Next. Ramak
RMAK"RI"SH"N"A.
Such a man was Rmak"ri"sh"n"a, who has lately obtained considerable celebrity both in India and America, where his disciples have been actively engaged in preaching his gospel and winning converts to his doctrines, even among Christian audiences. This may seem very strange, nay, almost incredible to us. But we have only to remember what the religion of large numbers of people consists in who call themselves Christians, without even having had an idea of what Christ really taught or what He was meant for in the history of mankind. There are many who know absolutely nothing either of the history or of the doctrines of Christianity, or if they do, they have simply learnt their catechism by heart. They repeat what they have learnt, but without an atom of real faith or love. Yet every human heart has its religious yearnings, it has a hunger for religion which sooner or later wants to be satisfied. Now the religion taught by the disciples of Rmak"ri"sh"n"a comes to these hungry souls without any outward authority. So far from being forced on
p. 11
them, it is to them at first a heathen and despised religion. If they listen to it at all, it is of their own free will; and if they believe in any part of it, it is of their own free choice. A chosen religion is always stronger than an inherited religion, and hence we find that converts from one religion to another are generally so zealous for their new faith, while those who never knew what real religion meant are enthusiastic in proclaiming any truths which they seem to have discovered for themselves and to which their heart has yielded a free assent. Hence, though there may be some exaggeration in the number of those who are stated to have become converted to the religion of Rmak"ri"sh"n"a, and though some who now call themselves converts to the Vednta may in reality have made but the first step towards real Christianity, there can be no doubt that a religion which can achieve such successes in our time, while it calls itself with perfect truth the oldest religion and philosophy of the world, viz. the Vednta, the end or highest object of the Veda, deserves our careful attention 1.
Rmak"ri"sh"n"a himself never claimed to be the founder of a new religion. He simply preached the old religion of India, which was founded on the Veda, more particularly on the Upanishads, and was systematised later on in the Stras of Bdarya"n"a, and finally developed in the commentaries
p. 12
of Sa"m"kara and others. Even in preaching that religion, and in living the life of a recluse, as he did, Rmak"ri"sh"n"a by no means claimed to stand alone. There were several leading Vednta preachers in India during the last fifty years, sometimes called Paramaha"m"sas. Keshub Chunder Sen, well known in England and America, who was a great reformer with a strong leaning towards Christianity, was not counted as one of them, because he never passed through the proper discipline and did not live the life of a Sa"m"nysin. But he mentions four among his contemporaries who deserved that title: first, Daynanda Sarasvat, for a time unfortunately connected with Madame Blavatsky; secondly, Pawri Bba of Ghazipur; thirdly, the Sikh Nagaji of Doomraon; and lastly, our Rmak"ri"sh"n"a, commonly called the Paramaha"m"sa of Dakshi"n"esvar. 'These,' he adds, 'are the four ascetic saints whom our friends have from time to time duly honoured, and in whose company they have sought the sanctifying influences of character and example. May we respect,' he continues, 'and serve with profound respect and humility, every ascetic saint whom Providence may bring to us. The impure become pure in the company of Sdhus.'
Footnotes
11:1 This is the explanation given of the name of Vednta. But it is probably an after-thought. Like other compounds in anta, such as Siddhnta, Strnta, then, as it stands at the end of Brhma"n"as and ra"n"yakas, it was explained as end of the Veda, and lastly as the end, i.e. the goal, the highest object of the Veda.
Such a man was Rmak"ri"sh"n"a, who has lately obtained considerable celebrity both in India and America, where his disciples have been actively engaged in preaching his gospel and winning converts to his doctrines, even among Christian audiences. This may seem very strange, nay, almost incredible to us. But we have only to remember what the religion of large numbers of people consists in who call themselves Christians, without even having had an idea of what Christ really taught or what He was meant for in the history of mankind. There are many who know absolutely nothing either of the history or of the doctrines of Christianity, or if they do, they have simply learnt their catechism by heart. They repeat what they have learnt, but without an atom of real faith or love. Yet every human heart has its religious yearnings, it has a hunger for religion which sooner or later wants to be satisfied. Now the religion taught by the disciples of Rmak"ri"sh"n"a comes to these hungry souls without any outward authority. So far from being forced on
p. 11
them, it is to them at first a heathen and despised religion. If they listen to it at all, it is of their own free will; and if they believe in any part of it, it is of their own free choice. A chosen religion is always stronger than an inherited religion, and hence we find that converts from one religion to another are generally so zealous for their new faith, while those who never knew what real religion meant are enthusiastic in proclaiming any truths which they seem to have discovered for themselves and to which their heart has yielded a free assent. Hence, though there may be some exaggeration in the number of those who are stated to have become converted to the religion of Rmak"ri"sh"n"a, and though some who now call themselves converts to the Vednta may in reality have made but the first step towards real Christianity, there can be no doubt that a religion which can achieve such successes in our time, while it calls itself with perfect truth the oldest religion and philosophy of the world, viz. the Vednta, the end or highest object of the Veda, deserves our careful attention 1.
Rmak"ri"sh"n"a himself never claimed to be the founder of a new religion. He simply preached the old religion of India, which was founded on the Veda, more particularly on the Upanishads, and was systematised later on in the Stras of Bdarya"n"a, and finally developed in the commentaries
p. 12
of Sa"m"kara and others. Even in preaching that religion, and in living the life of a recluse, as he did, Rmak"ri"sh"n"a by no means claimed to stand alone. There were several leading Vednta preachers in India during the last fifty years, sometimes called Paramaha"m"sas. Keshub Chunder Sen, well known in England and America, who was a great reformer with a strong leaning towards Christianity, was not counted as one of them, because he never passed through the proper discipline and did not live the life of a Sa"m"nysin. But he mentions four among his contemporaries who deserved that title: first, Daynanda Sarasvat, for a time unfortunately connected with Madame Blavatsky; secondly, Pawri Bba of Ghazipur; thirdly, the Sikh Nagaji of Doomraon; and lastly, our Rmak"ri"sh"n"a, commonly called the Paramaha"m"sa of Dakshi"n"esvar. 'These,' he adds, 'are the four ascetic saints whom our friends have from time to time duly honoured, and in whose company they have sought the sanctifying influences of character and example. May we respect,' he continues, 'and serve with profound respect and humility, every ascetic saint whom Providence may bring to us. The impure become pure in the company of Sdhus.'
Footnotes
11:1 This is the explanation given of the name of Vednta. But it is probably an after-thought. Like other compounds in anta, such as Siddhnta, Strnta, then, as it stands at the end of Brhma"n"as and ra"n"yakas, it was explained as end of the Veda, and lastly as the end, i.e. the goal, the highest object of the Veda.
