Swami Dayanand Saraswathi and Arya Samaj

Swami Dayanand Saraswathi [1824-1883] and the Arya Samaj

Swami Dayananda Saraswathi was born in 1824. His original name was Mool Sankar. The Arya Samaj was founded in 1875 by Swami Dayanand Saraswathi. The Arya Samaj was a true Hindu Protestant Reformation Movement. The slogan of Dayanand was , “Back to the Vedas”. He believed that selfish and ignorant priests had perverted Hindu religion with the aid of the Puranas. He regarded Vedas as infallible, being the inspired words of God.He wrote the Sathyartha Prakash.

Swami Dayananda Saraswathi opposed idolatry, rituals and priesthood, and the caste system. He attacked the popular Hinduism preached by Brahmins. He favoured the study of western sciences. Dayanand helped the cause of nationalism in an indirect manner. By removing the evil customs from the Hindus, he prepared them for the battle of freedom. He was perhaps the first Indian to preach the gospel of Swadeshi and, ‘India for Indians. He declared that good government was no substitute for self-government.
The Arya Samaj gave India great leaders as Lala Lajpat Raiand Swami Shradhanand. Some of Dayanand’s followers started a network of schoolsand colleges in the country. In 1902, Swami Shradhanand started the Gurukul near Hardwar to propagate the more traditional ideals of education.

The Aryasamajists were vigorous advocates of social reform and worked actively to improve the condition of women, and to spread education among them. They fought untouchability and the rigidities of the caste system. They also inculcated a spirit of self-respect and self-reliance among the people. This promoted nationalism.

At the same time, one of the Arya Samaj’s objectives was to prevent the conversion of Hindus to other religions.This led it to start a crusade against other religions. Swami Dayananda started the Suddhi Movement for re-conversion.Some historians argued that this crusade became a contributory factor in the growth of communalism in India in the 20th century.