The Bengal Renaissance - Closing

In fine, it need to be stated that Marxist analysts, no less than others, ought to pay respectful homge to the historical process towards socio-economic advance of the country.

The Bengal Renaissance - pg. 246

The question that British rulers were pursuing the class interest of mercantile capitalists of Britain was a fact but also not very significant for such estimation. The role that deserves most of all to be kept in mind is that they were destroying successfully the socio-economic structure of the village economy and drawing various sections of the Indian people into the vortex of cash nexus and that the indigenous productive system was being increasingly governed by the market.

The Bengal Renaissance - pg. 237

Marx emphasised the following characteristics of the village system: these villages were 'stereotype form of social organism'; in them there was the domestic union of agricultural and manufacturing pursuits; the domestic industry combined 'hand-weaving, hand-spnning and hand-tilling agriculture'; this village system was 'the solid foundation of oriental despotism'; this village system was 'the solid foundation of oriental despotism'; they restrained the human mind within the smallest possible compass, making it the unresisting tool of superstition, enslaving it beneath traditional rules, depriving it of all grandeur and historical energies; these villages took all calamities, like the ruin of empires, cruelties perpetrated in society, the massacre of populaations in towns etc., as nothing more than 'natural events'; human life in these village systems was 'undignified, stagnatory, and vegetative'; the passivity of life in the village systems 'evoked on the other part, in contradistinction, wild aimless, unbounded forces of destruction, and rendered murder itself a religious rite in Hindustan.' Caste and slavery were contaminating distinctions to mark life in the villages; man living in them surrendered to nature and external circumstances without ever seeking to master them for his own good; and these village systems 'transformed a self-developing social state into neverchanging natural destiny.'

The Bengal Renaissance - pg. 235

"England haas broken down the entire framework of Indian society, without any symptoms of reconstitution yet appearing. This loos of his old word, with no gain of new one, imparts a particular kind of melancholy to the present misery of the Hindu, and separates Hindustan, ruled by Britain, from all its ancient traditions and from the whole of its past history."

--Karl Marx

The Bengal Renaissance - pg. 212

We may conclude that Rammohun and Iswarchandra are
the two terminal thinkers of the first phase of the nineteenth
century reawakening of Bengal, the former initiating it and
in the latter it having reached its culmination. This phase of
reawakening stressed the universalist conception of man
and society, the rationalist disposition to examine all aspects
of life and thought, the repudiation of ascriptive authorities,
a search for new authorities in cultural, social and intellectual
spheres, an inducement to the individual to assert the claims
of his newly awakened conscience, and above all, a humanist
appreciation of man himself.

The Bengal Renaissance - pg. 188

Iswarchandra became a legend for his munificence to people in
distress for which he was regarded by common people as 'Dayar
sagar' (ocean of mercifulness) by which description no less than
'Vidyasagar' (ocean of learning) he is remembered by posterity.

The Bengal Renaissance - pg. 181

In political ideas, his unambiguous condemnation of the British
occupation of India and accusing Indian dependence under alien
rule in unmistakable terms place him far ahead of others his time.

The Bengal Renaissance - pg. 166

It is Akshay Kumar's rationalist understanding of religion
that tended him to examine a prevalent claim among his
co-religionist Brahmas that the Vedas were infallible because
the contents thereof, emanated from God Himself. He ultimately
opposed this view. He insisted that the Vedas were "Paurusheya'
or man-made and also not infallible. There was a prolonged
controversy with Debendranath Tagore who from the beginning
maintained the doctrines of God-given (Apaurusheya) and
infallible (Abhranta) Vedas.

The Bengal Renaissance - pg. 136

They constitute the group about whom Karl Marx
might have observed: "From the Indian natives;
reluctantly and sparingly educated at Calcutta,
under English superintendence, a fresh class is
springing up, endowed with the requirements for
government and imbued with European science."

The Bengal Renaissance - pg. 135

They(Young Bengal) identified the orthodox Hindus as the
principal opponent of their movement. They were not too
happy with the British rulers who were cautious. Yet, the
Young Bengal generally expected that in the pursuit of their
aims they could get help from the rulers.

The Bengal Renaissance - pg. 121

England as her conqueror and possessor, her political situation
would be more respectable and her inhabitants would be more
wealthy and prosperous. The example of America which shows
what she was when subject to England and what she had been
since her freedom must naturally lead us to such a conclusion.
" The influence of American war of Independence on the minds of
at least some members of Young Bengal cannot, therefore be denied.

