Indian Response to Christianity, Church and Colonialism Case of Pandita Ramabai Meera Kosambi Pandita Ramabai's relationship with Christianity was a long and complex one influenced by many factors. On the one hand was dissillusionment with Hinduism, on the other, the attraction of a faith which promised salvation to all without discrimination. Ramabai saw her own conversion as a protest against the inherent discrimination against women in Hinduism, a protest which remained a personal statement without developing into a social protest. This article attempts to view Ramabai's conversion to Christianity and her later life in a socio-temporal frame whose contours were shaped by British political, cultural and racial supremacy.

DURING those periods of heightened cent resurgence of interest in her life and tion which held the key to all major avenues religious sensitivity when a matter of per- activities has succeeded in lifting the veil of of employment.4 sonal faith gets enlarged into a societal con- silence only in bits and pieces. The present The particularly strong equation between cern, the passage of an individual—and essay takes yet another step in this direction Christianity and western education was especially an individual prominent in public by attempting to grapple with the very highly valued by the missionary societies, life—from one religion to another predic- core of the process which was to lead to and sometimes openly acknowledged: "The tably flames into a mass protest. Located at Ramabai's exile from the collective work of the American Mission falls into two one such fateful period in the history of consciousness. departments, the directly Evangelistic, and I Maharashtra,' Pandita Ramabai the Educational, a difference which is more (1858-1922) sent shock waves through the in name than in reality for the end is but one. orthodox Hindu society of her birth by first Towards Christianity The young have to be elevated through embracing Christianity and then pro- Christian education, and all through the pagating it through every resourceful means When Christianity began to make inroads direct preaching of the Gospel of Christ" at her disposal. Ramabai's relationship with into western India in the early 19th century, [Dnyanodaya 1886:229]. The brahmins, the Christianity was a long and complex chain its chances seemed minimal against the literati whose livelihood under the new of events, as was society's response to her deeply entrenched beliefs and customs, British dispensation depended on access actions. Both need to be understood within especially of the small but monolithic to western education, were especially a socio-temporal frame whose contours were brahmin stratum which had enjoyed a vulnerable. But after the initial and futile at- shaped by British political, cultural, and century-long religious as well as political tempts at resistance, such as a temple racial supremacy which extended overt and hegemony in the area.3 Perhaps the most meeting in Bombay in 1842 which forbade covert patronage to Christianity, and which succinct statement of this near-total permea- all children and adults to attend missionary paradoxically nurtured the indigenous tion of every human activity with religious schools [Hewat 1953: 124], they seemed to social reform movement with its nascent significance was Ramabai's own—post- capitulate. nationalistic overtones. conversion—summing up: "As regards social The impact of the Christian doctrine, Within the confines of her own life, custom, it may be said that the daily life and coupled with the western value system and Ramabai's involvement with Christianity habits of the people arc immensely influenc- reinforced by the reality of British colonial meant that a deeply personal matter of belief ed by religion in India. There is not an act rule, produced two diametrically opposite was transmuted into the motive force for that is not performed religiously by them. results. One was the conversion to Chris- social action, the fountainhcad of spiritual ... The rising from the bed in the morning, tianity of a few influential brahmin and solace became a source of friction with an the cleaning of teeth, washing of hands and other upper caste individuals, the most pro- organised hierarchy and the private accep- bathing of the body, the wearing of minent being Nilkantha Shastri (later tance of a doctrine had to be defended by garments, lighting the fire or the lamp, Nehemiah) Goreh in 1848, Baba Padmanji public opposition to its official patrons. She eating and drinking, and every act of similar in 1854, Pandita Ramabai in 1883 and N V can be seen as the site for a series of overlap- description, is done in the prescribed man- Tilak in 1895.' The other type of reaction, ping encounters—primarily that between ner, and with the utterance of prayers or in that of strengthening Hinduism through Hinduism and Christianity, rationalism and profound silence. Each custom, when it is reform and revival, was much more dogma, individualism and Church hierarchy. old enough to be entitled 'the way of the an- widespread among the upper castes. The Surrounding these was the larger confron- cients', takes the form of religion, and is very first reform-oriented group, the tation between Indianness and western scrupulously observed" [High Caste Hindu secretive and short-lived Paramahansa culture, nationalism and colonial rule, Woman (heareafter HCHW): 3]. Mandali of Bombay was later reincarnated feminism2 and patriarchy in its multiple The doors to this seemingly insular society in 1867 in a somewhat different form as the guises. were opened in 1813 when the abolition of Prarthana Samaj which was modelled on Society saw this not as a personal quest the East India Company's monopoly of the Brahmo Samaj of Calcutta. In its and struggle but as a betrayal of a religion Indian trade allowed the entry of private monotheism were incorporated some of the already threatened by alien rule and as a commercial, as well as religious, interests. principles of Christianity and other world desertion of the fledgling social reform Official, though not always overt, patronage religions. The revivalist trend sought to movement. The vision of an ally turned to the latter was ensured when the Company purify and strengthen Hinduism to face the enemy caused a social trauma severe enough established its political rule in the area in Christian onslaught: it was ushered in by to lead to what can best be described as a 1818. Missionary activity then became a fact Vishnubuva Brahmachari who was active in century-long conspiracy of silence by of urban life, to be encountered in street the third quarter of the century; and rein- mainstream society of Maharashtra—the corner sermons, the distribution of Chris- forced by the Arya Samaj of Bombay found- very society which could and should have tian literature in the vernacular languages, ed in 1875.6 been the chief beneficiary of Ramabai's and most ubiquitous of all, in the rapidly While the Christian converts of the pioneering feminist endeavours. Even the re- proliferating institutions of western educa- missionary movement were intent on the

Economic and Political Weekly October 24-31, 1992 WS-61 spiritual salvation of their Hindu brethren, education or even literacy. Treated by and Bengal, Srinivas died prematurely in 1880. the religious reformist and revivalist move- large as her brother's equal, educated in the By this time Ramabai's belief in orthodox ment had a distinct interest in social reform, same way, and encouraged to give public Hinduism had eroded to the point that she focusing on caste inequalities and more par- purana recitals, Ramabai had no hesitation married Bipin Behari Das Medhavi, "a ticularly on gender inequality. The principal in later life in sharing fully the activities of Bengali gentleman of the shudra caste", ac- concern of the latter was the emancipation male social reformers. The other conse- cording to the newly introduced civil of women by abolishing the more coercive quence was that a life of physical hardship, ceremony. He was supportive of her ac- practices like child marriage and oppression complete faith in religion as the guiding tivities and encouraged her studies, but only of widows, and by extending to women the force of life, and total reliance on the cons- until the incursions of Christianity through benefits of modern education. Pandita cience as the only arbiter of conduct