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Sri Ramakrishna: The ‘New Man’ of the Age – III 43
photo: COURTESY rAMAKRISHNA MUSEUM, BELUR mATH
has, apart from a main stem, several other stems
and hundreds of branches. However, all the diverse
elements of Hinduism are held together
by a mystic sense of unity and by an attitude of
reconciliation, acceptance, and harmony maintained
by its followers.
This sense of unity and harmony prevailed
in Hinduism till the Middle Ages, when it was
disrupted partly by foreign invasions and the resulting
loss of political power and freedom, and
partly by the rise of several sects and systems of
philosophy. Disharmony and conflicts appeared
at three levels: the religious, the philosophical,
and the social.
Religious conflicts came to the fore with the
rise of sects, especially Vaishnava and Shaiva sects
in North India and South India. Philosophical
conflicts appeared when different systems of
Hindu philosophy such as Buddhist, Mimamsa,
and Nyaya-Vaisheshika came into existence.
Acharya Shankara’s establishment of the supremacy
of Advaita Vedanta sparked the rise of several
dualistic schools within Vedanta itself. At the
social level large-scale conversion of Hindus into
other religions and the rigidification of the caste
system were the main cause of conflicts.
To remedy the above situation several autocorrective
social movements, such as the Arya
Samaj, the Brahmo Samaj, the Theosophical
Society, and others came into operation in the
early part of the nineteenth century. But these
reform movements did not take Hinduism as a
whole. Their work instead of unifying Hinduism
only led to further splintering of the religion and
the creation of new sects. This was the situation
that prevailed in India in the middle of the nineteenth
century when Sri Ramakrishna appeared
on the scene. The actual task of bringing about
the unification of Hinduism was accomplished
by Swami Vivekananda.
Swamiji presented Sri Ramakrishna to the
PB July 2011
world not as the propounder of a new doctrine
or as the founder of a new sect, but as the
rejuven ator of the whole Hinduism. Swamiji
showed how the eternal truths of the Hindu religion
found their verification in the life of Sri
Ramakrishna, how Sri Ramakrishna relived the
experiences of the sages and saints of the past,
and how Sri Ramakrishna’s message reconciled
the philosophical standpoints of all Hindu sects.
In this way, with Sri Ramakrishna as the centre,
Swami Vivekananda has brought about an overall
unification of Hinduism.
As regards the caste problem Swami Vivekananda
held that, although caste is associated with
the Hindu religion, it is not a religious problem
but a social one. The solution of the problem
lies not in pulling down those who are higher in
the caste hierarchy, but in raising up those who
are lower to the highest level. The ‘brahmana’
represents an ideal, an ideal person who has attained
purity of mind, spiritual knowledge, and
unselfishness and devotes his life to the welfare
of all. The aim of social life should be to raise
everyone, from the lowest to the highest caste,
including the brahmanas, to become the ideal
‘brahmana’. This is Swami Vivekananda’s solution
to the caste problem.
Cotton pillow used by Sri Ramakrishna
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