EMPOWERED AND
EMANCIPATED WOMAN- PADITHA RAMABAI.
Dear children of God, today we are going to admire the service and faith in Christ is found in the life of bandit Ramabai who had hail from the high Brahmin family accepted Jesus Christ as her personal savior and Lord. Once she was clutched in the Hindu religious rituals and desperate Brahmin patriotic rules. But when she came to know the truth of Jesus ‘love and care; she became a Christian to help the neglected and fallen women hood. She was born in the stanch Brahmin family on 1858 23rd April Mangalore near Gangamal hill area. Her father’s name was Anant Shastri Dongre, a chitpavan and mother was Lakshmibai. She engaged in public life and served a selfless service to the motherland and its people. She solemnly declared that, henceforth, she would give her life entirely to the betterment of women.
Ramabai’s early life: - Ramabai’s parents were stanch Hindu Brahmin learned Vedas, puranas, and Hindu religious sol gas in Sanskrit. They strictly followed and kept religious scares and caste and creeds. Her father and the family lived in Gangamal in a hilly area there completely spend the whole families life by meditation and teachings of puranas and reciting mantras to the people those who come to visit the holy place. They did not allow learning any other languages except Sanskrit. The family of Ramabai spent their whole prosperities by giving away to the sojourners of pilgrims.
Ramabai’s mother taught her Sanskrit from her
childhood. She also became bandit by memorizing and reciting. After they spent
their whole prosperities, they became poor, and they need of money to run the
family and living. So they started to sojourn to the pilgrims to pilgrims,
temple to temples. They recite puranas, Bhagavad-Gita. The people will give
some money for their living, and they were depending upon the people who give
alms and money in the temples and holy pilgrims. They spend their life 16 years
like that. Even then their families were not helped by their gods whom they
served. In this condition her father’s eyes were dimed and he became very weak
and sick could not earn their living by reciting Sanskrit slogas. There was a
great famine hit her family, the tragedy was her father, mother and her elder
sister were died expect her younger brother and she. After that her brother and
she moved and roamed throughout the country. In1878 they reached Calcutta, from
their childhood they were serving and worshiping their gods for their day today
help and care for living but they did not get any help or care from their gods.
So they were dismayed and anxious about their future. In Calcutta Ramabai
recited Bhagavad-Gita and puranas in Sanskrit. High caste Hindus and Brahmins
came and appreciate Ramabai and gave her a tittle of honor “Pandita”. [Goddess
of learning]
TURNING POINT IN HER
LIFE: - Now here in Calcutta she had a contact with great peoples like leader
of brahma samaj Mr. Keshub Chandra sen, other Christian leaders. She had a
chance to learn Hindu religions main teachings of Upanishads, and Vedas. She
could learn and find out the differences and discriminations in the teachings
and between day today life practices.
She discovered that woman as classes were worse than demons and that
they could never hope for moksha. So she was very much depressed and left faith
on Hindu religion and its teachings. She found some fresh truths that were
contradict with the teachings and practices of Brahma Samaj. Mr. Sen was very
much opposed the child marriage, but he gave his girl child to child marriage.
In that situation her
brother Srinivasa Dongre was affected with Cholera and died. Her brother’s last
wish was she has to marry Babu Bapin Behari Das Melveri Bengali graduate. He
was not a bahramin. In those days a stanch bahramin woman was marrying a
non-bahramin man impossible. But the truth was she left alone, without any
help. Unfortunately her husband was died after 19 months of married life with
Cholera. She became a widow with girl child baby. She was only 24 years old. In
this critical situation she came and stayed with a Brahmin family in serampore
[chitpavan] she had a chance to read a St. Luke’s Gospel, while her husband was
alive. And also she had clarified her questions and doubts about Jesus Christ
and his ministries from her husband’s friend Baptist Missionary ISAAC ALEN. She
had accepted Jesus Christ as her personal savior and she wanted openly to be
baptized as Christian. But her husband did not want her to be baptized openly.
REFORMATION IN HER
LIFE: - Ramabai read St. John’s Gospel 4th chapter brought in her
great reformation; it because of Christ’s love towards the Samaritan’ woman who
was neglected and hated by the society and the village peoples. Jesus’ love
revealed him as a son of God that came to love sinners and discriminated
people, especially neglected women in the patriotic society. She believed that
Christ only can deliver and give respect to the down trodden women in the
patriotic Indian society. Jesus’s Godly love towards the oppressed and
neglected Samaritan woman reformed her life to do something to the Brahmin
women who were oppressed and neglected in Hindu religion and patriotic Hindu
and Indian society. She prompted to bring notice of the sufferings and
oppressed woman’s condition to the patriotic society. She pointed out the
suffering and oppression of those Brahmin women were undergoing in the
patriotic Hindu society. She was openly and publically condemning the
oppressions and sufferings of the Brahmin women and she wanted to deliver them
from the bondages and clutches of patriotic Brahmin society. She started an
ARYA MAHILA SAMAJ to bring reformation in the life of the Brahmin women. Many
Hindu and patriotic Brahmins started to opposes her reformation. They thought
and afraid that her reformatted speech will an end to the Hindu Brahmin
patriotic society.