resulted English lessons with a missionary kindled Ramabai's uniqueness lay, inter alia, in her in a strength of character as well as intense her interest. Soon thereafter, the marriage position at the intersection of these two individualism—rare in Indian society which itself ended abruptly with his death in 1882, movements. has rested on collectivity and been govern- leaving Ramabai a widow with an infant ed by conformity to convention—which led daughter. RAMABAI'S PATH TO CONVERSION her later to tread a lonely path to spiritual But although without a family, Ramabai, salvation. was not alone Already a part of the nation- At first glance, Ramabai's sudden conver- During the family's endless cycle of wide social reform network, Ramabai made sion to Christianity at the age of 25, in 1883, travels, the severe famine of 1876 took a toll a meteoric appearance in Pune in 1882 at appears to be a mystery to which her child- of Ramabai's parents and sister. With her the invitation of Justice M G Ranade and hood and youth provide no clue—except by brother Srinivas, Ramabai continued the his reformer associates. Ranade who suggesting the somewhat simplistic inter- same routine of austerities for another two spearheaded the social reform movement in pretation of the swing of the pendulum from years before their travels led them to Maharashtra and helped to found the Prar- one extreme to another. However, an insight Calcutta. This chance event changed the thana Samaj movement, tried successfully is provided into the internal turmoil which future course of Ramabai's life as she sud- to absorb her within this orbit. The Ranade led to this momentous decision, by her denly shot into prominence, being hailed as family extended various kinds of support, booklet A Testimony written in 1907, which a rarity and honoured for her Sanskrit lear- and true to the spirit of the times, also retraces her path to conversion—and ning with the titles of 'Pandita' and welcomed her as "one of us Chitpavan beyond. What follows is an attempt to piece 'Saraswati'. Brahmins" [Ranade 1910:10]. A personal together disparate facts culled from various friendship, which was to prove life-long, sources into a reconstruction which may not This new-found fame was not without its price. Two influences disruptive of her in- developed between the Pandita and Ramabai be definitive but is the most plausible one. Ranade, and together they attended English Spirituality and ritual observances bred faith in Hinduism crept into her life, in the form of her exposure to the Brahmo lessons given by a missionary lady at the dominated the life of the orthodox brahmin Ranadc's residence (a circumstance which in- family into which Ramabai was bom in Samaj and Christianity. For the first time, religion began to be viewed as not a matter itially compelled Ramabai. Ranade to take 1858. It was presided over by her father a purificatory bath in the evening after every Anant Shastri Dongre, a Chitpavan brahmin of performing unquestioningly the practices of one's forefathers, but as a matter of con- such 'polluting' contact [Ranade from Maharashtra whose forefathers had 191038-99]. migrated to Karnataka. Practically from her scious choice among a diversity of faiths. infancy, she was launched upon a life of The monotheism of the Brahmo Samaj pro- Seemingly well-ensconced in the Prar- unceasing pilgrimage with her parents, elder ved a strong attraction for Ramabai, as did thana Samaj set-up, Pandita Ramabai ful- sister and brother. The family traversed the its impulse for the upliftment of women. filled all expectations of reform effort. length and breadth of the sub-continent, Encouraged by the Brahmo leaders, she Within a few months she founded the Arya visiting holy places, and earning a precarious started to give informative lectures to the Mahila Samaj on the existing rudiments of living by reciting the 'puranas'. But even the 'purdah' women of Bengal, and also to ad- a women's association. She lectured widely gifts of money and food from the devout dress public audiences on the status of from public platforms, and made special ef- listeners were, after meeting their own frugal women, echoing the then popular theme of forts to reach audiences of women for whose needs, offered to holy brahmins as an contrasting the glorious past of Hindu benefit she also wrote the Marat hi book obligatory meritorious deed.7 women with their present degradation. Stnee Dharma Niti (Morals for Women). In Ramabai's feet were now firmly planted in This life pattern was distinguished by two her testimony before the Hunter Commis- a public career. unorthodox elements. One was Anant sion, she made an impassioned plea for Shastri's insistence on educating his By contrast, the entry of Christianity in- women's education, including medical daughters in the Sanskrit texts (with the ex- to Ramabai's life was more obtrusive Her education which was crucial for reaching out ception of the Vedas'), as he had educated presence at a Christian gathering in Calcutta to women patients in that gender-segregated his wife earlier, in the face of severe orthodox made little impact. She admits to being society. This idea had been fast gaining opposition. This was a truly radical depar- amazed by the sight of Indian 'sahibs' who ground at the time; and Ramabai's own am- ture from convention which dictated that were not only dressed in the English style, bition turned to the pursuit of medical women (as well as shudras) were unworthy but also "ate bread and biscuits and drank studies in England. Contacts were establish- of learning this language of the gods. tea with the English people and shocked us ed through the Sisters of the Community of However, secular education or a knowledge by asking us to partake of the refreshment". St Mary the Virgin at Pune with their of the English language remained suspect This irreligious behaviour of converted mother organisation at Wantage in England, and altogether forbidden. The other unor- brahmins seemed proof enough that Kali which promised to provide hospitality and thodox element was Ramabai's unmarried Yuga, "the age of quarrels, darkness, and help to Ramabai, without any religious state, again in defiance of the custom of irreligion, had fully established its reign in pressure Ramabai herself was resolved on child marriage, as a result of the unhappy Calcutta". The service itself seemed mean- not changing her religion, as she declared outcome of her elder sister's early marriage ingless, consisting as it did of reading out publicly on the eve of her departure in late In hindsight two important consequences of a book and then kneeling down to pray. 1882. of this highly unusual upbringing seem "We did not see any image to which they Arriving in England in early 1883, predictable. One was that the social con- paid homage but it seemed as though they Ramabai found life to be beset by dif- struction of gender did not follow the were paying homage to the chairs before ficulties. The first blow was the discovery contemporary pattern where a girl was which they knelt" [Testimony:17]. that her hearing was so defective as to dis- locked into wifehood and motherhood as Beneath this exposure to new experiences qualify her from medical studies. Her early in life as possible, confined to the and fame ran the now familiar undercurrent despair was compounded by the suicide of family and the domestic sphere, and denied of personal tragedy. After two years in her sole Indian companion, Anandibai

