BRĀHMA SAMĀJ. - The name means “congregation of Brahman,” that is, “of God.” This B. S. arose from the attempt to reconcile Christianity with Hinduism; it was founded by Ram Mohan Ray in Calcutta in 1828. But the frequent schisms and reforms to which it was subject demonstrate the failure of the envisaged syncretism. After the founder’s death, Brahmanical orthodoxy seemed to prevail under the new spiritual leader, Debendra Nath Tagore, who proclaimed the Vedas to be the sole authority in matters of faith. Yet as early as 1850 Vedic theology was abandoned, with the recognition that “nature and intuition are the sources of the knowledge of God. No text has authority.” This did not suffice to prevent a schism. In 1865 Keshab Chandra Sen left the B. S. in order to give greater impetus to social action, and founded the “Bharat-
varsiya B.” or “B. S. of India,” while the old Congregation came to be called the “Adi (that is, original) B. S.” A second schism led to the foundation of the “Sadharan (general) B. S.,” democratic in character and decidedly opposed to the caste system and idolatrous practices. The new profession of faith begins by acknowledging that “God is the father of men, and all men are brothers.”