Манатма Jotirao Phule: Satyashodhak Samaj and Universal Humanism | Maharashtra State PSC (MPSC): Preparation - MPSC (Maharastra) PDF Download

 Page 1


  
 
4 
MAHATMA JOTIRAO PHULE: 
SATYASHODHAK  SAMAJ AND 
UNIVERSAL HUMANISM 
Unit Structure 
4.0 Objectives 
4.1  Introduction 
4.2  Mahatma Jotirao Phule  
4.3  The Satya Shodhak Samaj 
4.4   Universal Humanism of Mahatma Phule 
 4.5   Summary 
4.6   Questions 
4.7 Additional Reading  
4.0 OBJECTIVES 
After the study of this unit, the student will be able to: 
      
          
       
  INTRODUCTION 
Mahatma Phule was the pioneer of upliftment of the downtrodden. 
Gopalbaba, V. R. Shinde and Shahu Maharaj worked against caste- system. 
They wanted to eradicate inequalities, superstitions, illiteracy from 
Society. Through they were attached to different organizations, they 
achieved their goal to some extent. 
 MAHATMA JYOTIRAO PHULE (1827-1890) 
Mahatma Phule occupies a unique position among the social reformers of 
Maharashtra. Born in 1827 in a gardener (mali) caste, he suffered from 
social and economic disadvantages. While as a student in the Scotish 
Mission’s High School, he came in contact with Christian missionaries 
and the ideas of Thomas Paine contained in his book, ‘Rights of Man’. 
After completing his secondary education in 1847 Jyotiba decided not to 
join government service but to pursue an independent careerIn 1848 he was 
Page 2


  
 
4 
MAHATMA JOTIRAO PHULE: 
SATYASHODHAK  SAMAJ AND 
UNIVERSAL HUMANISM 
Unit Structure 
4.0 Objectives 
4.1  Introduction 
4.2  Mahatma Jotirao Phule  
4.3  The Satya Shodhak Samaj 
4.4   Universal Humanism of Mahatma Phule 
 4.5   Summary 
4.6   Questions 
4.7 Additional Reading  
4.0 OBJECTIVES 
After the study of this unit, the student will be able to: 
      
          
       
  INTRODUCTION 
Mahatma Phule was the pioneer of upliftment of the downtrodden. 
Gopalbaba, V. R. Shinde and Shahu Maharaj worked against caste- system. 
They wanted to eradicate inequalities, superstitions, illiteracy from 
Society. Through they were attached to different organizations, they 
achieved their goal to some extent. 
 MAHATMA JYOTIRAO PHULE (1827-1890) 
Mahatma Phule occupies a unique position among the social reformers of 
Maharashtra. Born in 1827 in a gardener (mali) caste, he suffered from 
social and economic disadvantages. While as a student in the Scotish 
Mission’s High School, he came in contact with Christian missionaries 
and the ideas of Thomas Paine contained in his book, ‘Rights of Man’. 
After completing his secondary education in 1847 Jyotiba decided not to 
join government service but to pursue an independent careerIn 1848 he was 
  
 
                      
 
 
brought face to face with the problem of inequalities of the caste system 
and the abuses of the predominant Brahmin Caste. He was invited to the 
wedding of one of his Brahmin friends but was prevented by the             relatives of 
the bridegroom from joining the wedding procession because he  belonged 
to the lower mali caste. After this incident, Jotibarao made up his mind to 
defy the caste system and serve for the upliftment of the ‘sudras’ and 
women, who had been deprived of all their rights as human beings under 
this system. He was convinced that unless these sections of people were 
educated, their upliftment was not possible. Hence, with the help of some 
Brahmin friends he opened the first non-Christian girls’ school in Poona in 
1848, inspite of the opposition and ‘vicious campaign against him by upper 
castes. He also began educating his wife, Savitribai so that she could also 
participate in his social work. In 1851, he established the first school for 
the children of untouchable and in the next year, he set up the ‘Society for 
the Teaching of Knowledge to Mahars, Mangs and other People”. 
Phule believed that the caste system introduced distinction between low and  
high, and must, therefore, be abandoned. He was of the firm opinion that 
divisions among people should be based on their qualities, not on birth. 
Curiously, the Marathas who were considered as Sudras by the Brahmins,        
regard the untouchables (ati-shudras) as inferior to them. But for Phule, 
who was imbued with the ideas of enlightenment and liberalism, 
distinctions based on Caste, was a social evil. Hence, he boldly attacked the 
stranglehold            of the Brahmins on the Maharashtrian society and castigated 
them for preventing others from having access to all avenues of 
knowledge and influence. Denouncing the Brahmins in general as ‘Cheats 
and hypocrites’ he called upon the non-Brahmin masses to resist their 
tyranny. 
Phule charged Brahmins of misinterpreting Hindu scriptures to suit their 
own  community and of fabricating falsehoods to dupe the minds of the 
ignorant and to fasten firmly on them the chains of bondage and slavery. 
He went to       the extent of arguing that the Sudras were the sons of the soil 
and the Brahmins came from outside and usurped everything that was 
possessed by the Sudras. His books ‘Sarvajanik Satyadharma Pustak’ and 
‘Gulamgiri’ were biting indictments of the Brahmin community. He 
denounced all Brahmin scriptures and their teaching which had 
condemned the Shudras as the slaves of Brahmins. He declared that all 
those including foreigners, who treated him as equal, were his brothers. 
 THE SATYA SHODHAK SAMAJ 
Until the Indian “Revolt” against the British in 1857, Jyotirao Phule was 
in favour of the British social legislation and hoped for a quicker social 
change.  But after 1857 the British adopted the policy of cautious social 
neutrality and     did little in the direction of social reform by legislation. Most 
social reformers  cared little for the poor peasants and artisans. This made 
him think in terms  of establishing an association that would articulate the 
grievances of the neglected section of the Maharashtrians, create 
awareness among them and induce them to fight for justice and 
equality. By 1873, the idea of establishing an independent organisation 
Page 3


