Jignasa Journal Of History Of Ideas And Culture Part 02

Author(s): Vibha Upadhyaya and Others
Publisher: University of Rajasthan

Page 60

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Jijñāsā
places he held śāstrarthas with Brahmin priests who endeavoured to refute his reinterpretation of the doctrines of Hinduism. Swami Dayanand's propagation of monotheism was derided by pandits whose livelihood depended upon following and perpetrating intricate patterns of rituals. He proclaimed that his mission was to establish the true essence of Hinduism which he called 'Arya Dharma'. In fact, his debates with the Brahmin pandits were far more numerous, acrimonious and aggressive in nature. They cursed, humiliated and abused him and even stoned and attacked him. While there are instances when his discussions with Christian priests commenced and culminated amicably but his encounters with puritanical Brahmins were invariably rancorous and at times severe hostility also led to plots to assault and even murder Dayanand. In Chandapur in U.P. a priest of a temple had tried to assault him with a sword. In fact, the English Governor General had even offered him police protection after the incident. Similarly, Pandit Chaturbhuj Pauranik, one of his most hostile opponents, not only tried to silence his critique of contemporary Hinduism through śāstrarthas, he had even plotted an attack on Dayanand in Danapur, U.P. In Lahore, the Brahmins conspired to deprive him of hospitality in the haveli of Diwan Bhagwan Das and quite surprisingly, he stayed in a Muslim home. There are numerous such incidents which prove that Dayanand was perceived as a more serious threat by the Brahmin priestcraft than the Christian missionaries.
Like Raja Ram Mohan Roy, Dayanand had traced the degeneration and deterioration in social organization to the Brahmin priestcraft. He remarked, "The sectarian and selfish Brahmins of the present time prevent other people, through their false teachings, from acquiring knowledge and associatiog with men of learning, ensnare them in their own nets and thus ruin them physically, mentally and materially. They want to keep the Kshatriyas and other classes illiterate, since they are afraid that if they acquired knowledge and become enlightened, they would expose their hypocrisy, get out of their selfish grip and become disrespectful towards them." He held the Brahmins responsible for subverting the original social organization i.e., the varņa system based on merit and instead making the mere accident of birth the basis of the caste system.
Another threat that influenced Dayanand to attempt a reinterpretation of the religious doctrines and social organization was the vicious propaganda of the Christian missionaries against Indian religion and society. Their vilification campaign had focused on issues like idolatry, superstitions, indecent ceremonies and also the Indian pilgrimages during which people died of disease, exhaustion, and hunger. Low status of Indian women, particularly the barbaric practices like sati and female infanticide, and the evils of the caste system formed key aspects in their indictment of Indian society. In addition, they also raised doubts over the authenticity of Hinduism by focusing on the lack of a divine or revealed book that could be defined as the authoritative source of the religion. Such propaganda was unleashed incessantly through books, pamphlets and public meetings. The intensity and tenacity of the vicious attack appalled the exponents of Indian renaissance. They felt that the existence of Hinduism was in danger and that these onslaughts against the religion of the Hindus could produce a thoroughgoing skepticism in the minds of the followers especially the campaign regarding the absence of an authoritative source of the religion. They felt the urgency to redefine, reinterpret and organize Hindu religion. Dayanand sought to combat this challenge by asserting the supremacy of the Vedas not only as the source of Hinduism but as the repository of the entire knowledge in the world.
The third major challenge that Dayanand perceived was the degeneration and gloom that defined the contemporary conditions of Indian society wherein masses were victimized by poverty, superstitions, priestcraft and tyranny. In fact, as far as social conditions were concerned Dayanand was rational enough to fully agree with the assessment of the West regarding the appalling conditions of