Brahmo Samaj, Arya Samaj, and the Church-Sect Typology

Author(s): Gauri Shankar Bhatt

Source: Review of Religious Research , Autumn, 1968, Vol. 10, No. 1, [New Religious
Movements] (Autumn, 1968), pp. 23-32
Published by: Springer

Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/3510669

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THE JAMAA MOVEMENT IN THE CONGO 23

EXPLANATORY NOTES
stand that the official hierarchy of the
*Presently a doctoral candidate in hte Department
ecclesia has taken with respect
Social Relations, to the
Harvard University.
movement. [1. Editorial note: The reader's attention is called to
an informative article on African religious movements
by Professor Harold W. Turner of the University of
Leicester, formerly in Nigeria. The article "A Typology
On the basis of these five essential of African Religious Movements" was expected to be
published in Holland in 1967 in Vol. I, No. 1 of the
traits, I have provisionally opted to call
Journal of Religion in Africa. pp. 1-34.]
2. Since 1964, the autlhor has been conducting field
the Jamaa an "acculturative reform
research on the Jamaa. This has entailed participant
observation and interview in the Katanga and Kasai
movement." By the use of this regions
term of Ithe Congo as well as in the capital city of
Kinshasa. It has also involved interviewing certain
wish to emphasize both the cross-cultural
priest-leaders of the movement now in Belgium. The
orientation of the Jamaa and the primary
changes materials which have been gathered include an
extensive body of letters written by Jamaa priests, re-
in attitudes, ritualistic practices, cordings
vocabu- of Jamaa meetings and songs as well as the
protocols of interviews with members, friends and critics
lary and structures in the Catholic of the movements and note on personal observations
Church that it already implies and that
which the author himself has made.
3. Jo in V. Taylor, The Primal Vision: Christian
it will crystallize if it survives and Presence
is Amid African Religion (London: SCM Press,
1963).
totally integrated into the larger Church.
4. Taylor, op. cit., p. 192.

BRAHMO SAMAJ, ARYA SAMAJ,

AND THE CHURCH-SECT TYPOLOGY

Gauri Shankar Bhatt

Dayanand Anglo-Vedic College
(affiliated with Meerut University)
Dehradhun, India

Brahmo Samaj cultural circumstances which differ from

those in Christianity . . . be used in the
It was suggested a few years ago in
an article by a Western scholar in the
analysis of other religions. . ... Undoubt-
International Journal of Comparative edly it will not apply to all categories of
Sociology that "the church-sect typology" religion," the author adds, "but perhaps
which has been widely applied in Chris- all modern organized religious behaviour,
tianity can "with appropriate adjust- since it demands social structure, can be
ments to allow for various features and interpreted through the insights provided

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 24 THE REVIEW OF RELIGIOUS RESEARCH