The Bengal Renaissance - pg. 103

Scholars who have so far studied this subject have identified
the members of Young Bengal as the students of the Hindu
College of Calcutta who came in personal contact with Henry
Louis Vivian Derozio(1809-1831) or at least who imbibed
from his thoughts an uncompromising spirit of free enquiry
in every sphere of life.

The Bengal Renaissance - pg. 100

Let us conclude that Prasanna Coomar was a moderate
in his political ideas. While wichsing some wholesome
changes in the administration of thecountry and the
grant of those liberal conditions which were likely to
contribute to the proper development of Indian people,
he took care to forestall misapprehensions about any
design or intention to undo the British Indian administration.
As we know already Dr. Allexander Duff suspected that
Prasanna Coomar was indulging in rebellious nonsense
directed against British rule. On a careful reading of his
writings, we are unable to bear out the truth of such a charge.

The Bengal Renaissance - pg. 95

Prasanna Coomar Tagore wrote, "Superstition, which was
the prolific source of despotism and the stronghold of priestcraft,
contributed not a little to deprive the people of their just rights,
by adding undue authority to the privileges of the Crown. The
ministers of religion who were also the legislators, easily discovered
the weakness of a people, who, from ignorance, were credulous of
the most absurd doctrines, which were offered for their belief, and
to place their power on a firm basis, they connived with the rulers
of the l and to increase their powers by sacrificing the rights of the
people, which were in a matter entrusted too their charge, by the
credulous mob.

The Bengal Renaissance - pg. 93

Prasanna Coomar was one of those early nineteenth century
leaders of thought who desired earnestly social and economic
uplift of the people and wanted government to adjust its
policies, programmes and activities to this purpose. He had profound
faith that the East India'a Government in India was aware
of their responsibility in this respect. This is possibly what
inspired him to write: "If we were to be asked, what Government
we would prefer, English or any other, we would, one and all,
reply, English by all means, ay, even in preference to a Hindu
Government. But it is a truism, which need not be urges, that
no human institution is perfect, and they all admit of improvement.
We accordingly take the liberty of pointing out the defects which we
perceive in the existing institutions of the country, with a sincere
desire for their improvement."

The Bengal Renaissance - pg. 90

In 1854 when the East India Company authorities in
England accepted the scheme of setting up two universities
in Calcutta and Bombay after the model of the London
University, a Committee was set up to frame regulations
for the proposed universities with Prasanna Cooman,
Ramgopal Ghosh, Iswachandra Vidyasagar and Ramprasad
Roy among others.

The Bengal Renaissance - pg. 79

It is not historically correct to suppose that Dharma Sabha
was conceived by its founders as an organization to preserves
the Hindu way of life and culture not incosnistent with
modernity in spite of opposition to intrusive forms of westernisation.
The princiapl annd immediate motive behind its foundation
was the necessity to organise the orthodox sections against
four things: 1-Sati regulation of Betinck, 2-Brahma Sabha
of Rammmohun, 3-The movement of Young Bengal against
Hindu prejudices and superstitions and 4-The proselytisation
by Christian missionaries. Among all these four only conversion
into Christianity and some youthful excesses of young Bengal
could be indicated as intrusive forms of westernisation.

The Bengal Renaissance - pg. 76

Possibly on the one hand some missionaries were frustrated
to find that Rammohun Roy, in spite of his opposition to
idolatory and polytheism, was firm on following an enlightened
Hinduism which he called Brahmoism rather than adopting
Christianity as his religion.

The Bengal Renaissance - pg. 74

It cannot be missed, however, that the orthodox Hindus
were, at least initially, more averse to the liberal persuasion
of Rammohun and his followers who criticised the Hindus'
religious and social prejudices than to the Christians who
professed an altogether different religion, namely, Christianity.

The Bengal Renaissance - pg. 59

In any case, it was clear that the orthodox Hindus opposed it.
The arguments for this opposition were spelt out in two letters
and a report published in Samachar Chandrika. The letter written
by a zamindar and published in its issue of January 2, 1830, it
was mantained that the then conditions of cultivation and
manufactures in the country were highly beneficial to the well-being
of the native population and any change of these conditions thereby
undoing the restrictions in force against allowing British subjects to
acquire land and settle here, would deprive the people of this country
of their means of living and occupations. As a proof of this contention
it was pointed out firstly that as a result of the importation of English
factory-produced thread, the poor woman who used to spin cotton on
charka for their living so long, have been reduced to destitution. Secondly,
it was indicated that the native people who used to grind flour
so long have lost their employment with the advent of the flour
factory of into the field. The zamindar concluded that if further
permission was given to Englishmen to bring the manufacturing
skill of the west into the country, those natives who lived on their
labour would face very serious plights."