Page:The Autobiography of Maharshi Devendranath Tagore.djvu/50

2 of his early religious impressions, he was influenced by the traditions of an orthodox Hindu household, and, above all, by the teachings and example of his grandmother, under whose loving care he seems to have spent a happy childhood. So he grew up a wilful young man holding the religion of his forefathers in great reverence, though practically more mindful of his worldly than spiritual interests. But certain providential occurrences, which are graphically described in the Autobiography, wrought a change in him on his attaining manhood, and he felt within himself an awakening towards a higher life. In 1839 he established a Society called the Tatwabodhini Sabha, which held regular weekly meetings at his house, where discourses on religious subjects were delivered. Besides these, monthly meetings were held for worship, when prayers were offered, and texts from the Upanishads were recited and expounded. The Sabha started a monthly Theological Journal, the Tatwabodhini Patrika, which, under the able editorship of Akshay Kumar Datta, rendered valuable service to liberal theology and Bengali literature, and which, after many vicissitudes, still exists as a Bengali monthly. After some years, the Tatwabodhini Sabha was incorporated into the Brahma-Samaj. The Maharshi, in his Autobiography, gives an interesting account of the first anniversary meeting of the