Today, Feb. 11, is the 160th birthday of one of the most fascinating personalities of modern India — Brahmabandhab Updhyay, a Vedantin, a Christian, a journalist, a nationalist. A #thread on his life and thought. 1/44

“Upadhyay is one of the enigmas of modern India, and a potential embarrassment to those who invoke him. Religious reformer and religious revivalist, a self-confessed ‘Hindu-Catholic’, political activist and social commentator, he is also difficult to categorise” (J L Lipner) 2/44

Rabindranath Tagore, his one-time friend and collaborator, captured something of his elusiveness when he said: ‘He was a Roman Catholic ascetic, yet a Vedantin – spirited, fearless, self-denying, erudite, and uncommonly influential.' 3/44

"Upadhyay’s short life of 46 years or so spanned one of the most creative periods of Indian history, when India as a nation was in the making. He was in the thick of the struggle to form the soul of modern India." 4/44

A number of the key figures of the nation-building process – Debendranath & Rabindranath Tagore, Keshabchandra Sen and Pratapchandra Majumdar, Annie Besant, Ramakrishna Paramhamsa, Swami Vivekananda, Bipinchandra Pal and Aurobindo Ghosh, encountered his forceful personality. 5/44

Born as Bhabanicharan Bandhopadhyay in 1861 in village Khannyan in Bengal. Father Debicharan Bandhopadhyay was a police inspector, and socially a part of the Bengali ‘bhadralok.’ Bhabani’s mother died when he was about one year old. Grandmother Chandramoni brought the boy up 6/44

Western influence was strong at home, but the proud, caste-conscious grandmother ensured traditional Hindu upbringing. Kali-the-Terrible was the Shakta family’s tutelary deity, the boy also was exposed to Vaishnava influence through Ramayana and Mahabharta. 7/44

Bhabani’s uncle Kali Charan Banerjee was a Christian and it seems he too had influenced the young boy. Kali Charan was a nationalist and in his dress and customs still enough of a Bengali bhadralok. Perhaps from him Bhabani learnt how a Brahmin can also be a Christian 8/44

At 9, he went to General Assembly Institution in Calcutta where he was taught the Bible for the first time. Bhabani had been attracted to Jesus Christ from early boyhood, says a biographer. At 13, he was at Hoogly Collegiate School at Chinsurah 9/44

At 15, he with some of his school mates had a fight with some Armenian youths who were apparently teasing some Hindu women. Bhabani was the leader of this Hindu band. Elders had to intervene to settle it after three days of hostilities 10/44

The ‘Armenian Incident’ stirred nationalist emotions in him. He soon attended lectures by Surendranath Banerjea who was rousing Bengali youth to patriotic fervour. But Bhabani was disappointed by appeals to constitutional methods. 11/44

In 1878–79, he twice made his way to Gwalior to ‘learn the art of war and drive away the foreigner’. He wanted to enlist in the Maharaja’s army but the Maratha power centre had lost its vitality and Bhabani came back disappointed 12/44

Bhabani decided to devote his pen to the patriotic cause. After coming back from Gwalior, he began teaching in the Free Church Institution in Calcutta. It was about this time that he became a friend of Narendranath Dutta, later known to the world as Swami Vivekananda 13/44

Bengali youth at that time were also frequent visitors to various reformist and spiritual organisations like Brahmo Samaj. Bhabani came in contact with Keshab Chandra Sen, who wished to synthesise Hinduism and Christianity and personally had a great regard for Christ 14/44

Bhabani joined Keshab in 1882 and was also introduced to Ramakrishna Paramhamsa. But he was not enamoured of the mystic. Naren Dutta, meanwhile, became Ramakrishna’s leading follower. 15/44

In 1888, Bhabhani went to Sind on the request of a Sindhi member of Keshab’s “Church”, to start a school for boys in Hyderabad. It was called the best school in Sind. Bhabani was Sanskrit and games master 16/44

Meanwhile, Bhabani’s father, who had changed his job, was sick in Multan. From Hyderabad Bhabani went to be with his father. At night as he kept vigil, he happened to see Faa di Bruno’s book “Catholic Belief”, which he read into the night 17/44

His father did not survive. However, Bhabani kept the book with him and soon declared himself to be a Roman Catholic. Unlike Keshab and Pratapchandra, Bhabani believed that Jesus was not just an ideal man, he was the incarnate son of God 18/44

Having become a Christian, Bhabani resigned from his position in the school in Sind because he wanted to save everyone the embarrassment. His close Brahmo friend Rewachand decided to follow his example and became a Christian 19/44

