Libmonster ID: IN-1404

Terrorist organizations that emerged in India at the beginning of the twentieth century considered the fight against colonialists their sacred duty. It is known that they were inspired, in particular, by the teachings of the religious philosopher Swami Vivekananda (1863-1902) and had certain connections with the Ramakrishna Mission created by him. The British secret service, which fought against terrorists, studied the issue of these links and came to the conclusion that religion and terrorism are not directly related to each other.

In the second half of the XIX century. India was experiencing one of the turning points in its history. The policy of the colonial authorities patronized British capital and hindered the country's industrial development. The growing supply of English imports hindered the development of national production, which had to survive in the face of constant foreign competition. Artisans were ruined, crushed by the influx of cheap English factory-made goods. Nevertheless, in India, since the mid-19th century, national entrepreneurship has been developing intensively, the capitalist structure in the economy has been strengthening, and socio-economic changes have been observed. More and more segments of the population were drawn into commodity relations, and small businesses developed. New social groups have emerged in Indian society: the national bourgeoisie and the intelligentsia. If the representatives of the national bourgeoisie, having certain contradictions with the regime, still adapted to it and generally successfully conducted their business, the intelligentsia felt aggrieved, and it was from this environment that the ideologists of the struggle for independence of the country and their followers came out.

Participants in the political life of India during the period under review are usually divided into two main wings: "moderate" and "extreme". The " moderates "did not reject the colonial regime and fought only for the expansion of Indian participation in government; the" extreme " ones, on the contrary, sought independence, saw their main task in spreading a sense of patriotism among Indian youth, and were convinced that Indian culture was spiritually and intellectually superior to Western materialism. Supporters of radical methods in the struggle for independence, who took the path of creating underground organizations, appeared precisely from among the "extreme" ones. Members of underground organizations in the colonial period were usually called "revolutionaries", and later, both in Indian and English historiography, the term"terrorists" begins to appear. Religion and national tradition have become the ideological basis of radical independence fighters, and the tactics of individual terror have become the way to achieve this goal.

Swami Vivekananda , a major philosopher and one of the representatives of the religious renaissance, closely intertwined aktu with religion in his philosophical constructions-

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He had strong political and nationalist ideas, which made him popular among Indian revolutionaries. Both domestic historians (A. V. Raikov, S. A. Tishambayeva) and foreign historians (P. Higgs, Guna Arun Chandra), as well as other authors whose works are devoted to the problems of the national liberation struggle in India, in particular to the issues of the National liberation movement in India, have written about the existence of a link between Vivekananda, the Ramakrishna Mission religious organization created by him and Indian revolutionaries. the origins of the revolutionary movement. The main source for them was usually the biographies of direct participants in the events, their memories. The materials of the colonial police, which served as a source for this article, can shed new light on the problem of the relationship between Vivekananda, the Ramakrishna Mission and the revolutionaries.

The emergence of Vivekananda's teaching was preceded by a long period of religious reformation, dictated by the need to modernize the entire ideological atmosphere of the country. The challenges facing India required a revision of traditional values and principles. This process took the form of a religious reformation. Religion served as an ideological language, a national banner in the struggle for political sovereignty, as a reaction to the invasion of Western culture and morality, and as a mechanism that could be used to exalt the ideals of the struggle for freedom, giving them the authority of sanctity.

The greatest role in the reform of Hinduism was played in the 19th century. Rammohan Roy (1772-1833), Dayananda Saraswati (1824-1883), Ramakrishna (1834-1886), Swami Vivekananda at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, and Aurobindo Ghosh (1872-1950) in the 20th century. If the reformers of the nineteenth century focused on social problems (the status of women, the caste system) and the question of the social functions of religion itself, then the reformers of the twentieth century, inspired by the ideas of the struggle for independence, began to closely intertwine political ideas with religion.

