Gour Govinda Ray
Encyclopedia
Gour Govinda Ray, Upadhyay, (1841 - 1912) was a notable scholar on Hinduism
and a Brahmo
missionary. He had edited for forty years Dhamatattva, an official publication of the Brahmo Samaj
and assisted Keshub Chunder Sen in the compilation of Slokasangraha, a collection of quotes from different religious texts.
and Persian
. For sometime he studied ‘Daras’ under a Muslim fakir.
During the period 1863 – 1866 he was a sub-inspector of police. At the age of twenty-five, he gave up his job and became a follower of Keshub Chandra Sen
. He joined the Brahmo Samaj as a missionary.
, the professor of Christianity
, Aghore Nath Gupta
, the professor of Buddhism
and Girish Chandra Sen
, the professor of Islam
. Subsequently, Trailokyanath Sanyal
was also ordained as an adhyapak of music. In the same year Keshub Chunder Sen’s move towards universalism in religion was further strengthened by the publication of four books - Gour Govinda Ray's work on the Gita, P C Mozoomdar's book The Oriental Christ, Aghore Nath Gupta's study on Buddha and Girish Chandra Sen's Tapasmala - life of Muslim saints and his Bengali translation of Koran and Hadis. For his erudition, he was bestowed with the title of ‘Upadhyay’ by Keshub Chanuder Sen.
He was generally late in rising, as he worked late into the night. After attending prayers with others in the morning, he sat on a hard desk seat or bench and worked throughout the day till late into night, till around 2 am. He was unperturbed by the activities of others around him.
He never felt disturbed when others spoke to him, sought advice or discussed matters. He had visitors ranging from foreign missionaries to local scholars, who had serious discussions with him on religious matters. His publications were highly rated by scholars. They often wondered how a non-Brahmin could master such profound knowledge of Hindusim. His thirst for knowledge and his ascetic habits ‘made his contemporaries acknowledge him as the most formidable intellectual in the Durbar,’ formed by the group of ascetics in the New Dispensation after Keshub Chunder Sen’s death..
He never accepted any money for the long hours of work he performed and made it a practice not to touch money. When Kanti Chandra Mitra happened to be absent, he signed on money order receipts but the money was kept on the desk by the post man and picked up by Mitra when he came back. After 1872, he lived in Bharat Ashram with his wife and children.
As a missionary, he visited many parts of the country and was associated with the establishment of a Brahmo Samaj at Mangalore.
says, “Gour Govinda was a confirmed cultural nationalist. Though from the early days a Brahmo rationalist and reformer, he did not find sympathy with vague universalist sentiments. Once on a discussion on the Great Prophets, led by Keshub, Jesus was referred to (possibly by Majumdar) as the king of prophets. Gour Govinda promptly rejected the arguments and proceeded to show that the message of Christ was an ‘old conception’ found in ‘our Hindu Shastras’.
David Kopf points out that most revealing was Ray’s attempts to compare Krishna
with Christ
. For Ray, Christ and Krishna were similar as religious and ethical reformers who sought the same end of sanctifying earthly conditions. The original Buddha could also be placed in this category. “The fact is,” wrote Ray, “that essentially all reformers respond to the same conditions with identical ideas that transcend the particular time and country of birth.” One must understand the pattern of evolution from the Vedas
to the Bhagavad Gita
, as against the pattern in West Asia from the Old
to the New Testament
. Ray also reasoned that both Krishna and Christ were providentially designed for man’s salvation. However, Christ’s death on the cross to save mankind was a unique resolution of the problem of evil, “which had no parallel in the Krishna of Gita.”
and Brahmabandhab Upadhyay. While the latter two glorified its virtues, “arguing the superiority of Hinduism”, Ray argued that Vedantic monism was offered to the world as “a universal faith to combat sectarianism and its false loyalty to ‘partial truths’.”
Translated from Bengali to Sanskrit - Nava Samhita, Yog, Jibonved, Brahmagitoponishad
Hinduism
Hinduism is the predominant and indigenous religious tradition of the Indian Subcontinent. Hinduism is known to its followers as , amongst many other expressions...
and a Brahmo
Brahmo
A Brahmo is either an adherent of Brahmoism to the exclusion of all other religions, or a person with at least one Brahmo parent or guardian and who has never denied his faith...
missionary. He had edited for forty years Dhamatattva, an official publication of the Brahmo Samaj
Brahmo Samaj
Brahmo Samaj is the societal component of the Brahmo religion which is mainly practiced today as the Adi Dharm after its eclipse in Bengal consequent to the exit of the Tattwabodini Sabha from its ranks in 1859. It was one of the most influential religious movements responsible for the making of...
and assisted Keshub Chunder Sen in the compilation of Slokasangraha, a collection of quotes from different religious texts.
