Shatata-Unnati
'Shatata-Unnati' is continual change, 'abhyas' means improvement, 'kram-parivartanam' is incremental reformation, while 'shodhanam' is refinement. All of these terms are descriptive of Hindu society throughout the ages.
Continual social betterment has been one of the defining characteristics of Hindu society. All major cultures have had evils in their histories, including Hindu societies, but the shining examples to enforce positive changes and adaptability to a changing world are the Hinduism, Christianity, and Judaism.
In an era wherein colonial norms meant imprisonment or executions for speaking out against imperial rule, Mahatma Gandhi challenged the ideas of forcing nations to be subservient, fighting oppression by violence, and purging one's own nation of evils (i.e., inequality and superstition.) Today, much of the world still looks to Gandhi's perseverance to bring positive change into society.
Transformation of India's political systems made India into the world's largest democracy, and for accomplishing that, Hindu doctrines were rationalize to promote democracy. Even in India's political spectrum, Hindu principles were used to make liberalism and communism resonate with people, like Ram Rajya being a communist utopia. Some of the Communist Party of India's founders were idealogues for both communism and Hinduism, such as Swami Kumaranand, Swami Satyabhakt, and Swami Sahajanand Saraswati, as well as Keezhedathu Damodaran, Radhamohan Gokulji, and Rahul Sankrityayan.
Comparison in societal reformation (India and Europe)[edit]
Whereas even in modern times, in most European Christian societies, witch-hunts and slavery were the norm, in Indian Hindu societies, widow-burning was the norm among certain communities (usually northwestern) and caste prejudice was prevalent. Both the Christian and Hindu communities worked to extinguish these and other evils.
Historical societal injustices have been acknowledged and reconciled. Even today, the lasting legacy of important Hindu reformers is visible wherein quotas employment and educational quotas are implemented for social upward mobility to ensure poorer castes and women do not fall behind.
Hindu-led social betterment[edit]
What is extraordinary in the case of India is that it was the religious institutions (Hindu organizations and schools) that made revolutionary changes, not normally secular or non-Hindu ones. Practicing Hindus saw that superstitious and chauvinistic practices had become institutionalized (caste system and misogyny) within Hindu society, so they formed associations to help, uplift, educate the destitute. They would even go steps further to privilege the marginalized through reservations.
That worship of God as a female or mother has been common since its foundation made validating female upliftment in India quicker. Prominent Western women's rights organizations implemented imagery of goddesses from their ancient cultures, like U.K.'s Women's Freedom League and National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies, and the global International Woman Suffrage Alliance, to legitimize female equality and women being in positions of power. Some Western feminists and women's rights activists, like Matilda Joslyn Gage[1] (U.S. suffragist) and Helena Petrovna Blavatsky[2] (European feminist), even used the examples of Hindu goddess-worship and Hindu queens to support their examples.
Female upliftment[edit]
- See also: Indian Freedom Fighters
- Theosophical Society wing
The top 3 champions who improved Indian women's political rights in the modern era were foreigners — Annie Besant, Dorothy Jinarajadasa, and Margaret Cousins. They did not tell Indian women to leave Hinduism but rather they themselves became Hindu in practice and Indian in habit. They then sought to restore the Vedic-era of womanhood wherein women had authority (i.e., to become clerics, scholars, and leaders.)
Dr. Muthulakshmi Reddy is a big name in female rights, and she was influenced by Besant in her college years (1907-1912) and was guided by Besant in both her social reform and political work. She worked with Besant and others to establish the Women's Indian Association (1917.) After Besant's death, she took over the presidency of the WIA. Gandhi was another major mentor but Reddy never formally joined the INC but sometimes protested colonial injustices (i.e., Gandhi's arrest.)
- Ramakrishna Mission wing
Sister Nivedita (Margaret Noble), a convert from Ireland became a disciple of Swami Vivekanand and joined Aurobindo's Dawn Society and had also founded and ran girls' schools in Kolkata (i.e., Nivedita School in Baghbazar) to educate girls who had little to no access to education (i.e., poorest of the poor.) She advocated for women's intellectual and moral development, influenced by Vivekanand's vision of strong Indian womanhood. Her work included lectures, fundraising (India, England, and U.S.), and writings that promoted gender equality in access to knowledge and opportunities. She had worked with Annie Besant at times. Likewise, Sister Christine, disciple of Vivekanand, is another example of a Westerner who utilized the Ramakrishna Mission and Vivekanand's circles as vehicles for improving female rights in India.
