Cultivating emotions: the Gita Press and its agenda of social and spiritual reform

Abstract

In the mid-1920s, the Gita Press in Gorakhpur started to publish high-quality translations of sacred Hindu scriptures, as well as religious tracts, advice books and magazine articles that emphasized devotion to God through the control and cultivation of emotions. Feeling the proper way became an important asset for spiritual salvation, as well as a prerequisite for social reforms. This article focuses on the founders of the Gita Press, and how they promoted a reformatory and religious agenda that defined the moral framework of being and feeling Hindu. The Gita Press gained popularity through its Hindi translation of the Bhagavadgita, which was styled as the central scripture for all Hindus. I argue that the advice books and normative writings published by the press not only popularized the Bhagavadgita, but also provided interpretations and adaptations in the process of a larger social reform project. These writings enunciated the ways of reaching salvation and combined this with social guidance in all aspects of human life. The analysis of writings by Jaydayal Goyandka and Hanuman Prasad Poddar indicates a social reform agenda that was geared towards current social issues of the Marwari trading community. At the same time, these texts also engaged in the larger project of reforming society, thereby constructing and strengthening the traditions of orthodoxy or ‘Sanatan Dharma’. Till today, the popularity of the Gita Press' print products remains intact and their advice books continue to provide spiritual advice enmeshed with moral guidelines.