WS-62 Economic and Political Weekly October 24-31, 1992 Bhagat as a resultkindnes of inners turmoilof the regar- Wahtage Sisters and the nion as acknowledgement of the fellow- ding conversion to Christianity. It was in this Christian concept of redemption rather than ship of all Christians [L and C:157-58]. state of mind that a few months later the punishment for sinners impressed her deeply. Ramabai's doubts centred on two themes in same year, Ramabal was baptised, together Ramabai records her visit to a Rescue Home the Christian creed: fistly, the Immaculate with her daughter. Manorama, into the in London where 'fallen' women, whom the Conception or the idea that Christ was "con- Church of England. Hindu shastras commanded to be driven out ceived by the Holy Ghost, born of Virgin 9 The reasons for her conversion which of the town and thrown to wild dogs, were Mary"; and secondly the implications of Ramabai herself advanced art worth noting, being rehabilitated as useful members of "He Descended into hell, the third day He although admittedly recollected in- society To all appearances, this was the test rose again from the dead" that resurrection Christian—tranquillity many years later. case which proved the superiority of Chris- referred to Christ's earthly body and that he Foremost among these was her disillusion- tianity both as a doctrine and as a way of had actually descended into hell [L and C: ment with the orthodox Hindu faith, for life, and guided Ramabai's decision to 159-61]. Ramabai's faith continued to remain feminist as well as egalitarian reasons. The convert. eclectic and non-denominational. bewildering diversity of Hindu thinking, she Possibly there was a hidden dimension to In the meanwhile, Ramabai's plan of found, admitted of a monolithic 'Hindu her conversion, born out of personal studies in England had to be modified and view' only on the subject of women. There loneliness and social isolation. Never having after her conversion she spent three years were "only two things on which all those belonged to a kin group or caste community, studying at the Cheltenham Ladies' College. books, the Dharma Shastras, the sacred Ramabai perhaps saw the community of In 1886 she went to the US on an invitation epics, the Puranas and modern poets, the Sisters as the supportive social structure she to attend the graduation of her distant popular preachers of the present day and had missed all her life. The "hoiy life of the cousin Anandibai Joshi who had completed orthodox high-caste men, were agreed, that Sisters and their sublime unselfishness" had her medical studies (to become the first women of high and low caste, as a class were a great appeal though it was not in itself suf- Maharashtrian woman doctor). She spent bad, very bad, worse than demons, as ficient inducement to accept their faith [cited two years in the country, travelling, from unholy as untruth; and that they could not in Adhav 1979:136]. However, the need to coast to coast propagating her idea of star- get Moksha as men" [Testimony. 19]. A belong to such a community was probably ting a residential school for Hindu widows woman's only hope lay in worshipping her strong. Such at least was the perception of in India. It was here that she wrote her best- husband who was her only god. "This god Max Muller who had met Ramabai several known book The High Caste Hindu Woman times at Oxford "...as she told me, she could may be the worst sinner and a great cri- which was a militant denunciation of no longer stand quite alone, she wanted to minal; still he is her God, and she must women's oppression, in order to defray the belong to somebody, and particularly to be wroship him" [Testimony. 19]. This alone cost of her return journey to India. In the able to worship together with those she loved guaranteed a woman's spiritual advancement meanwhile, the newly established Ramabai and who had long been so kind to her" in future births until she was reborn as a high Association of Boston had collected suffi- [Sengupta 1970:136]. caste man, able to study the vedas and the cient funds to support a secular widows' home in India for a period of 10 years. vedanta, gain knowledge of the true —AND BEYOND Brahma, and be amalgamated in it. Thus The plan was implemented immediately "no woman as a woman can get liberation" After hovering at the crossroads for a few after Ramabai's return to India and the [Testimony: 20], and a widow was sunk months, Ramabai made her choice. But it Sharada Sadan was opened in Bombay in beneath redemption. The shudras were was not the straight and easy road which early 1889 amid much fanfare and the bless- similarly placed outside the pale of salva- fresh converts usually travelled. She cut her ings of social reformers. The publicity was tion in this birth, and their hope lay in ser- own trail through the doctrine, dogma, and natural for this was the first ever residential ving the upper castes in the hope of achiev- doubt. Conversion through baptism into the school for high caste Hindu widows and un- 10 ing upward mobility in a future rebirth and Church of England thus became only the married girls in Maharashtra (and one of the the final attainment of salvation.8 first hesitant step in a long and complex earliest in India) where secular education as Her disenchantment with Hinduism coin- spiritual quest beset with hurdles. well as vocational training was made availa- cided with the appearance on the scene of The biggest hurdle was the divergence of ble to women. Whether or not it was perceiv- the Brahmo Samaj as the first alternative. perspectives on Christianity adopted by the ed in such terms at the time, the Sharada However, "the Brahmo religion was not a ecclesiastical community and by Ramabai. Sadan introduced a structural change in the very definite one. For it is nothing but what For her, it was a religion from which the patriarchal social set-up by carving out a a man makes for himself. He chooses and universal elements could be retrieved while new space for women outside the private gathers whatever seems good to him from discarding others of doubtful validity domain, though not quite within the public all religions known to him, and prepares a Doctrinal debates thus became inevitable. domain, it was a semi-public space where sort of religion for his own use. The Brahmo Ramabai's brahminical metaphysical back- women were to be given education and skills religion has no other foundation than man's ground made it difficult to understand the towards economic self-reliance, a hitherto 11 own natural light and the sense of right and nature of the Holy Trinity and even more unheard of concept in the upper castes. wrong which he possesses in common with to accept the divinity of Christ or "entirely In 1891 the Sadan was shifted to Pune all mankind. It could not and did not satisfy to believe the miracles of the Bible" [Utters with the dual purpose of reducing expenses me..." [Testimony: 23-24]. The search con- and Correspondence of Pandita Ramabai and facilitating access to widows in the tinued and led to Christianity, especially (hereafter L and C):155]. In her inimitable orthodox heartland of Maharashtra. In its after the Rev Goreh demonstrated to her that style, Ramabai listed those parts of the initial days in Pune, the Sharada Sadan was the Brahmo faith "was not taught by our Christian doctrine which she accepted and under close scrutiny for its general manage- vedas as I had thought, but it was the Chris- the parts she could not accept. In effect, she ment. Especially important was the question tian faith, which was brought before me by formulated her own creed which was derived of its secular policy which promised that no my friends disguised under the name of from Christ's teaching and which she con- religion would be propagated, but that the Brahmo religion. Well, I thought, if Christ sidered to be strictly necessary for salvation. religious practices essential to the daily is the source of this sublime faith, why It included the belief in one god, namely, routine of its brahmin inmates would not be should I not confess Him openly to be my the god and father of Jesus Christ; the se- interfered with. The elite of Pune was invited Lord and my Divine Teacher?" [cited in cond commandment to love thy neighbour to inspect the 'domestic arrangements', and Adhav 1979:136]. as thyself; the belief in Jesus Christ as the the local newspapers (such as the Kesari) The attractiveness of the Christian faith messiah sent by god to save his people from pronounced themselves satisfied. By all ac- which promised -salvation to all without sin; baptism as a form of bearing witness counts it appears that Ramabai herself was discrimination was reinforced by the com- unto Christ and as open proof of rejecting walking a tight-nope by not openly providing passionate deeds of the Christians. The all other faiths; partaking of Holy Commu- instruction in Christianity, but exposing the