- INC wing
- See also: INC's Hindu activist roots
Nellie Sen Gupta (nee Edith Ellen Gray) had married freedom fighter Jatindra Mohan Sen Gupta, and both joined the INC — she also founded Deepali Sangha, a women's organization aimed at promoting social and political awareness, leadership, training, and empowerment among women. Her husband passed away but she was advised to stay in the-then East Pakistan to take care of Hindu rights, which she did. Wanda Dynowska, a Polish convert to Sanatan Dharm too championed women's rights in India and translated Bhagavad Gita, Mahabharata, Ramayana, and other Hindu and Bauddh literature into Polish. Mirabehn (born Madeleine Slade), the daughter of a British Royal Navy admiral, gave up her affluent lifestyle to become Gandhi's servant in India.
Dr. Durgabai Deshmukh, pupil of Gandhi and freedom fighter in the colonial era, established the Central Social Welfare Board (1953.) She later became president of the All-India Women's Conference (1931.)
It is also noteworthy that the 1st female head of government in the world was a Bauddh (Sirimavo Bandaranaike of Sri Lanka, non-INC member), and 2nd was a Hindu (Indira Gandhi, INC member.) Also Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit[3] played a significant role in global representation of women, particularly in the United Nations. She was the first woman to serve as the President of the UN General Assembly (1953-1954), a position she held to advocate for decolonization and the independence of countries in Asia and Africa. Hansa Mehta[4] had an impact on the UN's constitution wording wherein "all human beings" instead of "all men" in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. (She was also one of only 2 women delegates working alongside Eleanor Roosevelt in the UN Human Rights Commission 1946-48.)
From Hindu-based institutions like sociopolitical organizations and schools came a number of philanthropic associations.
- Most influential persons for women's upliftment
| Area of Contribution | Meaning | Steps Taken | Activists | Organizations | Founder's Affiliation(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Political rights and visibility | 1. Women appearing in public political spaces 2. Women being recognized as leaders (not just participants) 3. Changing social norms about women's public roles 4. Symbolic representation |
Helped institutionalize women's leadership through bodies like Women's Indian Association | Annie Besant (women's political rights + organizational leadership), Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay (political participation, economic empowerment, cooperatives), Margaret Cousins[5] (Suffarage, WIA), Sarojini Naidu (mass mobilization of women in politics) |
||
| Modern institutional equality | Helped institutionalize institutional equality through contributing policy influence (Hansa Mehta) and constitutional rights (Dr. Durgabai Deshmukh) | Dr. Durgabai Deshmukh (welfare systems), Hansa Mehta |
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| Foundational legal reform | Raja Ram Mohan Roy (abolition of sati), Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar (widow remarriage) |
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| Education | Raja Ram Mohan Roy, Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar |
Start of modern reforms[edit]
In modern India, most positive social changes within Indian Hindu societies came not first as enforcement or pressure from European rulers but from advocacy of forward-thinking Hindus. Raja Ram Mohan Roy had led the campaign to purge Hindu societies of Sati and caste prejudices. Roy worked with British imperial authority, specifically Lord William Bentinck to have sati outlawed. Roy himself was a religious leader that reiterated Upanishads for their principles.
Other institutions of positive social changes were mainly Hindu ones or were governed by Hindu religious leaders, not secular ones.
The Indian National Social Conference of 1887 was organized by Mahadev Govind Ranade, Rai Raghunath Rao, Narendra Nath Sen Gupta, and Janki Nath Ghoshal. Ranade was founder of the Prarthana Samaj, a religious group.