idolatry did
by it."' What this paper not have to
seeks any place.
do is to
determine whether or not the Brahmo There was another reason as well.
Samaj and the Arya Samaj, two well-
This was stated by the Raja: "The pres-
known socio-religious reform movements ent system of Hindoos is not well calcu-
of modern India, fit into this schema. lated to promote their political interests..
Such a task requires at least brief..en- It is necessary that some change should
quiry into the historical-social settingstake place in their religion, at least for
out of which these movements sprang,the the sake of their political advantage and
backgrounds of their founders and lead- social comfort."5
ers as well as of their followers, their In his historical role, the Raja is much
avowed and latent objectives and their more than a mere founder of the Brahmo
relations with a variety of structures, re-
Samaj. He has been hailed as the political
ligious and political, both within their spokesman of India (particularly of Hin-
own society and in the social systems of dus), the father of Indian journalism, re-
aliens under which they existed. The doubtable reformer but ardent champion
paper is generally analytic-descriptive of Brahmanical culture, revivalist, pre-
and is based on secondary data gathered server of smritiniti tradition, first orient-
from Census Reports of India, histories alist-occidentalist of modem India-in
of the movements, writings of leaders and short, the starting point of Indian Nation-
propagators and from a few of the books alism which took birth in the upper strata
on Indian cultural history and social ren- of Hindu society. The founding of the
aissance.
Brahmo Samaj is only supplementary to
First Schism in Brahmo Samaj his historical role although it comple-
ments the latter. His insistence that "the
The Brahmo Samaj, which literally
means the society of the worshippers people
of about the courts of Indian princes
One True God, has been described as "a are not inferior in point of education and
accomplishments to the respectable and
body of men who are struggling, in India,
to establish the worship of the Supremewell-bred classes in any other country,"
his demand for European education
Being in spirit as opposed to the prevail-
through
ing idolatry of the land."2 It was founded the medium of English language,
in Calcutta in 1828 by Ram Mohun Roy and his efforts to get the East Indian
(1772-1833), a Bengali Brahmin, Company's charter renewed with politi-
"whose immediate ancestors had desert- cal concessions to Indians (which meant
ed the profession of Brahmins of their concessions to his class) as well as his
class and successively held positions ofagitation against the Press Ordinance
responsibility under the Moslem Gov- (1823) were directed toward re-
Bill
ernment of Murshidabad."3 It was found- habilitating the upper classes of Indian
ed as a Trust, as the Brahma Sabha, or society under the new political masters
and in the face of new social needs.6
the One God Society to organize "a place
for the unsectarian worship of the One The Brahmo Samaj suffered its first
True God" and to strengthen "the bond schism in 1867 owing, as Sastri puts it,
of union between men of all religiousto conflict between two ways of life, the
persuasion and creeds"4 on the theistic Hindu and the Christian; and it was di-
precepts of Vedantic monism in which vided into the Adi Brahmo Samaj and

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B. SAMAJ, A. SAMAJ AND THE CHURCH-SECT TYPOLOGY 25

the Brahmo Samaj of India, the dra Sen (1838-1884) who came from a
former
being founded by Davendra Nath middle
Tagoreclass family of Vaidya caste and
and the latter led by Keshub Chandra
from amongst the English educated liter-
Sen. Before schism, under Tagore,
ati of the
Calcutta, the Brahmo Samaj (first
as the Brahmo Samaj of India, 1867-
Brahmo Samaj had accepted a covenant
for its members and a non-Brahmin as 1878 and later as the Nab Bidhan Samaj,
its minister, introduced a regular church i.e., the New Dispensation) gradually
service, including thanksgiving, praise turned toward theistic eclecticism, self-
and prayer, and an initiation ceremony consecrated evangelism, radical social re-
for its Brahmin members which included form, philanthropic work and the spread
burning of the sikha (tuft of hair on theof the inspired prophetism of Sen who
top of the head) and the sutra (sacredbecame its "Lord," "Master," "Saviour,"
thread). It also had laid the foundation "the Younger Son of the Father," and
of apostolic work, rejected the infallibil- "Like of Chaitanya" (1485-1534) the
ity of the Vedas and of all prophets and Bengali saint of devotionalism. The Brah-
books although it disapproved of such mo Samaj became His Church, the Brit-
radical social reforms as inter-caste mar- ish Government His government, Queen
riage, widow remarriage or taking vows Victoria His daughter, set over India to
in marriage (in imitation of Christian rule her people and give them education,
marriage). Tagore compiled a handbook comfort and prosperity. Christ was hailed
of rituals, anushthan paddhati, from as an ideal, "an Asiatic and Vedantist
which he dropped idolatrous practices Hindu Yogi." By infusing the spirit of
and the sacred thread ceremony; but he universal theism into it, the vaishnava
kept the rituals close to scripture. sankritan; idolatry became "the worship
of a divine attribute materialized" and the
After schism, the Adi Brahmo Samaj
forever closed its pulpit to other than river Ganges, in the usual Hindu way,
Brahmins, readopted saptapadi, a mar- became mother Ganges, an object of
riage rite, and a non-idolatrous form of worship and adoration." Writes E. A.
the sacred thread ceremony for Brah- Gait, "The Church of the New Dispensa-
tion . . . is more eclectic and has assimi-
mins; and it nearly forsook social reform
on the ground that it was social and not lated what it considers just not only in the
shastras, but also in the religious teach-
religious. With the Adi Brahmo Samaj
ings of Christianity, Buddhism and Islam
the monotheistic Hinduism of the upan-
. Inter-caste marriages, though not
ishads is Brahmoism and is superior to
all other systems of faith. It opposed greatly disapproved of, are rare .
the Brahmo Marriage Bill (1871) on the Probably most of them would prefer to
call themselves Hindus, unless their caste
ground that since Brahmos were Hindus
they were covered by Hindu Personal happened to be a humble one, in which
case they might describe themselves as
Law. Generally the Adi Brahmo Samaj
remained only an intellectual movement, Brahmos. .0...",
its members conforming to virtually all The Second Schism
the rules and practices of orthodox Hin- The Sadharan Brahmo Samaj arose
duism in domestic life.7 after the second schism (1878) as a con-
Under the leadership of Keshub Chan- stitutionally regulated, exclusive socio-

