Brahmabandhab Upadhyay

If Subhas Chandra Bose is considered a forgotten hero, Brahmabandhab Upadhyay is a forgotten prophet of India's search for nationhood and modernity. Born a Brahmin, Bhawani Charan, as his original name was, typified the new Bengali middle-class: educated, upper caste and Hindu. Yet his conversion to Roman Catholicism and his revolutionary ideas for merging Christian doctrines with an Indian idiom marked him out as exceptional.

His life can be divided into five periods: early life (1861-1881), As a Hindu Reformer (1881-1890), As a Christian Witness (1891-1901), Mission abroad (1902-1903) and Nationalist Period (1904-1907).

Brahmabandhab was a fiery patriot from an early age. Under the influence of Keshabchandra Sen, he joined the Brahma Samaj and went to Sind to preach his new faith. But, in Sind, he met Reverend Kalicharan Bandyopadhyaya under whose influence he was converted to Christian faith. On February 26, 1891, he was baptized by Mr. Heaton, a clergyman of the Church of England. But soon he decided not to attend the Church services on the ground that he did not belong to the Church of England.

In September 1891, he was baptized by Jesuit Fr. Bruder, SJ at Karachi and became a Catholic. His conversion was followed by a number of others and so created a storm in Sindh. He chose St. Theophilus as his patron saint, whom he called Brahmabandhab. Theophilus is a Greek word meaning lover of God and Brahmabandhab means the same. He took this name because St. Theophilus is famous in ecclesiastical history as the first to use the word Trinity and Bhawani Charan resolved to be the first in India to sing the praises of the same Triune Sachchidanandam in the sacred tongues of the Rishis. And his Catholic faith did not denationalize him in the least; rather it brought him into closer and closer relationship with Hindu Samaj day by day

Brahmabandhav Upadhyaya was the first national leader to. demand total independence for India from the British. He was also the first to envisage a union between Hinduism and Christianity. K. P. Aleaz

Influenced by Swami Vivekananda, he retraced his steps back to Hinduism. To propagate Vedanta in the West and to enlist the sympathies of European savants in his cause, he travelled to Europe in 1902. He gave a series of lectures on Hinduism. He wanted to win over the authorities of the Church to his side. "If Europe could be made to pay homage to Hindu thought, the ultimate triumph of Christianity in India would he merely a question of time."

He visited Rome, made his confession, knelt down at the shrine of St. Peter and St. Paul, and sent up a fervent prayer for the conversion of India. In England, he met Cardinal Vaughan and narrated to him the tale of the pent-up sorrows of years. The Cardinal was touched and gave him permission to ventilate his ideas in the Tablet. Brahmabandhab had carried a letter of recommendation from His Grace, the Archbishop of Calcutta: "We declare that Brahmabandhab (Theophilus) Upadhyay, a Brahmin of Calcutta is a true Catholic, of good character, burning with zeal for the conversion of his countrymen ……….”

He started a monthly Catholic journal, "Sophia" in 1896 and dedicated it to the honour of St. Francis Xavier. He wanted it to be an honored instrument in carrying out his glorious work of the conversion of India.

He founded the Sarasvata-Ayatana in Calcutta in the tradition of the Vedas. He actively supported Rabindranath's ideal of a Brahmavidyalaya and helped to organize the school in its early stages.

The main contribution of Upadhyaya to Indian Christian theology lies in his explanation of the doctrine of trinity as Saccidananda and the doctrine of creation as Maya. True, he is following here the basic methodology of putting an already formulated Christian theology in Vendantic terms.

Brahmabandhab's political sentiments however proved too strong to allow him to remain in purely educational work for long, and his connection with the school ceased about a year after the starting of the School.

Rabindranath Tagore described him as a "Roman Catholic ascetic yet a Vedantin - spirited, fearless, self-denying, learned and uncommonly influential. "Christian and Hindu, holy man and savant, prophet and revolutionary, Upadhyay was a paradoxical figure who played a key role in the struggle for independence, along-side Vivekananda, Tagore, Aurobindo Ghose and others. His fiery convictions and passionate rhetoric won him many admirers and branded him a dangerous revolutionary in the eyes of the British colonial establishment. He was an ardent nationalist, who died while under arrest for sedition on October 27, 1907.

The year 2007 is the Centenary of his death. A prophet like Brahmabandhab must be known and studied by all. Lipner's work, Brahmabandhab Upadhyay: The life and Thought of a Revolutionary, is a rich and worthy contribution in this respect. A group of Jesuits and others is taking the initiative to celebrate the centenary year. Programmes that are planned include: 1. Small seminars and discussions in schools, co1leges, seminaries, etc, on Brahmabandhab's contributions 2. A drama in English and Bengali, 3. A documentary film on his life and teachings, and 4. Two national seminars - in Bangalore and in Kolkata. The Kolkata seminar will be organized by the Goethals Library and Research Society in October 2007.