The awakening of philosophical and social thought in India in the 19th century. they call it the renaissance, the Reformation, and the Enlightenment. Vivekananda's work belongs to the second stage of the religious reformation of Hinduism. "...Swami Vivekananda's religious reformism was largely prepared by Ramakrishna's preaching, namely, its following features: the desire to reconcile the contradictions of Hinduism, an attempt to create an internally logical system, and also to bring together the points of view of reformers and Orthodox christians by putting forward the idea of the truth of any religion. All this together marked the end of the first stage of the reformation and at the same time served as the basis for the beginning of the second stage. Removing the theoretical differences between the reformers and the Orthodox, placing their views at different levels of the same religious system, Ramakrishna thereby greatly facilitated his student's involvement in Hinduism as a means of fighting for the improvement of the situation of the people, for national revival" [Kostyuchenko, 1977, p.96].

In 1881, Vivekananda first met Ramakrishna, who was then a priest at the temple of the goddess Kali in Dakshineswar, near Calcutta. Vivekananda and his development as a philosopher were greatly influenced by his association with the teacher. Ramakrishna was the first to declare that all religions of the world are equal and do not contradict each other. This aspect of his teaching had a special impact on the formation of the worldview of Vivekananda, who, developing the teacher's position on the truth of all existing religious teachings, introduced a new term - "universal religion".

Ramakrishna put forward the idea of salvation by faith, which was supposed to be, according to his teachings, a panacea for all ills. This position meant the rejection of the entire complex system of prohibitions in Hinduism. Contrary to orthodox Hinduism, he began to talk about the reality of the world around him, which implied the need for an active work program.-

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There's a lot of stuff in it. This conclusion will also be taken up by Vivekananda. Ramakrishna's religious and philosophical views had a pronounced social connotation. He reflected on the need to work for others, and such work should be done not for the sake of vanity, not for his own salvation, not even for the sake of those for whom it is done, but solely for the love of God. By working for others, a person does good for himself, although not people, but God helps them.

In the writings of his disciple, this aspect of Ramakrishna's teaching undergoes a significant change. Vivekananda believed that a person should perform feats not for the sake of God, but for the sake of his fellow countrymen, ordinary mortals. "Do you love your fellow men? Where do you have to go to find God? Aren't all the poor and destitute Gods? Why not bow down to them first?.. Give up your jealousy and vanity. Learn to work for others. This is what our country needs so much" [Thus spake..., 1964, p. 25].

There was one fundamental difference in the perception of religion between the teacher and the student: for Ramakrishna, religion was the only truth, while for the rationalist Vivekananda, it was associated with science. Another significant difference is that Ramakrishna considered knowledge of God to be his main purpose, and everything else, including teaching students, was secondary and derivative. Vivekananda, on the other hand, did not place God at the center, but man. The individual's faith in his own strength was immeasurably more important for him than faith in God: "A person must first believe in himself, then in God; those who do not believe in themselves cannot believe in God" [quoted in Rybakov, 1981, p. 99]. Vivekananda writes, " The only God to be worshipped is the human soul. Of course, animals are also temples, but the temple of man next to them is the Taj Mahal.." [Thus spake..., 1964, p. 24].

The social side of Vivekananda's teaching is reduced to condemning the system of caste privileges, defending the need for universal education, calling for an end to religious discord, national unity, and broad participation of the masses in public life. Vivekananda, for example, insisted that secular education should be as widespread as religious education. "It is very easy to achieve this. Previously, this was done by groups of teachers and preachers... Now I would like to see young people in this role, " says Vivekananda (Tegart, 1914, p. 1346). "Work in the world" (Rybakov 1981, p.95) was a new aspect of his teaching. Such activities, according to Vivekananda, should have the character of a religious duty. It is the opposite of asceticism, which has no specific benefit for others: "It is useless to say that a person who has renounced the world is greater than one who lives in the world: it is much more difficult to live in the world and honor God than to give up everything and lead a free and easy life "[cit. by: Rybakov, 1981, p. 95-96].