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 26 THE REVIEW OF RELIGIOUS RESEARCH

religious organization
ly towith three
Calcutta and objec-
Bengal and to Bengalis
living inthe
tives: viz., to promote Assam, worship
Bihar and Orrissa.
of It
only one True God alsowithout assigning
spread among the Khasis, a matri-
divinity to any humanarchal being,
tribal group of to preserve
Assam and diffused
to Bombay and
the catholicity of Brahmoism and spiri- the Panjab and even
outside of
tuality. It was founded by India; but it could never
several mem- attain
all-India status.
bers of the Brahmo Samaj of India "with As Sastri points out, it
took birth "in the
the distinct object of conducting all busi-rich and influential
ness of the Samaj, section
spiritual
of society of as thewell
Calcutta as
of 1828
material, accordingwhere, in addition to a common Persian
to constitutional
education, men's
methods." Its membership was mids were considerably
open, ir-
respective of color unhinged
and creed, by the new to those
contact with Euro-
persons who were above
pean civilization."l"
eighteen But subsequently
years it
recruitedto
of age who were willing mainly from "the ranks
cultivate the of the
well-to-do
habit of daily prayer, to bind middlethemselves
classes," drawn from
to discarding idolatry the upperand rungscaste and
of the Hindu to and
society
perform all domestic from andsuch professional
social ceremo-groups as govern-
nies as prescribed inment the servants,
theisticlawyers, and merchants
rites of
the Samaj. Through its who had received a
various European education
activities,
including the operation and who, later
ofon, led the Swadeshi
educational
institutions, library, Movement
press, of Bengal
and (1905).3
publica-The
tions as well as philanthropic English-educated elites were drawn to it,
activities,
this movement tried nottoso much
spreadperhaps on
theaccount
mes-of reli-
sage of catholic Brahmoism gious conviction, asas for
different
the freedom it
from popular Hinduism, allowed them
"to from the irksome
fight bonds of
against
all forms of social evil and
caste and from .the
. necessity
. injustice
of undergo-
. . to elevate the status of women and ing a ceremony of purification. 4 Signifi-
to ameliorate the conditions of the 'back- cantly, in Bombay, where caste rules were
ward' classes and give succour to the already lax, it could not get much foot-
needy in time of famine and epidemicing. 5 Labeled by some as Christianity in
diseases."'o Rejecting Brahmanical priest-disguise, by others as a weak, partial, or
craft and ritualism, caste and purdah, sophistical defense of Hinduism against
freely permitting inter-caste marriages,Christianity and the West, the Brahmo
not only in principle but in practice, andSamaj largely remained an intellectual
granting women liberal education andmovement growing on the fringe of Hin-
equal voice in all matters of the Samajduism.'6 With the spread of European
(which had been denied by Sen), the influence, the trammels of orthodoxy gave
Sadharan Brahmo Samaj tended to be-way and Brahmoism was no longer need-
come a separate caste, recruited mainly ed as a refuge for the Hindu nonconform-
from the ranks of the Brahmins, Vaidyasist 7 and the early goals of the movement
and Kayasthas, and far more select thangave way to nationalism.18
its earlier proto-types in Bengal.-'
Arya Samaj
As a socio-religious reform movement, The Arya Samaj was founded in Bom-
Brahmo Samaj remained confined large-bay in 1875, not as a Trust but as an