Economic and Political Weekly October 24-31, 1992 WS-63 WS-64 Economic and Political Weekly October 24-31, 1992 girls to its doctrine and encouraging them revealed the extent of the widows' plight, but brought from England). Practically all the to join her in her private prayers. When this met with little success. From 1896 to 1900 work of this large establishment (including strategy bore fruit ana some girls expressed she worked incessantly in famine areas in cooking, cleaning, laundry) was done by the a desire to embrace Christianity, Ramabai central India and Gujarat, both directly and inmates who received schooling up to the sent them to a Christian mission for proper through helpers, to save hundreds of girls matriculation level as well as vocational instruction. and women from starvation and moral training in teaching, nursing, tailoring, em- In a lightning swift reaction, the predic- degradation. Her increasing preoccupation broidery, weaving, horticulture, carpentry, table storm broke out over the incident. The with missionary activity, combined with the masonry, and even running a printing press. members of the local Advisory Committee outbreak of the plague at Pune, resulted in Ramabai's dream of self-reliance for women (including Ranade and Bhandarkar) sent in the shift of the Sadan from Pune to Kedgaon had come true, but had remained outside the their resignations to the Ramabai Associa- in 1898 when its first 10 years under the reach of upper caste widows whom she had tion of Boston in protest against this breach sponsorship of the Ramabai Association tried desperately to reach. of good faith, the valuable support of the were completed. It was now an openly Chris- Over the years Ramabai's Christian belief reformers was severed, and all the well-to- tian missionary establishment known as the was considerably strengthened. In 1907 she do guardians withdrew their wards from the Mukti Mission. By 1900 the population of wrote A Testimony to bear witness for Sadan. An inquiry was instituted by the the Mission was close to 2000. Ramabai was Christ. She also undertook the massive task Ramabai Association of Boston and she was now faced with an entirely different set of of translating the Bible from the original cleared of the charge of direct proselytisa- problems. She had withdrawn from Pune Hebrew and Greek into Marathi, to super- tion, But the alienation from the mainstream both physically and socially, and confined sede the existing Marathi Bibles which were Hindu society was permanent and the Sadan herself to Kedgaon; and the women she was written either in "missionary Marathi" or was left with a small number of poor home- now required to work with were far different used Sanskrit words which could not be less widows who had no other shelter. from the disciplined brahmin widows of the dissociated from their clear Hindu connota- Ramabai's future prospects seemed dim. Sharada Sadan. The new inmates were most- tions. Ramabai went to extreme lengths to "At times the sky seems full of black clouds ly famine victims drawn from depressed avoid both. and it looks as if it will never be clear", she castes, and their needs ranged from creature The task of supervising the Kedgaon wrote to Sister Geraldine [L and C:262]. It comforts to character building, secular and establishment was shared by her daughter was a time of great spiritual questioning and spiritual education. These girls brought their Manorama and a string of Indian and doubt. She became acutely aware of the defi- own behaviour patterns with them, including western missionary women. Manorama was ciency of her intellectual acceptance of superstition, belief in evil spirits, and being also active in opening missionary schools for Christ without the emotional support of un- possessed by them. This new atmosphere women in nearby areas. In one such demand- questioning faith. This feeling of dissatis- was to be changed to that of faith and prayer ing effort in the Nizam's dominions she suc- faction gradually bordered on desperation: [Macnicol, 1926:92-110]. cumbed to over-exertion leading to her un- "One thing I knew by this time, that I needed Quick to respond to these changed cir- timely death in 1920. Outwardly at least, Christ, and not merely His religion. ...I had cumstances, Ramabai sent Manorama and Ramabai bore stoically the loss of her last at last come to an end of myself, and un- an assistant to witness Christian revivals in personal bond, but survived only for another conditionally surrendered myself to the Australia, and later also started a prayer cir- two years. She breathed her last in 1922 as Saviour; and asked Him to be merciful to cle at Kedgaon. Soon thereafter, in 1905, oc- the first proofs of her Marathi Bible were me, and to become my Righteousness and curred the first Holy Ghost Revival at being rolled off the Kedgaon press by her Redemption, and to take away all my sin" Kedgaon, as a reaffirmation of Christian girls. [Testimony: 29-30]. She sought enlighten- faith and discipline among the inmates. The ment in the sermons of missionaries and revival was akin to the common Indian It was a death mourned widely, though evangelists, including Pentecost, and especial- phenomenon of possession by spirits and its mostly outside Maharashtra. ly from the book From Death unto Life by physical manifestations were a burning sen- Haslam, which put her in a receptive frame sation which accompanied the descent of the HINDUISM THROUGH CONTEMPORARY of mind for "finding Christ" Holy Spirit, a loud clamour of simultaneous CHRISTIAN EYES It was at this point in 1891 that a revela- prayer, and "speaking in tongues" or in- In the atmosphere charged with religious tion came to her—like a burst of light coherent speech in unrecognisable language debates, a comparison of Christianity with followed by a sense of great relief as if "a which the speaker alone understood as Hinduism—and other major religions of great and unbearable burden is rolled away meaningful [Macnicol 1926:111-21], The India—was a daily occurrence in the late from one's heart". This was also an assur- revivals were considered questionable by 19th century. However, instead of developing ance of deliverance "O the love; the unspeaka- some of her missionary friends, while others into a true dialogue based on mutual respect, ble love of the Father for me, a lost sinner, saw them as a consciously sought answer to the debates retained an acrimonious quality, which gave His only Son to die for me! I had her problems. The Rev Butcher, a sym- in which the Christian challenge consisted not merited this love, but that was the very pathetic observer of a revival at the Mukti of emphasising the "deficiencies' of Hin- reason why He showed it to me" Mission, commented t hat Ramabai "showed duism [Lederle 1976:188-90]. The major 12 [Testimony:30-31 ]. herself wonderfully wise in the way she themes in this comparison were voiced by fostered and guided the entire movement so This revelation led to a corresponding Ramabai and by her converted Christian that real spiritual results were conserved and change in Ramabai's attitude to proselytisa- contemporaries many of whom had made spiritual disorder avoided", and observed 13 tion. Her missionary activity became obses- a study of other religions as well. that the permanent results were "the true sive. At a mission camp meeting at Lonavla Christianity's main appeal for Ramabai— conversion of hundreds of women" and "the in 1896 she became inspired with the though perhaps not for her male brahmin full consecration of large numbers, making spiritual power gifted by the Holy Spirit, and co-religionists—was its egalitarian doctrinc. them keen to witness and work for Christ" her thoughts turned increasingly towards ob- In contrast to Hinduism which made spiri- [cited in Macnicol 1926.121]. taining more 'Spiritual children' through tual salvation contingent upon an indivi conversion. The Mukti Mission of Kedgaon had ex dual's sex and position in the caste hierar- Ramabai's reformist zeal flowed into ever panded enormously and diversified its ac- chy, Christianity treated all as equal in the new channels. In 1895 she set out on a tour tivities. In addition to the original Sharada sight of god. To a devout Hindu widow such of Brindaban and other holy places disguis- Sadan meant for Hindu widows, there was as Ramabai who was placed outside the pale ed as a Hindu pilgrim, to rescue the home- Mukti Sadan for Christian women, and a of salvation, Christianity held out a promise: less widows who were forced to take shelter Rescue Home known as Kripa Sadan. Small "What good news for me a woman, a in temples and were thus open to exploita- sections were opened for old women and for woman born in India, among brahmans who tion by priests and others. The venture the blind (for whom special teachers were hold out no hope for me and the like of me!

