According

PB August 2009
The Spiritual and Cultural Ethos of Modern Hindi Literature 43
encompassing. Ishvara is related to various objects
in the same manner as the body to its organs. He
was of the opinion that the world is without beginning
or end. The individual soul does not survive
the death of the body; only the cosmic soul
is indestructible. Defining religion he says: ‘The
knowledge of difference in the indivisible, and consequent
unbiased behaviour with all, and truthfulness
are the basics of religion.’ He upheld the ten
characteristics of dharma—fortitude, forgiveness,
and the like—as propounded by Manu. Providing
a unique synthesis of jnana, bhakti, and karma,
he wrote: ‘Today we await a philosophy that will
suitably include jnana, karma, and bhakti. Jnana
will lead to philosophical development. The combination
of jnana and karma will lead to scientific
development. And with bhakti being nurtured, indiscipline
will be curbed.’ He gave rational explanations
for the metaphors found in the Puranas. He
did not believe in rebirth, the karma theory, or in
the existence of other worlds. He denounced ostentation
and hypocrisy and propagated a scientific
outlook through his writings on history, linguistics,
philosophy, anthropology, astronomy, geography,
geology, and other subjects.
This scientific outlook and rationality found expression
in the writings of Acharya Ramchandra
Shukla too. He translated the Riddle of the Universe
of the famous agnostic John Haeckel into Hindi,
giving it the title Vishwaprapanch. But the major
contribution of this proponent of rationality and
development lay in his re-establishment of the ideal
of bhakti and fresh re-elucidation of devotional
poetry. The tradition of original philosophical and
spiritual thinking in Hindi was carried forward by
Sampurnanand through his Chidvilas (The Play
of Consciousness) and Acharya Narendra Dev
through Bauddh Dharm Darshan (The Philosophy
of the Buddhist Religion). Of course, the philosopher
Bhagwan Das, an associate of Annie Besant,
had already brought out several books, including
Purusharth (Human End), Darshan ka Prayojan
(The Need for Philosophy), and Sab Dharmon ki
Buniyadi Ekta (The Fundamental Unity of All Religions).
Acharya Vinoba Bhave provided a great
impetus to inter-religious harmony through his insightful
commentaries on the Gita, the Upanishads,
and the ‘Japuji’, and his compilation of the essential
teachings of the Vedas, the Quran, and the Bible.
Among the writers of the Dwivedi era, Chandradhar
Sharma Guleri represents intellectual acuity
and Sardar Puran Singh an imaginative ethos coloured
by Vedanta and Sufism. Sardar Puran Singh
was deeply influenced by Swami Ramtirth. It is noteworthy
that Professor Tirthram Goswami of the Lahore
College was influenced by Swami Vivekananda
during the latter’s tour of Lahore in 1897, and later
became the monk Swami Ramtirth. In his article
‘Acharan ki Sabhyata’ (Civilized Behaviour)—presenting
the philosophy of practical Vedanta in his
impassioned style—he emphasized work over writing,
realization over the scriptures, and practice over
preaching. Sardar Puran Singh was enamoured of
those very wonderful humane qualities of the working
class that Premchand portrayed so vividly in the
Indian farmers inhabiting his novels and stories: ‘The
compassion, valour, and love seen amongst these
farmers is unparalleled.’ He sees true renunciants
and saints in the farmers and labourers toiling in
nature’s lap; they glorify the purity of nature and of
human love as against the heartlessness of machines.
Sardar Puran Singh considered labour to be indistinguishable
from spiritual practice. He truly echoes
the neo-Vedanta of Swami Vivekananda when he
says: ‘Worship of humans is worship of God.’
Premchand, the best chronicler of the farmer’s
life, strongly criticizes religious hypocrisy in his
stories and essays; this often gives the impression
that he is opposed to religion. He shows how landlords,
capitalists, pontiffs, and the rich observe religious
ceremonials but do not hesitate in resorting
to exploitation, oppression, cheating, and violence
for the sake of pelf, power, and position. In contrast,
farmers and labourers do not go to temples,
mosques, or churches, and do not undertake worship
or religious ritual, but they have faith in God,
religion, and propriety and practise service, compassion,
honesty, hospitality, and simplicity in their
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