A Caitanya Vaiṣṇava Response to the Nineteenth-century Bengal Renaissance Movement According to the Works of Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura
Issue: Vol 2 No. 2 (2008)
Journal: Religions of South Asia
Subject Areas: Religious Studies Buddhist Studies Islamic Studies
Abstract:
Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura (1838–1914) was both a Bhadraloka and a Caitanya Vaiṣṇava reformer. Consequently, he played a unique role in the nineteenthcentury Bengal Renaissance movement. This paper first briefly analyses Western impact on nineteenth-century Bengal and the responses to it from the Bhadralokas and the traditionalists, in terms of their attitude to six points, namely 1) ethics/morality, 2) monotheism, 3) the Bhāgavata Purāṇa, 4) image worship, 5) the caste system, and 6) the status of women. Then the paper examines Bhaktivinoda’s unique contribution in relation to the above-mentioned six issues.
Author: Kiyo Kazu Okita