Early life
The son of Gour Mohan Ray, he was brought up by his uncle. He studied up to the Entrance (school leaving) standard in Rangpur High School. Later he studied SanskritSanskrit
Sanskrit , is a historical Indo-Aryan language and the primary liturgical language of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism.Buddhism: besides Pali, see Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Today, it is listed as one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and is an official language of the state of Uttarakhand...
and Persian
Persian language
Persian is an Iranian language within the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European languages. It is primarily spoken in Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan and countries which historically came under Persian influence...
. For sometime he studied ‘Daras’ under a Muslim fakir.
During the period 1863 – 1866 he was a sub-inspector of police. At the age of twenty-five, he gave up his job and became a follower of Keshub Chandra Sen
Keshub Chandra Sen
Keshab Chandra Sen was an Indian Bengali religious preacher and social reformer. Born a Hindu, he became a member of the Brahmo Samaj in 1856 but founded his own breakaway "Brahmo Samaj of India" in 1866 while the Brahmo Samaj remained under the leadership of Maharshi Debendranath Tagore...
. He joined the Brahmo Samaj as a missionary.
Professor of Hinduism
In 1869, Keshab Chandra Sen selected from his missionaries four persons and ordained them as adhypaks or professors of four old religions of the world. Gour Govinda Ray was made the professor of Hinduism, Protap Chunder MozoomdarProtap Chunder Mozoomdar
Protap Chunder Mozoomdar was a member of the Hindu reform movement the Brahmo Samaj, and a close associate of Keshub Chandra Sen. He is best known for his research into the "oriental" aspects of the teachings of Jesus....
, the professor of Christianity
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
, Aghore Nath Gupta
Aghore Nath Gupta
Aghore Nath Gupta was a great scholar of Buddhism and a preacher of the Brahmo Samaj. He was designated Sadhu after his premature death in recognition of his pious life...
, the professor of Buddhism
Buddhism
Buddhism is a religion and philosophy encompassing a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha . The Buddha lived and taught in the northeastern Indian subcontinent some time between the 6th and 4th...
and Girish Chandra Sen
Girish Chandra Sen
Girish Chandra Sen , a Brahmo Samaj missionary, was the first person to translate the Qur’an into Bengali language in 1886. It was his finest contribution to Bengali literature.-Early life:...
, the professor of Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
. Subsequently, Trailokyanath Sanyal
Trailokyanath Sanyal
Trailokyanath Sanyal was one of the Brahmo missionaries, who assisted in combining the ideals of traditional Vaishnavism with those of Brahmo Samaj. Through hundreds of devotional songs which he created, he developed Brahma Sangit, devotional songs of Brahmo Samaj, as an art form...
was also ordained as an adhyapak of music. In the same year Keshub Chunder Sen’s move towards universalism in religion was further strengthened by the publication of four books - Gour Govinda Ray's work on the Gita, P C Mozoomdar's book The Oriental Christ, Aghore Nath Gupta's study on Buddha and Girish Chandra Sen's Tapasmala - life of Muslim saints and his Bengali translation of Koran and Hadis. For his erudition, he was bestowed with the title of ‘Upadhyay’ by Keshub Chanuder Sen.
Personal traits
The great scholar led a perfectly ascetic life, devoting his entire time to studies, never touching money. His worldly needs were met by the head of the Prachar Ashram, Kanti Chandra Mitra. It was the latter who took care of the education of his two children. Prachar Ashram was a small establishment of Brahmo Samaj of India at Patuatola Lane in Kolkata, meant primarily for missionaries and their families, with a students’ hostel and a press in an adjacent building.He was generally late in rising, as he worked late into the night. After attending prayers with others in the morning, he sat on a hard desk seat or bench and worked throughout the day till late into night, till around 2 am. He was unperturbed by the activities of others around him.
He never felt disturbed when others spoke to him, sought advice or discussed matters. He had visitors ranging from foreign missionaries to local scholars, who had serious discussions with him on religious matters. His publications were highly rated by scholars. They often wondered how a non-Brahmin could master such profound knowledge of Hindusim. His thirst for knowledge and his ascetic habits ‘made his contemporaries acknowledge him as the most formidable intellectual in the Durbar,’ formed by the group of ascetics in the New Dispensation after Keshub Chunder Sen’s death..