Vivekananda's writings lack the critical approach to Hinduism that characterized the early reformers. He explains his difference with his predecessors as follows: "The trouble is that we are losing faith in ourselves every day. This is my complaint with the reformers. The Orthodox, despite their primitiveness, still have more faith and strength. Reformers simply play into the hands of Europeans, pandering to their vanity "[cit. by: Rybakov, 1981, p. 92]. Vivekananda openly condemned Indians for apathy, indifference, and submission, but it should be noted that he was especially harsh when he was at home in India, and during foreign trips he tried to maintain the country's authority and did not allow himself to make offensive statements about it.: "In many of Swami Vivekananda's writings, and especially in his speeches in the United States and Europe, the Indian national character was presented as the center of all virtues; in his sermon "for internal use", he attributed these virtues to the ideal or declared them to belong only to the past... his goal was to make his compatriots feel better.

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national pride and shame for their belittled position, shame, in turn, should have aroused a desire to change their lives "(Rybakov, 1981, p. 93). He did his best to arouse activity in his compatriots, to make them react and not be afraid to act.

Vivekananda also criticized the idea of innate sinfulness of man and the postulate of non-resistance to evil by violence. "Vivekananda did not want to put up with her relaxing influence," writes R. B. Rybakov. - He did not discard it altogether, he transferred it to the category of an ideal, but pointed out that this ideal can be achieved by means directly opposite to it - non-resistance must come through an active rejection of evil in all its manifestations. In Karma Yoga, Vivekananda taught: "Before this highest ideal can be achieved, man must resist evil. Let him work, let him fight, let him backhand. Only when the strength for resistance is accumulated will non-resistance become a virtue." by: Rybakov, 1981, p. 94].

Vivekananda has a new interpretation of the role, place and vocation of religion. He takes the liberty of expanding the content of religion, linking it to the field of practical affairs, and not abstract reasoning. R. Rolland quotes him as saying: "Religion is not words and not theory... Its essence is not to listen and accept. It is about being and becoming" (Rolland, 1936, p. 17).

Thus, Vivekananda's reformism was expressed in the desire to attract Hinduism to solve pressing socio-political problems. He purged religion of everything mystical and supernatural, filling it with secular, mundane content that is understandable to everyone. He repeatedly emphasized the need for practical activity and evaluated religion from the point of view of public benefit. He said: "I do not believe in a God or religion that cannot wipe away a widow's tears or give an orphan a piece of bread." by: Rybakov, 1981, p. 100].

Vivekananda also tried to instill in his followers the need to monitor their health: "Like parrots, we talk about many topics, but we never put them into practice. Talking and not doing has become a habit. What is the reason? In physical weakness. We must strengthen ourselves. First of all, our youth must be strong. You can also study religion later. You will be closer to heaven by playing soccer than by studying the Gita. You will understand the Gita better if you have strong muscles and strong biceps... You will better understand the Upanishads and the victory of the Atman if you stand firmly on your feet and feel like a human being "[Thus spake..., 64, p. 12].

In an effort to promote his ideas as well as Ramakrishna's philosophical views, Vivekananda announced the establishment of the Ramakrishna Mission on May 1, 1897. In addition to spreading the teachings and religious ideas of its founder and Ramakrishna, the Mission also set itself the goals of opening educational institutions, laboratories, hospitals, and helping the needy and hungry. At the same time, Swami Vivekananda founded the religious monastic order Ramakrishna Math. The Order's headquarters, like the Ramakrishna Mission, was located in Belur Math (a suburb of Calcutta). The order consisted of sannyasin monks (wandering monks who completely renounced the world) and brahmacharyas (students who live in an ashram and accumulate knowledge). The main role in spreading the teaching was assigned to new ashrams established in the country, which were accountable to the parent organization in Belur Math.

On July 4, 1902, at the age of 39, Swami Vivekananda died. However, his brainchild - the Ramakrishna Mission-continued to live.

Swami Vivekananda's teachings proved attractive to Indian revolutionaries. Vivekananda's statements can be interpreted in different ways. Thus, the above statement about sacrifice for the sake of a great goal can be understood both as a call to the devout service of religious duty, and as a sacrifice for the sake of liberation.-

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dii. Revolutionaries understood such appeals in the second sense. Vivekananda's fervent statements could not fail to resonate with young people, and representatives of the extremist wing in the struggle for independence saw them as a direct call for active action. The terrorists were reading Vivekananda's writings. They had no trouble finding what they were looking for - calls to take their own fate into their own hands, the belief that all problems are the result of inaction. This aspect of his teaching, which promoted active action and self-sacrifice, was of particular importance to them. "You have come to this world to leave something behind," Vivekananda used to say. - Otherwise, what is the difference between you and trees or rocks? They were also born, then they will collapse and die" [Thus spake..., 1964, p. 17].

