Hinduism. That is why he is called the ‘Father of Modern India’. His writings sparked interest among British and American Unitarians, inspired Unitarian missionary work in India, and influenced the Transcendentalists.”

Roy was one of the founders of the Calcutta Unitarian Society and the Brahmo Samaj.

The Brahmo Samaj was one of the organizations that had an influence far beyond the number of followers. The name implies the company of God. It was founded in 1828 by Roy and Dwarkanath Tagore (grandfather of Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore). And two years later they launched their first house of prayer.

Major features of the Brahmo include placing reason above all scriptures, denying literal avatars, rejecting polytheism, rejecting the caste system and taking an officially agnostic position on karma and reincarnation. Over time, the group would undergo several schisms, and today there are three institutions that claim direct lineage: the Brahmo Samaj, Adi Brahom Samaj, and the Sadharan Brahmo Samaj.

At their peak they may have had eight million members. But their numbers have collapsed in modern times and today number about twenty thousand. Again, these figures belie the pervasive influence of their teachings and those of Ram Mohan Roy.

When he died, the great American Unitarian minister William Ellery Channing wrote: “I feel his loss deeply. I can’t name a stranger I was so eager to see.” The UUA biography tells us: “Roy’s poetic English translations of Vedic literature later stimulated the oracular imagination of Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau. His greatest legacy was the dream of a universal religion based on the belief of a divine unity. Rabindranath Tagore stated that Roy “realized that a bond of spiritual unity connects all humanity.”

A wonderful person.

It deserves a more prominent place in our minds and hearts.