Monday, 18 March 2013
EMPOWERED AND EMANCIPATED WOMAN- PANDITA RAMABAI
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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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.
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