US Professor publishes work on 19th-century Hindu modernism

The writings in the British Library were buried in the back of a collection of pamphlets. The pamphlet had a generic title and lacked decoration on the cover.

Not the stuff of an “Indiana Jones” movie or even a Discovery Channel program, but his find, in 1990, marked an exciting moment for a professor delving into his topic: the modernist Hindu movement of the 19th century.

There was no table of contents and only initials to identify authors of 21 discourses.

Research enabled Hatcher to identify with reasonable certainty most of these authors, and through his research he knew the group well. The Truth-Propagating Society was a piece of a Hindu reform movement that was taking an ancient religion and applying it to the modern world.

At the time, he used pieces of the writings, attributed to Isvaracandra Vidyasagara, a giant of the Hindu reform movement, for his doctoral dissertation, which he then made into a book.

Then he moved on — for the time being.

“Years went by. It kept nagging at me,” said Hatcher.

He decided the passages were worthy, from historical, literary and spiritual perspectives. He translated them in full from Bengali to English, added commentary and context in preceding chapters and got them published this year, through Oxford University Press.

Reflecting the term for the middle-class authors, the bourgeois, he called it “Bourgeois Hinduism, or the Faith of the Modern Vedantists.”

Hatcher believes it at least inches forward the study of modern Hinduism.

It gives a glimpse of time, place and spirituality among an emerging middle class.

“It is remarkable in its moment,” said Hatcher.

Among themes of the writing is living well, materially, while remaining spiritually fit — partially immersing a person in Hindu study while keeping the good day job and bringing a Hindu worldview into everyday life.

Said Hatcher: “They wanted to be able to live in the world and make money and be successful. But they liked the truth. So they put them together.”

“Restraining passions is a theme — but not becoming a yogi and living in a cave,” he continued. “Learn how to restrain passions while living in this world.”

For Christianity, the emergence of the intellectual Hindus was problematic.

Britain was colonial ruler of India at the time. Western Christian missionaries had believed education would bring conversion as a natural progression, Hatcher said.

But the Indian elites were instead turning inward, using their own Hindu tradition to guide their discussions of faith, eternity and truth, while also questioning tradition and superstition and forming a modern incarnation of their faith.