Economic and Political Weekly October 24-31, 1992 WS-65 The Bible declares that Christ did not reserve [Dnyanodaya 1884:755:56]. CHRISTIAN DOGMA AND CHURCH this great salvation for a particular caste or Another recurrent idea was that Christia- That Ramabai's conversion was sex" [Testimony: 32]. nity revealed spiritual truths of a higher qualitatively different became immediately Again, Christianity offered salvation to order. The truths of the vedas and the apparent to her preceptors. Hers was no im- all believers, here and now, while Hinduism puranas were appropriate for the stage of the plicit acceptance of the new doctrine with stressed conformance to duty ('dharma' or society of their times. As society evolved a willing suspension of disbelief, but she appropriate way of life), and linked the fruits further and became capable of comprehend- brought to the study and understanding of of one's 'karma' (action) to future rebirths ing superior and more profound truths, a Christianity the same rational and intellec- and possible salvation. "How very different treasure of the perfect essential truths was tual attitude which had made her analyse the truth of God was from the false idea that given to the world by god through Christ (and reject) Hinduism and theism of the I had entertained from my earliest child- [Dnyanodaya, 1889:133-34], Some years Brahmo and the Prarthana Samaj. The hood. That was that I must have merit earlier, the Rev Baba Padmanji had claimed shock and disbelief with which the Church to earn present or future happiness, the that the Might of truth' was available only reacted to its own weapons being used pleasure of Svarga, or face the utterly in- through Christianity: "Who studies the Bible against itself clearly exposed its double conceivable loss of Moksha or liberation!' carefully and prayerfully will find that it is standards. Christianity did not make such stipulations. the only timely God-given Holy Writ" [cited In her characteristic rational attitude were "No caste, no sex, no work, and no man was in Lederle 1976:189]. Later the Rev Tilak was to be depended upon to get salvation, this rooted Ramabai's doubts about some ele- also to claim that in the Sermon on the ments of Christianity, such as the miraculous everlasting life, but Cod gave it freely to any Mount, he found "answers to the most one and every one who believed in His Son birth and divinity of Christ, which she made abstruse problems in Hindu philosophy" no attempt to conceal [L and C:33, 87-113]. whom He sent to be the propitiation for our [Winslow, 1923:18-21]. sins!' Again, this salvation was available in In the resultant furore, Ramabai was accus- the present life, without the need to undergo Finally, in Ramabai's view the metaphysical ed of having undergone baptism on false countless millions of births and deaths and impersonal nature of the Hindu doc- pretence while withholding complete accep- [Testimony: 31-33]. This idea surfaced also trine compared unfavourably with Chris- tance of the Christian doctrine—which was in articles in the Dnyanodaya [1887:53,68], tianity which was a contract between god a matter of faith and not open to an intellec- the Anglo-Marathi organ of the American and each individual. "The Hindoo religion tual debate. A shocked Sister Geraldine ad- Marathi Mission: "One of the essential doc- brings the Supreme Being, the Holy God to monished Ramabai that the subordination trines of Hinduism is that salvation is to be the level of a creature like myself but Chris- of the intellect to faith was a pre-requisite earned by man, not the free gift of God as tianity lifts man up to God" [L and C:151]. for a good Christian: "At first the lamp of Christianity presents it"; and again, "Here Faith shone brightly in your heart, and your we see how diametrically opposed Christia- II intellect bowed before it.... Humility, child- like simplicity, obedience, truthfulness and nity is to Hinduism. Salvation and forgive- Against Church and Colonialism ness of sins are a free gift of God, and not trustfulness were there and daily developed earned by man!' Ramabai's encounter with Christianity themselves in your life. But gradually these was also her first encounter with an organis- graces faded from sight... The germ of the Christianity perceived god as love: "If we new life given to you in holy baptism which love one another God abideth in us and love ed religion. Having spent her earlier life by an eclectic form of the Hindu doctrine and at first sprang up and gave such fair promise, is perfected in us; hereby we know that we has been over-grown by rank and poisonous abide in him and he in us because he has outside a conventional social setting, she was unprepared alike for the Christian dogma weeds of heresy" [L and C:91-92]. Her ad- given us of his spirit" [Dnyanodaya vice was: "your reason alone could never 1889:143]. Christianity therefore advocated as for the authoritarianism of the Church. The Anglical Church hierarchy, in turn, was lead you to the Truth, but illuminated by the forgiveness and compassion, unlike the lamp of Faith... you will come to understand Hindu social order which was preserved unprepared for her rational and selective ac- ceptance of Christianity. those deep truths of God which to you seem through punishment for its violation. The to be darkness and foolishness" (L and C: Rev Tilak who was deeply impressed by the What heightened these contradictions and 94]. "burning words of love and tenderness and dilemmas was the fact of Ramabai's conver- truth" in the Sermon on the Mount, also em- sion in England where; moreover, she was But Ramabai remained adamant, lb one phasised the divergent perspectives of Hin- reared in the tradition of religious debates, alone; isolated from her cultural support duism and Christianity, the former advo- the only way to settle such doubts was system, and exposed to the full force of white cating the dichotomy of good and evil, and through discussion and logical argument and Christian supremacy. A dominant role the latter advocating love and forgiveness for rather than browbeating. Predictably, she was played in her life during the years all.14 was quick to point out that the weakness of 1883-87 by Sister Geraldine, her spiritual many missionaries lay in their failure to The concept of sin was central to Chris- preceptress and very much a part of the communicate with potential and recent con- tianity, while being absent from Hindu Church organisation. Ramabai's closest and verts in terms of their own religion. (Un- thinking. As Ramabai expressed it: "The life-long emotional bond within the Chris- doubtedly, converted brahmins were a great Lord, first of all, showed me the sinfulness tian circle was thus tied to this lady who had asset in this task, as already proven by the of sin and the awful danger I was in, of little sympathy with India, no predilection Rev Goreh in Ramabai's own case.) everlasting hell-fire; and also the great love for independent thinking, and who was in- of god as a means of redemption" tellectually, by her own admission, "not There were other sources of friction. The [Testimony: 30]. "In popular Hinduism the equipped for such a work as instructing first was the need for submission to the wickedest thing which a man can do is to Ramabai" [L and C:5], Greater emotional authority of the Church of England into break caste or some other outward require- and intellectual support was forthcoming which Ramabai was baptised. Sister Geral- ment. Evil thoughts are not what popular from Dorothea Beale, principal of the dine insisted that "as a Christian, she is Hinduism cares about. So it cannot make Cheltenham Ladies' College, who was will- bound to accept the authority of those over men anxious about what alone is truly sin" ing and able to enter into rational discus- her in the Church" (L and C:43). A similar [Dnyanodaya 1884:177]. Further, the very sion on matters of religion. The copious authoritarian attitude was also expressed by idea of salvation is said to be distinct in the correspondence of the times which has been Canon Butler that "to a neophyte in the two religious systems. In Hinduism, salva- preserved, unfolds an ongoing dialogue Faith, .. .self-reliance is intensely dangerous" tion can be attained through faith and im- about different aspects of Christianity with (L and C:75]. Needless to say, Ramabai pro- plies a release from suffering and rebirth; in these two women, and a parallel" dialogue tested against what she perceived as high- Christianity, salvation means repentance for within the Church hierarchy regarding this handed treatment, and insisted on exercis- past sin, hatred for all sin, and holy living unusual convert. ing her liberty of conscience: "I have a con-

