Maharishi Dayanand Saraswati - The founder of the Arya Samaj

Maharishi Dayanand Saraswati [February 12, 1824 – October 31, 1883] was an important Hindu religious scholar, reformer and the founder of the Arya Samaj, a Hindu reform movement, founded in 1875. He was the first man who gave the call for Swarajya - "India for Indians" in 1876 which was later furthered by Lokmanya Tilak. Denouncing idolatry and ritualistic worship prevalent inHinduism at the time, he worked towards reviving Vedic ideologies, subsequently philosopher and President of India, S. Radhakrishnan, later called him one of "makers of Modern India" as did Sri Aurobindo.

One of his notable disciples was Shyamji Krishna Varma who founded India House in London and guided other revolutionaries. Others Who were influenced and fallowed him were Madam Cama, Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, Lala Hardyal Madan Lal Dhingra, Bhagat Singh and others. His other disciples were Swami Shraddhanand, Lala Lajpat Rai. His book Satyarth Prakash contributed to the Indian independence movementis one of his great contributions. He was a sanyasi (ascetic) from his boyhood, and a scholar, who believed in the infallible authorityof the Vedas.



Dayananda advocated the doctrine of karma, skepticism in dogma, and emphasized the ideals of brahmacharya [celibacy and devotion to God]. The Theosophical Society and the Arya Samaj were united from 1878 to 1882, when the former adopted the name Theosophical Society of the Arya Samaj.


Among Maharishi Dayananda's contributions are his promoting of the equal rights of women - such as the right to education and reading of Indian scriptures - and his translation of the Vedasfrom Sanskrit to Hindi so that the common person may be able to read the Vedas.

Early life

Dayananda was born on February 12 in 1824, in the village of Tankara near Morvi [Morbi] in theKathiawar region [present Rajkot district] of the princely state of Gujarat, into a affluent and devout Brahmin family of Krishna Lal Tiwari and Yashodabai. Since he was born under Mul Nakshatra, he was named Dayananda Mulshankar and led a very comfortable early life, studying Sanskrit, the Vedas and other religious books so as to prepare himself for a future as a Hindu priest.

A number of incidents resulted in Dayananda's life questioning traditional beliefs of Hinduism and inquiring about God [ Bhagwan] in early childhood. Still a young child on the night of Shivratri(literally: the night for God Shiva) when his family went to a temple for overnight worship, he stayed up waiting for God to appear to accept the offerings made to idol of God Shiva. While his family slept, Dayananda saw a mouse eating the offerings kept for the God. He was utterly surprised and wondered how a God, who cannot even protect his own "offerings," would protect humanity. He argued with his father that they should not be worshiping such a helpless God.

The deaths of his younger sister and his uncle from cholera caused Dayananda to ponder the meaning of life and death and he started asking questions, which worried his parents. He was to be married in his early teens [common in 19th century India], but he decided marriage was not for him and ran away from home in 1846.

Search for knowledge

Dayananda was disillusioned with classical Hinduism and became a wandering monk. He learned Panini's Grammar to understand Sanskrit texts, and learnt from them that GOD can be found. After wandering in search of GOD for over 2 decades, he found Swami Virjananda near Mathura who became his guru (gu: darkness; ru:light- i.e. one who makes you reach towards light from darkness]. Swami Virjananda told him to throw away all his books, as he wanted Dayananda to start from a clean slate and learn directly from the Vedas, the oldest and foundational books. Dayananda stayed under Swami Virjananda's tutelage for two and a half years. After finishing his education, Virjananda asked him to spread the knowledge of the Vedas in society as his gurudakshina [tuition-dues]. It is during his mission, Dayanand Saraswati gave the call.


Maharishi Dayanand's Mission

Dayananda set about the difficult task with dedication despite attempts on his life. He traveled the country challenging religious scholars and priests of the day to discussions and won repeatedly on the strength of his arguments. He believed that Hinduism had been corrupted by divergence from the founding principles of the Vedas and misled by the priesthood for the priests' self-aggrandisement. Hindu priests discouraged common folk from reading Vedic rituals (such as bathing in the Ganges and feeding of priests on anniversaries) which Dayananda pronounced as superstitions or self-serving.

Far from borrowing concepts from other religions, as Raja Ram Mohan Roy had done, Swami Dayananda was quite critical of Islam and Christianity and also of the other Indian faiths like Jainism, Buddhism and Idol Worshiping in Hinduism- as may be seen in his book Satyartha Prakash He was against what he considered to be the corruption of the pure faith in his own country. Unlike many other reform movements within Hinduism, the Arya Samaj's appeal was addressed not only to the educated few in India, but to the world as a whole as evidenced in the 6th principle of the Arya Samaj.