  
 
4 
MAHATMA JOTIRAO PHULE: 
SATYASHODHAK  SAMAJ AND 
UNIVERSAL HUMANISM 
Unit Structure 
4.0 Objectives 
4.1  Introduction 
4.2  Mahatma Jotirao Phule  
4.3  The Satya Shodhak Samaj 
4.4   Universal Humanism of Mahatma Phule 
 4.5   Summary 
4.6   Questions 
4.7 Additional Reading  
4.0 OBJECTIVES 
After the study of this unit, the student will be able to: 
      
          
       
  INTRODUCTION 
Mahatma Phule was the pioneer of upliftment of the downtrodden. 
Gopalbaba, V. R. Shinde and Shahu Maharaj worked against caste- system. 
They wanted to eradicate inequalities, superstitions, illiteracy from 
Society. Through they were attached to different organizations, they 
achieved their goal to some extent. 
 MAHATMA JYOTIRAO PHULE (1827-1890) 
Mahatma Phule occupies a unique position among the social reformers of 
Maharashtra. Born in 1827 in a gardener (mali) caste, he suffered from 
social and economic disadvantages. While as a student in the Scotish 
Mission’s High School, he came in contact with Christian missionaries 
and the ideas of Thomas Paine contained in his book, ‘Rights of Man’. 
After completing his secondary education in 1847 Jyotiba decided not to 
join government service but to pursue an independent careerIn 1848 he was 
  
 
                      
 
 
brought face to face with the problem of inequalities of the caste system 
and the abuses of the predominant Brahmin Caste. He was invited to the 
wedding of one of his Brahmin friends but was prevented by the             relatives of 
the bridegroom from joining the wedding procession because he  belonged 
to the lower mali caste. After this incident, Jotibarao made up his mind to 
defy the caste system and serve for the upliftment of the ‘sudras’ and 
women, who had been deprived of all their rights as human beings under 
this system. He was convinced that unless these sections of people were 
educated, their upliftment was not possible. Hence, with the help of some 
Brahmin friends he opened the first non-Christian girls’ school in Poona in 
1848, inspite of the opposition and ‘vicious campaign against him by upper 
castes. He also began educating his wife, Savitribai so that she could also 
participate in his social work. In 1851, he established the first school for 
the children of untouchable and in the next year, he set up the ‘Society for 
the Teaching of Knowledge to Mahars, Mangs and other People”. 
Phule believed that the caste system introduced distinction between low and  
high, and must, therefore, be abandoned. He was of the firm opinion that 
divisions among people should be based on their qualities, not on birth. 
Curiously, the Marathas who were considered as Sudras by the Brahmins,        
regard the untouchables (ati-shudras) as inferior to them. But for Phule, 
who was imbued with the ideas of enlightenment and liberalism, 
distinctions based on Caste, was a social evil. Hence, he boldly attacked the 
stranglehold            of the Brahmins on the Maharashtrian society and castigated 
them for preventing others from having access to all avenues of 
knowledge and influence. Denouncing the Brahmins in general as ‘Cheats 
and hypocrites’ he called upon the non-Brahmin masses to resist their 
tyranny. 
Phule charged Brahmins of misinterpreting Hindu scriptures to suit their 
own  community and of fabricating falsehoods to dupe the minds of the 
ignorant and to fasten firmly on them the chains of bondage and slavery. 
He went to       the extent of arguing that the Sudras were the sons of the soil 
and the Brahmins came from outside and usurped everything that was 
possessed by the Sudras. His books ‘Sarvajanik Satyadharma Pustak’ and 
‘Gulamgiri’ were biting indictments of the Brahmin community. He 
denounced all Brahmin scriptures and their teaching which had 
condemned the Shudras as the slaves of Brahmins. He declared that all 
those including foreigners, who treated him as equal, were his brothers. 
 THE SATYA SHODHAK SAMAJ 
Until the Indian “Revolt” against the British in 1857, Jyotirao Phule was 
in favour of the British social legislation and hoped for a quicker social 
change.  But after 1857 the British adopted the policy of cautious social 
neutrality and     did little in the direction of social reform by legislation. Most 
social reformers  cared little for the poor peasants and artisans. This made 
him think in terms  of establishing an association that would articulate the 
grievances of the neglected section of the Maharashtrians, create 
awareness among them and induce them to fight for justice and 
equality. By 1873, the idea of establishing an independent organisation 
 
