Vishnu Bhikaji Gokhale (1825–1871), popularly known as Vishnubawa Brahmachari and as Brahmachari Bawa, was a 19th-century

Marathi Marathi may refer to: *Marathi people, an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group of Maharashtra, India *Marathi language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Marathi people *Palaiosouda, also known as Marathi, a small island in Greece See also * * ...

Hindu Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism.Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...

revivalist. An ascetic defender of the

dharma Dharma (; sa, धर्म, dharma, ; pi, dhamma, italic=yes) is a key concept with multiple meanings in Indian religions, such as Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism and others. Although there is no direct single-word translation for '' ...

, he was known for his religious polemics, chiefly against

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...

. He was known for his "witty repartee and vigorous argument" confronting Christian missionaries and, occasionally, other Hindus. His 1857 debates in

Bombay Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...

were widely publicized in

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

and

in at least nine books. He has been described variously as "the first great revivalist of modern Maharashtra," "predecessor of the two great swamis of modern times, Dayananda and Vivekananda," and "a queer bird."

Biography

Brahmachari was born Vishnu Bhikaji Gokhale in 1825 in the village of Shiravali (near

Mahad Mahad ( əɦaːɖ is a city in Raigad district (formerly Kulaba district) situated in the North Konkan region of Maharashtra state, India. It is located from District's headquarter Alibag, and from Mumbai, the state capital of Maharashtr ...

in the then

Thana district Thane district (Pronunciation: �ʰaːɳe previously named Taana or Thana) is a district in the Konkan Division of Maharashtra, India. At the 2011 Census it was the most populated district in the country, with 11,060,148 inhabitants; however, ...

) as the tenth child of a Konkanastha (

Chitpavan The Chitpavan Brahmin or Konkanastha Brahmin is a Hindu Maharashtrian Brahmin community inhabiting Konkan, the coastal region of the state of Maharashtra. Initially working as messengers and spies in the late seventeenth century, the community ...

) Brahman family. Educated in a village school for a few years, he also studied the

Vedas upright=1.2, The Vedas are ancient Sanskrit texts of Hinduism. Above: A page from the '' Atharvaveda''. The Vedas (, , ) are a large body of religious texts originating in ancient India. Composed in Vedic Sanskrit, the texts constitute the ...

. He arrived in Bombay in 1856. He was the author of "''The Marathi ''avatar'' of ''The Communist Manifesto." He died on a ''Mahashivarathri'' day in the Viththal Mandir in Bombay on 18 February 1871.

Citations

References

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Brahmachari, Vishnubawa 1825 births 1871 deaths 19th-century Hindu religious leaders Hindu missionaries Hindu revivalists Hindu apologists