The Unnerving Struggle to Remain A Hindu - XI
02 Jan 2025 10:51:09
When the Portuguese reached Goa, it was already under the Mughal rule. ( probably for a long time, as the rulers wanted to convert people). They saw that once converted, people hardly had an opportunity to get back to the fold of the Hindu faith. The society was not ready to accommodate them. Even if someone ate food cooked by a Christian, they would be treated as converted. If a cross is placed inside a temple, it is sufficient to give it up completely.
A temple in Saasashti where two Padres entered while the sadhus sat with the disciples. Seeing them entering the premises all ran away in response to the presence of the beefeaters. The fear of getting the temple defiled made them vacate it. The padres easily got hold of the temple which they converted into the Church of Our Lady of Piety. This, Ranga Hari Ji described as ' suicidal moral perversity '. Once converted with such deceptive methods, a person could not return to the old faith. No rituals were available to bring people back to Hinduism, excommunication was their only fate. This is noted by many. Even touching them was a sin or unholy. In 1792 , Francisco da Cunha, the then governor of Goa wrote to the King that Hindus never re-admitted anyone who accepted any other faith.
Swami Vivekanand in his address at the conference of religions stated that people wanted the east to accept Christianity because the Christian nations were prosperous. He stated clearly that this prosperity had come by cutting the throats of his fellowmen. He witnessed the hight of intolerance by many, but he asserted that Blood and Sword were not for Hindus as their way of life is based on laws and love.
Of course, there were some efforts to take people back in the early period, Swamis or Jogis who were involved were asked to discourage and reach the Neo-Converts. This was mentioned in the resolutions passed in the third council organised in Goa by missionaries in 1585. These efforts were not sufficient or the updated records are not available. Swami Dayananda Saraswati in the second half of the 19th century had detailed rituals designed the procedure as specified in the scriptures. His chief disciple Swami Shradhaanand brought more than 1 lakh people to the Hindu fold who were converted to Muslim religion and many who were converted to Christianity. This made Goa think on the same line. Some prominent leaders who had earned the respect in the society as scholars, medical practitioners, and business barons, really worked on this. They met Swami Shradhaanand when he came to Belgaum in Karnataka. He carefully observed the entire situation and stated that the time for the action had not arrived. This disappointed them a little, but they kept the efforts on.
Hindu Missionary Society was established in 1917 by Shri Gajanan Vaidya, its rules and regulations were published in Kesari by Lokmanya Tilak. Many Goans working in Mumbai went to kurtakoti Shankaracharya, he advised creating awareness to gather public support. As the society had limited resources, it could not help much.
In 1922, Shri Vinayak Maharaj who established Brahmacharyashram in the village Masoor in Satara district, visited to support Goans. He reached Gokarna ( Karnataka ) to celebrate Shivratri, entered Goa and observed the situation, returned again and started the journey from Cancona to Panaji. Resided in every significant village for 4 days. He would go for Bhiksha ( begging for food which is customary to sanyasis ), in the evening a bhajan would be organised followed by a discussion session with the villagers. All stayed in temples mostly. On the last day, Pooja and Prasad used to be organised. Ultimately the Yatra reached Panaji, Bhajan, religious discourse, Surya namaskar and recital of Dasbodh were conducted. This was an attempt to educate and create awareness and give the message to the people. This Yatra took sixty days to complete.
He observed that though his yatra helped to change the atmosphere, he knew that the work had to be done secretly and very carefully, as it might have created unease in the conservative people. It was not in favour of the Christian rulers who treated conversion as one of the prime objectives. The work required a group of lawyers too. He advised identifying a caste that had many members ready to return to the Hindu faith, he was aware that this would create a strong group where all would help each other and remain together as a block.
It was observed that Kunbis and Gavades even after 4 centuries were following Hindu customs. So it was decided to focus on this segment which stood at the lower level of the caste ladder.
Swamiji returned to Goa after some years when the groundwork was done. He brought some scholars to supervise the rituals and a group of lawyers was also ready. ' The declaration of intent ' was signed by everyone individually. ( 2000 declarations were ready ) The function was to be held on Falgun shuddha panchami,26'th February 1926.
