Brahmo ^fwt^, "^^1 ^^rW^ Defence of Brahmoism and f Jie Samaj ^Tt^Tf ^1%^1 f^ ^^ns ^^J^I -gmtf^ ^^C^ I
- After the death of
^C^ Ram Mohan Ray, the catholic character of the Samaj was not destroyed. Even while its leaders admitted the Vedas to be a revelation, they did so solely on account of the "reasonableness and cogency of these doctrines," ( see Vedantic Doctrines Vindicated, ) as compared with the other Shastras of the Hindus and the religious scriptures of other nations. They rejected the idea of a revelation supported by external evidence. ... The Revd. Mr. Mullens in his Essay on Veda7itismy Brahmoism , and Christianity says
- "Though the Brahmos claim the Vedas as a revelation of divine
truth, they look primarily upon the works of Nature as their religious teacher. From Nature they learned first, and because the Vedas, ( with Nature, therefore they regard as they assert, ) agree them as inspired." ... It is, therefore, evident that the leaders of the Samaj at this time considered the Vedas to be revealed solely on account of the reasonableness and cogency of these doctrines. Their error lay in believing that whatever they contained was reasonable and cogent. As soon as they perceived their mistake after a wider study of the Vedas, they shook it off at once. Now, why did they do so easily ? The reason is, that a higher standard of belief had always predominated in their minds ... over that of written revelation, -viz., the standard of Reason
and, as conscien- tious men, they could not continue professing that to be a revelation, which was found to contain errors.' ^t^tn c^Tt^TRf^ ^ml fwmi ^c^ -^ c^?^ ^nr^^M^