Vivekananda's name is increasingly being heard from the lips of revolutionaries during police interrogations. The investigators carefully recorded in their reports the information that the accused gave them. Thus, according to Noni Gopal Mukherjee, who was charged in 1911 with the attempted murder of the Englishman J. S. Denham, it is recorded how he became a revolutionary: "While studying in college, I met one of the teachers. He gave me books to read, mostly by Swami Vivekananda" (Tegart, 1911, p. 318). Aurobindo Ghosh, one of the most popular figures in the revolutionary movement, expressed his sympathies for Vedantism and the Ramakrishna Mission during one of the interrogations: "I was studying a major religious movement based on Vedantism and spreading across India. I am absolutely convinced and continue to believe that Vedantism is the future religion of the whole world "[Tegart, 1914, p. 1354].

Vivekananda's statements were quoted in revolutionary leaflets, and his writings were invariably found in searches of the homes of revolutionaries. When investigating the activities of extremists, police officers increasingly began to find their connection with the Ramakrishna Mission. It became necessary for the police to clarify whether the organization was involved in political activities.

April 22, 1914 by Special Superintendent of Police Ch. A note on the Ramakrishna Mission was presented to management by Tegart, an employee of the Intelligence Branch 1. The author of the Note is Ch. Tegart joined the Indian Police Service in 1901 and worked for the organization for most of his life. In December 1931, he became a member of the Indian Council under the Minister of Indian Affairs. In addition to Ramakrishna's Mission Notes, he wrote several other reports (among them: A report on the Andaman Prisoners, 1913; Reports on the Calcutta-Baranagar-Howrah Gang, 1916; Report on Chandannagar; Report on Sibpur dacoity, etc.). G. he gave a lecture on "Terrorism in India" at The Royal Empire Society. There have been numerous attempts on the lives of Intelligence Branch employees. Tegart was no exception. There were two attempts on his life. On January 12, 1924, Gopinath Saha mistakenly shot another official instead of Tegart (the so-called Chowringhee street murder in Calcutta, or Chowringhee murder case). The assassination attempt by Narayan Roy and Bhupal Bose on 25 August 1930 was also unsuccessful.

The Ramakrishna Mission Note consists of eleven thematic paragraphs and an index of names mentioned in the text. The document is a compilation of police files compiled in the period from 1906 to early 1914 as a result of searches carried out in the homes of suspects suspected of participating in terrorist activities, and denunciations of informants. The document can be divided into two parts.

1 The Intelligence Branch was a division of the Criminal Investigation Department and was created specifically to fight underground revolutionary organizations.


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The first five chapters focus on Vivekananda and the background of the Mission. Tegart begins with a story about Ramakrishna, the popularity of his teachings, focuses the reader's attention on the fact that Ramakrishna never aspired to teaching, and the circle of his students was very small. In the section "Swami Vivekananda and the unrest in India", Tegart quotes extensively from the philosopher, but does not refer to specific works or speeches, so it is difficult to determine how deeply he was familiar with the work of this religious figure. It is possible that he got this information from the reports of his predecessors.

The next six paragraphs introduce the reader to the Mission's activities after the founder's death. In them, Tegart tried to present as much factual material as possible at his disposal, which can shed light on the topic of possible cooperation between the Ramakrishna Mission and the revolutionaries. He mentions all the cases where the name of the Mission has attracted the attention of the police. The reasons could be different: a member of the Mission was involved in a case involving the production of explosives, or was the author of a banned book, or some members of the Mission were members of an underground revolutionary group.

