Devendra NATH Tagore - Lecture notes 1 PDF

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Devendra NATH Tagore...

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DEVENDRA NATH TAGORE I nt r oduct i on I mmedi at el yf ol l owi ng t he deat h ofRaj a Ram Mohun Roy ,t he Br ahmoSamajwasr educedt oast at eofnear deat h.I twasonl y possi bl e because of t he combi ned effor t s of Dwar aka Nat h Tagor e,whopr ovi dedt henecessar yf unds ,whi chwer eext r eme l y l i mi t ed,and Pundi tRam Chandr a Vi dybagi sh,who conduc t ed t heweekl yser vi ceand mi ni st er ed t ot hespi r i t ualneedsoft he f ew peopl ewho car ed t o at t end i t .Dwar aka Nat h Tagor e,who suppl i edt hene cessar yf unds,whi chwer eext r eme l yl i mi t ed. Es t abl i shmentoft henew Ashr am The el destson ofDwar aka Nat h Tagor e,who had come i nt o cont ac twi t h Ram Mohun,was i nst r ument ali n br i ngi ng new vi t al i t yi nt ot hec hur ch.I n 1838,hewasconver t ed t ot henew f ai t h, and t he f ol l owi ng y ear he f ounded a soci e t y known af t er war dsast heTat t vabodhi niSabha,whi ch at t r ac t ed ahuge numberofweal t hyand power f ulmen.Hewasi ns t ant l yst r uc k by t he depl or abl e st at e oft he Br ahmo Samajcommuni t y .A pr eac herwasst andi ngi nt hepul pi t ,pr eac hi ngt het heol ogyof Ram' s i ncar nat i on. The v as t maj or i t y of i ndi vi dual s who at t endedt heser vi cewer ei dol at er si nt hei rown homes.Not hi ng exi st ed i nt he way ofan or gani sat i on or a const i t ut i on,no member shi p,nocov enant ,novow.

New effor tofD. N Tagor e At r eat ywasdr af t ed f ort hechur ch al ongt hel i nesest abl i shed byRam Mohun,andanydevot eewhoaccept edi twasr equi r edt o pr ocl ai mt hathewoul dadher et ot hepr i nci pl esofr e l i gi ousl i f e est abl i shedbyt heVedant aandwor shi pGodt hr oughr eci t at i ons of t he Gayat r i Mant r a. I n 1843, De vendr anat h and t went y col l eagues r ecei v ed f or mal i ni t i at i on at t he hands of Ram Chandr a Vi dyabagi sh and si gned t hecov enant ,whi c h wast he begi nni ng oft he Hi ndu r el i gi on.Thi s was a hi st or i c occasi on si nc ei twas t he fir s ts t ep i nt he pr ocess oft r ans f or mi ng t he Br ahmoSamdhii nt oadi st i nctspi r i t ualf r at er ni t yt hathasbeen r ecogni sedi nt er nat i onal l y .Al t houghi tshoul dbement i onedt hat Devendr a Nat h' s t echni que of i ni t i at i on was st r i ct l y i n accor dance wi t ht he Mahani r van Tant r a,i ti si mpor t ant t o emphasi set hatt hi swasnott hecase. I t sMi ssi onar yact i vi t y The Tat t vabodhi niSabha ac t ed as t he chur c h' s mi ssi onar y or gani sat i on asi tembar ked on a new er a ofhe l pf ulser vi cet o soci e t y .I n addi t i on t or epr i nt i ng many ofRam Mohan Roy' s wr i t i ngs,a mont hl ynews paper ,t heTat t vabodhi niPat r i ka,was l aunched undert heedi t or shi p ofAkshayKumarDut t a,whi ch cont i nues t ot hi s day .Mof ussi lengaged a l ar ge number of pr eac her sf or pr opaganda pur poses,and a l ar ge number of Samaj as popped up i n r ur al ar eas . Al so es t abl i shed wer e school s, whi ch s pr out ed up t hr oughout t he pr ovi nces. An

educat i onali nst i t ut i onf oryoungmenwasal sof oundedi nor der t opr ovi det hem wi t hr e l i gi oust r ai ni ng. I mpor t anceofVeda Whi l e eng aged i n a di sput e wi t ht he Chr i s t i ans i n 1845,t he Vedas wer e offici al l y pr ocl ai med as t he f oundat i on of t he Br ahmoSamaj ' sr el i gi on,whi chwasr e f er r edt oasVedant i sm.I n addi t i on,t he not i on oft he i nf al l i bi l i t y oft he Vedas was gi ven pr omi nence.I n or dert or econci l et hedi ffer ences,f ourBr ahman yout hswer esentt o Banar asi n 1945 t os t udyt heVedas ,and Devendr a Nat h hi msel fwentt her ei n 1847 t of or m a cor r ect under s t andi ngoft het eachi ngsoft heVedas.Thi swasnotl i ked by a s t r ong sec t i on,headed by Akshay KumarDut t a,whose " r at i onal i st i cnat ur ef ound i tdi fficul tt or econci l ei t sel ft ot hat doc t r i ne . " Concl usi on However ,asar esul toft heser esear chesandanal yses,De vendr a Nat hr esol v ed t or e t ai nt he mov ementas c l ose t oi t s or i gi nal r oot saspossi bl e,i . e. ,r espectf ort heanc i entHi ndu scr i pt ur es. So,hecompi l ed por t i onsf r om t he Upani shad,whi ch i nc l uded t het r ut h ofMonot he i sm,i nt oabook t hati snow i nt hepubl i c domai n.Theanci entVedant i cCovenantwasr epl aced bysome essent i alconcept s ofNat ur aland Uni ver salThei sm,whi c h he est abl i shed i n addi t i on t or epl aci ng i t . Al l of t he se e vent s occur r edbe t ween1847and1850....