WS-66 Economic and Political Weekly October 24-31, 1992 science, and mind and a judgment of my were convinced that the "Indian native is very different the teaching of each sect was own. I must myself think and do everything prone to vanity" [L and C:76], and had seen from that of the others" [Testimony:27].15 which God has given me the power of do- this fatal flaw lead to an Anglicised native Sensing the danger of losing Ramabai to ing... I have just with great effort freed Christian being "ruined for life as far as another sect or denomination, the Anglicans myself from the yoke of the Indian priestly future usefulness is concerned" [L and insisted on their creed being the only true tribe, so I am not at present willing to place C:39], The generally unflattering opinion of one Equally sharp was Ramabai's counter- myself under another similar yoke by accep- Indians surfaced constantly in the corres- reaction to the attitude that the "Anglican ting everything which comes from the priests pondence of those years, and was shared in Church is the sole treasury of truth", that as authorised command of the most high" ample measure by Sister Geraldine herself. their clergy arc "the only true priesthood and [L and C:59], and further "I am fully aware A prolonged disagreement over some central messengers of truth, and all other bodies of of my ignorance in Christian theology but points in the Christian doctrine led the Sister Christians are followers of false imagina- I cannot take everything which is thought to complain bitterly of Ramabai's "want of tions", that "GOD has chosen the Anglican by Church people to be an article of faith candour and sincerity" and of her being no Church only to be His favoured people" [L and, therefore; to be believed" [L and C.156]. exception to "the generality of the Hindoos" and CI 11-12]. Her critical and defiant stance If Ramabai was impressed by the gender- who were deceitful [L and C:114-5]. In the persisted and she recounts how Sister egalitarian nature of the Christian doctrine, years to follow, Sister Geraldine, for all her Geraldine "ran almost mad with anger when she was soon to discover the patriarchal ele- affection for Ramabai, never lost an oppor- I said that she had no right to call the ment in the Church's authoritarianism. In tunity to emphasise her arrogance and dissenters heretics, because she herself 1884, Beale proposed that Ramabai should other—real or imaginary—faults. A com- belonged to a Church which is but a dissen- teach young English women and men some- ment she made in 1917 reveals her percep- ting sect of the Roman Catholic" [L and thing of the 'native languages' as well as the tion of Ramabai's spiritual struggle: "She C:170]. religion and philosophy of India with the took keen delight in intellectual fencing and dual purpose of earning part of her living her pride and vanity were dangerously in- CHRISTIANITY AND INDIANNESS and "helping to establish a better under- flated by getting hold of points of controver- standing of Indian ladies by the English" [L sy from her non-Conformist friends and Maintaining the distinction between Hin- and C; 4041]. The Bishops of Bombay and dragging them clumsily and offensively in- duism as a religion and Indianness as a Lahore; then in England, were consulted and to her letters"[L and C:4]. culture was a challenge which faced many reacted very negatively: "Above all things Part of the Church's authoritarianism in of the Indian Christians of the day, each of pray believe that her influence will be ruin- Ramabai's case undoubtedly stemmed from whom tried to work out an individual solu- ed for ever in India if she is known to have their perception of her as an instrument for tion to the problem. Ramabai's own pride taught young men. Suffice it to say that it spreading Christianity in India: "one of in the Indian culture remained unabated would cause scandal even among the better India's daughters whom we hoped God was after her contact with England (and later the sort of native men, and that nothing would training to carry a ray of light back to that US) and in spite of pressure from the church. ever undo the harm it would do among benighted land"[L and C:107]. These vested Soon after her conversion in late 1883, she native women" [L and C: 44]. interests preferred to regard her not as an assured a friend in India that her change of The decision was duly conveyed to individual convert grappling with her own religion did not mean a change of country, Ramabai as the considered opinion of the spiritual doubts, but as a Christian—and nor would her love for her country diminish English Bishops from India who "from their moreover ex-brahmin— wedge into the Hindu as a result [Dnyanodaya 1883:566]. knowledge of India and its people, are bet- society. Early orthodox brahmin conditioning had ter judges than ourselves" of such matters. The value of converting brahmins was left an indelible mark on Ramabai's way of Ramabai responded with indignation that evident especially at a time when a majority life As part of this, she maintained her strict she knew "India and its people..better than of the Christian converts were the formerly vegetarian diet, excluding onions and garlic, any foreigners" no matter how long they had 'untouchable' Mahars and Mangs [Winslow, to the end of her days. At Kedgaon her food stayed in India [L and C:50]: But her in- 1923:52]. The missionaries were caught in was specially cooked for her by a brahmin dignation was far stronger on the subject of a dilemma of their own making. Having of- woman, To Ramabai's mind this was pan conduct befitting an Indian woman. "It is ficially opposed the government's educa- of her cultural background rather than a true, it is not necessary for me to be a teacher tional policy of downward filtration and residue of Hindu religious beliefs, although of men, but when either in India or England having concentrated on the lower castes, they it was interpreted as "little clingings to caste I can get women as well as men for my pupils were exposed to the danger of making 'rice prejudices" which should have been discard- there is no reason why I should not teach Christians'. The obvious corrective strategy ed at her conversion, and which fostered the both. It is not a general custom in India for was to convert a few high caste Hindus to pride which held her back from accepting ladies to teach men, it is true, because there spread the message to the rest of the society the full teaching of the Gospel [L and are scarcely any among ladies who can teach. [Hewat 1953:170,175]; and it intensified the C:100-1]. It surprises me very much to think that pressure on Ramabai to conform. As a mark of her own personal blend of neither my father nor my husband objected But Ramabai continued to rebel against the Indian culture and an alien religion, [to] my mother's or my teaching young men not only the Christian dogma and the Ramabai focused attention on indigenisation while some English people are doing church's authoritarianism, but also its sec- of the Christian ritual and practices. This so"[L and C;60]. tarianism. The Anglican Church jealously was consistent with her view that the univer- The reasoning of the Bishops was also guarded her against other Christian sects sal elements in Christianity could and should imbued with colonial condescension. The which vied with one another to win so be presented to different countries of the publicity which Ramabai received in valuable a prize. Ramabai maintained an ob- world through the indigenous cultural idiom. England from her friends was considered to jective and critical attitude to them all: In 1884 she protested against having to wear be fatal for a 'native', because "vanity is one "Besides meeting people of the most pro- the crucifix which was an alien object to a of their very faults". Ramabai's "undertak- minent sects, the High Church, Low Church, recent convert. But if it had to be worn, she ing a Professorship among English young Baptist, Methodist, Presbyterian, Friends, preferred it to be inscribed with not Latin ladies", as proposed by Beale, "might lead Unitarian, Universalist, Roman Catholic, but Sanskrit words, "not because I think it to a little undue self-exaltation. But a less Jews and others, I met with Spiritualists, to be sacred or the language of gods, but prominent position for a short time, with an Theosophists, Mormons, Christian Scien- because it is the most beautiful, and the humbler title such as teachership, making no tists, and followers of...the occult religion. oldest language of my dear native land", and demonstration in any way, would probably No one can have any idea of what my feel- because it would be intelligible to Indians lessen the danger of elation of mind very ings were at finding such a Babel of religions to whom the doctrine was to be carried [L considerably" [L and C:43-45]. The Bishops in Christian countries, and at finding how and C:28-29]. Ramabai's love of Sanskrit

