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Morobhatt Dandekar

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Moro-bhatt Dandekar[a] was a Hindu pandit and apologist from Bombay, British India. In response to Christian missionary activities, he wrote the Marathi-language Hindu apologetic work Shri-hindu-dharma-sthapana (1831) and published the monthly magazine Upadesha-Chandrika (1844).

Shri-hindu-dharma-sthapana

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Shri-hindu-dharma-sthapana
AuthorMorobhatt Dandekar
Original titleश्री हिन्दू धर्म स्थापना
LanguageMarathi
SubjectCriticism of Christianity, Hindu apologetics
Genrenon-fiction
Publication date
1831
Publication placeBritish India

In February 1831, Dandekar debated with Christian missionary John Wilson for six successive evenings, each man aiming to defend his religion. Dandekar's 1831 Marathi-language text Shri-hindu-dharma-sthapana[b] summarizes his objections to Christianity.[1]

In the book, Dandekar responds to several Christian criticisms of Hinduism. For example, he argues:

  • The virtuous actions of the Hindu gods far outnumber those of Jesus.[1]
  • Krishna's acts of stealing butter are justified because he is the lord of the Universe, and everything belongs to him. Moreover, the residents of Gokula wanted to him to come to their homes, and he gratified them by visiting their homes to steal.[7]
  • The legends of Rama and Krishna should not perplex to those who believe in the Christian trinity. For example, the descriptions of power of the god are inconsistent with the description of Jesus' sufferings and miserable death: if Christians don't find this bewildering, why should Hindus find the stories of Rama and Krishna bewildering?[7]
  • Christians say that ignorance arises from Hindu rituals such as bathing in the Ganges water or worshipping of an idol of Krishna. Then, how do they justify Christian rituals such as baptism by water, eating bread while muttering words, or drinking spirits?[8]

If you ask why Rama, Krishna, and other incarnations, accomplished the salvation of men in this or that particular manner, we ask you in return why God sent his Son into the world, and why, for the salvation of men, he brought him into a state so reproachful and so appalling. What! Had he no other way of saving the world?

English translation of Shri-hindu-dharma-sthapana in Wilson's An Exposure of the Hindu Religion[9]

According to Dandekar, the people who see something objectionable in Hinduism must have committed sins in their former births, which explains their "unhappy circumstance".[8]

Balshastri Jambhekar, in the 13 April 1832 issue of The Bombay Durpun, described the work as "the first instance of a Brahmin coming forward publicly to vindicate the Hindu Religion, and entering the field of public discussion by publishing a work in defence of it."[4]

An English translation of the text appears in Wilson's An Exposure of the Hindu Religion, along with Wilson's response to these objections.[1] Narayan Rao of Satara responded to Wilson's text in a pamphlet edited by Dandekar, and Wilson repsonded to it with A Second Exposure of the Hindoo Religion (1834).[5]

Upadesha-Chandrika

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In 1843, Narayan Sheshadri, a Deshastha Brahmin educated in a mission school, adopted Christianity, leading to a controversy in Bombay.[3] In response, Morobhat Dandekar published the Marathi monthly magazine Upadesha Chandrika[c], which featured anti-Christianity religious polemic.[11][12] The publication ran for one year, during 1844; the 12th issue - dated December 1844 - was published in January 1845.[4]

Notes

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  1. ^ IAST: Mora-bhaṭṭa Dāndekara;[1] Alternative transliterations of the name include Morabhat Dandekar,[2] Morobhat Dandekar,[3] and Moro-bhatt Dandekar[4]
  2. ^ IAST: Śrī-hindu-dharma-sthāpana. English translations of the title include "Establishment of the Venerable Hindu Religion",[1] "Foundations of Hindu Religion",[4] "The Verification of the Hindoo Religion"[5] and "Vindication of Hindu Religion"[6]
  3. ^ IAST: Upadeśa-candrikā; also transliterated Updesh Chandrika,[2] Marathi for "Moonlight of Admonition"[10]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e Richard F. Young 1981, p. 26.
  2. ^ a b Hulas Singh 2015, p. 185.
  3. ^ a b Frank F. Conlon 1992, p. 12.
  4. ^ a b c d Frank F. Conlon 1992, p. 25.
  5. ^ a b Rosalind O'Hanlon 2002, p. 65.
  6. ^ Robert A. Yelle 2013, p. 118.
  7. ^ a b Richard F. Young 1981, p. 27.
  8. ^ a b Richard F. Young 1981, p. 28.
  9. ^ Richard F. Young 1981, pp. 27–28.
  10. ^ Frank F. Conlon 1995, pp. 166.
  11. ^ Frank F. Conlon 1992, pp. 12–13.
  12. ^ Frank F. Conlon 1995, pp. 155–156.

Bibliography

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  • Frank F. Conlon (1995). "Readmission of Sripat Sesadri: Dharmasastra Vs Public Consensus, Bombay 1843-45". In A.R. Kulkarni; Narendra K. Wagle (eds.). Contemporary India: G.R. Bhatkal Memorial Lectures, 1975-1995. Popular Prakashan. ISBN 9788171545599.
  • Frank F. Conlon (1992). "The Polemic Process in Nineteenth-century Maharashtra: Vishnubawa Brahmachari and Hindu Revival". In Kenneth W. Jones (ed.). Religious Controversy in British India: Dialogues in South Asian Languages. State University of New York Press. ISBN 9780791408285.
  • Hulas Singh (2015). Rise of Reason: Intellectual History of 19th-century Maharashtra. Taylor & Francis. p. 185. ISBN 9781317398745.
  • Richard Fox Young (1981). Resistant Hinduism: Sanskrit Sources on Anti-Christian Apologetics in Early Nineteenth-century India. De Nobili Research Library. ISBN 9783900271091.
  • Robert A. Yelle (2013). The Language of Disenchantment: Protestant Literalism and Colonial Discourse in British India. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780199925018.
  • Rosalind O'Hanlon (2002). Caste, Conflict and Ideology. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521523080.
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