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B. SAMAJ, A. SAMAJ AND THE CHURCH-SECT TYPOLOGY 27

exclusive, constitutionally-regulated so-moneylender, and official of the

landlord,
cio-religious organization with the avowed
Morvi State (later merged into Gujrat).
Heprop-
aim of "establishing, protecting and never married but turned to sanyas
agating the Vedic religion as expounded
at the age of 21, studying Gujrati and
by (Swami) Dayanand Saraswati (1824-grammar in the Panini tradition
Sanskrit
1883).19 The idea for the organization
and immersed himself in the tradition of
the pro-
of the movement may well have been saynasi scholars who, from time to
vided by the Brahmo Samaj with which
time, interpreted Vedas or other scrip-
Dayanand had come in contact tures
in 1872.
to suit the social needs of their
times. As a casuist, Dayanand denounced
The first phase of the movement
brought the establishment of local not only
pri- various systems of Hinduism but
mary units called Arya Samajes. Each also Christianity and Islam and endeav-
ored
local unit was governed by the same rules to establish Vedicism as superior to
for membership (probationary and ef- all, to be accepted as a national religion
by
fective), subscription (viz., one percent Indians of all religious persuasion. He
of one's income), election rules, and protested against the Westernization and
weekly congregational meetings. Personsthe eclecticism of the Brahmo Samaj. His
were admitted to effective membership, was a mission that was at once patriotic,
orthodox,
i.e., with a right to vote, after eleven nativistic, and revivalistic. As a
months of probation: and they were ex- result Arya Samaj developed into a puri-
pected to mold their personal lives ac-tanical, austere, anti-orgiastic, and highly
militant and proselytizing movement
cording to the doctrinal principles of the
Samaj and the teachings of Dayanand aswhich endowed the qualified monism
presented in the Satyarth Prakash, the (vishishtadwait) of the teachers of medi-
"Bible" of the Samaj.20 eval India with a new emphasis and a
new significance, reviling Islam and
In the second phase, beginning in
Christianity, and advocating reform in
1886, came the organization of Provin-those areas of social life which were vul-
cial Assemblies or Arya Pratinidhi Sab-
nerable points of attack from Christian
has. Local units were federated into these
missionaries-viz., child marriage, un-
provincial assemblies and expected to
touchability, idolatry, and polytheism. Its
contribute ten percent of gross income to
distinctiveness lay in its basing all reform,
the latter as well as to send one represen-
sacred and secular, on Vedic scriptures,
tative for every ten members for three-but it also demanded social reform
year terms. Organization of the Interna-
through legislation, for example, the
tional Aryan League (Sarvadeshik Prat-
Child Marriage Restraint Act of 1929,
inidhi Sabha) came in 1908 and, in 1928,
the Arya Marriage Validity Act of 1937
the Dharma Arya Sabha for decidingand the Naik Girls' Protection Act of
doctrinal issues and settling questions of1928.21
creed. The Paropakarini Sabha was a
Trust created by Dayanand to supervise A Shuddhi movement was launched
propagation of the creed, organize Vedic by the Arya Samaj to convert or recon-
education, restore and publish Vedic lit- vert from other religions and to reclaim
erature and serve the poor. those on the periphery of Hinduism and
Dayanand was the son of a Brahmin Hindu society, such as backward and un-

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 28 THE REVIEW OF RELIGIOUS RESEARCH