Economic and Political Weekly October 24-31, 1992 WS-67 was, however, later to be eclipsed by her total "It is fortunate for India that it is England querors" [L and C:406]. aversion to Hinduism. In her translation of that rules over her. No other of the white Perhaps Ramabai's best-known anti- the Bible into Marathi, she assiduously races is so fitted to fulfil her high mission government position was during the plague avoided all Sanskrit words because of their over so great an empire. Better than all, it epidemic during the closing years of the I9th Hindu religious association (resulting in a is the mission of the white race to be the in- century. The hygienic measures rather high- stilted style of little literary appeal), and even strument through which is carried to the handedly implemented by British soldiers forbade the teaching of Sanskrit at Kedgaon. world a pure religion, a true idea of God, under the instructions of the Plague Com- This preoccupation with indigenisation of a knowledge of a real Saviour" [Dnyanodaya missioner had aroused widespread anger and Christianity also leo Ramabai to the field 1885:500]. resentment, especially at Pune. G K of hymnology Precedents for this had ex- But Ramabai made no attempt to hide her Gokhale, then in England in connection with isted in western India since the 1860s when impatience of colonial superiority, even in a Finance Commission, was persuaded by the first attempts were made to bring the England. She complained of the "compre- friends in India to lodge a complaint before tradition of Marathi devotional songs into hensive minds" of the English who embrac- the parliament. After his return to India, an Christianity and also to employ the kirtan ed under one term 'native' the inhabitants inquiry was instituted at Bombay but none for evangelisation [Hewat 1953:220-21]. In of India, America, Australia, and the Pacific of his friends was willing to testify or even later years Ramabai translated the Psalms Islands, and of the missionaries who went to let his name be divulged, so that Gokhale into Marathi and had them set to classical out to convert the 'natives', being utterly ig- was forced into the disgraceful position of Indian raga tunes [Adhav 1979:46-47]. norant of their culture, language, religion, having to withdraw the charge and tender and philosophy [cited in Sengupta an unconditional apology. His only support The struggle between Christianity and 1970:149-50]. came from Ramabai who was ready to Indianness was carried over into Ramabai's Even in the field of English education, an testify, and who, in fact, also took up the personal life. Secure in her Indian roots, area where most Indians felt inferior and matter directly with the Plague Commis- she insisted on bringing up her daughter vulnerable to criticism of their cultural defi- sioner. This instance of her courage was Manorama as a true Indian adapted to the ciency, Ramabai reacted with her usual popularised in a Marathi ballad [Kelkar Indian culture, in spite of constant efforts matter-of-fact attitude: "People ought to 1923:331]. to the contrary by Sister Geraldine in whose remember (when they say that coming over But Ramabai's anti-colonial stance was care the girl had been left periodically dur- to England and learning English only makes not situation-specific. She was able to see ing Ramabai's travels. In 1887, Ramabai them highly educated) that we Indians can and condemn the very basis of colonialism wrote to the Sister: "I cannot make up my be learned in our own country and can be which was exploitative: "The British govern- mind to leave Mano in England...I want her useful too. We are anxious to come to ment is sucking Indian blood and wealth to be one of us, and love our country people England and to learn English because these while perforce despatching Indian armies to as one of them, and not a stranger or a two countries are so closely connected and march and fight the British battle in Egypt superior being. ... I do not want her to be also because the best scientific books are and ultimately die over there. This very too proud to acknowledge that she is one written in English" [L and C:25]. government has swallowed our Indian States of India's daughters. I do not want her to Contrary to the speculation about her wherever they found no legitimate heir to the blush when our name is mentioned, such be- being 'denationalised' due to conversion, throne! Not to speak of other atrocities en- ing too often the case with those who have Ramabai in her public life adopted an anti- forced by treatment of the Press Act; Act made their homes in foreign lands" (L and government stand on several occasions, that reduced the age of Indian Civil servants; C:199]. The Sisters continued their efforts especially on women's issues. Her most Act of Disarmament, and worst of all, our to prove her decision wrong (and, one scathing criticism was reserved for the poor Indian citizens have to pay so many suspects, perhaps to obtain unofficial government stand 1n the famous case of taxes to government, whether we afford custody of the girl). In 1889, another Sister Rakhmabai who was in danger of being them or not. We may as well sell our houses of the same Order reported to Sister sentenced to a prison term in a case of and properties but we must pay the taxes Geraldine from Pune: "Mano is as dirty as restitution of conjugal rights. On this occa- levied by the Government!" [cited in Adhav a little pig,... sits on the floor, eats with her sion Ramabai wrote: "We cannot blame the 1979:37], fingers. Ramabai erroneously thinks she is English Government for not defending a doing right in making her like the common helpless woman; it is only fulfilling its agree- III Hindoos and, wonderful to say, she does not ment with the male population of India.... grasp the idea that more civilised ways would Should England serve God by protecting a Ramabai and Her Contemporaries not ruin them as well as education" (L and helpless woman against the powers and prin- The multifarious reactions which C:240]. The tussle continued, but Ramabai cipalities of ancient institutions, Mammon won. Ramabai's conversion and her later mis- would surely be displeased, and British pro- sionary activity provoked from her Indian— fit and rule in India might be endangered COLONIAL RULE AND NATIONALISM both Hindu and Christian—contemporaries, thereby. Let us wish it success, no matter if defied a simple equation of Hindu condem- The dilemmas inherent in the early social that success be achieved at the sacrifice of nation and Christian applause. reformers' love-hate relationship with the the rights and the comfort of over one hun- The immediate Hindu response to the British rulers could have been intensified in dred million women" [HCHW:35]. news of Ramabai's conversion was one of Ramabai's case through her acceptance of Sister Geraldine found such an anti- shock and incomprehension. Speculation Christianity while she was in England, but government attitude reprehensible, but was about her motives was rampant. The most she seems to have maintained a consistent able, many years later, to perceive the com- charitable view was taken by the liberal Indu- anti-colonial and nationalist stand. plication arising from the identification of Prakash of Bombay, that Ramabai's fickle- In Maharashtra, the early social refor- colonialism and Christianity. Citing the mindedness, arising out of a lack of educa- mers' perception of British rule was explicit- above-mentioned extract, she commented tion, made her first give up her Hindu faith ly positive, and western knowledge and ideas that "the very title The Church of England to become a Brahmo, and to discard that in were received as a blessing. By the time of would tend to alarm and repel [a nationalist turn to become a Christian and that she was Ramabai's conversion, this attitude was like Ramabai], Had it been The Church of soon expected to embrace Islam. The same undergoing a change; but the close corres- Christ in England, the results with Ramabai paper also attributed a mercenary motive to pondence between British government, the might have been different. But the last Society her, seeing her conversion as a price paid to white race, and Christianity was hammered such a woman (with her great inspiration to those who helped in achieving her cherished home by western missionaries in India. The work for the benefit of her people) would goal of going to England [D N Tilak American Marathi Mission spoke of "The ally herself with would be—... the Christiani- 1970:44-45]. At the other extreme was the Destiny of the White Race," claiming that: ty which bore the impress of their con- report in the Pune Vaibhav of Pune, which