Arya Samajis, Brahmo Samajis, and Prarthana Samajis were the most vocal and active forces advocating:
- Women's right to divorce (i.e., Brahmo Marriage Act 1872)
- Property rights for women
- Opposition to child marriages (i.e., Age of Consent Act 1891)
- Universal accessible education (built schools, including colleges and gurukuls)
- Caste-based reservations
Royal authority to implement reforms[edit]
The greatest champion on all of these sections for reforms was Chhatrapati Shahu Maharaj, 'Rajarshi', the ruler of Kohlapur Kingdom who affiliated with organizations but probably the Arya Samaj[6] more than any other. In 1902 Pratap Singh Maharaj of Idhar (Gujarat) introduced and educated him about the Arya Samaj. He provided patronage to the Arya Samaj.[7] 
The king passed many policies for for the upliftment of untouchable, nomadic, non-Brahmin communities and for females.[3]
- Prejudiced disgruntled castists against Arya Samaj universalism
While Shahu was affiliated with the Satyashodhak Samaj, he did not feel they had any religious foundations, whereas the Arya Samaj was encompassed both a spiritual and social movement.[4] Also, the Satyashodhak Samaj was antithetical to social cohesion because it targeted the Brahman caste as an enemy, and while its main founder (Jyotirao Phule) made absurd claims like 'Shiv-Dharma'[5] or 'Mahadev-Dharma' (worship of Shiv as God and some local gods like Khandoba as avatars) being the true religion of Indians whereas every other Hindu belief and practice was an imposition by 'non-Indian Brahman invaders'. Being a chauvinist, he also criticized freedom fighter martyrs Lakshmi Bai, Nana Sahib, Tantia Tope for being Brahmans. It is noteworthy, however, is that Nana Patil, a founder of the Peasants and Workers Party of India, was affiliated with both the Satyashodhak and Prarthana associations [meaning that he, like most other Satyashodhaks didn't believe in Phule's religious ideology.] While other PWP founders Keshavrao Jedhe and Madhavrao Bagal were Satyashodhaks, they popularized Shiv Jayanti and Ganesh Chathuri. The latter and his son Vasantrao even wrote devotional pieces inspired from Bhakti Era saints (i.e., Tukaram, Eknath) and valorizing pieces about Shahu. Also noteworthy is, that even some prominent members supported the Arya Samaj, like Krishnarao Bhalekar (1 of the founders) defended Dayanand Saraswati (Arya Samaj’s founder), when the latter’s procession was opposed by some orthodox Hindus in Pune, and Bhalekar organized a speech to be delivered by Saraswati at a dharmshal near a Rokdoba Temple in Pune.
- Granting, accommodating, and expanding Arya Samaj
Shahu attended Arya Samaj sessions like the one at Navsari in 1918 and another at Bhavnagar in 1920[6]. He provided funding for Gurukul Boarding House to be built at Kerle, wherein large buildings and well-irrigated lands were granted to the Arya Samaj. Later, the Rajaram Anathalaya orphanage was added to this grant. He also brought educational institutions in his domain under the leadership of Arya Pratinidhi Sabha. Rajaram College's administration was also granted to the Arya Samaj.
Successive associations[edit]
From Hindu-based institutions like sociopolitical organizations and schools came a number of philanthropic associations. Even other humanitarian associations that were not established by Hindu activists, were established by their influence. For example, Krishna Gopal Gokhale had participated in many sessions of the Prarthana Samaj as he was Ranade's pupil, and he later joined the Deccan Education Society, which he left to establish the Servants of India Society. Narayan Malhar Joshi was a member of Gokhale's group and later formed his own Social Service League[8]. Hriday Nath Kunzru too was part of Gokhale's group and left to establish the Seva Samiti.
| Organization | Demographic of Focus | Region(s) | Founder | Founder's Affiliation(s) | Achievement |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Anath Balikashram Society | Widows | Maharashtra | Dhondo Keshav Karve ('Maharshi Karve') |
Educated at BHU | |
| Andhra Mahila Sabha | Females | Andhra Pradesh | Durgabai Deshmukh | ||
| Bharat Stree Mahamandal | Females | Bengal, Bihar, Punjab, Sindh, U.P. |
Sarala Devi Chaudhurani | Arya Samaji, Brahmo Samaji, accepted Bijoy Krishna Chattopadhyaya (alias Howrah's Thakur) as her guru |
|
| Central Social Welfare Board | Females and children | Dr. Durgabai Deshmukh | |||
| Maharshi Karve Stree Shikshan Samstha | Females | Maharashtra | Dhondo Keshav Karve ('Maharshi Karve') |
Educated at BHU | |
| Nishkam Karma Math | Females | Maharashtra | Dhondo Keshav Karve ('Maharshi Karve') |
Educated at BHU | |
| Poona Seva Sadan | Females | Maharashtra (at its peak, included M.P. and T.N.) |
|||
| Self Employed Women's Association (SEWA) | Females | 18 states | Ela Bhatt | Gandhian Textile Labour Association | Established: own bank (Shri Mahila Sewa Sahakari Bank, or 'SEWA Cooperative Bank'), SEWA Mahila Housing Trust |
| Servants of the People Society | Females | Kerala, Maharashtra, M.P., Odisha T.N., Uttarakhand U.P. |
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| Seva Dal | Females | Every province | Dr. Narayan Subbarao Hardikar | Established the Hindustani Seva Mandal (later became Rashtriya Seva Dal) in 1923, established the Arya Bala Sabha, taught the Gita during his student days in Kolkata, was a fan of Lokmanya Tilak, and had enthusiastically worked with Lala Rai |
Inspiration to Madras Presidency[edit]
While the Arya Samaj, Brahmo Samaj, Prarthana Samaj, and a host of other Hindu-based humanitarian and sociopolitical institutions existed in the-then Madras Presidency of southern India, they inspired local organizations as well. Shahu Maharaj had friends in the-then Justice Party (JP, est. 1916), like Arcot Ramasamy Mudaliar and Panaganti Ramarayaningar. While some ethnic groups, like certain castes even falsely supported the idea of an 'Aryan Invasion Theory' and themselves (Dravidian-languages speakers) as indigenous, they still appreciated Hinduism and did not consider it alien.