Arya Samaj allows and encourages converts to Hinduism.


Dayananda’s concept of Dharma is succinctly set forth in his Beliefs and Disbeliefs.

He said,


"I accept as Dharma whatever is in full conformity with impartial justice, truthfulness and the like; that which is not opposed to the teachings of God as Vedas. Whatever is not free from partiality and is unjust, partaking of untruth and the like, and opposed to the teachings of God as embodied in the Vedas - that I hold as adharma"- Satyarth Prakash


He had also said


He, who after careful thinking, is ever ready to accept truth and reject falsehood; who counts the happiness of others as he does that of his own self, him I call just.-Satyarth Prakash


[*The Satyarth Prakash (English title: The Light of Truth) is a 1875 book written by Swami Dayanand, the founder of Arya Samaj, and is considered its central text.]

Dayananda's Vedic message was to emphasize respect and reverence for other human beings, supported by the Vedic notion of the divine nature of the individual - divine because the body was the temple where the human essence [soul or "Atma"] could possibly interface with the creator ["ParamAtma"]. In the 10 principles of the Arya Samaj, he enshrined the idea that "All actions should be performed with the prime objective of benefitting mankind" as opposed to following dogmatic rituals or revering idols and symbols. In his own life, he interpreted Mokshato be a lower calling [due to its benefit to one individual] than the calling to emancipate others.

Dayananda's "back to the Vedas" message influenced many thinkers. Taking the cue from him, Sri Aurobindo decided to look for hidden psychological meanings in the Vedas. Sri Aurobindo Ashram, Pondicherry. 1972.

Arya Samaj


Main article: Arya Samaj

Swami Dayananda's creation, the Arya Samaj, is a unique contribution in Hinduism. The Arya Samaj unequivocally condemns idol worship,animal sacrifice, ancestor worship, pilgrimages, priest craft, offerings made in temples, the caste system, untouchability, child marriages and discrimination against women on the grounds that all these lacked Vedic sanction. The Arya Samaj discourages dogma and symbolism and encourages skepticism in beliefs that run contrary to common sense and logic. To many people, the Arya Samaj aims to be a "universal society" based on the authority of the Vedas.

Death

According to Indian History, in 1883 Dayananda was invited by the Maharaja of Jodhpur, to stay at his palace. The Maharaja was eager to become his disciple and learn his teachings. One day Dayananda went to the Maharaja's rest room and saw him with a dance girl. Maharaja loved this nautch girl. Dayananda boldly asked the Maharaja to forsake the girl & all unethical acts and follow Dharma like a true Aryan. Dayananda's suggestion offended the dance girl and she decided to take revenge. She bribed Dayananda's cook to poison him. At bedtime, the cook brought him a glass of milk containing poison & powdered glass. Dayananda drank the milk and went to sleep only to wake up later with a burning sensation. He immediately realized that he had been poisoned and attempted to purge his digestive system of the poisonous substance, but it was too late. The poison had already entered his blood stream. Dayananda was bedridden and suffered excruciating pain. Many doctors came to treat him but all was in vain. His body was covered all over with large bleeding sores. On seeing Dayananda's suffering the cook was overcome with unbearable guilt and remorse. He confessed his crime to Dayananda. On deathbed, Dayananda forgave him and gave him a bag of money and told him to flee the kingdom lest he be found out and executed by the Maharaja's men.


"A man of spirit has passed away from India. Pandit Dayananda Saraswati is gone, the irrepressible, energetic reformer, whose mighty voice and passionate eloquence foe the last few years raised thousands of people in India from, lethargic, indifference and stupor Into active patriotism is no more." - Col Henry Steel Olcott

"Swami Dayananda Saraswati is certainly one of the most powerful personalities who has shaped modem India and is responsible for its moral regeneration and religious revival". - Subhas Chandra Bose.


Works

Dayananda Saraswati wrote more than 60 works in all, including a 14 volume explanation of the six Vedangas, an incomplete commentary on the Ashtadhyayi [Panini's grammar], several small tracts on ethics and morality, Vedic rituals and sacraments and on criticism of rival doctrines [such as Advaita Vedanta, Islam and Christianity]. Some of his major works are Bhratnivaran, Sanskarvidhi, Ratnamala, Vedabhasya. The Paropakarini Sabha located in the Indian city of Ajmer was founded by the Swami himself to publish and preach his works and Vedic texts.

• Satyarth Prakash [1875] [Light of Truth] - first English translation.[1908]
• Glorious Thoughts of Swami Dayananda. ed. New Book Society of India, 1966.
• An introduction to the commentary on the Vedas. Jan Gyan-Prakashan, 1973