Essays

The socio-religious movements started by Brahmo Samaj and till: Prartliana Samaj were inspired by western civilization and nationalism. The awakening of India during 19th century had two facets. It looked for inspiration not merely to the west, but also to the India's glorious past. Swami Dayanand was a great revivalist. He set his reforms against the prevalent orthodoxy of the Hindus, like caste system, practice of child marriage. It was Swami Dayaiiaiid Saraswali, who adored the glorious past of India and given the slogan "Back to tlie Vedas".

Swami Dayanand, born on 12th February 1824 in Tankara (Gujrat), was the founder of the Hindu reform organization Arya Samaj, which he established on April 7th 1875, in Bombay.

When he was fourteen years he visited the temple of Shiva along with his father. In the night he saw that a mouse crept on the image and took the offerings placed before it. It set Dayananda thinking. His parents and relatives could not convince him of the sanctity of image-worship. The second important event in his life was the death of his uncle who loved him very much. Tins made Dayananda seek the knowledge to overcome death. Slated regarding the earthly attractions as transient. Therefore, when a marriage was arranged for him, he left home and adopted the life of an ascetic.

Throughout his life Swami Dayanand preached against many Hindu traditions which he felt were dogmatic and oppressive. These included traditions such as idol worship, caste by birth and the exclusion of females from the study of the Vedas. One of his main messages was for Hindus to go back to the roots of their religion which are the Vedas. By doing this he felt that Hindus would be able to improve the depressive religious, social, political and economic conditions prevailing in Indian his times.

From 1845 he kept wandering all over India. He received spiritual education from Swami Birajananda. Then onwards he started preaching against the falsehood of the prevailing Puranic faith. He was asked to defend this new doctrine at a public meeting in Kashi. Although the issue was not settled, Dayananda continued to preach his new doctrine. After some time he visited Calcutta and made some overtures to Brahmo Samaj. Because of certain differences he stood apart from the latter movement-insistence upon the veneration of cow. Offering of daily sacrifice of butter to the hearth fire. Condemnation of monotheism as preached by Islam. On the other hand. The Brahmo Samaj was the rational is tic movement of the west and aimed to from elite. Moreover, the Brahmo SamaJ did not accept the infallibility of the Vedas or the transmigration of soul. as it was pledged to the negation of both. Although Dayananda could not be won over by the Brahmo Samaj, there was one good result out of this contact. It was Keshab Chandra Sen who insisted on the importance of carrying the propaganda in the language the people understand. This made Dayananda preach his doctrine in Hindi from then onwards.

 One of Swami Dayanand's major arguments for going back to the Vedas was that. In his own words "the four Vedas, the repositories of knowledge and religious truth, are the Word of God. They are absolutely free of error and the Supreme and independent authority. "The four Vedas are: Rig Veda, Yajur Veda, Sama Veda, & Atharva Veda. To spread awareness of his movement and to revitalize Vedic knowledge. Swami Dayanand published many religious books. These include Satyartha Prakash (The light of Truth ), the Rig-Vedaadi, Bhasyya- Bhoomika, and Sanskar Vidhi.

Swami Dayanand preached many messages to Hindus during his lifetime. For instance, he preached that Hindus should worship just one, formless. God. He fought against polytheism by telling people the true meaning of the names of God and established how all of them pointed at one and the same God—1'aramathama, the Supreme Self. Further, Swami was " a voice against superstition, against unrighteousness which reigned supreme in the garb of true religion and against a foreign rule".

The first Arya Samaj meeting was held in Bombay in 1875. And during the remaining eight years of his life Dayananda spent his time preaching his new gospel and in writing books containing his new doctrine and organizing the Arya Samaj associations throughout India. The constitution that was drawn up for the Arya Samaj in 1875 laid down three principles: the Vedas alone are absolutely authoritative: every member should contribute one hundredth part of his money towards the fund of the Samaj, the Arya Vidyalaya and the paper Arya Prakash and the Vedas and the ancient Arya Grant has should be studied and taught in the Arya Vidyalaya.

