Prarthana Samaj
Hindu socio-cultural reform movement
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Through India, Reformism (historical) and Marathi people
History
The movement was started as a movement for religious and social reform. The precursor of the Prarthana Samaj in Mumbai was the Paramahamsa Sabha, a secret society for the furtherance of liberal ideas by Ram Balkrishna Jaykar and others in Mumbai. It was secret in order to avoid the wrath of the powerful and conservative elements.
The Prarthana Samaj members were followers of the great religious tradition of the Marathi Sant Mat like Dnyaneshwar, Namdev and Tukaram. Although the adherents of Prarthana Samaj were devoted theists, they also worshipped formless god. They drew their nourishment from the Hindu scriptures such as Bhagavad Gita, Upanishads and used the hymns of the old Marathi "poet-saints" in their prayers. Their ideas trace back to the devotional poems of the Vitthalas as part of the Vaishnava bhakti devotional movements of the thirteenth century in southern Maharashtra. Beyond religious concerns, the primary focus of the Prarthana Samaj was on social and cultural reform.
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Social reforms
Prarthana Samaj critically examined the relations between contemporary social and cultural systems and religious beliefs and gave priority to social reform as compared with the political changes already initiated by the British government. Their comprehensive reform movement has led many impressive projects of cultural change and social reform in India, such as the improvement of the lot of women and depressed classes, an end to the caste system, abolition of child marriages and infanticide, educational opportunities for women, and remarriage of widows. Its success was guided by R. G. Bhandarkar, a noted Sanskrit scholar, Atmaram Pandurang, Narayan Chandavarkar, and Mahadev Govind Ranade. Ranade emphasised that "the reformer must attempt to deal with the whole man and not to carry out reform on one side only."
Literature
- Suresh K. Sharma and Usha Sharma, Cultural and Religious Heritage of India, vol. VIII: Cultural and Religious Reform Movements, New Delhi, Mittal, (2004) ISBN 81-7099-955-3.