DAYANAND SARASWATI - MODERN HISTORY
News: Maharishi
Dayanand removed evils falsely attributed to religion with light of religion
itself: PM
What's in the news?
● PM
Modi hails Arya Samaj founder as ‘saviour who dispelled the notion of any
deficiency in the traditions and scriptures of India’.
● He
also releases a logo for the two-year-long celebrations commemorating the
social reformer’s 200th birth
anniversary.
Dayanand Saraswati:
● Swami
Dayanand Saraswati was a philosopher,
social leader and founder of the Arya Samaj.
● Dayananda
Saraswati’s views were published in his famous work, Satyarth Prakash (The True Exposition).
Views and Ideology:
● His
vision of India included a classless and
casteless society, a united India (religiously, socially and nationally), and
an India free from foreign rule, with Aryan religion being the common religion
of all.
● Dayananda
did take inspiration from the Vedas and considered them to be ‘India’s Rock of
Ages’, the infallible and the true original seed of Hinduism.
● He
gave the slogan “Back to the Vedas”.
However, his slogan of ‘Back to the Vedas’ was a call for a revival of Vedic
learning and Vedic purity of religion and not a revival of Vedic times.
● He
accepted modernity, denounced the
idolatry and ritualistic worship and worked towards reviving Vedic ideologies.
● He
advocated that God, soul and matter (prakriti) were distinct and eternal
entities and every individual had to work out his own salvation in the light of
the eternal principles governing human conduct.
● Dayananda
Saraswati gave the call for “India for
Indians” in 1876.
● He
inspired many young nationalists with his forceful and articulate arguments,
painting India’s past in brighter colours than the British ideologues had.
● He
exploded the myth of western superiority
by referring to the richness of Indian civilization in the past.
Contribution:
● Among
Dayananda’s contributions were his promoting of equal rights for women, such as the right to education and reading
of Indian scriptures.
Go back to basics:
Arya Samaj:
● The
Arya Samaj was founded in 1875 by Swami Dayananda Saraswati (1824-83).
● The
Arya Samaj Movement, revivalist in form though not in content, was the result
of a reaction to Western influences.
● The
first Arya Samaj unit was formally set up by him at Bombay in 1875 and later
the headquarters of the Samaj were established at Lahore.
Ideology:
● Disbelief
in polytheism and image worship.
● Opposition
to caste-based restrictions.
● Prevention
of child marriage.
● Opposition
to the prohibition of sea voyages.
● Advocating
female education and widow remarriage.
● Attack
on Hindu orthodoxy, caste rigidities, untouchability, idolatry, polytheism,
belief in magic, charms and animal sacrifices.
● Vedic
notion of chaturvarna system.
Key takeaways:
● The
Arya Samaj fixed the minimum marriageable age at twenty-five years for boys and
sixteen years for girls.
● The
work of the samaj after Swami Dayanand's death was carried forward by Lala
Hansraj, Pandit Guru Dutt, Lala Lajpat Rai and Swami Sraddhananda.
● Swami Sraddhananda
launched the Shuddhi (purification) movement, conversion of non-Hindus to
Hinduism.
● The
Samaj opened orphanages and widow homes at various religious places and also
helped the people in crises like floods, famines and earthquakes.
● The
Samaj has also attempted to give a new direction to education.
● The
revival of the ‘Gurukula’ pattern,
an ancient system of Hindu education, has been its goal. However, at the higher
level, the value of English education was recognized. Today, the Arya Samaj has
a widespread network of Dayanand
Anglo-Vedic (DAV) schools and colleges throughout India.