 
 
 
 
 
to work for the emancipation of the “Shudras” from what he called, 
“slavery” of the Brahmins and to destroy religious and social bondage of 
the lower castes, crystalised in his mind. 
Accordingly, on 24th September, 1873, Phule and his associates 
established the “Satya Shodak Samaj” (Society of Seekers of Truth). The 
main objectives of the Samaj were to liberate the Sudras and Ati- sudras 
from social and religious bondage and to prevent their exploitation by the 
Brahmins.  All members of the Samaj were required to treat all human 
beings  as “children of God and worship the Creator without the help of 
any mediator”. Membership of the Sarnaj was open to all irrespective of 
caste and creed. However, every member had to take a pledge to loyalty to 
the British Empire. A “Satya-shodhaka” was to be a seeker of truth whose 
reference was the human person and concern for truth, and not the 
traditional values, Phule refused to regard the Vedas to be sacrosanct. He 
opposed the custom of worshipping before idols (idolatry) and denounced 
the Chaturvarnya (The four varnas). 
In social and religious matters, Phule wanted both men and women to be 
given equal rights; he regarded it a sin to discriminate between human 
beings on the basis of sex. He stressed the unity of all human beings and 
envisaged a society based on liberty, equality and fraternity. He was 
opposed to religious, begotry and aggressive nationalism because both 
destroy the unity of humankind and therefore inimical to progress· 
Early in 1874 Phule started a branch of the Samaj in Bombay and three 
years later a weekly journal, ‘Din Bandhu’, was founded to spread its 
message. Narayan Meghaji Lokhande, a close associate of Phule and an 
active trade union leader, became the editor of the paper. He used its 
columns to air the grievances of mill workers and to suggest measures to 
alleviate them. 
Phule used his position as a nominated member of the Poona Municipality 
to help the famine-stricken areas of Maharashtra (1877). The ‘Victoria 
Orphanage’ was founded under the auspices of the Satyashodhak Samaj. 
Through the pages of ‘Din Bandhu’ the leaders of the Satyashodhak Samaj         
articulated the grievances of the peasants and workers. In fact, Jyotirao and  
his colleagues like Lokhande were the pioneers in organising peasants and  
workers and attempting to redress their grievances. 
The ideology of the Satyashodhak Samaj was virtually anti- Brahmanical. 
Brahmin orthodoxy reacted strongly against it. They found an effective 
“knight errant” in the fiery journalist, Vishnushastri Chiplunkar, and his 
journal, ‘Nibandhmala’. He derisively described Phule as “a Shudra 
Religious Teacher, Shudra Founder of a Religion, a Shudra world 
Teacher, merely banking at Brahmins of all his writings”. However, Phule’s, 
movement  remained outside the formal domain of politics. Its potential was 
not realised until the 1880s when Phule mounted strong attacks against 
leaders of the Brahmo Samaj, the Prarthana Samaj, the Sarvajanik Sabha 
and the Indian National Congress for their failure to take concrete measures 
to improve the  lot of the masses. He felt that these organisations were 
Page 4


  
 
4 
MAHATMA JOTIRAO PHULE: 
SATYASHODHAK  SAMAJ AND 
UNIVERSAL HUMANISM 
Unit Structure 
4.0 Objectives 
4.1  Introduction 
4.2  Mahatma Jotirao Phule  
4.3  The Satya Shodhak Samaj 
4.4   Universal Humanism of Mahatma Phule 
 4.5   Summary 
4.6   Questions 
4.7 Additional Reading  
4.0 OBJECTIVES 
After the study of this unit, the student will be able to: 
      
