The
Founder of the Arya Samaj:
Maharishi Dayanand Saraswati
The personality of the
founder of the Arya Samaj, Swami Dayanand, was as strong and remarkable as
was the powerful institution that he formed. Dayanand was born
in
1824 in the village of Tankara that is
in Gujarat near Bombay in India . His childhood name was Mool Shankar. Moot
Shankar’s father’s name was Karsanji Tiwari. Karsanji was a tax collector
and was a rich person.
Mool Shankar was intelligent and had a very good memory. In his childhood he
began to study the Vedas, Sanskrit and other scriptures. He had a curious
mind and always wanted to get to the root of things. As a debater Mool
Shankar was unequalled in other words no one could defeat him in debates.
At the early age of fourteen years, Mool Shankar observed the promise of
Shivratri with a burning desire to get a sight of God. He kept awake the
whole night before Shiva’s idol, but instead of seeing God, the boy saw mice
eating the offerings. Mool Shankar’s mind was filled with doubts. He asked
to himself: Is this the God who rules the world? If it is not, where is He?
The boy was filled with a great desire to find God’s true form. That night
was the night of enlightenment for him, also known as Bodh Diwas.
Some time later when young Mool Shankar saw his sister and respectable uncle
die he began to look upon death as a challenge. To find the secret of life
and death he ran away from home. To search for truth, to satisfy his thirst
for knowledge he left wealth and comfort and accepted the life of poverty.
Mool Shankar now became Dayanand.
To satisfy his purpose, Dayanand, wandered all over India for fifteen years.
In search of God he visited temples and sacred places of religious devotion.
He visited Yogis living in the forests. From the peaks of Himalayas he went
to the caves of Vindhyachal. Dayanand met all the great teachers of the time
but was unable to find any master learned in the scriptures who would
satisfy his desire.
In his fifteen years of wandering, Dayanand had the opportunity of observing
India and putting her to test. It gave him the eyes with which to find the
disease of this semi-conscious country and, later, to find the cure for it.
After wandering for fifteen years, Dayanand came to Mathura. He met an old
sannyasi (monk) whose physical eyes could no longer see but his inner,
spiritual eyes were wide open. This blind, but enlightened sannyasi, Swami
Virjanand, became Dayanand’s teacher. Under his guidance, Dayanand made a
complete study of the scriptures for two and a half years. Swami Virjanand
gave Dayanand that divine light with which he could realize the deeper
meaning of the Vedas. He was introduced to the Vedic traditions without
which the meaning might not have been realized. The master satisfied
Dayanand’s thirst for knowledge. Thus he gave him the light that showed him
the path of truth.
By way of reward, Swami Virjanand made the following request from his wise
and outstanding disciple: “Dayanand my son, go, spread the true knowledge
of the Vedas. Tell the people what is right and what is wrong. Throw light
on the true meaning of truth and free India.”
Mool Shankar who had left home in search of truth became Rishi Dayanand.
Rishi Dayanand’s ambition was clear. There was no doubt in it; no selfish
motive and, therefore, no fear. Dayanand was ready to spread the truth which
he had learnt and for this, he decided to offer his whole life.
After leaving Virjanand’s Ashram, Dayanand toured the whole of India and
continuously attempted to awaken the race and the nation. He once again
established the true form of the Vedic Religion; organized a mighty movement
for social reform and gave the people the first hint for political
independence. Dayanand tried to destroy the evil things that had spread all
over India.
Swami Dayanand laid the
foundation of all the important movements that took place during the past
one hundred years. Dayanand was a product of the Indian school of learning
and his own Indian culture. He was the only reformer in his period whose
whole education and upbringing was unpolluted by the foreign language or
western culture. It is for this reason that whatever he preached in India
had an effect on the country.
Dayanand used three methods in his
reform work:
(1) Speech: Whether in town or
village Dayanand always appeared in public to deliver his message. He was a
great public speaker. His speeches were simple and full of knowledge. They
were full of arguments and entertainment and, for this reason, attracted
attention. His talks were also very interesting and effective.
(2) Discourse (Debate):
There was another important method which Dayanand used. He held discussions
with the pundits and learned people and, in this way, tried to find the true
meaning of the scriptures. Debate was an ancient way of resolving right from
wrong in India. Swami Dayanand’s deep knowledge of the scriptures, his great
ability to debate and appropriate replies to questions, left his opponents
speechless. Swami Dayanand’s debates were held not only with Hindu pundits
but Christian priests and Moslem molvis also. Thousands of people used to
gather to listen to him.
(3) Writings: Swamiji’s
writings were also very powerful weapon. He used it to turn Hindu thoughts
to its original source. Swamiji wrote books on Vedic philosophy which were
highly educational. To bring about social reforms, to dispel blind faith and
to free the people from bonds of stupidity he published many pamphlets and
books. Thousands of copies of these publications were distributed free.
Among his best
known works the following four stand out:
(1) Satyarth
Prakash (Light of Truth):
In this book he explains the important
aspects of religion in the light of Vedic texts and dispels false
authorities and baseless beliefs.
(2) Rigvedadi Bhashya Bhumika
(Introduction to the Commentary on the Vedas):
In this book he explains the
proper means to understand Vedic texts and
rejects misinterpretations of some
Indian and western writers like Raman and
Max Muller.
(3) Rigveda Bhashya and Yajurveda
Bhashya (Commentary on the Rigveda and
Yajurveda):
In these books Swamiji has given commentaries in the traditional style of
the
ancient Rishis.
(4) Sanskar Vidhi (Book of
Sacraments):
In this book Swami Dayanand has
revised the sixteen sanskars (sacraments)
and the Yajna and has explained
the different rituals and means of worship
according to the ancient Vedic
traditions.
For many years Swami
Dayanand preached the Vedic religion. To create a permanent institution that
would carry out his works and also organize his followers, Swamiji formed
the Arya Samaj at Bombay in 1875.
Swami Dayanand was a
great preacher of truth and few speakers were as courageous and outspoken as
he was. In his personal life Swamiji was broadminded, forgiving, humble and
pleasant natured. There were Hindus, Moslems, Christians and people of other
groups among his friends. He had the ability to reach the poor villager as
well as the English governor of India.
In spite of this Swamiji
was disliked by many, among them the believers in blind and unreasonable
beliefs and the selfish. They were always ready to show their hatred. They
swore at him, stoned him, assaulted him with sword and even tried to poison
him.
It was through the
efforts of such evil people that in 1883 at Jodhpur, Swamiji was given
deadly poison. On the Diwali Day in the evening of 30 October 1883, the
foremost reformer of modern times and great protector of India gave up his
life for the sake of the Hindu religion.
Adapted
from ‘Dharmic Shiksha (Vedic Religious Knowledge) – Form Three’, Arya
Pratinidhi Sabha of Fiji, 1997.
Copyright: Arya Pratinidhi Sabha of Fiji
Also view: Pictorial Illustrations of Swami Dayanand's
Life (PDF)
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