Bourgeois Vedānta: The Colonial Roots of Middle-class Hinduism1

The quest to balance the material and the spiritual has a long history in the Hindu tradition, as it does in the West. While Hindus recognize desire to be a central human value, they also see it as a cause of human suffering. This tension persists within contemporary Hinduism, especially among an emergent middle class that seeks to balance spiri-tual fulfillment and worldly success. If we are to understand recent manifestations of Hinduism, we would do well to explore their roots in the colonial period. That is the goal of this essay, which explores the affinity between one early colonial version of Vedānta and the socio-economic activities of its bourgeois promoters. Working from a rare set of Bengali discourses delivered at meetings of the Tattvabodhinī Sabha ̄ during its inaugural year (1839–40), this essay demonstrates how a rescripted Vedānta provided members with a worldview that legitimated both their spiritual concerns and their worldly activities. Desire (kāma) is the root of the universe. From desire all beings are born. —Śilpa Prakāśa (White 2006: 97) What defines bourgeois society is not needs, but wants.—Bell (1996: 22) 1 Portions of this essay were first presented in talks at Purdue University, Emory University, and the University of Chicago. I would like to thank Tithi Bhattacharya, Laurie Patton, Paul Courtright, and Valerie Ritter for inviting me to discuss my work. Since then the essay has benefited from the comments of anonymous readers, whom I would also like to thank. Funding to support thi