          
       
  INTRODUCTION 
Mahatma Phule was the pioneer of upliftment of the downtrodden. 
Gopalbaba, V. R. Shinde and Shahu Maharaj worked against caste- system. 
They wanted to eradicate inequalities, superstitions, illiteracy from 
Society. Through they were attached to different organizations, they 
achieved their goal to some extent. 
 MAHATMA JYOTIRAO PHULE (1827-1890) 
Mahatma Phule occupies a unique position among the social reformers of 
Maharashtra. Born in 1827 in a gardener (mali) caste, he suffered from 
social and economic disadvantages. While as a student in the Scotish 
Mission’s High School, he came in contact with Christian missionaries 
and the ideas of Thomas Paine contained in his book, ‘Rights of Man’. 
After completing his secondary education in 1847 Jyotiba decided not to 
join government service but to pursue an independent careerIn 1848 he was 
  
 
                      
 
 
brought face to face with the problem of inequalities of the caste system 
and the abuses of the predominant Brahmin Caste. He was invited to the 
wedding of one of his Brahmin friends but was prevented by the             relatives of 
the bridegroom from joining the wedding procession because he  belonged 
to the lower mali caste. After this incident, Jotibarao made up his mind to 
defy the caste system and serve for the upliftment of the ‘sudras’ and 
women, who had been deprived of all their rights as human beings under 
this system. He was convinced that unless these sections of people were 
educated, their upliftment was not possible. Hence, with the help of some 
Brahmin friends he opened the first non-Christian girls’ school in Poona in 
1848, inspite of the opposition and ‘vicious campaign against him by upper 
castes. He also began educating his wife, Savitribai so that she could also 
participate in his social work. In 1851, he established the first school for 
the children of untouchable and in the next year, he set up the ‘Society for 
the Teaching of Knowledge to Mahars, Mangs and other People”. 
Phule believed that the caste system introduced distinction between low and  
high, and must, therefore, be abandoned. He was of the firm opinion that 
divisions among people should be based on their qualities, not on birth. 
Curiously, the Marathas who were considered as Sudras by the Brahmins,        
regard the untouchables (ati-shudras) as inferior to them. But for Phule, 
who was imbued with the ideas of enlightenment and liberalism, 
distinctions based on Caste, was a social evil. Hence, he boldly attacked the 
stranglehold            of the Brahmins on the Maharashtrian society and castigated 
them for preventing others from having access to all avenues of 
knowledge and influence. Denouncing the Brahmins in general as ‘Cheats 
and hypocrites’ he called upon the non-Brahmin masses to resist their 
tyranny. 
Phule charged Brahmins of misinterpreting Hindu scriptures to suit their 
own  community and of fabricating falsehoods to dupe the minds of the 
ignorant and to fasten firmly on them the chains of bondage and slavery. 
He went to       the extent of arguing that the Sudras were the sons of the soil 
and the Brahmins came from outside and usurped everything that was 
possessed by the Sudras. His books ‘Sarvajanik Satyadharma Pustak’ and 
‘Gulamgiri’ were biting indictments of the Brahmin community. He 
denounced all Brahmin scriptures and their teaching which had 
condemned the Shudras as the slaves of Brahmins. He declared that all 
those including foreigners, who treated him as equal, were his brothers. 
 THE SATYA SHODHAK SAMAJ 
Until the Indian “Revolt” against the British in 1857, Jyotirao Phule was 
in favour of the British social legislation and hoped for a quicker social 
change.  But after 1857 the British adopted the policy of cautious social 
neutrality and     did little in the direction of social reform by legislation. Most 
social reformers  cared little for the poor peasants and artisans. This made 
him think in terms  of establishing an association that would articulate the 
grievances of the neglected section of the Maharashtrians, create 
awareness among them and induce them to fight for justice and 
equality. By 1873, the idea of establishing an independent organisation 
 
 
 
