Raja Rammohan Roy
Raja Rammohan Roy was the pioneer of New Age in India. His contribution to the welfare of Swadesh India and the nation is unforgettable. His life philosophy once provided immense inspiration to the nation in India's freedom struggle. He is considered as a great man. Ram Mohan Roy, the epitome of talent, erudition, mind and efficiency, was the pioneer of the renaissance of modern India.
Raja Rammohan Roy was born on 10 May 1774 in Radhanagar village of Hooghly district of West Bengal, India. His father was zamindar Ramkant Roy. Mother's name is Tarini Devi.
From childhood, Rammohan Roy was interested in education. strong interest He learned Bengali and Arabic at the village school at the age of eight. Then he went to Patna and acquired knowledge in both Arabic and Persian languages. At the age of twelve he went to Kashidham to learn Sanskrit and studied there for four years. He also researched Vedanta Shastra.
Rammohan was against the saka worship system of Hinduism. He did not believe in idolatry. He also wrote a book called 'Pagan Religion' of Hindus. After reading this book and for various reasons, Rammohan's father got angry with his son and threw him out of the house. Rammohan went to Tibet to travel. After a few years in Tibet, he returned to India. Teach English language. Thus he learned ten languages by the age of twenty-three. Rammohan Roy could read and write in Bengali, English, Arabic as well as Greek, Hebrew, Latin, Persian and Urdu 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍.
After completing his education, Rammohan accepted a high position in the revenue department at the invitation of Mr. Digby, Deputy Collector of Rangpur. Within a short time, he was promoted to civil rank. But Rammohan Roy did not work for long. He is literate
He left his job and moved to Nilabas for Sadhana and social reform work. Later he bought a house in Maniktala, Kolkata and started living there. He established a Sangha called 'Atmiya Sabha' in this Manikatala house. Within some time he brought out two magazines called 'Brahman Patrika' in Bengali and 'East India Gazette' in English.
In 1827 he founded the religious critical organization 'Brahmsabha'. It was through the Brahmasabha that Rammohan propagated his new religious doctrine. He preached that God is one and unique, referring to the unique Brahman described in the Vedas. He is the Brahma of the Vedas. He is unique and formless. Those who worship this Brahman are Brahmans. This doctrine introduced by Rammohan created a special stir at that time. Today there are many followers of Brahmanism in Bangladesh and West Bengal.
Rammohan was deeply shocked by the barbaric practice of sati-immolation in Hinduism. In those days, if a husband died in Hinduism, the wife also had to sacrifice herself in a burning pyre with her husband. This was called co-death practice. Being chaste by committing self-immolation on her husband's pyre. Ram Mohan started a strong movement against this superstition and superstition of Hinduism. Later in 1829 AD, with the help of Lord William Bentinck, then Barlat of British India, he was able to pass the Act Abolishing Satisfies.
In this way, the notorious barbaric practice of sati-immolation, practiced in Hindu society for ages in the name of religion, disappeared. Not only the ritual of burning sati, his tireless efforts also stopped other social evils like child marriage, virginity and child throwing (abandonment) in the Ganges.
Another notable event in Rammohan's life was his trip abroad to promote the scholarship of Akbar Shah II, the Mughal emperor who had been deposed by the British. He traveled abroad as a representative of King Akbar II and was able to increase the amount of the king's scholarship by speaking on behalf of the king in the parliament. Before going to the palace, the king conferred the title of Raja on Rammohan.
On September 27, 1833, Raja Rammohan Roy died in Bristol, England. He is buried in Stapleton Grove, Bristol. Later Rabindranath Tagore's grandfather Prince Dwarkanath Tagore went to Bristol and removed his holy body from that place and buried it at 'Arnozvel'.
