The Religious Orientation of Iswar Chandra Vidyasagar in Context of Shri Ramakrishna Kathamrita/ ধার্মিক ঈশ্বরচন্দ্র বিদ্যাসাগর : প্রেক্ষাপট শ্রীশ্রীরামকৃষ্ণকথামৃত

Abstract

Iswar Chandra Vidyasagar, one of the Avant garde representatives of the Renaissance in Bengal was a devout Hindu Brahmin in orientation. He wears the sacred thread of the Brahmin and performed traditional rituals and customs with seriousness and dedication. He believed in God, but didn't believe in resignation to destiny. He was a scholar empowered with self esteem and a consciousness of the self. The polemical criticism concerning Vidyasagar involves his faith in God.

     According to the popular consensus, the person, who believes in God is a theist. In that sense, the life of Vidyasagar does not testify atheist inclination. On the contrary, he categorically acknowledged that he does not have the scope to delve in the ocean of faith to fathom the abode of divinity

     Unlike many intellectuals of the nineteenth century, he practiced what he preached throughout his life. As the principal of Sanskrit College, he lifted the restriction that no one, other than Hindu and Buddhist would be allowed to study over there. He opened the gate of Sanskrit College to everyone and contributed to the expansion of education in Bengal in the nineteenth century

     This paper intends to explore and address the polemic issue about the atheism of Vidyasagar. It endeavours to render Vidyasagar as a man of wisdom, who often conceive faith as the panacea and the Hindu scriptures as the infinite source of knowledge, inexhaustible.