touchable castes and tribes. Since recla- and Vedic education but, under the pres-
sure of its literati, originally Persian-edu-
mation meant admitting these individuals
to the status of the twice-born dwijcated,
by it developed two systems of educa-
tion-the ancient Gurukul system and the
giving each the sacred thread, gayatri
Anglo-Vedic
mantra, and the right to priestcraft, a system. The former gave
prime emphasis to Vedic arts and sci-
difficult matter in Hindu society, the Arya
Samaj evolved a program for socio- ences; the latter to Western arts and sci-
economic rehabilitation which involved ences. Cow-protection and vegetarianism
the organization of schools, cooperative did not go with the Vedic way of life.
societies, demanding the right of allDayanandto denounced caste distinction
draw water from the village wells, and and untouchability but did not advocate
gaining redress for those in forced interdining
la- on the grounds of hygiene. He
bour.22 This programme of rehabilitation granted women the right to education
was the forerunner of the Gandhian but pro- not in a co-educational setting, the
gram for Harijan and tribal uplift. right to niyog but not to divorce and the
The movement also undertook relief work right to swayambar (self-choice of hus-
during famines and earthquakes, orga-band), but through parents and teachers
nized homes for widows, orphans, andand not by romantic-love marriage. The
built charitable dispensaries to save the theory of karma is combined, in Daya-
poor and the destitute from falling into nand's teaching, with the concept of God
the hands of the Christian missionaries.23 the merciful. In the usual Brahmanic
The Arya Pratinidhi Sabha of Uttar way, varna is presented as the ideal so-
Pradesh province established a Criminalcial structure of an ideal society. The
Tribes' Settlement near Lucknow to take Arya Samaj denounced ritualism but
the work of rehabilitation away from brought in its own system of rituals.
these missionaries and demanded the in- According to some reports, the Arya
stitution of the Arja Samaj sandhya, Samaj welcomed the British Raj as an
hawan, and instruction in the Satyarth opportunity to propagate freely its creed
Prakash as compulsory in the schools in of protest against Islam and Christian-
the Arya Samaj in the same way that in-ity.24 It professed to, be patriotic but also
struction in the Bible and chapel services
loyal to the sovereign of the foreign gov-
ernment. Simultaneously, however, it
were required in educational institutions
founded by Christians. Organization in taught that "self-government is better
1927 of the Arya Bir Dal, an armythan of foreign government however good"
and also stressed swadharma (one's own
volunteers to protect religious and social
rights of the Arya Samaj and agitationsreligion), swaraj (one's own govern-
launched by it in Hyderabad in 1939 andment), swadeshi (one's own country),
in the Sindh in 1946 speak of its mili-and swabhasha (one's own language)-
tancy. Hindi as the national language. It ap-
pealed to those to whom political action
Schismatic Developments in the
also appealed."2 Lala Rajpat Rai stood as
Arya Samal
a bridge between the Indian National
Thus the Arya Samaj moved toward a
Congress and the Arya Samaj.
conservative, schismatic movement. It es-
poused the causes of Sanskrit and Hindi Although it was accused of treason at