A letter to invite people was prepared. ( Readers would find the content of the letter really touching ). They were distributed personally. The invitation had the Christian names also. (Probably for the last time.)
More about the ceremony in the next write up which would be the last one. Wish to request the readers to share their views, and please suggest the name of some book, which needs to reach many.
A temple in Saasashti where two Padres entered while the sadhus sat with the disciples. Seeing them entering the premises all ran away in response to the presence of the beefeaters. The fear of getting the temple defiled made them vacate it. The padres easily got hold of the temple which they converted into the Church of Our Lady of Piety. This, Ranga Hari Ji described as ' suicidal moral perversity '. Once converted with such deceptive methods, a person could not return to the old faith. No rituals were available to bring people back to Hinduism, excommunication was their only fate. This is noted by many. Even touching them was a sin or unholy. In 1792 , Francisco da Cunha, the then governor of Goa wrote to the King that Hindus never re-admitted anyone who accepted any other faith.
Swami Vivekanand in his address at the conference of religions stated that people wanted the east to accept Christianity because the Christian nations were prosperous. He stated clearly that this prosperity had come by cutting the throats of his fellowmen. He witnessed the hight of intolerance by many, but he asserted that Blood and Sword were not for Hindus as their way of life is based on laws and love.
Of course, there were some efforts to take people back in the early period, Swamis or Jogis who were involved were asked to discourage and reach the Neo-Converts. This was mentioned in the resolutions passed in the third council organised in Goa by missionaries in 1585. These efforts were not sufficient or the updated records are not available. Swami Dayananda Saraswati in the second half of the 19th century had detailed rituals designed the procedure as specified in the scriptures. His chief disciple Swami Shradhaanand brought more than 1 lakh people to the Hindu fold who were converted to Muslim religion and many who were converted to Christianity. This made Goa think on the same line. Some prominent leaders who had earned the respect in the society as scholars, medical practitioners, and business barons, really worked on this. They met Swami Shradhaanand when he came to Belgaum in Karnataka. He carefully observed the entire situation and stated that the time for the action had not arrived. This disappointed them a little, but they kept the efforts on.
Hindu Missionary Society was established in 1917 by Shri Gajanan Vaidya, its rules and regulations were published in Kesari by Lokmanya Tilak. Many Goans working in Mumbai went to kurtakoti Shankaracharya, he advised creating awareness to gather public support. As the society had limited resources, it could not help much.
In 1922, Shri Vinayak Maharaj who established Brahmacharyashram in the village Masoor in Satara district, visited to support Goans. He reached Gokarna ( Karnataka ) to celebrate Shivratri, entered Goa and observed the situation, returned again and started the journey from Cancona to Panaji. Resided in every significant village for 4 days. He would go for Bhiksha ( begging for food which is customary to sanyasis ), in the evening a bhajan would be organised followed by a discussion session with the villagers. All stayed in temples mostly. On the last day, Pooja and Prasad used to be organised. Ultimately the Yatra reached Panaji, Bhajan, religious discourse, Surya namaskar and recital of Dasbodh were conducted. This was an attempt to educate and create awareness and give the message to the people. This Yatra took sixty days to complete.
He observed that though his yatra helped to change the atmosphere, he knew that the work had to be done secretly and very carefully, as it might have created unease in the conservative people. It was not in favour of the Christian rulers who treated conversion as one of the prime objectives. The work required a group of lawyers too. He advised identifying a caste that had many members ready to return to the Hindu faith, he was aware that this would create a strong group where all would help each other and remain together as a block.
It was observed that Kunbis and Gavades even after 4 centuries were following Hindu customs. So it was decided to focus on this segment which stood at the lower level of the caste ladder.
Swamiji returned to Goa after some years when the groundwork was done. He brought some scholars to supervise the rituals and a group of lawyers was also ready. ' The declaration of intent ' was signed by everyone individually. ( 2000 declarations were ready ) The function was to be held on Falgun shuddha panchami,26'th February 1926.
A letter to invite people was prepared. ( Readers would find the content of the letter really touching ). They were distributed personally. The invitation had the Christian names also. (Probably for the last time.)
More about the ceremony in the next write up which would be the last one. Wish to request the readers to share their views, and please suggest the name of some book, which needs to reach many.