From the text of the note, it is obvious that Ch. Tegart had a certain amount of respect for both Vivekananda and the Mission, but at the same time, he did not allow himself to draw any conclusions in favor of the organization, trying to familiarize the management only with the available factual material. In an afterword to the document, Tegart summarizes: "... we can say that Ramakrishna's Mission, at its core, was exactly what it claimed to be. This is a purely religious organization that has done a lot of good... On the other hand, the Note showed that not all members of the organization were untainted. We have also noted that a number of statements by Swami Vivekananda can encourage unrest... " [Tegart, 1914, p. 1370].

In March 1914, that is, a month earlier than the Note, another document appeared that shed light on the question of the connection between the Mission and the revolutionaries. It was a series of reports on the Rajabazar bombing, written by J. S. Denham. He became a member of the colonial intelligence agencies just one year before they were introduced, in 1913, and established himself as an excellent performer. In 1920, he was transferred to Ireland to fight Irish terrorists.

In one of the reports, Denham said that some of the accused in the bombing were found to have links with the Ramakrishna Mission, and raised the topic of the impact of Vivekananda's teachings and the Mission on extremist groups. The reports contain information related to the results of searches, short biographies of those accused of subversive activities and the production of explosives. Denham accompanies the documents with his own conclusions, from which it follows that he does not believe in the possibility of turning the Mission into an extremist organization, believing that Vivekananda and his teachings have become unwitting hostages of a revolutionary movement whose representatives simply seek to find a way to unite people under the banner of a common idea.

At the same time, Denham draws the attention of the authorities to the fact that Vivekananda and his ideas have taken a strong position in the minds of revolutionary extremists: "Swami Vivekananda, an apostle of the Ramakrishna Mission, was the first to present a plan for spreading his own ideas in Vedantic terms. He went so far as to promote magic light shows and other forms of entertainment that would bring people together... this idea was basely adopted by the revolutionary organizations in order to gather more people around them. We know perfectly well that Ramakrishna is worshipped as an idol, and that Vedanta literature is found in every search. I am sure that this is not exactly what Ramakrishna and Vivekananda were aiming for, but their ideas and statements are interpreted in a free form by the leaders of the movement and serve their goals. So Swami and his guru quickly become national-

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These are the heroes under whose banner Bengalis must fight for freedom. Whether Belur Math is a political institution or not is a separate issue, but its potential danger cannot be underestimated. It is also very interesting to compare and draw a parallel between their teachings and those of Dayananda Saraswati in Punjab, where the Bengal Revolutionary movement seems to have found a kindred spirit. In Benares, we are again confronted with the fact that most of the suspects are frequent visitors to the Ramakrishna Mission, and although Benares is still a stronghold of orthodox Hinduism, there can be no doubt that the modern teaching of the Mission has taken a strong position there.

We can say that we now have enough information about the people and organizations in the province of Bengal who are responsible for revolutionary propaganda. We also know that "religion"is a tool for spreading revolutionary ideas. The main task at the moment is to neutralize the activity of leaders. This measure will prevent them from profiting from the religious revivalism that undoubtedly emerged from the writings of Vivekananda and the teachings of the Ramakrishna Mission "(Denham, 1914, p. 472).

Thus, both Denham and Tegart confirm that Vivekananda and the Mission he created enjoyed great prestige among the Bengali revolutionaries. How sincere the latter were in their appeal to religion in general and to the teachings of Vivekananda in particular cannot be determined. However, it is clear that the British police were inclined to believe that the leaders of revolutionary groups used religion as a tool to attract and inspire new recruits. The authority of Vivekananda and his offspring, the Ramakrishna Mission, was so great both in Bengal and throughout India that it was tempting to use their authority for other purposes, the British believed.

However, there was a huge difference in the perception of religion by a European, in this case an Englishman, and an Indian. The modern European is characterized by a secular perception of the world, where religion and politics are not connected. The Indian sees the world quite differently, politics and religion are as inseparable as religion and everyday life. Even those in the British administration who had lived in India for quite a long time, knew its customs and history, found it difficult to understand this inextricable link between religion and everything else that surrounds an Indian throughout his life. "An Englishman can understand religion through politics, an American can understand social reform, and we can even understand politics and sociology through religion. This is the theme, everything else is just variations in the national melody of life "[Naravane, 1964, p. 97; cit. by: Rybakov, 1981, p. 95].

