NEWS – June 2019

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246th Birthday celebration of Raja Rammohun Roy Rammohun Roy was lauded for his appeal on self-confidence, castigating superstitions, and countered prevalent orthodoxy and stood for inner unity, appraisal of monotheism and women emancipation. He was one of the key personalities of “Bengal Renaissance” known to be at the forefront of progressive forces. He made a successful attempt to modernise the Indian society. Belong to a Brahmin family in Bengal, many of his acts was against his caste and what was Read More …

INVOCATION – May 2019

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The truth of a saying does not depend upon the multitude of prayers. – Rammohun Roy   *   *   *   *   * It is not the function of our soul to gain God, to utilise him for any special material purpose. All that we can ever aspire to is to become more and more one with God. – Rabindranath Tagore *   *   *   *   * There is nothing so frightful as ignorance in action. – Goethe

Editorial – May 2019

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A poet has said ‘Society, friendship and love are divinely bestowed upon a man. It touches the gentle chords of our heart. But it presupposes faith in divinity and God. Therein lies the first hurdle in our journey to spiritual realisation. Doubts have assailed throughout ages not only in the minds of ordinary men fractured by diverse earthly desires and pursuits. Not only that, the argumentative mind often disputes even the very existence of God and the concept of divinity. Read More …

Rammohun’s Monotheism As An Aid To Nation-Building

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By Ramananda Chatterjee Of the three maxims in politics, in ethics, and in religion, which Rammohun Roy often repeated, the one on religion was from the Persian Poet Saadi, and runs thus in English translation :— “The true way of serving God is to do good to man”. This puts us on the track of the mainspring of his multifarious activities for the welfare of his countrymen and of mankind in general. It was his religious faith. As I have Read More …

Abolition of Sati, Custom of Hindu Religion

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Continued from last issue… Rammohun was not a believer in mere Sastra unless that was verified by experience. When experience proves that truth of Sastra, it became acceptable. It was his firm faith that “By forsaking prejudices and reflecting on Sastra what is really conformable to its precepts, may be perceived and the evils and disgrace brought on this country by the crime of female murder will cease”. Rammohun carried on his propaganda against the sati in his second tract Read More …

NEWS – May 2019

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Rabindra Janmotsab at Sadharan Brahmo Samaj On 11th May at 6.30 pm a musical programme was arranged in the Prayer hall of Sadharan Brahmo Samaj on the occasion of 158th Birth Anniversary of Rabindranath Tagore. Sri Agnivo Bandopadhyay and Smt. Aditi Gupta were the singers and sung solo Rabindrasangeets in the presence of a large no. of audience. Jaisthaotsab at Sadharan Brahmo Samaj On 17th May, 2019 (2nd Jaistha, 1426) on the occasion of 141st foundation day of the Sadharan Read More …

INVOCATION – April 2019

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The principle of veneration never dies out. Man fallen into superstition, into sensuality, is never quite without visions of the moral sentiment – Emerson   *   *   *   *   * Love is the magic stone that transmutes by its touch greed into sacrifice.               – Baul *   *   *   *   * To live religiously is to live naturally, to live naturally is to act up to the dictates of conscience. To live to nature is to live to God. – Keshub Read More …

Editorial – April 2019

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The month of April is here bringing in the Bengali New year, 1426 on 1st of Baisakh, We will come to it later. 2. Our scriptures say “অয়ো নিজ পরোবেতি গণনা লঘু চেত্সাম, উদারা চরিতানান্তু বসুধেব কুটম্বকম্৷” We can translate it into English when this will look like as follows: “Only those who are mean discriminate between one’s own interests and those of others. But those who are generous feel that the entire humanity is close to their hearts”. Let Read More …

Abolition of Sati Custom of Hindu Religion

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The social system of the Hindus contained a number of iniquitous and inhuman practises. The most barbarous of which was the burning of widows on the funeral pyre of their dead husband. It was believed by the people that if a woman could die along with her husband, she not only went to heaven but also saved her husband from perdition. The custom of concremation was an old custom in India and it had a wide appeal. There were no Read More …

Rabindranath and the World: The Influence of the Brahmo Samaj

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By Arup Kumar Das Rabindranath Tagore was born in the ancestral house of the Tagores at Jorasanko Thakur Bari, a centre of the 19th century Bengali renaissance. His father, Maharshi Debendranath Tagore, was an ardent follower of Raja Rammohun Roy, the maker of modern India, who founded the Brahmo Samaj in 1828. Debendranath abjured idolatry, accepted initiation into Brahma Dharma, gave it a shape and became the leader of a re-oriented faith founded on the pure monotheism of the ancient Read More …