{
  "bookName": "History of Christianity in India: Source Materials",
  "authorName": "M. K. Kuriakose",
  "publisherName": "Indian Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge",
  "publicationYear": 2011,
  "chapterNumber": 137,
  "chapterName": "1897. Brahmabandhab Upadhyay on Independence for India",
  "pageFrom": 268,
  "pageTo": 269,
  "pages": [
    {
      "pageNumber": 268,
      "ocrText": "268\nHISTORY OF CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA\nWe have no definite idea as regards the modus operandi of making\nHindu philosophy the handmaid of Christianity. The task is\ndifficult and beset with many dangers. But we have a conviction\nand it is growing day by day that the Catholic Church will find it\nhard to conquer India unless she makes Hindu philosophy hew\nwood and draw water for her. The more we meditate on the\ncogitations of Hindu philosophy concerning the Supreme Being,\non its marvelous but fruitless effort to penetrate into His inner\nnature... the more light is thrown upon the ever-mysterious\nChristian doctrine of the one God, one yet multiple, absolute yet\nrelated within himself, discovering in it a new fitness to appease\nthe noblest cravings of man and satisfy the demands of the loftiest\nintellect...\nThe development of the Christian religion has not come to an\nend. It will grow, blossom and fructify till the end of time. Indian\nsoil is humid and its humidity will make the ever-new Christian\nrevelation put forth newer harmonies and newer beauties revealing\nmore clearly the invincible integrity of the Universal Faith deposited\nin the Church by the Apostles of Jesus Christ. The Hindu mind\nand heart, coming under the dominion of the One, Holy,\nApostolic and Catholic Church, will sing a new canticle which\nwills fill the earth with sweetness from end to end.\n137. BRAHMABANDHAB UPADHYAY ON INDEPENDENCE\nFOR INDIA (1897 A.D.)\nBrahmabandhab Upadhyay is perhaps best known for his contri-\nbution to Indian Christian theology. But he was also notable for his\nuncompromising nationalism at a time when most Indian Christians\nbelieved British rule was providential. In this passage he describes\nhis vision of an independent India. From Animananda, The Blade,\npp. 136-137 & 170-171. Cited in Wm. Theodore de Bary, Sources\nof Indian Tradition, pp. 736-738.\nI swear by the moon and the sun that I have heard in my heart\nof hearts this message of freedom. As the tree in winter gets a\nnew life with the touch of the breeze of spring, as you feel joy at\nthe return of love, as the heart of a hero dances to the call of the\ntrumpet of war so a feeling has throbbed in my heart.\nBut independence will mean both freedom from our slave\ncomplex and freedom from gerrymandering politics.\nWith the spread of English rule and culture, India lost her own\nidea of civilization. Our educated classes think as they have been\ntaught by their Firinghi masters. Our minds have been conquered.",
      "status": "completed"
    },
    {
      "pageNumber": 269,
      "ocrText": "SOURCE MATERIALS\n269\nWe have become slaves. The faith in our own culture and the\nlove for things Indian are gone. India will reach Swaraj the day\nshe will again have a faith in herself. Ramakrishna had gone\nin that line. So did Bamkim. So did Vivekananda. The whole\nmass of our people must now be made to appreciate things Indian\nand to return to our ancient way. That is Swadesh as opposed\nto Bidesh.\nI see the fort of Swaraj built in various places. There shall be\nno connection with the foreigner. Those forts will be purified\nby the incense of sacrifice, resounding with the cry of victory,\nfilled to overflowing with corn and grain.\nForeigners will not enter there. There we shall be our own\nmasters, from the Thakurghar to the cowshed. All our laws will\nbe observed there, our own Varna-Asram. Let the Englishman be\nlike the Chaukidar or Jamadar, like the watching dog at the door:\n'If the dog enters your kitchen you break the cooking pot and\nchase him out'. Outside this, our own Jurisdiction, we shall\nobserve the laws of the Firinghi for fear of assault and we shall\npay the taxes. But if he were to trespass on our Godgiven rights,\nwoe betide him. We shall give thrashing...\nWe have said over and over again that we are not Swadeshi\nonly so far as salt and sugar are concerned. Our aspirations are\nhigher than the Himalayas. Our pain is as intense as if we had a\nvolcano in us. What we want is the emancipation of India. Our\naim is that India may be free, that the stranger may be driven from\nour homes, that the continuity of the learning, the civilization and\nthe system of the rishis may be preserved. W We have often heard\nthe voice from heaven: Selfish men! We have not entered the\nlists to pay the mudi (grocer).\nFirst free the Mother from bondage, then seek your own deli-\nverance. The fire of desire has been kindled within our bosom.\nWe do not know whence. Heaven we do not want. Deliverance\nwe seek not. O Mother! let us be born again and again in India\ntill your chains fall off. First let the Mother be free, and then\nshall come our own release from the worldly bonds. This is no\nmere child's play. O Feringhi[sic], here I am with my neck outsret-\nched-offer it up as a sacrifice. You will see, I shall again be born\nin the land of Bengal and shall cause much more serious confusion.\nCan you intimidate us? Our power is more than human. It is\ndivine. We have heard the voice telling us that the period of\nIndia's suffering is about to close, that the day of her deliverance\nis near at hand. It is because we have heard the voice that we have\nleft our forest-home and came to town. Your overweening pride\nis due to your possessing a few cannon and guns. Just see to what",
      "status": "completed"
    }
  ]
}