The best illustration of this is the life of Aurobindo Ghosh. According to the British, he went the farthest in politicizing religion, declaring it synonymous with nationalism. The American researcher Peter Higgs writes in one of his articles: "The main components of Aurobindo's religious nationalism are his belief that India was not just a piece of land, but a living goddess, that India was endowed with a special mission, namely: to bring the light of truth in the guise of the eternal religion of Vedanta, when the world will be in danger of widespread the anarchies of the West. He wrote this in 1905 , at a time when Aurobindo was beginning to address the religious theme in the context of the revolutionary movement" [Heehs, 1993, p. 28].

Michael Edwards, biographer of Lord Curzon (Viceroy of India in 1899-1905), wrote that Aurobindo had almost no success in his attempt to incite the educated population of Bengal to an anti-British mood and decided that the only way to stir up political enthusiasm was to give politics a religious bias [Heehs, 1993, p. 28]. This remark can be considered an expression of the point of view of the British administrators

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on the place and role of religion in the views of A. Ghosh. They did not believe in the sincerity of Aurobindo's religious quest.

In 1911, the author of one of the police reports wrote that most of the activists of the extremist movement seemed to operate under the deep influence of religious beliefs, skillfully developed in them by the skill of Aurobindo Ghosh and others like him. His religiosity was questioned. However, as time has shown, his accusers were completely wrong. In 1910, almost immediately after his release from Alipur prison, Aurobindo Ghosh moved to the south of India, to the French enclave of Pondicherry, where he founded an ashram and engaged exclusively in religious activities.

The British were not so sure about Vivekananda. Vivekananda himself was not seen in open political propaganda, and the materials of his lectures did not contain a serious political threat, according to some British officials. At the same time, it is quite difficult not to see in the philosopher's work a desire to make changes in India. Thus, Vivekananda argued: "To flood the country with socialist and political ideas, flood it with spiritual ideas" [cit. by: Kostyuchenko, 1977, p. 176].

His brother Bhupendranath Datta quotes Vivekananda in his memoirs: "I had the idea to form an alliance of Indian princes to throw off the foreign yoke. For this purpose, I crossed the entire country from the Himalayas to Cape Comorin... but I did not meet with a response" [Datta, 1954, p. 384]. The revolutionary Bhupendranath Datta could, of course, have somewhat "radicalized" his brother's statements. But Vivekananda's patriotism, and in this sense his politicization, is beyond question.

Bhupendranath Datta and the brother of Sarabananda (secretary of the Ramakrishna Mission) were involved in revolutionary activities and were held on various police "cases". Vivekananda's brother is mentioned in the Who's Who of Political Criminals for 1914 and 1920 by Bhup, who collaborated with Barin Ghosh and others involved in the Alipur bombing. He was the editor of the newspaper "Jugantar". He was sentenced to one year in prison..." [List of Persons..., 1920, p. 876].

According to Ch. According to Tegarta, the Ramakrishna Mission first attracted the attention of colonial investigative authorities in 1906, when Swami Abhedananda (who headed the Vedanta Ashram in New York) returned from the United States. Abhedananda was known among the revolutionaries as the author of the book "India and her people". Some paragraphs of the book, as the authorities decided, were openly rebellious, and it was banned. According to the Note, several members of the extremist party met Abhedananda at the railway station. They chanted "Bande Mataram!" in greeting.2. The fact that the incident was recorded in the report indicates that the police had reason to believe that it was met by people belonging to an extremist group.

By the time the Memo was written, the main articles under which the terrorists were accused were the production of bombs or the attempted murder of British officials and law enforcement officers. The mission begins to be frequently mentioned in the Maniktolla Conspiracy Case, the Muzaffarpur Bomb Case, its connection to the Anushilon Shomiti underground society, and the involvement of some of its members in the Barisal Conspiracy Case, a Delhi underground group-Lahore (Delhi-Lahore Conspiracy Case, or Hardinge Bomb Case).

In 1908, large-scale trials were held in the case of the underground society in Maniktola. The Manictolla Garden Society was organized by-

2 song that at that time was perceived as the anthem of the independence fighters.