WS-68 Economic and Political Weekly October 24-31, 1992 indulged in its usual muck-raking by predic- of Hinduism as compared to Christianity, England, but also in those of the most in- ting that Ramabai's conversion was a preli- and hailed her as a champion of the oppress- telligent Hindus who know that purely minary to her remarriage with a widower ed groups of women and shudras [Phule secular education cannot cure the ills of who had recently become a Christian. 1969:277-304]. India's womanhood" [Dnyanodaya However, for this defamation of character The Christian community of Maharashtra 1890:218]. The Rev Baba Padmanji mounted the paper had to tender her a public apology reacted variously. The spate of Marathi let- a strong attack on Ramabai for her neutral [D N Tilak 1970:138]. ters published in the Dnyanodaya in October and non-Christian policy and also attacked But, as the initial shock wore off and a and November 1883 expressed extreme joy the editors of the Dnyanodaya for their sup- cooler assessment of the situation became at her conversion to extreme suspicion about port of it [Dnyanodaya 1890:254]. The possible, a reluctant admiration for the its sudden and hasty nature, protests against editors' repeated defence of their stand was Sharada Sadan venture outweighed indigna- the cautiousness which was perceived as the revealing—they maintained that only Hindu tion over its founder's change of faith. Even "injustice of Native Editors to Pandita parents were advised to send their girls to the conservative Kesari of Pune was able to Ramabai", and defence of her conversion as the Sharada Sadan, not Christian parents express its appreciation for Ramabai's con- a product of deep thought, while the editors [Dnyanodaya 1890:245, 267]. tribution to the public good and for her themselves maintained a cautiously positive Later years brought a reconciliation bet- enterprising spirit which ensured the Sadan's note in support of Ramabai's decision. ween Ramabai and the Indian Christian financial viability, and thus overcame the Ramabai's selective position vis-a-vis the community. The Dnyanodaya paid a major stumbling block for such indigenous Christian doctrine, described above, caused somewhat cautious compliment to the Mukti experiments. "It is a wondrous deed to col- a hostile reaction. The Dnyanodaya mission: "We are not prepared to endorse lect a few thousand rupees in a foreign land [1889:97] complained that to Ramabai the all its methods and practices, but have pro- by begging on behalf of people of an alien Bible was "not a rule of faith, but a store- found appreciation of its saintly leader, its religion and alien traditions and customs. house, out of which she can take or reject, devoted spirit and its Christian service" The fact that this was accomplished by an as may please her mind". This sentiment was [1916:114]. Ramabai herself took a more ac- unsupported weak woman through her firm echoed in the letters of 'Khristadas' [generally tive part in the affairs of the Christian com- resolve, courtesy, and other laudable traits believed to be the Rev Baba Padmanji] in the munity by hosting at Kedgaon, in 1920, the makes us pixy our menfolk and also makes Dnyanodaya [1889:102-03, 109-10] which first ever conference of Christian leaders of us feel proud that such an extraordinary complained that "it is evident from her different denominations in western India "to woman was born in our midst. By our writings that she does not believe the Holy consider the problems of the Indian Church misfortune she became somewhat alienated Bible as a whole—as the word of god, but of the future" [Dnyanodaya 1920:282]. through her religious conversion which is a accepts only the teachings of Christ", and sad event indeed" [February 12, 1889.3*]16 that there was a "vast difference and dispari- CHRISTIANITY AND SOCIAL REFORM And again: "Today our society greatly needs ty in her Faith and the Faith we Christians Ramabai's reform efforts for women women like Pandita Ramabai. The beneficial hold". This criticism was countered by those reflect the essence of feminist concerns— effects of good education will be more firm- who advised tolerance since Ramabai was, providing shelter and education for women, ly imprinted on the people's minds through after all, a neophyte and lacked the deep- and helping to make them economically self- her mature thinking and zeal for her coun- rooted experience of Christian life reliant through vocational training. This task trymen's uplift than through any other insti- [Dnyanodaya 1889:120]. was first performed in Maharashtra by her tution or through other efforts. It is our Another sore point was Ramabai's con- and was difficult to replicate, as was speedily misfortune that the Pandita changed her tinued connection with the Hindu communi- discovered when the Sharada Sadan became religion. However, it would not be proper to ty and aloofness from Indian Christians. forbidden territory for the Hindus, and ef- abandon her only for this reason. It is to her Khristadas objected that Ramabai had a forts began to be made to open a 'Hindu credit that she has not given up her national close affinity with Theists (Prarthana Sama- Sharada Sadan'. The only successful effort pride together with her religion" [May 28, jists), had "dear friends, brothers and dear in this direction was the widows' home open- 1889:2*). sisters amongst them but hardly any to be ed in 1896 by D K Karve who derived inspi- However, when Ramabai's secular creden- found amongst us Native Protestants", and ration from Ramabai and whose concern for tials were seen to be doubtful, the conser- that she wrote about her thoughts and opi- the plight of widows had earlier led him to vative wrath was directed towards her in full nions in the official organ of the Prarthana marry a widow (who was, moreover, one of force and remained unabated during the Samaj, but never in any Christian magazines the earliest pupils in Ramabai's Sharada years to come. The Kesari started to refer to or periodicals [Dnyanodaya 1889:102]. Her Sadan). The next effort of this kind was the the Sharada Sadan not as a Widows' Home, Christian credentials were repeatedly ques- opening of the Pune branch of the Seva but the 'Widows' Mission-House', and to tioned—why was the inaugural ceremony of Sadan in 1914 under the guidance of Ramababi as a 'deceitful demoness", while the Sharada Sadan a secular occasion? Was Ramabai Ranade, the widow of Justice her provision of shelter to the famine-victims it proper for Ramabai to give a lecture on Ranade. Both these institutions continue to was seen as their 'incarceration' under her morals to Hindu women in the form of a flourish today, Karve's institution having led 'jailcrship' [January 28, 1905:5; January 27, Purana recital? Why did she address only to the establishment of the first women's 1903:4-5], Tilak himself, at no time an ad- high caste Hindu women and never the low university in India, currently known as the mirer of Ramabai, started to openly accuse caste ones, if she had, as a Christian, SNDT Women's University. her of nationwide missionary designs, star- discarded her belief in the caste structure? Every assessment of Pandita Ramabai's ting with the "widows caught in Ramabai's [Dnyanodaya 1889:142, 220, 253]. contribution especially in Maharashtra, has net during the unique opportunity of the The Christian criticism also extended to centred on the connection between her con- famine years" [Kesari, January 12,1904:05*] the avowed religious neutrality of the Sharada version to Christianity and her work for The social reformers, by and large took Sadan. The editors of the Dnyanodaya women. The popular perception that her a tolerant view of Ramabai's conversion, but [1889:82] claimed that "One cannot be true work could have been accomplished while no one voiced a positive reaction with the to god and man and neutral in questions remaining a Hindu was first formed during solitary exception of Jyotirao Phule. This referring to the relation between them. In the her lifetime, and continues to be maintained was significant because his was a lone strug- presence of sin and misery the mouths of even now. gle for a caste-egalitarian social order, which those who know the way to peace must open, In its very brief obituary on Ramabai, the seemed to find an ally in Ramabai's egali- or they will be untrue to themselves and to Kesari [April 11, 1992:5*] wrote: "As the bet- tarian convictions. In his Satsar or The their god." And further that "if the principles ter part of Bai's (Ramabai's) career was Essence of Truth (Series 1 and 2) written in of religious neutrality is overstrained it will shaped first at Pune and then in the close 1885, Phule applauded Ramabai's conver- affect the institution not only in the minds vicinity of Pune, the Maharashtrians are sion as a rejection of bigotry and injustice of Christian philanthropists in America and familiar with her defects as well as her salient

Ecanomic and Political Weekly October 24-31, 1992 WS-69