 
 
 
to work for the emancipation of the “Shudras” from what he called, 
“slavery” of the Brahmins and to destroy religious and social bondage of 
the lower castes, crystalised in his mind. 
Accordingly, on 24th September, 1873, Phule and his associates 
established the “Satya Shodak Samaj” (Society of Seekers of Truth). The 
main objectives of the Samaj were to liberate the Sudras and Ati- sudras 
from social and religious bondage and to prevent their exploitation by the 
Brahmins.  All members of the Samaj were required to treat all human 
beings  as “children of God and worship the Creator without the help of 
any mediator”. Membership of the Sarnaj was open to all irrespective of 
caste and creed. However, every member had to take a pledge to loyalty to 
the British Empire. A “Satya-shodhaka” was to be a seeker of truth whose 
reference was the human person and concern for truth, and not the 
traditional values, Phule refused to regard the Vedas to be sacrosanct. He 
opposed the custom of worshipping before idols (idolatry) and denounced 
the Chaturvarnya (The four varnas). 
In social and religious matters, Phule wanted both men and women to be 
given equal rights; he regarded it a sin to discriminate between human 
beings on the basis of sex. He stressed the unity of all human beings and 
envisaged a society based on liberty, equality and fraternity. He was 
opposed to religious, begotry and aggressive nationalism because both 
destroy the unity of humankind and therefore inimical to progress· 
Early in 1874 Phule started a branch of the Samaj in Bombay and three 
years later a weekly journal, ‘Din Bandhu’, was founded to spread its 
message. Narayan Meghaji Lokhande, a close associate of Phule and an 
active trade union leader, became the editor of the paper. He used its 
columns to air the grievances of mill workers and to suggest measures to 
alleviate them. 
Phule used his position as a nominated member of the Poona Municipality 
to help the famine-stricken areas of Maharashtra (1877). The ‘Victoria 
Orphanage’ was founded under the auspices of the Satyashodhak Samaj. 
Through the pages of ‘Din Bandhu’ the leaders of the Satyashodhak Samaj         
articulated the grievances of the peasants and workers. In fact, Jyotirao and  
his colleagues like Lokhande were the pioneers in organising peasants and  
workers and attempting to redress their grievances. 
The ideology of the Satyashodhak Samaj was virtually anti- Brahmanical. 
Brahmin orthodoxy reacted strongly against it. They found an effective 
“knight errant” in the fiery journalist, Vishnushastri Chiplunkar, and his 
journal, ‘Nibandhmala’. He derisively described Phule as “a Shudra 
Religious Teacher, Shudra Founder of a Religion, a Shudra world 
Teacher, merely banking at Brahmins of all his writings”. However, Phule’s, 
movement  remained outside the formal domain of politics. Its potential was 
not realised until the 1880s when Phule mounted strong attacks against 
leaders of the Brahmo Samaj, the Prarthana Samaj, the Sarvajanik Sabha 
and the Indian National Congress for their failure to take concrete measures 
to improve the  lot of the masses. He felt that these organisations were 
  
 
                        
 
 
dominated by the Brahmins and therefore were not truly representative in 
character. However, he was equally fearless in his criticism, of the 
Government. For instance, he protested vigorously against Lytton’s 
restrictions on the Indian Vernacular Press and disapproved of the 
proposed public reception to the Viceroy by the Poona Municipality. 
The, anti-Brahminism of the Satyashodhak Samaj was directed, not against 
individual Brahmins but against the system that permitted Brahmin 
preponderance in socio-religious matters. Phule’s personal relations with 
Brahmin reformers and with Justice Ranade in particular, remained good. 
He participated in their activities. Moreover, so radical was he in his 
championship of justice and Brahmins but also to the ‘Sahannavakuli 
Marathas’ – the ‘Marathas belonging to the ninety-six aristocratic families, 
the Maratha aristocracy. He accused them of exploiting the kunbi peasant. 
According to Mathew Lederle, “Jyotirao Phule worked equally for the 
Sudra        and Ati-Shudra revealed a surprising broadness of vision at a time 
when caste distinctions prevailed not only between Brahmins and non-
Brahmins, but with not less rigidity between the Maratha Sudras and the 
untouchable Atisudras. The forces of the caste system were so strong that 
Phule’s ideal  of equality for all failed to prevail even in the Satyashodhak 
Samaj”. “If human being are all creatures of the same Divine Being, why 
should one caste deem itself superior to others ?” Asked Phule. 
As a social and religious organisation, the Satyashodhak Samaj, according         
to Gail Omvedt, “bears comparison with other, more famous samajas: the 
Brahmo Samaj and Prarthana Samaj, with which it shares a secular and 
rationalistic approach, and the Arya Samaj with which it shared a mass 
basis”. But it was non-elite in character and was limited to Marathi-
speaking areas. Its radicalism resulted in a general hostility of the elite, 
including most of the educated non-Brahmin elite. 
Unlike his contemporary reformers - Jambhekar Dadoba Pandurang, 
Lokhitavadi, Bhandarkar, Ranade, Vishnushastri Pandit and Agarkar, 
Jyotirao Phule was no intellectuai; nor were his writings and theories as 
profound as theirs. But his work was the anguished cry of the suppressed 
classes trying to emancipate from bondage of centuries and from the tyranny  
of upper castes. His main work was to rouse the exploited and suppressed 
masses and lead them in an organised resistance to the unreasonable 
claims of the Brahmins. By emphasising individual dignity and equality in 
social and religious matters, he attempted to bring solidarity to the Hindu 
social organisation which was fragmented into groups of caste. Herein lies 
his greatness. 
Ironically, when he died on 28th November 1890; this great champion of 
the  low castes and downtrodden, was a much misunderstood man; he was 
accused of fermenting hatred between the Brahmins and non-brahmins. But    
no attempt was made to consider his scathing criticism of the prevailing 
society in a broad perspective. Even later generations were slow to 
understand-and appreciate the significance of his steady and courageous 
advocacy of social equality and individual dignity. Nevertheless, 
recent   studies of his work have convinced many scholars that Mahatma 
Page 5


