We must also note that the form of the service arranged by Ram Mohan is Christian. Congregational worship is unknown in the ancient Hinduism which he believed he was restoring. Further, the ethics which Ram Mohan recommended were drawn from the teaching of Christ.

The death of the Founder was almost fatal to the infant society; but the munificence of his friend Prince Dwarka Nath Tagore enabled it to exist until a better day dawned.

5. Second Period, 1842-1865: Debendra Nath Tagore: Theism and Religious Reform. In 1838 Debendra Nath Tagore, the youthful son of the prince who had been Ram Mohan's great friend, passed through a very decided spiritual change, which made him a consecrated man for the rest of his life. The following year he formed, along with a few friends, the Tattvabodhini Sabha, or Truth-teaching Association, which met weekly for religious discussion, and once a month for worship.

Then in 1842, nine years after Ram Mohan's death, he and his young friends joined the Brāhma Samāj; and, for some years, the two societies worked side by side for common objects. Debendra was soon recognized as leader, and, being a Brahman, became the Acharya or minister of the Samāj. A monthly, called the Tattvabodhini Patrikā, or Truth-teaching Journal, began to appear; and a Vedic school, the Tattvabodhini Pathŝala, was established, partly to train Brahma missionaries, partly with a view to check Christianity, now making considerable progress in Calcutta under Duff's1 leadership. Debendra followed Ram Mohan in his belief that original Hinduism was a pure spiritual theism, and in his enthusiasm for the Upanishads, but did not share his deep reverence for Christ. He believed India had no need of Christianity; and he was never known to quote the Bible. 6. He saw that the Samāj needed organization. Hitherto 1 P. 19, above.

it had been merely a weekly meeting. It had exercised little influence on the private life of those who attended; and they were bound by no lasting tie to the Society. He therefore drew up, in 1843, what is known as the Brahma Covenant, a list of solemn vows to be taken by every one on becoming a member of the Society. The chief promises made are to abstain from idolatry, and to worship God by loving Him and by doing such deeds as He loves. The members of the Tattvabodhini Sabha were the first to take the vows. This fresh organization greatly strengthened the Samāj.

At the same time a brief form of prayer and adoration, drawn up by Debendra and called Brahmopāsanā,1 worship of Brahman, was introduced. This addition of prayer and devotional exercises to the service of the Samaj was a notable enrichment. It was a living fruit of Debendra's own religious experience. He was as far as possible from being a deist. lived a life of constant prayer and worship of God; and the direct communion of the human soul with the supreme Spirit was the most salient point in his teaching.

He

These changes and the vigorous preaching of Debendra and several young missionaries in Calcutta and many places round led to considerable growth. The Samaj began once more to take a prominent place in the life of Bengal.

But there were difficulties. The Vedas were recognized as the sole standard of the faith of the Samāj; and most of the members believed them to be verbally inspired. Duff was therefore justified in criticizing the Samaj for holding the plenary inspiration of such documents. A few of the more advanced members saw that it was no longer possible to hold the belief. In order that the matter might be settled on a sure basis, four students were sent to Benares, that each might study and copy one of the four Vedas, and bring back the fruits of his labour. They reached Calcutta in 1850; and the final

1 Published in Brahma Dharma.

result was that the inerrancy of the Vedas was altogether given up. Thus the rationalism implicit in Ram Mohan's teaching from the beginning became fully explicit; and the Samāj, left without any authoritative standard of doctrine, was thrown back on nature and intuition. Yet the Upanishads did not cease to be the chief scripture of the society; for, just at this crisis, Debendra compiled a series of extracts from Hindu literature, the bulk of them being from the Upanishads, for use in public worship and private devotion. This volume is called Brahma Dharma, i.e. Brahma Religion.

7. In 1857 a young man joined the Samaj who was destined to prove its third leader. This was Keshab Chandra Sen (Kesavachandra Sena), a Calcutta student, who came of a wellknown Vishnuite family of Vaidya caste, and had had a good modern education. For two years he did nothing, but in 1859 he became an active and successful worker. Debendra formed a great liking for his gifted young friend, while Keshab looked up to him with reverence and tenderness as to a father.

In 1860 Keshab founded the Sangat Sabha,1 or Believers' Association, which met regularly for devotional purposes and for the discussion of religious and social questions. In this weekly meeting the problem of the sacraments, saṁskāras, celebrated in Hindu homes on the occasion of births, marriages and other family events, was discussed; and their idolatrous character stood out so clearly that the members came to the conclusion that Brahmas could not conscientiously take part in them. In consequence, Debendra decided that no idolatrous sacrament should ever be celebrated in his own home, and prepared, for the use of the Samaj, a set of modified ceremonies from which everything heathen and idolatrous had been eliminated. These are known as Brahma rites; the manual is called the Anushṭhāna Paddhati; and Brahmas who use them are known as Anushṭhānic Brahmas. The worship

1 The word Sangat is used by the Sikhs for a company of pious people.

of Durga, which until now had been held every year in the Tagore residence, was given up, and the chamber in which the idol stood was converted into a chapel for family worship. 'The Sabha also discussed caste, with the result that the members gave it up once and for all, and Debendra discarded his own sacred thread. At Keshab's suggestion, the Samāj began to follow the example of Christian philanthropy, and gathered money and food for the famine-stricken. He was daily coming more and more under the influence of Christ, and felt in the depths of his spirit that social service and social reform were the bounden duty of every serious theist.

Keshab had had a good English education and had obtained a post in the Bank of Bengal. In 1861 he and several of his young friends gave up their positions, in order to become missionaries of the Samaj. Shortly afterwards, Keshab, though he was not a Brāhman, was formally made a minister of the Samaj with the title of Acharya.1 At this time also it was arranged that no minister of the Samaj, whether Brāhman or non-Brahman, should wear the sacred thread.

Amongst the new activities of the movement were the Brahma Vidyalaya, a sort of informal theological school, and a fortnightly English journal, The Indian Mirror, which soon became influential.

In 1864 Keshab made a long tour extending as far as Madras and Bombay, and preached with great power and success wherever he went. As a result of his labours, a new society called the Veda Samāj was founded in Madras that same year. From this society the present Brahma Samaj of Madras has grown. During this tour the welcome which he received far and near, and the many openings which he saw, suggested to him the possibility of a Brahma Samaj for the whole of India.

1 This led to the secession of a number of the older members of the Samaj, including Isvara Chandra Vidyāsāgara. They formed a new society, the Upāsanā Samāj, which did not last long.