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It was founded in 1907 by Barin Ghosh (a brother of Aurobindo Ghosh). Members of the society were mostly 14-to 15-year-olds, whom he raised on religious literature. On April 30, 1908, Prafulla Chaki and Khudiram Bosh attempted to assassinate Lord D. Kingsford, who was a magistrate (administrative and minor criminal judge) in Calcutta. But two women were killed by mistake - Mrs. Kennedy and her daughter. Explosives made in the Minictola garden were used in the attempt. During the investigation, some members of the organization were found to have links with the Ramakrishna Mission. Tegart names Upendranath Banerjee, who was sentenced to life in prison, and Rishikesh Kanjilal. During interrogations, both admitted their connection with the ashram in Almora (Tegart, 1914, p.1358). Three other Mission members were tried, but they were acquitted.

In 1913, a major flood occurred in Bengal. Burdwan, Hooghly and Midnapur districts were badly affected. According to the message of Ch. Police reports from 1913 indicate that both Mission representatives and members of underground organizations took part in the reconstruction work in the affected area. Moreover, the latter also performed under the auspices of the Mission. Saradananda, the secretary of the Mission, in response to questions about the organization's connection with the revolutionaries, revealed that Amarendranath Chatterjee (the leader of one of the underground groups) received 200 rupees from the Mission to carry out reconstruction work in the disaster zone. At the same time, the Mission maintained a representative office in the flooded areas under the leadership of Brahmacharya Jinananda (Jinanda Das Gupta). When the police demanded an explanation, Saradananda promised to give the names of the employees of the representative office, but ultimately gave the names of only four people. As it turned out, three of them were under investigation in the Raja Bazar Conspiracy Case at the time of writing the Note, i.e. in 1914 [Notes ..., 1917, p. 269]. The main charge was bomb production. The proceedings lasted quite a long time - from November 1913 to February 1915.

Vivekananda recommended that the students who formed the backbone of the Mission go to the villages and give lectures and sermons to attract the attention of the masses to their ideas. The revolutionaries also accepted Vivekananda's advice, and by 1913 a well-organized network of ashrams had sprung up in large parts of East Bengal. The exact number of ashrams was unknown to the police authorities. Informants helped clarify the situation. According to one of them, almost every village in Bikrampur District 3 had its own ashram (Tegart, 1914, p. 1364).

Tegart was inclined to believe that ashrams were created according to two schemes. According to one of them, the revolutionaries themselves founded the ashram and personally declared it a branch of the Mission, according to another, the ashram was formed really as a branch of the Ramakrishna Mission in a certain area, but gradually members of revolutionary groups joined it, and it left the direct control of the Mission, retaining its original name. Thus, the author of the Note believes that the Ramakrishna Mission branch in Agartala (the main city of the Tipperary Hills Territory) was founded by members of the Revolutionary Party. The branch was repeatedly visited by people whose names appeared in the reports of the colonial police authorities. Among them: Priyanath Banarjee, who was suspected of murdering Inspector Nripendra Ghosh, and Nishikanta Ghosh, who was sentenced to four years of strict imprisonment as a result of the Barisal underground society trials.

The Barisal case was quite loud. 36 members of the organization were put on trial, 12 were found guilty and sentenced to various terms of imprisonment. During the investigation, it turned out that at the time of the formation of the group, its leaders

3 Now Tripura State.


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In order to attract newcomers to their ranks, they called themselves a branch of the Ramakrishna Mission.

Many ashram members, when called to the police, claimed that they had no idea that they had become members of an extremist underground society group. However, the British security forces were not inclined to believe such statements, believing that by denying their membership in the secret society, these people were simply trying to avoid the consequences associated with accusations of participation in revolutionary activities.

It remains unclear whether the Mission's leadership was aware that its name was being used by revolutionaries, and whether it approved of such a situation. Ch. Tegart uses material provided by one of the informants, who notes: "As far as I know, the Mission headquarters in Belur has nothing to do with the revolutionary movement. However, the number of small ashrams began to grow in East Bengal. They were opened with honest intentions, but gradually members of the revolutionary party began to join them, and now these ashrams act as distributors of the "idea". As far as I know, practically all revolutionaries in East Bengal call themselves followers of Ramakrishna and, if given the opportunity, they attend Belur Math" (Tegart, 1914, p. 1364).