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B. SAMAJ, A. SAMAJ AND THE CHURCH-SECT TYPOLOGY 29

one point, it was absolved shortly turned

after- themselves as Aryas. Leaders of
the movement
wards and those who adhered strictly to requested census authori-
its creed felt that they could not find
ties to record its members as of "Arya
anything common between the Caste Aryaand of Vedic religion." A phenom-
enal increase in the numbers of Jatas of
Samaj and the Indian National Congress.
U.P. in the ranks of the Arya Samaj in
On the propriety of the Khilaft move-
a period of twenty years (from 1911 to
ment and the Shuddhi movement, against
which the Muslims reacted sharply, 1931) it
showed that the movement was
differed with Gandhi who accused it of making strong appeal to those who
though better off economically had been
fomenting communal trouble, and it with-
denied a higher social status in the San-
drew into its grooves of Hindu national-
ism. The prevalence of civil servantsskritic
in hierarchy of the Hindus.30 As in
its ranks might have held the Arya Samaj
any Brahmanical movement for reform or
from developing into a political move-
revival, different social classes saw differ-
ment; but it contributed to the socialent
cli-
social opportunities within the Arya
mate which later produced the politicsSamaj.
of For the higher castes, it was an
Tilakand of Gandhi. opportunity for reinforcing their socio-
political influence through granting ritual
Regional Limitations of A rya Samaj concessions to lower castes including
The Arya Samaj never succeeded in
those who, were actively seeking this fol-
becoming an all-India movement. It re-lowing improvement in their economic
mained an intellectual and a regionalposition. With lower castes in general,
and with individuals from the lower
movement,26 confined mainly to northern
India, concentrated in the Panjab and castes who were able to rise to, the status
spreading over into U.P., Kashmir, Bi- of middle class through having gotten
har, Orissa, and Rajasthan,"2 i.e., in the
European education or procuring posi-
areas where Jains, Christians, and Mus- tions in trade and commerce, government
lims predominated and where a peripher- service, or the white collar professions in
al social base to Hinduism existed. Pa- particular, the Arya Samaj offered an op-
tronized by landed aristocracy, well-to-do
portunity of improving social-ritual sta-
merchants, and Hindu rulers of erstwhiletus through the relatively easy conditions
principalities of Rajputana,28 the Arya of Sanskritization which it offered. In
Samaj broke out as a movement of short, mid- Arya Samaj may be characterized
dle class Hindus who received European as an upper class movement for enlarg-
education and were drawn mainly ing from the socio-cultural base of Hinduism
the higher castes but who took the as move-
demanded by the political conditions
ment to the lower castes as an opportu- of the time. As those conditions changed,
nity for rising socially without abandoning
it lost its original thrust. Like the Brahmo
Hinduism.29
Samaj, it offered a defense of partial Hin-
The Arya Samaj could not escape the duism which lost its meaning with shifts
grooves of caste, however. In the Cen- in conditions in the social-political setting.
sus of 1931, 94 percent of the Aryas of Both lost meaning when Viveka Nand
U.P. reported their castes on their re- offered a defense of Hinduism as it stood,
turns. Members of the lower castes re- whatever it meant.

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 30 THE REVIEW OF RELIGIOUS RESEARCH

Similarities in the Two Movements the Arya Sama, schism took place on the
Both the Brahmo Samaj and the Arya question of European education vs. Vedic
Samaj, as we have seen, arose in a criti- education, vegetarianism vs. non-vegetar-
cal period of contact between Western ianism, authority of the Vedas vs. author-
civilization and Indian cultures (1828- ity of Dayanand; and in these schisms
1875) when the British were gradually there were overtones of nativism and re-
expanding and consolidating their politi- vivalism.
cal power in India. Christian missionar- Both movements endeavored to in-
ies were reviling Hinduism and Islam. terpret, reform, conserve, defend, and ex-
The Indian social economy was undergo- pand Hinduism in order to counteract the
ing the strain of impact from the nation-
threat of Christianity's supplanting the
alistic, imperialistic, and capitalistic econ- older system and also in order to evolve
omy of England, and the consequences of a form of Hinduism that could serve as
the introduction of a whole range of in- the national religion and the Indian ec-
stitutions from the postal system, the rail-
clesia. Both defended only a part of Hin-
ways, and the printing presses to Europe- duism-the Brahma Samaj defending up-
an education had uprooted the old elite anishad. Hinduism and the Arya Samaj,
of India to the point where many were Vedic Hinduism. Both enveloped their
feeling the need for regeneration, sacred favored traditions with a kind of halo. In
and secular reform. For their part, some the writer's opinion they do not, however,
Westerners were discovering Hindu India represent an Indian Renaissance, as his-
and evidencing genuine appreciation of it. torians of modern India often mistakenly
The establishment of the British Raj had depict them; they are rather expressions
generated a new hope for cultural and of Indian, and particularly Hindu, nation-
national revitalization among Hindus.
alism. As movements they represent a
Brahmo Samaj and Arya Samaj origi- phase of acculturation, nativism, and re-
nated, in one sense, in the theistic doc- vivalism, of which social-anthropologists
trines of two individuals whose life-spans speak.
overlap only a few years but both of Apparently both movements share
whom understood and emphasized themany characteristics of the reform move-
need of sacred and secular reforms as a ments which grew up earlier in response
political necessity. In their earlier peri-
to the impact of Islam in India. Like the
ods of development the two movements Brahmo Samaj and the Arya Samaj, the
are much like each other, diverging laterearlier movements were thrown open to
on. The Brahmo Samaj originated as ancastes in the hope of retaining the
lower
orthodox and inclusive organization loyalty
but of the latter and embracing them
afterwards split into heterodox-eclectic within one religious system, eclectic and/
and heterodox-exclusive wings. Fromorthe catholic. They also remained regional
very beginning, the Arya Samaj wasmovementsex- and their founders also inter-
clusive and orthodox. Schisms within the preted scriptural traditions to suit needs
Brahmo Samaj revolved around Hindu-
of their times. They were also austere
ism vs. Christianity, eclecticism vs. ca- and puritanic and, like the Brahmo
tholicity, nativism vs. Westernism, au-Samaj, they were eclectic, heterodox, and
thoritarianism vs. constitutionalism. In devotional, with a strong tinge of mysti-