In February 1891, Bhabani was baptised by an Anglican, but not into the Anglican church. He was more inclined to accept Catholic theology, which had a more favourable view of Hindu thought compared to Protestantism. 20/44

After his conversion, there followed a phase of militant Catholic activism. He lectured and wrote in defence of his faith. In 1893, Brahmabandhab published “A Tract on the Existence of God” addressing the atheistic rationalists of his time. 21/44

The karmayogi, a muscular Christian and an ascetic warrior, Brahmabandhab needed a suitable chariot for his intellectual campaign. In January 1894, he began editing from Karachi a monthly Catholic journal “Sophia” 22/44

In December 1894, he announced in the pages of “Sophia” that he had adopted the life of a Bhikshu Sannyasi and had taken up a new name Brahmanbandhu [Friend of God, Theophilus] Upadhyay. He later changed the first name to Brahmabandhab. 23/44

For Brahmanandhab, a Christian need not be one ‘who drinks liquor and eats beef’ as many of his contemporaries falsely believed. He was seeking to believe like a Christians and behave and even think like a Hindu. 24/44

Brahmabandhab had debates with Arya Samaj as well. He appreciated their theism and their opposition to idolatry. But he vigorously critiqued them for holding that “Almighty is unable to create, that man and matter are coeternal with God.” 25/44

In 1895 he argued for a blending of supernatural and the natural, of Christianity and Hinduism. He wrote “The religion of Christ is supernatural ... The truths of Hinduism are of pure reason illuminated …” Between the natural & the supernatural, he wished to build a bridge 26/44

He also debated Annie Besant. He emphasised that the famous theosophist Besant was fit to lecture neither on Hinduism nor Christianity. He published four articles in "Sophia" in 1897 titled “Hinduism and Christianity as compared by Mrs Besant” 27/44

He went on a lecture tour of Southern Presidency in 1897 and returned in 1898. In Feb. of that year he discusses with his friend and disciple Animananda the idea of establishing a Catholic–Vedanta matha (monastery) 28/44

Many of his ideas, including founding an order of Catholic Sannyasis, however, did not find favour with the papal delegate to India Michael Zaleski. 29/44

In 1899, he began a new school on Bethune Row with Rabindranath Tagore. Tagore also discussed plans for starting a school at Shantiniketan with Brahmabandhab. 30/44

In 1900, Brahmabandab began to use the pen name “Narhari Das” (Servant of the Man–God, or God incarnate, i.e., Jesus Christ) 31/44

In the same year, 1900, Zaleksi banned “Sophia”. In 1901, Brahmabandhab began another journal “The Twentieth Century”. 32/44

In October 1902, Brahmanandhab departed for Rome, London, Oxford and Cambridge. His old friend, Vivekananda died that year 33/44

He returned from Europe in July 1903 and next year, in July 1904, he began a new paper “Sandhya”, to carry out his nationalist mission. Also united with the Swadeshi movement. 34/44

In August 1904, he gave a controversial address on Sri Krishna arguing that he was culture-specific moral exemplar for Hindus. Christ, he continued to hold, is the divine Saviour for all. 35/44

In December 1904, he celebrated feast of the Nativity in Calcutta, testifying his Christian faith. 36/44

In February 1905, he permitted Saraswati puja in his school, as he considered it a cultural expression. This controversial decision led to parting of ways with his close friend Animananda (earlier Rewachand). 37/44

In November 1905, Brahmanandhab called for complete independence from Great Britain. This was much before the Gandhian call of "Quit India" in 1942. 38/44

In June 1907, he performed prayshcita (a penance) for breaking Hindu social customs. He wished to reintegrate himself to the Hindu society, while remaining a Christian spiritually. 39/44

Brahmabandhab was becoming increasingly vocal about his militantly nationalist feelings. On 10 Sep. 1907, first sedition case was launched against him because of his anti-British writings. 40/44

On 21 Oct. 1907, he was taken to Campbell hospital for hernia operation. On 26 Oct. 1907, second sedition case was announced. 41/44

Brahmabandab Upadhyay died in hospital on 27 Oct. 1907. Last words on his lips were reported to be “O Thakur”, the term he used for Jesus Christ. 42/44

In July 1898, he had famously written in "Sophia":

“We are Hindu so far as our physical and mental constitution is concerned, but in regard to our immortal souls we are Catholics. We are Hindu Catholic.” 43/44

Source: Brahmabandhab Upadhyay: The Life and Thought of Revolutionary, Julius J. Lipner (OUP, 2001); Building Christianity on Indian Foundations, Timothy C. Tennent (ISPCK, 2000); The Writings of Brahmabandhab Upadhyay, vol 1, eds. Lipner and George Gispert-Sauch (UTC). 44/44