  
 
4 
MAHATMA JOTIRAO PHULE: 
SATYASHODHAK  SAMAJ AND 
UNIVERSAL HUMANISM 
Unit Structure 
4.0 Objectives 
4.1  Introduction 
4.2  Mahatma Jotirao Phule  
4.3  The Satya Shodhak Samaj 
4.4   Universal Humanism of Mahatma Phule 
 4.5   Summary 
4.6   Questions 
4.7 Additional Reading  
4.0 OBJECTIVES 
After the study of this unit, the student will be able to: 
      
          
       
  INTRODUCTION 
Mahatma Phule was the pioneer of upliftment of the downtrodden. 
Gopalbaba, V. R. Shinde and Shahu Maharaj worked against caste- system. 
They wanted to eradicate inequalities, superstitions, illiteracy from 
Society. Through they were attached to different organizations, they 
achieved their goal to some extent. 
 MAHATMA JYOTIRAO PHULE (1827-1890) 
Mahatma Phule occupies a unique position among the social reformers of 
Maharashtra. Born in 1827 in a gardener (mali) caste, he suffered from 
social and economic disadvantages. While as a student in the Scotish 
Mission’s High School, he came in contact with Christian missionaries 
and the ideas of Thomas Paine contained in his book, ‘Rights of Man’. 
After completing his secondary education in 1847 Jyotiba decided not to 
join government service but to pursue an independent careerIn 1848 he was 
  
 
                      
 
 
brought face to face with the problem of inequalities of the caste system 
and the abuses of the predominant Brahmin Caste. He was invited to the 
wedding of one of his Brahmin friends but was prevented by the             relatives of 
the bridegroom from joining the wedding procession because he  belonged 
to the lower mali caste. After this incident, Jotibarao made up his mind to 
defy the caste system and serve for the upliftment of the ‘sudras’ and 
women, who had been deprived of all their rights as human beings under 
this system. He was convinced that unless these sections of people were 
educated, their upliftment was not possible. Hence, with the help of some 
Brahmin friends he opened the first non-Christian girls’ school in Poona in 
1848, inspite of the opposition and ‘vicious campaign against him by upper 
castes. He also began educating his wife, Savitribai so that she could also 
participate in his social work. In 1851, he established the first school for 
the children of untouchable and in the next year, he set up the ‘Society for 
the Teaching of Knowledge to Mahars, Mangs and other People”. 
Phule believed that the caste system introduced distinction between low and  
high, and must, therefore, be abandoned. He was of the firm opinion that 
divisions among people should be based on their qualities, not on birth. 
Curiously, the Marathas who were considered as Sudras by the Brahmins,        
regard the untouchables (ati-shudras) as inferior to them. But for Phule, 
who was imbued with the ideas of enlightenment and liberalism, 
distinctions based on Caste, was a social evil. Hence, he boldly attacked the 
stranglehold            of the Brahmins on the Maharashtrian society and castigated 
them for preventing others from having access to all avenues of 
knowledge and influence. Denouncing the Brahmins in general as ‘Cheats 
and hypocrites’ he called upon the non-Brahmin masses to resist their 
tyranny. 
Phule charged Brahmins of misinterpreting Hindu scriptures to suit their 
own  community and of fabricating falsehoods to dupe the minds of the 
ignorant and to fasten firmly on them the chains of bondage and slavery. 
He went to       the extent of arguing that the Sudras were the sons of the soil 
and the Brahmins came from outside and usurped everything that was 
possessed by the Sudras. His books ‘Sarvajanik Satyadharma Pustak’ and 
‘Gulamgiri’ were biting indictments of the Brahmin community. He 
denounced all Brahmin scriptures and their teaching which had 
condemned the Shudras as the slaves of Brahmins. He declared that all 
those including foreigners, who treated him as equal, were his brothers. 
 THE SATYA SHODHAK SAMAJ 
Until the Indian “Revolt” against the British in 1857, Jyotirao Phule was 
in favour of the British social legislation and hoped for a quicker social 
change.  But after 1857 the British adopted the policy of cautious social 
neutrality and     did little in the direction of social reform by legislation. Most 
social reformers  cared little for the poor peasants and artisans. This made 
him think in terms  of establishing an association that would articulate the 
grievances of the neglected section of the Maharashtrians, create 
awareness among them and induce them to fight for justice and 
equality. By 1873, the idea of establishing an independent organisation 
 