He never accepted any money for the long hours of work he performed and made it a practice not to touch money. When Kanti Chandra Mitra happened to be absent, he signed on money order receipts but the money was kept on the desk by the post man and picked up by Mitra when he came back. After 1872, he lived in Bharat Ashram with his wife and children.
As a missionary, he visited many parts of the country and was associated with the establishment of a Brahmo Samaj at Mangalore.
Krishna and Christ
David KopfDavid Kopf
David Kopf is professor emeritus at the University of Minnesota. A well-known research scholar on South Asian history, he has produced several books on the region. He has won the Guggenheim Fellowship at the University. A Ph.D...
says, “Gour Govinda was a confirmed cultural nationalist. Though from the early days a Brahmo rationalist and reformer, he did not find sympathy with vague universalist sentiments. Once on a discussion on the Great Prophets, led by Keshub, Jesus was referred to (possibly by Majumdar) as the king of prophets. Gour Govinda promptly rejected the arguments and proceeded to show that the message of Christ was an ‘old conception’ found in ‘our Hindu Shastras’.
David Kopf points out that most revealing was Ray’s attempts to compare Krishna
Krishna
Krishna is a central figure of Hinduism and is traditionally attributed the authorship of the Bhagavad Gita. He is the supreme Being and considered in some monotheistic traditions as an Avatar of Vishnu...
with Christ
Jesus
Jesus of Nazareth , commonly referred to as Jesus Christ or simply as Jesus or Christ, is the central figure of Christianity...
. For Ray, Christ and Krishna were similar as religious and ethical reformers who sought the same end of sanctifying earthly conditions. The original Buddha could also be placed in this category. “The fact is,” wrote Ray, “that essentially all reformers respond to the same conditions with identical ideas that transcend the particular time and country of birth.” One must understand the pattern of evolution from the Vedas
Vedas
The Vedas are a large body of texts originating in ancient India. Composed in Vedic Sanskrit, the texts constitute the oldest layer of Sanskrit literature and the oldest scriptures of Hinduism....
to the Bhagavad Gita
Bhagavad Gita
The ' , also more simply known as Gita, is a 700-verse Hindu scripture that is part of the ancient Sanskrit epic, the Mahabharata, but is frequently treated as a freestanding text, and in particular, as an Upanishad in its own right, one of the several books that constitute general Vedic tradition...
, as against the pattern in West Asia from the Old
Old Testament
The Old Testament, of which Christians hold different views, is a Christian term for the religious writings of ancient Israel held sacred and inspired by Christians which overlaps with the 24-book canon of the Masoretic Text of Judaism...
to the New Testament
New Testament
The New Testament is the second major division of the Christian biblical canon, the first such division being the much longer Old Testament....
. Ray also reasoned that both Krishna and Christ were providentially designed for man’s salvation. However, Christ’s death on the cross to save mankind was a unique resolution of the problem of evil, “which had no parallel in the Krishna of Gita.”
Vedanta
His cultural nationalism was modified by the comparative assessments of other religions undertaken by his colleagues. It “loosened the bonds of ideological parochialism and made them value unity over diversity.” In his last book, published shortly before his death, he dealt with the philosophy of the Vedanta, in a way that “resembled the neo-Vedantic lectures” of Swami VivekanandaSwami Vivekananda
Swami Vivekananda , born Narendranath Dutta , was the chief disciple of the 19th century mystic Ramakrishna Paramahansa and the founder of the Ramakrishna Math and the Ramakrishna Mission...
and Brahmabandhab Upadhyay. While the latter two glorified its virtues, “arguing the superiority of Hinduism”, Ray argued that Vedantic monism was offered to the world as “a universal faith to combat sectarianism and its false loyalty to ‘partial truths’.”
Works
In Bengali - Sribhagavadgitasmanyabhasya, Srimadbhagavadgita Prapurti, Vedantasamanyabhasyang, Sri Krishner Jibon O Dharma, Acharya Keshub Chandra (11 volumes), Vivek O Buddhir Kathopakathan, Aryadharma O Tadbyakhyatrigana, Gayatrimulak Shachakrer Vyakhayan O Sadhan,Translated from Bengali to Sanskrit - Nava Samhita, Yog, Jibonved, Brahmagitoponishad