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B. SAMAJ, A. SAMAJ AND THE CHURCH-SECT TYPOLOGY 31

cism. (Arya Samaj differs from and themto proselytizing

in and introduced in-
being orthodox.) itiation ceremonies administered by
Differences priests. Both attracted the elite, and the
There were differences however. The Arya Samaj had the objective of convert-
Brahmo Samaj and the Arya Samaj differing the whole world; yet both fall short
from them, for example, in their modeof
of ecclesia organization, lacking any
social expression and organization. sharp
The distinction between laity and clergy.
reformist movements of medieval India Both were voluntary and the Arya Sa-
maj, in particular, emphasized direct com-
started from the doctrine of mat (regard-
munion with God without any mediator.
ing the nature of God) and evolved into
emphasis on marg (technique of havingFinally, both were protests against the
communion with God or of "realizing" prevailing social order out of which they
God or Godhood) and they were orga- grew; but their protests also took on spe-
nized into sampradaya, theophratries cial
un-character as defense mechanisms
der the hereditary office and authority against
of the intrusive impacts of Christian-
their respective religious teachers. ity Al-and of Islam. Their origin and strength
though they emphasized reform, they did among the upper classes, loyalty to the
not undertake to effect it or to practicesovereign,
it and their intense occupation
with secular reforms and social work set
in an organized way. By contrast the
Brahmo Samaj and the Arya Samaj them
re- apart from sect-like organization.
They were unlike sects in the extent to
jected the principle of hereditary office
which they emphasized unity in diversity
and authority of the religious teacher and
strove, through active democratic organi- within a common theme of Hindu culture.
zation, for sacred and secular reform (The Brahmo Samaj was pluralistic while
involving also social service and charita- Arya Samaj was not.) In the social struc-
ble-philanthropic activities. In their be- ture of India they tend to behave more
ginnings they included elements of mat like a caste than as a church, a sect, a
and of marg, but they did not grow into denomination, or even any combination of
sampradaya; the reason, perhaps, whythese. They are, nevertheless, given their
they were called Samaj rather than sam- avowed sacred as well as secular objec-
pradaya or panth.31 tives, religious associations.
Conclusions EXPLANATORY NOTES

To conceptualize Hinduism as an ec-1. D. O. Moberg, "Potential Uses of the Church-

Typology in Comparative Religious Research," Inter-
clesia of a special type and the Brahmo
national Journal of Comparative Sociology, Vol. II
Samaj and the Arya Samaj as sects-or
(March, 1961) p. 47. (Issued by Department of Social
Anthropology, Karnatak University, Dharwar, India. Pub-
perhaps as denominations-seems to lished
be by E. J. Brill, Leiden, Holland.)
2. Sivanath Sastri, History of the Brahmo Samaj,
naive and inappropriate although, as we
2nd ed., (Calcutta: R. Chatterjee, 1919), Vol. I, p. 1.
3. Ibid., p. 15.
noted at the outset of this paper, some4. Ibid., draft of the Trust Deed, Appendix A.
5. K. C. Vyas, Social Renaissance in India, (Bom-
sociologists might be tempted to try bay:
to Vora & Co., 1957), pp. 16, 19.
do so. Both movements did organize 6. For details regarding Raja's historical role, see,
in addition to the work of Sastri and of Vyas cited
church-like mandirs (temples) withabove, K. Nag, In the Cultural Heritage of India, Vol.
II (Calcutta: Belur Math) and B. K. Sarkar, The
weekly congregational services which in-
Positive Background of Hindu Sociology, (Allahabad:
cluded prayer, praise, sermons, andPanini, 1937).
[Ed. Note: Manmohan Kaur in her book on The Role
thanksgiving; both took to evangelism
of Women in The Freedom Movement, p. 76, speaks