 
 
 
 
 
to work for the emancipation of the “Shudras” from what he called, 
“slavery” of the Brahmins and to destroy religious and social bondage of 
the lower castes, crystalised in his mind. 
Accordingly, on 24th September, 1873, Phule and his associates 
established the “Satya Shodak Samaj” (Society of Seekers of Truth). The 
main objectives of the Samaj were to liberate the Sudras and Ati- sudras 
from social and religious bondage and to prevent their exploitation by the 
Brahmins.  All members of the Samaj were required to treat all human 
beings  as “children of God and worship the Creator without the help of 
any mediator”. Membership of the Sarnaj was open to all irrespective of 
caste and creed. However, every member had to take a pledge to loyalty to 
the British Empire. A “Satya-shodhaka” was to be a seeker of truth whose 
reference was the human person and concern for truth, and not the 
traditional values, Phule refused to regard the Vedas to be sacrosanct. He 
opposed the custom of worshipping before idols (idolatry) and denounced 
the Chaturvarnya (The four varnas). 
In social and religious matters, Phule wanted both men and women to be 
given equal rights; he regarded it a sin to discriminate between human 
beings on the basis of sex. He stressed the unity of all human beings and 
envisaged a society based on liberty, equality and fraternity. He was 
opposed to religious, begotry and aggressive nationalism because both 
destroy the unity of humankind and therefore inimical to progress· 
Early in 1874 Phule started a branch of the Samaj in Bombay and three 
years later a weekly journal, ‘Din Bandhu’, was founded to spread its 
message. Narayan Meghaji Lokhande, a close associate of Phule and an 
active trade union leader, became the editor of the paper. He used its 
columns to air the grievances of mill workers and to suggest measures to 
alleviate them. 
Phule used his position as a nominated member of the Poona Municipality 
to help the famine-stricken areas of Maharashtra (1877). The ‘Victoria 
Orphanage’ was founded under the auspices of the Satyashodhak Samaj. 
Through the pages of ‘Din Bandhu’ the leaders of the Satyashodhak Samaj         
articulated the grievances of the peasants and workers. In fact, Jyotirao and  
his colleagues like Lokhande were the pioneers in organising peasants and  
workers and attempting to redress their grievances. 
The ideology of the Satyashodhak Samaj was virtually anti- Brahmanical. 
Brahmin orthodoxy reacted strongly against it. They found an effective 
“knight errant” in the fiery journalist, Vishnushastri Chiplunkar, and his 
journal, ‘Nibandhmala’. He derisively described Phule as “a Shudra 
Religious Teacher, Shudra Founder of a Religion, a Shudra world 
Teacher, merely banking at Brahmins of all his writings”. However, Phule’s, 
movement  remained outside the formal domain of politics. Its potential was 
not realised until the 1880s when Phule mounted strong attacks against 
leaders of the Brahmo Samaj, the Prarthana Samaj, the Sarvajanik Sabha 
and the Indian National Congress for their failure to take concrete measures 
to improve the  lot of the masses. He felt that these organisations were 
  
 
                        
 
 
