Reshaping Hinduism for gharvāpasī of Indian Christians: A Case from the Nineteenth Century Collected Works of Pundit Lekhramjī

Abstract

I have previously focused on Pundit Lekhramjī’s purpose in many of his writings contained in kulliyāt. I have argued against his characterization as a ‘malicious Arya’ responsible for communalism in the 19th century Punjab and have demonstrated that Lekhramjī’s intent behind much of his writings was to persuade Indian Christians (and Muslims) to consider gharvāpasī (homecoming). I am building on this paper and here the aim is to look for more evidence for addressing the question: how did Lekhramjī seek to persuade Indian Christians to reconvert? Based on evidence from a number of primary sources, I highlight his two-fold strategy towards this end: i. A critique of Christian missionaries/Christianity (here I present new evidence particularly focussing on his notion of Jesus Christ) and importantly also the ii. Reformation of Hinduism for those reconsidering home-coming. What this meant was that there was a home to return to sans the socio-religious inequalities which may have triggered their departure in the first place.