GS4 · 10 marks · 150 words

Raja Ram Mohan Roy's liberal views on social and religious issues have much relevance in present day India. Discuss.

Answered by 4 toppers · CSE 2021

Indian ThinkersHuman Values

Syllabus: Ethics and Human Interface: Essence, determinants and consequences of Ethics in-human actions; dimensions of ethics; ethics - in private and public relationships. Human Values - lessons from the lives and teachings of great leaders, reformers and administrators; role of family society and educational institutions in inculcating values.

How toppers approached it

From all 4 answers · about 180 words · 25% drew a diagram.

Opening

  • No separate opening3 of 4
  • A date or context1 of 4

Body

  • Points3 of 4
  • Points and prose1 of 4

Close

  • No separate close2 of 4
  • A summary1 of 4
  • A way forward1 of 4

The toppers’ answers

Preetam KumarAIR 9 · CSE 2021 · 205 wordsTheir whole copy

Opening

Raja Rammohan Roy was an 19th century stalwart who was the pioneer of Indian Renaissance.

Body · points

Raja Ram Mohan Roy's social endeavours

  1. Raja Ram Mohan Roy was instrumental in the process of banning 'Sati system' in 1829 by the British government in Bengal.

  2. Raja Rammohan Roy along with his friend David Hare established Presidency college in Calcutta in 1825.

  3. He was also an advocate for banning child marriage and he advocated widow remarriage.

  4. He voiced his opinion against slavery.

His views on religion

  1. Raja Rammohan Roy discarded idol worship and superstitions.
  2. He announced oneness of gods of all religions.
  3. He established Brahmo Samaj which was based on liberal views of upanishads.
  4. He wrote books as well as magazines such as Precept of Jesus (1813), Miratul Akbar (1819), Samvad Kaumudi etc. in different languages.

Relevance to today

  1. Raja Rammohan Roy's views are universal and timeless in nature.
  2. His crusade against social evils finds resonance in today's struggle against various social ills such as dowry, female foeticide, caste based discrimination.
  3. His liberal views on religion can be anti-dote to bigotry prevalent in the society.

Close

Raja Rammohan Roy is an inspiration for generations to come.

More on Indian Thinkers

Moral thinkers and philosophers from India used as a source: Gandhi, Buddha, Vivekananda, Kautilya, Tiruvalluvar, Ambedkar, Kabir and others.

All GS4 questions on Indian Thinkers