DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.636#0488
478 Modern Hindu Theism. Rammohun Roy.
A good life of Rammohun Roy, composed in Sanskrit or
Bengali, and translated into Hindustani and other principal
vernaculars, together with a collection of his writings, were
for a long time greatly needed1; but these wants have been
recently to a great extent supplied by Nagend'ra-nath
Chatterjea and Raj Narain Bose. The former has published
a life of the Raja and the latter a new edition of his Bengali
writings. What little is known of his early history is soon
told. According to Nagendra-nath he was born in May,
1774, at a village called Radhanagar, in the district of
Murshidabad. His father, Ram Kant Roy, was a Brahman
of high caste, and his grandfather had held offices under the
Mogul Emperor. At an early age Rammohun Roy was sent
to study Persian and Arabic literature, including the Kuran
itself, at the great seat of Muhammadan learning, Patna. It
was thought that his proficiency in Muhammadan lore might
lead to his advancement at the Mogul court. Not that he
neglected Sanskrit or his Brahmanical studies. His father
was a worshipper of Vishnu. Every morning the son was
accustomed to read a chapter of the Vaishnava bible—the
Bhagavata Purana. Naturally thoughtful and intelligent, he
soon began to think for himself, and to see through the absurd
tissue of fable by which its authority is supported. Wholly
unable to acquiesce in its extravagant mythology, he betook
himself to the simple Vedic system, and the Vedanta as
expressed in the Upanishads attracted his special attention.
At the age of sixteen he composed a spirited tract against
idolatry. This for a mere boy was a sufficiently remarkable
achievement, and not likely to pass unnoticed. As a matter
of course it roused the anger not only of his own immediate
1 The Rev. K. S. Macdonald gave a short and interesting summary of
his life in a paper read at Darjeeling (June, 1879), and Miss Mary Car-
penter published an interesting account of his ' Last Days' in 1866. Mr.
Macdonald's anecdotes were chiefly taken from a speech delivered by
Raj Narain Bose at one of the annual meetings for commemorating the
memory of the Raja.
A good life of Rammohun Roy, composed in Sanskrit or
Bengali, and translated into Hindustani and other principal
vernaculars, together with a collection of his writings, were
for a long time greatly needed1; but these wants have been
recently to a great extent supplied by Nagend'ra-nath
Chatterjea and Raj Narain Bose. The former has published
a life of the Raja and the latter a new edition of his Bengali
writings. What little is known of his early history is soon
told. According to Nagendra-nath he was born in May,
1774, at a village called Radhanagar, in the district of
Murshidabad. His father, Ram Kant Roy, was a Brahman
of high caste, and his grandfather had held offices under the
Mogul Emperor. At an early age Rammohun Roy was sent
to study Persian and Arabic literature, including the Kuran
itself, at the great seat of Muhammadan learning, Patna. It
was thought that his proficiency in Muhammadan lore might
lead to his advancement at the Mogul court. Not that he
neglected Sanskrit or his Brahmanical studies. His father
was a worshipper of Vishnu. Every morning the son was
accustomed to read a chapter of the Vaishnava bible—the
Bhagavata Purana. Naturally thoughtful and intelligent, he
soon began to think for himself, and to see through the absurd
tissue of fable by which its authority is supported. Wholly
unable to acquiesce in its extravagant mythology, he betook
himself to the simple Vedic system, and the Vedanta as
expressed in the Upanishads attracted his special attention.
At the age of sixteen he composed a spirited tract against
idolatry. This for a mere boy was a sufficiently remarkable
achievement, and not likely to pass unnoticed. As a matter
of course it roused the anger not only of his own immediate
1 The Rev. K. S. Macdonald gave a short and interesting summary of
his life in a paper read at Darjeeling (June, 1879), and Miss Mary Car-
penter published an interesting account of his ' Last Days' in 1866. Mr.
Macdonald's anecdotes were chiefly taken from a speech delivered by
Raj Narain Bose at one of the annual meetings for commemorating the
memory of the Raja.