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 32 THIE REVIEW OF RELIGIOUS RESEARCH
of Ved Samaj Madras (1867) as branches of the parent 22. Rai, op. cit., chapter I.
movement rather than as sects.] 23. Ibid., p.
7. Census of India, 1901, Vol. VI, Part I. 24. Note, for example, a statement from Vachaspati,
8. Sastri, op. cit., Vol. II, Chapter IV. already cited: "But the most precious and inestimable
9. Census of India, op. cit. boon of Your Majesty's reign, for which Arya Samaj is
10. 59th Report of the Sadharan Brahmo Samaj, 1936. specially grateful, nay, to which it owes its very exis-
11. Census of India, op. cit. tence, is the incalculable blessing of religious tolera-
12. Sastri, op. cit., Vol. I, p. 25. tion." Paragraph three in the address of welcome pre-
13. G. C. Walker, Gazetteer of the Lahore District, sented at the time of Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee
rev. ed., Lahore, 1894. in 1887.
14. Census of India, op. cit. 25. Rai establishes, on the basis of testimony of for-
15. Ibid., 1911, Vol. VIII, parts 1 and 2. eign observers and of authors of the Census Reports of
16. Ibid., 1921, Vol. VII, part 1 (Report). India, that the Arya Samaj was neither a political
17. Ibid., 1911, Vol. I, part 1. body nor an anti-British movement. Op. cit., chapter
18. Vyas, op. cit., p. 75. IV.
19. G. P. Upadhyaya, The Arya Samaj Introduced. 26. Walker, op. cit.
(Allahabad: Arya Samaj Chowk, 1929). 27. Census of India, 1911, Vol. I, part I.
20. This included belief in God as the primary cause 28. Dayanand made strenuous efforts to get princes to
of all knowledge, a formless creator; in the Vedas as institute reforms in their states and appealed, next, to
the only divinely inspired and infallible books of true government officials and the landed aristocracy. The
knowledge; in the promotion of virtue, truthfulness, Maharana of Udaipur was the first president of his
physical, spiritual and social well-being, treating all Trust. Other members came from the upper class.
with love and justice; etc. See L. Rai, The Arya Samaj, 29. Walker, op. cit.; also Census of India, 1921, Vol.
(London: Longmans, Green, 1915), pp. 101-102. I, Part I and 1931, Vol. VIII, Part I.
21. Indra V. Vachaspati, Arya Samaj ka Itihas: Pra- 30. Ibid.
tham Bhag (Delhi: Sarvadeshik Arya Pritinidhi Sabha, 31. In Hindi the word samaj ordinarily means society.
1957), p. 180. In Sanskrit it means assembly, party, or club.

MESSIANIC FOLK-BUDDHISM AS IDEOLOGY OF PEASANT REVOLTS

IN NINETEENTH AND EARLY TWENTIETH CENTURY BURMA

Manuel Sarkisyanz
Siidasien Institut
University of Heidelberg

It is worth noting, in connectiondate,

withvoted into power by virtue of his
Buddhist charisma, repeatedly referred
the study of the role of religious beliefs
to the traditional ideal of the perfect
or belief-systems in relation to social
change, that although socialism Buddhist
was ruler.' By tradition the ideal
Buddhist
adopted by Burma from Britain, it was, state was to be a source of the
material
nevertheless, accepted only within the welfare required for leisure and
context of a Buddhist social ethos. for meditation towards Nirvana.2 Its re-
alization was to follow an age of decline3
Interpretations of Historical -and decline had seemed to be manifest
Developments from the onset of world depression pre-
In the electoral campaign preceding ceding World War II and before. Be-
Burma's last free elections, in 1959, tween 1870 and 1930, agricultural real
U Nu, the ultimately victorious candi- wages in Lower Burma may have fallen

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