Ten years later these three principals were replaced by ten principles. The first of these principles was that as the Vedas were books of true knowledge they should e studied. The other nine principles related to morals and virtues that one should practice. These nine principles are not much different from those of any other religion.

 Apart from this doctrinal part, the Arya Samaj founded by Dayananda was important because it believed in the reform of Hindu society although it should be carried out through Vedic rituals and in its institutions. In social field he rejected caste system and did not recognize the superiority and authority of the Brahmins. He claimed that everyone had the right to study the Vedas. He condemned the worship of gods and goddesses and preached that only the Supreme being should be worshipped. Inter-caste marriages were encouraged and child marriages were decried. More important was the stress that was laid on suddhi, a method for reconverting those Hindus who had gone over cither to Islamor Christianity. A few more subsidiary features in the social field were envisaged by the Arya Samaj. The Dayananda Anglo Vedic School at Lahore after developing into a college became the pattern of the many educational institutions started by it, and vigorously advocated famine-relief and the spread of education. Then, under the leadership of the Principal of the D.A.V. College at Lahore, Lala Hans Raj, the college became the foremost agency for planting a sturdy and independent nationalism in Punjab.

As the movement grew. a split occurred in the Samaj in 1892 over the question of eating meat and the purpose of the educational institutions- The unorthodox party contended that although Uayananda did not favour eating meat, the ten principles were silent about it. Those who believed in the ten principles could pursue their own personal lives as they desired. On the other hand, the orthodox party contended that the whole teaching of Dayananda should constitute the creed of Arya Samaj but not just the ten principles. Although the unorthodox party's view was more liberal, the triumph of their viewpoint would have meant the death of the movement, as the movement could not have had any distinct feature of its own. Gradually the orthodox party triumphed emphasizing on those distinct features which distinguished the movement from the Brahmo Samaj, Ramakrishna Mission, the Prarthna Samaj and such other religious movements.

The movement not only gave an opportunity to reorganize Hinduism but also  gave a momentum to the nationalist movement. Lala Hans Raj and Lala Lajpat Raj were in the forefront in the national struggle in Punjab- As the movement always had the overtones of aggressiveness towards other sects, it encouraged terrorism and the growing antagonism of the Muslim League. Swami Dayanand was indeed a heroic soul, his teachings fostered pride in the country and its past gave the people a national outlook. As a Vedic sect, with a great urge for social reforms, the Arya Samaj founded by Swami Dayanand is one of the living force of Modem India.

Throughout his known adult life, Swami's main message was " Back to the Vedas". By this, Swami Dayanand meant that Hindus should stop practicing beliefs such as idol worship, caste, polytheism, pantheism, untouchability. Child marriages, forced widowhood and many other practices which he felt were wrong. He challenged many of the Hindu orthodoxy if they could justify their belief in the aforementioned practices. This induced anger and wrath of many orthodox Hindus, which subsequently led to 14 attempts of poisoning Dayanand. Miraculously he was able to use his Yogic abilities to cure himself from the first 13 attempts. However, the 14th time proved fatal. Swami Dayanand died and left the world with his legacy, Arya Samaj.

Vocabulary

1. glorious—having or worthy of pride. 2. adored—regarded with deep or rapturous love. 3. transient—enduring a very short time. 4. depressive—causing or suggestive of sorrow or gloom. 5. overtures—a tentative suggestion designed to elicit the reactions of others. 6. preached—speak, plead, or argue in favour of,7. dogmatic—characterized by arrogant assertion of unproved or unprovable principles. 8. hearth—a part of the fireplace taken as a symbol (synecdoche) for home. 9. monotheism—belief in a single God. 10. doctrine—a belief (or system of beliefs) accepted as authoritative by some group or school. 11. polytheism—belief in multiple Gods. 12. rilual.v—any customary observance or practice. 13. orthodox—adhering to what is commonly accepted. 14. antagonism—an actively expressed feeling of dislike and hostility. 15. pantheism— belief in multiple Gods 16. fatal—bringing death.