The number of ashrams continued to grow. Belur Math simply couldn't physically control them anymore.

In the papers of the colonial intelligence agencies, Tegart discovers information that as early as 1911, there was a desire of the Mission to distance itself from any kind of underground societies and revolutionary movement. Thus, each new member of the society, upon joining its ranks, had to sign a statement stating: "I also declare that I am not affiliated with any secret or political societies" [Tegart, 1914, p.370].

Sarabananda, the secretary of the Mission, was forced to publish a refutation of the accusations of the Mission's involvement in the revolutionary movement. Ch. Tegart in the Note gives the full text of the memorandum, which was called " The Ramakrishna Mission. Warning to the public". It begins with these words: "Recent events in East Bengal have convinced the leadership of the Ramakrishna Mission that its good name and the name of Belur Math are being used by some societies to recruit recruits and spread their doctrines, as well as harmful and often criminal propaganda. The leadership believes that it is necessary to inform the public, and especially the youth of Bengal, that the Ramakrishna monastic Order, whose headquarters are located in Belur Math, is a religious order and has nothing to do with politics "(Tegart, 1914, p. 1368). It went on to say:"...We want to warn the masses against jumping to conclusions. If Ramakrishna or Vivekananda appear in the name of a particular society or ashram, this does not mean that these organizations have anything to do with the Ramakrishna Mission with its headquarters in Belur Math... Ramakrishna and Swami Vivekananda's remarkable life of self-sacrifice inspired them to love not only their compatriots, but also those who live outside of India. Thus, their names have become common knowledge today" (Tegart, 1914, p. 1368). The text of the Warning was published in all the popular magazines of Bengal in early April 1914.

By expanding the content of religion, giving it a social and political meaning, Vivekananda thus made it as easy as possible for extremist supporters of the struggle for independence to use it for their own purposes. Vivekananda's sermon, in which he tried to teach his countrymen to see God primarily in themselves, a new interpretation of the concept of religious duty (individual

page 46

he works and creates not for God's sake, but for the sake of his own kind) promised, according to the terrorists, salvation and a quick deliverance from British rule. The Ramakrishna mission, surrounded by the aura of righteousness and the ideological quest of its founder, provided the revolutionaries with the ideological basis for unification that they so badly needed in the first decade of the twentieth century. It is possible that neither Vivekananda nor his heirs, who found themselves at the head of the Ramakrishna Mission, approved of terrorist methods of struggle.

list of literature

Kostyuchenko V. S. Vivekananda, Moscow, 1977.

Rolland R. The Universal Gospel of Vivekananda / / Rolland R. Collected Works, Vol. XX. Moscow, 1936.

Rybakov R. B. Bourgeois Reformation of Hinduism, Moscow, 1981.

Datta B. Swami Vivekananda. Patriot-Prophet. A Study. Calcutta, 1954.

Denham G. C. Rajabazar Bomb Case, 1914 // Terrorism in Bengal. A Collection of Documents. Vol. 3. Calcutta. 1995.

Heehs P. Religion and Revolt: Bengal under the Raj. Hindu Revivalism versus British Colonial Rule // History Today. 1993. N 3.

List of Persons Connected with the Revolutionary and Anarchical Movement in Bengal. Conviction Register upto the End of 1920 // Terrorism in Bengal. A Collection of Documents. Vol. 5. Calcutta, 1995.

Naravane V.S. Modern Indian Thought. N.Y., 1964.

Notes on Outrages, compiled in 1917 // Terrorism in Bengal. A Collection of Documents. Vol. 6. Calcutta, 1995.

Tegart C. Hutchinson's Report, 1911 // Terrorism in Bengal. A Collection of Documents. Vol. 1. Calcutta, 1995.

Tegart C. A Note on the Ramakrishna Mission, 1914 // Terrorism in Bengal. A Collection of Documents. Vol. 4. Calcutta, 1995.

Thus spake Vivekananda. Madras, 1964.


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