She preached that entire women must be
educated to deliver from the bondage of the Hindu patriotic society. The educations
only bring emancipation and empowerment in the life of oppressed and neglected
women hood. The Indian government and society must compulsory education to the
women hood. So that; these people may find out freedom and deliverance. W.w.
Hunter, an English officer was impressed by her past life and her reformation
speech; he helped her in the reformation field and published her witness [public
testimony] as a small booklet in English. So she got little income and she
started to learn English and medical training to help the women hood and the
society. She went for medical training to England. Miss. Harford helped her to
learn English. When she went to England, she met the former Bombay governor sir
Bartle Frere, and she explained the conditions of the deserted and neglected women
in Indian society in India. She wrote about Indian women conditions as “THE CRY
OF INDIAN WOMEN”. When she visited the home for the women in England; she felt
the need a rescue home for the Indian women. She appealed for a “destitute home”
to help female victims of oppression. Here for the first time in my life I came
to know that something could be done to reclaim the so called fallen women. I had
never heard or seen anything of the kind done for this class of women by the
Hindus of my own country. She understood that only Jesus Christ can lift up the
fallen women and give them a status life to live in the oppressed and patriotic
society. She understood Jesus Christ’s love and his concern for the fallen
women like Samaritan woman; she submitted her life to His love and concern. She
accepted Jesus Christ as her personal savior and Lord and started to live for
him by obeying his words, she and her daughter took baptism in 1883 29th
September. Her achievements were many:
◾She was an exceptional Sanskrit scholar of her time when
women did not have access to basic educational facilities. Recognizing this,
she was conferred the title of “Pandita” by Calcutta University.
◾She was a social reformer and defying the caste system,
married a Sutra.
◾She established Arya Mahila Samaj in 1882 for the cause of
women’s education.
◾In 1896, during a severe famine, she toured the villages of
Maharashtra and rescued thousands of outcast children, widows, orphans and
other destitute women.
◾She established the Sharada Sadan in 1889 which eventually blossomed into what is known as the Pandita Ramabai Mukti Mission.
ORPHANAGES
Neglected and poverty-stricken children find a home,
education, and a future at Mukti. Loving families are what God intended for
the nurturing of children. Hundreds of children in multiple families (each
composed of 12 to 20 girls) named after flowers in India are blooming in
Mukti's "garden." The child in this picture along with a twin was
abandoned when they were babies. Both were rescued by Mukti and are now
healthy adults attending university.
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SCHOOLS
India's illiteracy rate is one of the highest in the world.
Mukti's schools address this serious problem. Over 1,000 students strain the
seams of Mukti's primary and high schools. Nearly three-fourths of the
students come from the surrounding villages. Opening its arms to the blind,
Mukti also provides a school for the blind. Recently an English-medium school
has been started as well.
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MEDICAL SERVICES
A large hospital, Krishnabai Memorial Hospital, and medical
staff treat thousands of needy people. Teams of medical personnel travel to
villages to treat many who are sick, but have no hope of medical help.
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HOMES FOR THE UNWANTED
Mukti provides a home for widows, outcast, unwed mothers and
special needs children. There is extensive vocational training for all the
residents, including vocational training for the blind.
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MUKTI CHURCH
The Mukti Church celebrated its 100th anniversary in 1999.
It is one of the largest churches in India with seating for 2000 people
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◾She translated the Bible into her native language, Marathi,
from the original Hebrew and Greek texts.
Dear friends let us
dedicate ourselves like Pandita Ramabai to serve the country and the women hood
which are in fallen in life, destitute, orphaned, oppressed and marginalized by
the patriotic society. Let us build an empowered and emancipated women hood in
our Indian society. So our women society may be lifted up like Pandita Ramabai.
Let us pray that our Hindu Brahmin women come forward to know the truth of Jesus’
love and care like Mrs. Hama john, Mr. Saruhason. Continually pray for the
Hindu Brahmin people to know the truth of Lord Jesus’ love and care. Kindly share
this empowered message as a gift to the International women ’day to your
friends and send a word to my email ID. revsjc@gmail.com,
revsjc12@hotmail.com, johnchelliah857@yahoo.com.
In recognition of her
contribution to the advancement of Indian women, the Government of India issued
a commemorative stamp.
To know more about
Jesus Christ, the source of her inspiration, click HERE.
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