seized on the theistic elements common to the three faiths, and declared them to be at once the original truths of Hinduism (corrupted by the populace in the course of the centuries) and the universal religion on which all men could unite. We must not be astonished at the crudeness of his work. The Vedas from which alone a true knowledge of the rise of Hinduism can be obtained were inaccessible to him, only the Upanishads being available; and the science of religion had not yet gathered its stores of comparative knowledge to illuminate the whole problem of the religions and their relation to each other.

He believed he was restoring the Hindu faith to its original purity, while, as a matter of fact, what he offered was a deistic theology and worship. Deism was very popular among European rationalists in the eighteenth century, and it harmonized well both with what he found in the Upanishads and with what he had learned from Muḥammadan rationalists. The Upanishads teach that Brahman is actionless; that he has no purpose or aim which could lead him to action; that all his activity is sport; that he is beyond the range of thought and speech; and therefore cannot be reached by man's meditations and prayers. That Ram Mohan's conception of God was seriously deistic we may realize clearly from the lack of prayer in the worship of the Samaj in his day, and also from the definitions of worship given in his writings. Here is a passage from his Religious Instructions founded on Sacred Authorities:

Question - What is meant by worship?

Answer - Worship implies the act of one with a view to please another; but when applied to the Supreme Being, it signifies a contemplation of his attributes.

Question - In what manner is this worship to be performed? Answer By bearing in mind that the Author and Governor of this visible universe is the Supreme Being, and comparing

this idea with the sacred writings and with reason. In this worship it is indispensably necessary to use exertions to subdue the senses, and to read such passages as direct attention to the Supreme Spirit. . . . The benefits which we continually receive from fire, from air, and from the sun, likewise from the various productions of the earth, such as the different kinds of grain, drugs, fruit and vegetables, all are dependent on him: and by considering and reasoning on the terms expressive of such ideas, the meaning itself is firmly fixed in the mind.1

Contrast with these statements the following lines from a little manual used at present by the Sadhāran Brahma Samāj:

Worship is the communion of the soul with God; on the part of man, it is the opening of his soul, the outpouring of his aspirations, the acknowledgement of his failures and transgressions and the consecration of his life and work to God as his Lord, Refuge and Guide; and on the part of God, the communication of His light, strength, inspiration and blessing unto the longing soul.2

This is a living theism: the above is a dry deism.

But there is another element in Ram Mohan's teaching which, in the subsequent history, has proved of infinite importance, namely this, that he did not believe in transmigration. Here he broke absolutely with Hinduism. Transmigration and karma are the very essence of the religion. The one aim of the philosophy of the Upanishads is the attainment of release from transmigration. It is thus only the simple truth to say that Ram Mohan was no longer a Hindu, that the orthodox were quite right in their suspicions, although they failed to lay stress on the crucial point. That this is a just judgment is made plain by the fact that the historical evolution of his principles has ended in separating the Brahmas from Hindu society. The Brahma to-day is as distinctly outside Hinduism as the Christian is.

1 English Works, 135, 137. 2 The religion of the Brahmo Samaj, 40.

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 Sabhā, 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 Brahma Samāj; and, for some years, the two societies worked side by side for common objects. Debendra was soon recognized as leader, and, being a Brāhman, 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 Pāṭhsāla, was established, partly to train Brāhma 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 Samaj needed organization. Hitherto 1 P. 19, above.