Page:An Essay On Hinduism.pdf/124

division between them is not sharp, but one class imperceptibly merges into the other.

Shortly after the overthrow of the Marathas by the British in 1818, English education found its way into the Maratha country. Some classes of people on this account assimilated the English ideas, the English views of life, and with some people it became a fashion to imitate the English. These people called themselves and were called "reformers" (sudhāraka). This band consisted of men of several types. There were men who were tired of Brāhmaṇic ceremonial and of the strict discipline which Brāhmaṇism imposes, and wondered whether this ceremonial and discipline were necessary to attain eternal bliss. There were men who doubted the validity of Indian philosophy, and became agnostic towards the law of Karma, existence of God and transmigration of soul, and even about the existence of soul. There were men who considered English dress as superior to the Hindu dress, and also some among Brāhmaṇas who preferred animal food to vegetarian diet. There were men who disliked the old custom of early marriage, and of the prohibition of remarriage of widows. Some people imitated the English in their fashions as well as vices. Brāhmaṇas of this class began to drink liquor and eat animal food. One organ of this class, namely, the "Sudhāraka" of Poona, showed its "moral courage" by taking advertisements of liquor, a thing which no Maratha newspaper does! Men of the class mentioned last, by their misconduct, brought to a certain extent the whole sudhāraka band into disrepute.

The other class, the Uddhārakas (uplifters), or the traditionalists, regarded themselves as uplifters, or champions of the old. The tenets of this party, like those of the