Swami Shraddhanand's Shuddhi Movement
Mahatma Munshi Ram became famous by the name of Swami Shraddhanand. When Swami Shraddhanand saw some prominent Congress leaders adopting the policy of Muslim-appeasement, he felt that this policy would prove to be disruptive to the nation in the long run. Due to this he became disillusioned with the Congress. In that period, many fundamentalist Muslims and Christians were engaged in converting Hindus.
Swamiji started the Shuddhi movement to bring back the people who had left Hinduism to their original religion. Innumerable persons were brought back to Hinduism through Arya Samaj. did. Swami Shraddhanand, despite himself being Arya Samaji, invited Pandit Madanmohan Malviya of Sanatani ideology and Shankaracharya Swami Bharatikrishna Teerth of Puri to the Gurukul and made them discourse among the students.
On 23 December 1926, at his residence in Naya Bazar, a young man named Abdul Rashid entered his room on the pretext of religious discussion and shot him dead.
Due to the tireless efforts of Arya Samaj, orphanages, widow-ashrams and cow-sheds etc. were established at many places in India. In this way, the wonderful success achieved by Arya Samaj in the religious, social, educational and political field cannot be compared with any other reform movement.
Theosophical Society
Theosophical Society was an important cultural movement of India which influenced the religious and social life of the country. Theosophy means- 'Knowledge of God.' In Sanskrit it is called 'Brahmavidya' it is said. The term theos phi was first used by the Greek scholar Imbicus of Alexandria in the 3rd century AD.
In modern times this term was used by the Theosophical Society. It was an international organization founded by Col. H. M. Allcott and Ms. H. P. Blavatsky on 7 September 1876 in New York City, USA. The objectives of this organization were as follows-
(1.) To discover the laws of nature and to develop the divine powers of man.
(2.) To establish coordination among all religions by not supporting the bigotry of any religion.
(3.) To contribute to the study of ancient religion, philosophy and science that can be found anywhere in the world.
(4.) To develop universal brotherhood or world recognition.
(5.) To study and spread the religions and philosophies of Eastern countries.
Arrival of Theosophical Society in India
Alcat and Blevatsky came to India in AD 1879 at the invitation of Swami Dayanand. Throwing light on the merits of Hindu religion, he exhorted the Indians that it is superior to all religions and that all truth is contained in it. The goal of the Theosophical Society is to remind Indians of their ancient glory and greatness so that India can regain its lost prestige.
For seven years Alkat and Blevatsky together with Arya Samaj tried to reduce the influence of Christianity. Swami Dayanand considered the Vedas to be divine knowledge, which was not acceptable to theosophists' thinkers. In AD 1886, he established the center of the Theosophical Society at Adyar, a suburb of Madras. Now the work area of this organization became India and from here its ideas started being propagated in other countries.
Arrival of Mrs. Anniebesant in India
Mrs Anniebesant was a highly educated, noble, Irish woman. She came to India on 16 November 1873 at the age of 46 and became active in the cultural movement of India. He made a great contribution in spreading the work of the Theosophical Society. She was Irish by birth but considered India as her motherland. He had great love for Indianness, Hinduism and Hindu society.
He believed that the future of India was linked to Hindu religion and culture. Many scholars and leaders, influenced by his great personality, joined the Theosophical Society. Annie Besant believed that she was a Hindu in her previous birth. Therefore, as soon as he came to India, he completely painted himself in the color of Hindutva and adopted Indian dress and food.
She used to roam in Hindu pilgrimages. He spent most of his time in Kashi where he founded the Central Hindu College which later developed into a Hindu University. While in Banaras, he wrote stories from the Ramayana and Mahabharata and translated the Gita. He gave eloquent speeches in favor of Hindu religion and culture.
Service to Hinduism by Mrs. Anniebesant
Annibesant's most important work was the service of Hinduism. Raja Rammohan Roy and Swami Dayanand emphasized on the worship of the formless God and refuted idol-worship, incarnation, pilgrimage, fast-ritual and mythological things, but Annie Besant recognized the importance of Vedas and Upanishads, idol-worship, polytheism, Logically and scientifically supported the holistic form of Hinduism through yoga, reincarnation, karmaism, pilgrimage, fast, Gita, Smriti, Purana, Dharmashastra and epic etc.
In her speeches she used to say this thing often- 'Hinduism is the soul of India, Hindutva is the soil in which India's origin is buried. If that soil is removed, the tree of India will dry up. There is no future in front of India without Hindutva. There are many religions in India, there are many castes, but none of them has reached India's past. None of these have the power to keep India alive as a nation. If each of these disappears from India, India will still remain India, but if Hindutva disappears, then nothing will be left.
In a speech in AD 1914, he said- 'After forty years of serious contemplation, I have come to the conclusion that among all the religions of the world, I find no religion so complete, scientific, philosophical and Doesn't seem to be full of spirituality. The more you know about it, the more you will love it.'
Religious Reforms of the Theosophical Society
The Theosophical Society scientifically supported many mystical and faithless things of Hinduism. When Annie Besant came to India, at that time the faith of the English-educated Indians, Hindu religion and culture was starting to lose. It was during this time that Annie Besant took the lead in reviving Indian ideals. Annie Besant himself visited Hindu pilgrimages.
He traveled barefoot to Amarnath and entered the temple after taking a bath with cold water there. Seeing a foreign woman doing this, it was in the mind of Hindus that their religion is superior to other religions. Annie Besant translated the Gita while living in Kashi, wrote short commentaries on Ramayana and Mahabharata.
Glorified the importance and glory of Hindu religion and culture in front of the people of Europe and America. When the English-educated people of India heard the glories of Hindu religion and culture from the mouth of an English woman, they started to re-awaken their faith in their religion. Annie Besant's speeches instilled a sense of self-respect in Indians.
Valentin Shirol has written- "When Europeans, equipped with superb intellectual powers and wonderful oratory, go to India and tell the Indians that the key of the highest knowledge is not with the Europeans, but with you and your gods, your Even Europeans cannot touch the shadow of philosophy and your morality, then what is the wonder if Indians turn their backs on our civilization!'
National Reforms by Theosophical Society
The Theosophical Society and its founders preached about their superiority, but when many false and true things about the members were revealed to the public, people started losing their reverence for this society. Annie Besant was deeply saddened by this and in AD 1914 he changed his field from religion to politics.
She joined the Home Rule Movement launched by Lokmanya Tilak. In 1917, the Madras government placed Annie Besant under house arrest, but due to the strong mass movement, the government immediately freed him. She was elected as the President of the Indian National Congress. As an active member of the Congress, she did an important job of awakening political consciousness in India.
The Theosophical Society established many schools, colleges and hostels. This organization did the work of social reform by opposing the evils of child marriage, girl child marriage, untouchability etc. The work of the society not only gave strength to the religious and social reform movement, but also gave new life to the national movement. No Hindu did as much work as Mrs. Annie Besant did for Hindu Jagran.
Gandhiji has written about him - 'As long as India is alive, Annie Besant's services will also live. He considered India as his birthplace. Whatever he had to offer, he offered it at the feet of India. That is why she has become so dear and revered in the eyes of the people of India.'