dominated by the Brahmins and therefore were not truly representative in 
character. However, he was equally fearless in his criticism, of the 
Government. For instance, he protested vigorously against Lytton’s 
restrictions on the Indian Vernacular Press and disapproved of the 
proposed public reception to the Viceroy by the Poona Municipality. 
The, anti-Brahminism of the Satyashodhak Samaj was directed, not against 
individual Brahmins but against the system that permitted Brahmin 
preponderance in socio-religious matters. Phule’s personal relations with 
Brahmin reformers and with Justice Ranade in particular, remained good. 
He participated in their activities. Moreover, so radical was he in his 
championship of justice and Brahmins but also to the ‘Sahannavakuli 
Marathas’ – the ‘Marathas belonging to the ninety-six aristocratic families, 
the Maratha aristocracy. He accused them of exploiting the kunbi peasant. 
According to Mathew Lederle, “Jyotirao Phule worked equally for the 
Sudra        and Ati-Shudra revealed a surprising broadness of vision at a time 
when caste distinctions prevailed not only between Brahmins and non-
Brahmins, but with not less rigidity between the Maratha Sudras and the 
untouchable Atisudras. The forces of the caste system were so strong that 
Phule’s ideal  of equality for all failed to prevail even in the Satyashodhak 
Samaj”. “If human being are all creatures of the same Divine Being, why 
should one caste deem itself superior to others ?” Asked Phule. 
As a social and religious organisation, the Satyashodhak Samaj, according         
to Gail Omvedt, “bears comparison with other, more famous samajas: the 
Brahmo Samaj and Prarthana Samaj, with which it shares a secular and 
rationalistic approach, and the Arya Samaj with which it shared a mass 
basis”. But it was non-elite in character and was limited to Marathi-
speaking areas. Its radicalism resulted in a general hostility of the elite, 
including most of the educated non-Brahmin elite. 
Unlike his contemporary reformers - Jambhekar Dadoba Pandurang, 
Lokhitavadi, Bhandarkar, Ranade, Vishnushastri Pandit and Agarkar, 
Jyotirao Phule was no intellectuai; nor were his writings and theories as 
profound as theirs. But his work was the anguished cry of the suppressed 
classes trying to emancipate from bondage of centuries and from the tyranny  
of upper castes. His main work was to rouse the exploited and suppressed 
masses and lead them in an organised resistance to the unreasonable 
claims of the Brahmins. By emphasising individual dignity and equality in 
social and religious matters, he attempted to bring solidarity to the Hindu 
social organisation which was fragmented into groups of caste. Herein lies 
his greatness. 
Ironically, when he died on 28th November 1890; this great champion of 
the  low castes and downtrodden, was a much misunderstood man; he was 
accused of fermenting hatred between the Brahmins and non-brahmins. But    
no attempt was made to consider his scathing criticism of the prevailing 
society in a broad perspective. Even later generations were slow to 
understand-and appreciate the significance of his steady and courageous 
advocacy of social equality and individual dignity. Nevertheless, 
recent   studies of his work have convinced many scholars that Mahatma 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Jyotirao Govindrao Phule (Jyotiba Phule) was a pioneer in many fields. He 
stands out among his contemporaries’ as one who never wavered in his 
quest for truth and justice Mahatma Jyotirao Phule was the first Indian to 
proclaim in modern India the dawn of the new age for the common man, 
the Indian woman. Jyotirao was the first Indian to start a school for the 
untouchables and a girl’s school in Maharashtra. According to Dhananjay 
Keer, Phule believed in honesty working for his Iivelihood. He was almost 
the first public man in modern India to devote his time to serving the 
masses”, By his emphasis on Truth, Equality and Humanism, this great 
son of Maharashtra carved out for himself, in the company of modern 
India’s great thinkers and      reformers, a permanent place.Check your 
progress : 
1) Discuss the aims and objectives of Satyashodhak Samaj. 
2) Describe the work of Satyashodhak Samaj in the social reform 
movement of Maharashtra. 
 UNIVERSAL HUMANISM OF MAHATMA PHULE 
Mahatma Phule was not interested in developing theories. He wanted to 
explain the work undertaken by him. In his famous book “Sarvajanik 
Satyadharma Pustak’ (Book of Universal True Religion) he analyses the 
meaning of truth and explains the basis of ‘inference’ to arrive at truth. He 
ridicules the whimsical ideas put forward by “Mahabharata” before 
ignorant         masses. He wanted only rational explanation. 
Phule maintains that ‘religion is the relation between God the Creator and 
man his creature.’ Everything comes from God for man to make use of. But  
since not all mankind has kept the fear of the Creator and a feeling of 
brotherhood embracing all men, truth has steadily declined and 
dissatisfaction and sorrow spread. The disregard of truth led to the 
disorder  and hence truth should be restored so that order can be re-
established. 
Phule Criticised the theory of ‘Vama-Dharma’ that the religious duties are 
made identical with duties of one’s profession. He opined that social 
reform  is possible only when we understand religion properly. He was 
‘interested in    religion not for the sake of doctrine but for the interest of the 
downtrodden masses. 
His ideas about God were inspired by the influence of Christianity and his 
monotheism resembled that of the Prarthana Samaj. 
He advocated liberty for all men as well as women. He wanted to remove 
the impediments of evil customs which ensalved man and degraded woman. 
He wanted the downtrodden to be educated. He said there should be 
schools for shudras in every village. Education would liberate them from 
social enslavement.