Previous Year Question
Which of the following statements is/are correct regarding Brahmo Samaj?
It opposed idolatry.
It denied the need for a priestly class for interpreting the religious texts.
It popularized the doctrine that the Vedas are infallible.
Select the correct answer using the codes given below :
Correct Answer: B
Detailed Solution
Background and roles
Raja Rammohun Roy: He founded the Brahmo Sabha in Calcutta in 1828; it subsequently came to be known as the Brahmo Samaj.
Debendranath Tagore: He was not its founder. He provided renewed organisational and ideological leadership to the movement after 1843.
Keshub Chandra Sen: He was also not the founder, but a prominent leader of a later phase of the Brahmo movement.
Statement 1—Correct
The Brahmo Samaj advocated the worship of one formless God. It opposed idolatry, superstition and meaningless religious rituals.
Statement 2—Correct
The Brahmo Samaj rejected the necessity of a hereditary priestly class for interpreting religious writings. It maintained that every individual could use reason and personal judgment to determine what was right or wrong in a religious text or principle.
Statement 3—Incorrect
The Brahmo Samaj did not regard the Vedas as infallible or as an unquestionable final authority. Debendranath Tagore explicitly repudiated the doctrine of the infallibility of the Vedic scriptures.
The doctrine of the infallibility and supreme authority of the Vedas was principally associated with the Arya Samaj founded by Swami Dayanand Saraswati, not with the Brahmo Samaj.