The biggest uplifter of the party was M.C. Rajah, who had the highest influence upon the policies that improved the lives of the Dalits in Madras Presidency. The party itself was founded primarily by 3 individuals — Sir Pitti Theagaraya Chetty (political founder who built the political machine), Dr. Taravath Madhavan Nair (ideological co-founder), and Dr. Chintadripet Natesa Mudaliar (cultural/grassroots mobilizer who helped shape cultural legitimacy.) Dr. Nair had said that Hindu society had originally possessed broader equality before caste dominance hardened it. Chetty occasionally used dharm-based ethical framing. He is consistently described as arguing that governance must align with "dharma and justice". The Dr. Mudaliar was a devout Shaiva that infused into the party Shaivism as a cultural identity for southerners.
An ideologue of influence to the JP and Self-Respect Movement was Maraimalai Adigal, a Shaiv preacher and writer, who claimed that both the JP and Self-Respect Movement were from his teachings and that militant atheist Erode Venkatappa Ramasami Naicker had hijacked them. JP founder Dr. Nair died in 1919 and Chetty in 1925, so had no interaction Naicker. Ponnambala Thiaga Rajan was an active party member and disagreed with Naicker's ideology, so joined Congress-aligned politics. Mudaliar died in 1935 around the time Naicker entered the JP. Naicker was also a prejudiced castist that criticized but did not contribute to build schools and shelters for women and children, as Rajah[9][10][11], a practicing Hindu of the party did. Rajah even once formed a political alliance with the Hindu Mahasabha, was the contributor. Before Rajah, the party's caste disparity was mainly about civil service occupations and education access for underprivileged castes. Rajah was recommended by Ambedkar to convert but Rajah replied there's no religion better than Hinduism.[7][8] Adigal's writings had a profound impact on Subramania Ramanathan, the founder of the Self-Respect Movement, and on the Naicker but the latter only wanted pro-Tamil and castist societal changes, not promotion of Shaivism. Naicker would later break away from the party and form his own Dravidar Kazhagam, a title he copied from Adigal's Shaiv association (Podhunilak Kazhagam.) (His own pupil, Conjeevaram Natarajan Annadurai, would eventually disown him after he married his own adopted daughter, and Annadurai would leave his group.)
The Hindu sentiment was definitely present in the JP. Many left after Naicker's hijacking. Important members bothered by Naicker's rhetoric apart from Rajan were Ananda Prasad Patro, Arunachalam Thamaraiselvam Panneerselvam, Muthiah Annamalai Chettiar, Ramasamy Kandasamy Shanmukham Chetty, and Subbarayalu Kumaraswami Reddiar. Chettiar even personally regularly donated to temple renovations, endowing temple lands or festivals, supporting pilgrimage facilities, and Hindu-managed schools. Rajan, the last leader of the JP, was the head-of-government of the Presidency, and was a big devotee a Swami Ayyappa. Rajan even solemnized a marriage of a German couple converted to Hinduism in Coimbatore (Oct 31, 1962.) He further discouraged conversion of Dalits from Hinduism to another religion[9] while encouraging caste-Hindus to better treat Dalits. His family had deep ties to the Meenakshi Amman Temple[12] in Madurai, with his son (Palanivel Rajan), serving as a minister, and his daughter-in-law (Rukmani), serving as the first female chairperson of the temple's board of trustees. His predecessor Ramakrishna Ranga Rao denied that the JP was anti-Hindu and declared that it aimed to purify Hindu society from "absurdities" and return "Hinduism greater and more glorious than it was in the past..."[10] Alamelu Mangai Thayarammal, conferred 'Pandithai' title by Saiva Sabha in Palamcottah, was a JP co-founder [with 29 co-founders being men] who was a Brahmo Samaji, meaning the influence of the Hindu-based organizations wasn't insignificant. Paramasivan Subbarayan Gounder, while not technically a JP member, worked with it closely, and both he and his women's rights activist wife Kailash Radhabai Kulmud were Brahmos. It is also noteworthy that ascetic Swamiyar Kaivalyar who supported the party without being a member wrote pro-Shaiv material. Cattamanchi Ramalinga Reddy, an ex-member who formed his own party in 1923 was a close friend of Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, and he himself engaged with Hindu texts on a literary artistic level. As Hinduism isn't a scripture-dependent religion, some JP members like A.R. Mudaliar heavily criticized certain scriptures but were devout Hindus (Vaishnav in his case.) And while orthodox opposition was present, the majority of Indians, including religious leaders, supported reforms, like when Shankaracharya of Kanchi[13] supported the "Hindu Religious Endowments Bill" (1921) even while voicing some concerns in within. Mentionable is that Dr. Muthulakshmi Reddy wasn't part of the JP but it still nominated her in 1926 for the Madras Legislative Council to bring about positive changes.
