Pandit Sitanath Tattwabhushan was the official theologian and philosopher of the

Sadharan Brahmo Samaj , native_name_lang = bn , abbreviation = , image = Sadharan Brahmo Samaj building in Kolkata 01.jpg , image_size = 200px , caption = Sadharan Brahmo Samaj building, Bidhan Sarani, Kolkata , motto = , predecessor = Brahmo Samaj , esta ...

.Anusthanic Brahmos

/ref> His hymns still form the basis of Brahmo rites and liturgies.
/ref>

Early life

He was born ''Sitanath Dutta'', in a village in Sylhet in 1856.Brahmo Samaj: Truths of Brahmoism
/ref> He arrived in Calcutta for higher education in 1871. Although he initially joined

Keshub Chunder Sen Keshub Chandra Sen ( bn, কেশবচন্দ্র সেন; also spelled Keshab Chunder Sen; 19 November 1838 – 8 January 1884) was a Hindu philosopher and social reformer who attempted to incorporate Christian theology within ...

's Brahmo Niketan where he developed an interest in the philosophy of religion. However following the closure of that institute, he joined Alexander Duff's General Assembly's Institution in 1875.''Reformist Modernism'' in ''The Brahmo Samaj and the shaping of the modern Indian mind''. By David Kopf, Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1979. page 80-83 In 1879, he joined

Anandamohan Bose Ananda Mohan Bose ( bn, আনন্দমোহন বসু) (23 September 1847 – 20 August 1906) was an Indian politician, academician, social reformer, and lawyer during the British Raj. He co-founded the Indian National Association, one ...

's City School as a teacher. Late in 1883, he joined the

's institute of theology as its secretary, and was associated with its activities for twelve years. During this period he explored comparative discourses on Brahmo theology and religion. He was elected president of the

in 1926.

Religious positions

Following his extensive readings, and intellectual exchanges with his peers, he developed the view that the failure of Brahmoism to draw converts lay in its being less philosophic, and being more grounded on dogma, based on divine inspiration and unverifiable assertions. To counter this, he put forward the need for developing a faith based on philosophy. In his written works, he developed a theological system of Brahmoism. This was based not on natural intuition or spontaneity, but on the metaphysics of theism and self-knowledge, based on the

Upanishads The Upanishads (; sa, उपनिषद् ) are late Vedic Sanskrit texts that supplied the basis of later Hindu philosophy.Wendy Doniger (1990), ''Textual Sources for the Study of Hinduism'', 1st Edition, University of Chicago Press, , ...

and the

Vedanta ''Vedanta'' (; sa, वेदान्त, ), also ''Uttara Mīmāṃsā'', is one of the six (''āstika'') schools of Hindu philosophy. Literally meaning "end of the Vedas", Vedanta reflects ideas that emerged from, or were aligned with, t ...

. By emphasizing the primacy of ethical development as instrumental to the formation of consciousness, his thoughts presaged those of

Vivekananda Swami Vivekananda (; ; 12 January 1863 – 4 July 1902), born Narendranath Datta (), was an Indian Hindu monk, philosopher, author, religious teacher, and the chief disciple of the Indian mystic Ramakrishna. He was a key figure in the intr ...

Controversies

He attacked

Vaishnava Vaishnavism ( sa, वैष्णवसम्प्रदायः, Vaiṣṇavasampradāyaḥ) is one of the major Hindu denominations along with Shaivism, Shaktism, and Smartism. It is also called Vishnuism since it considers Vishnu as the ...

religion as he felt that natural or spontaneous religion based on the traditions of bhakti did not help in the development of critical rational faculties, and paradoxically served to keep the masses illiterate, and uncritical. His critical appraisal of Brahmo followers (primarily the followers of Keshub Chunder Sen's New Dispensation) as spiritual deviants, and his emphasis on logical empiricism earned him detractors both with the Brahmo Samaj (particularly the followers of Keshub Chunder Sen), and in the wider Hindu society, who criticized his efforts as effete scholasticism.

Family

Prabhat Kumar Mukhopadhyaya, best known as the biographer of

Rabindranath Tagore Rabindranath Tagore (; bn, রবীন্দ্রনাথ ঠাকুর; 7 May 1861 – 7 August 1941) was a Bengali polymath who worked as a poet, writer, playwright, composer, philosopher, social reformer and painter. He resh ...

, had married his daughter Sudhamoyee. She was one of the earlier period students of

Santiniketan Santiniketan is a neighbourhood of Bolpur town in the Bolpur subdivision of Birbhum district in West Bengal, India, approximately 152 km north of Kolkata. It was established by Maharshi Devendranath Tagore, and later expanded by his son ...

. She was founder of the Bolpur Balika Vidyalaya and was its headmistress for many years.Sengupta, Subodh Chandra and Bose, Anjali (editors), 1976/1998, ''Sansad Bangali Charitabhidhan'' (Biographical dictionary) Vol I, , p304,

Works

*''Brahmo Jijnasa (Inquiry into the Philosophical Basis of Theism)'', 1888. *''Philosophy of Brahmoism'', 1909. *''Manual of Brahmic Prayer and Devotions'', 1921.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tattwabhusana, Sitanath Scholars from Kolkata Indian scholars Indian educators Indian social workers Social workers from West Bengal Educators from West Bengal 19th-century Indian scholars 20th-century Indian philosophers 19th-century Indian educators Brahmos Scottish Church College alumni University of Calcutta alumni Indian theologians 1856 births Year of death missing Bengali Hindus Bengali educators 19th-century Bengalis 19th-century Hindu philosophers and theologians 19th-century Indian philosophers 20th-century Hindu philosophers and theologians Indian social reformers