Related articles[edit]
References[edit]
- ↑ "While the sale of daughters was practiced in England for seven hundred years after the introduction of Christianity, we note that by the ancient law of India, a father was forbidden to sell his daughter in marriage, or receive the smallest present therefor."
- P. 79-82 Woman, Church and State (1893) By Matilda Joslyn Gage - ↑ "The pre- and post-Vedic woman was as free as man; and no impure terrestrial thought was ever mixed with the religious symbology of the early Aryans."
"This is proven by the fact that in the Vedic period their women were not placed apart from men in penetralia, or ‘Zenanas.’ Their seclusion began when the Mahomedans … had conquered the land and gradually enforced their ways and customs upon the Hindus."
- P. 379-380 The Secret Doctrine: Volume I By Helena Blavatsky - ↑ Act of Free and Compulsory Primary Education (1917), Widow remarriage Act (1917), End of Balutedari (1918), Repeal of Kulkarni Watan (1918), Intercaste and Interreligious Marriages and Sanctioning of Registered Marriage Act (1919), Act relating to protection of Harassment of Women (1919), Divorce act (1919), Order on prohibition of Untouchability practice (1919), Illegitimate Children's Rights and Devadasi Prohibition Act (1920);
"Rajarshi Shahu Maharaj & his tryst with the Arya Samaj Lessons for our times" By Devkumar Ahire (Jun 26, 2023 6:42 PM) - ↑ "Beyond Reformism: Chhatrapati Shahu and Hinduism Reimagined" By Surajkumar Thube
P. 124-144 Nidān: International Journal for Indian Studies, Volume 8, Issue 1 (July 2023) - ↑ "The real Shiv-Dharma that is ours, we are re-establishing it as Sarvajanik Satya Dharma."
Chapter 4, Sarvajanik Satya Pustak - ↑ P. 6. People's Raj Volume 30 (1974) By Directorate-General of Information and Public Relations
- ↑ P. 92 The Political Evolution of Muslims in Tamilnadu and Madras, 1930-1947 By J.B. Prashant More (1997)
- ↑ In a public meeting of the All India Adi Dravida Mahajana Sabha in Nungambakkam, Chennai he said,
"The president (of this meeting) mentioned that no other community other than us has more right to be called Hindus. Conversion will not bring about any good. By saying so, I am not undermining or wishing away the oppression and ills we have faced. We need to fight for our rights. The speed at which reforms are happening might be slow. But think about our current situation and how much it has improved. I beseech you to please abandon any move that will weaken us. I request the government to bring about the Untouchability Abolition Bill and pass it quickly. The Harijans are proud Hindus. That is the only reason why even after years of oppression by higher castes and a barrage of proselytization efforts by other religions hasn't changed their resolve being Hindus."
P. 123 Evolution of Hindu Nationalism - Icons of HMS, RSS & BJS By Sankara Narayanan T (2025) - ↑ "If by mass conversion you expect to achieve your object, you will be disappointed, because of a mere change of religion it will not give you all that you want."
P. 147 Sir P. T. Rajan's Eighty Second Birthday Souvenir, 1973 By P.T. Rajan and K. Paramasivam - ↑ "As I understand it, the Self-Respect movement stands for certain great ideals to make Hinduism greater and more glorious than it was in the past, to rid it of all those absurdities which are the accretions of an unfortunate era of the past, and unite us in a solid federation so that all those who profess to follow the Hindu faith may feel that they are brethren following one of the most ancient and glorious religions of the world. No longer should the foreigner point his finger of scorn at this or that particular phase of Hinduism which belies its cosmopolitan tendency by inflicting personal hardship on classes or communities. If a few youths in their exuberant enthusiasm have been carried away beyond the bounds of Hinduism it will not do to fight shy of the new movements, but political wisdom and sagacity lie in taking them into our fold and guiding them aright along the paths of duty and rectitude."
P. 289 The Indian Annual Register An Annual Digest of Public Affairs of India Recording the Nation's Activities Each Year in Matters Political, Economic, Industrial, Educational, Social, Etc · Volume 2 By Nipendra Nath Mitra (1934)