ARYA SAMAJ

The Arya Samaj Movement was an outcome of reaction to Western influences. It was revivalist in form though not in content. The founder, Swami Dayanand, rejected western ideas and sought to revive the ancient religion of the Aryans.

Mulshankar popularly known as Dayanand was born in a Brahmin family living in the old Morvi state in Gujarat. His father a great Vedic scholar, also the role of the teacher, helped young Mulshankar acquire good insight into Vedic literature, logic, philosophy, ethics, etc.

Dayanand’s quest for the truth goaded him to Yogabhyas (contemplation or communion) and to learn yoga it was necessary to leave home.

For 15 years Dayanand wandered as an ascetic in the whole of India studying yoga. In 1975, he formally organized the first Arya Samaj unit at Bombay a few years later the headquarters of the Arya Samaj was established at Lahore. For the rest of his life, Dayanand extensively toured India for the propagation of his ideas. Dayanand’s idea was to unite India religiously, socially and nationally, Aryan religion to be the common religion of all, a classless and casteless society and an India free from foreign rule. He looked upon the Vedas as India’s ‘Rock of Ages’, the true original seed of Hinduism. His motto was, ‘Go back to the Vedas’. He gave his own interpretation of the Vedas. He disregarded the authority of the later Hindu scriptures like the Puranas and described them as the work of lesser men and responsible for the evil practices of idol worship, and other superstitious beliefs in Hindu religion. Dayanand condemned idol worship and preached unity of God. His views were published in his famous work ‘Satyaprakash’ (The True Exposition).

Dayanand launched a fatal attack on the numerous abuses like idolatry, polytheism, belief in magic, charms, etc., that had crept into Hindu religion in the 19^th century. He rejected the popular Hindu philosophy which held that the soul is merely a part of God, temporarily separated from God, its embodiment in the illusory mask of the body and that man’s object, therefore, was to escape world evil and to seek union with God. Against this belief Dayanand held that God, soul and matter (prakriti) were distinct and eternal entities, and everyone had to work out his own salvation in the light of the eternal principles governing human conduct. He explained that the world is a battlefield where every individual has to work out his salvation by right deeds. Dayanand challenged the dominant position of the Brahmin priestly class in the spiritual and social life of the Hindus. He ridiculed the claim man and God. The Swami asserted every Hindu’s right to read and understand the Vedas. He strongly condemned the caste system based on birth, though he subscribed to the Vedic nation of the four Varna system, in which a person was not born in any Varna (caste), but was identified as a Brahmin, Vaishya, Kshatriya or Shudra according to the occupation he followed. The Swami was also a strong advocate of equal status between man and women. He pleaded for widow remarriage and condemned child marriage. Sarcastically he described the Hindu race as ‘the children of children’. It should be clearly understood that Dayanand’s slogan of ‘Back to the Vedas’ was a call to a revival of Vedic learning and Vedic purity of religion and not revival of Vedic times. He accepted modernity and displayed patriotic attitude to national problems. Dayanand approved of 10 principles which have remained unaltered to this day. The principles are:

-          God is the primary source of all true knowledge

-          God is all truth, all knowledge, Almighty, Immortal, Creator of the Universe, Alone is worthy of worship

-          The Vedas are the books of true knowledge.

-          An arya should always be ready to accept truth and abandon untruth.

-          All actions must conform to dharma, after due consideration of right and wrong

-          The principle aim of this Samaj is to promote the works, material, spiritual and social wellbeing.

-          All persons should be treated with love and justice

-          Ignorance should eb dispelled and knowledge increased

-          Everybody should consider his own progress to depend upon the upliftment of others

-          Social well being of mankind should be placed above the individuals wellbeing.

Perhaps the most phenomenal achievement of the Arya Samaj has been in the field of social reform and spread of education. The Samaj based its social program entirely on the authority of the Vedas, conditioned by rationalism and utilitarianism. The Arya Samaj’s social ideals comprise, among others, the Fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man, the equality of sexes, absolute justice and fair play between man and man and nation and nation and love and charity towards all. Arya Samaj lays great emphasis on education and encourages all Samajists to dispel ignorance. The D. A. V. Institutions spread all over the length and breadth of the country are standing proof of the educational achievements of the Samaj. The nucleus for this movement was provided by the Anglo-Vedic School established in Lahore. The education imparted in these institutions combines the best of the modern and classical Indian studies. The orthodox opinion in the Arya Samaj which stands for the revival of Vedic ideal in modern life set up to the Gurukul Paths at Haridwar. The Arya Samaj Movement gave self-confidence and self-reliance to the Hindus and undermined the belief int eh superiority of the White race and western culture. As a disciplined Hindu organization, it had succeeded in protecting Hindu society from the onslaught of Islam and Christianity. Later, the Samaj started the Shhudhi Movement to convert Hindus to Hinduism. Further, it infused a spirit of intense patriotism. The Samaj always remained in the forefront of political movement and produced leaders of the eminence of Lala Hans Raj, Pandit Furu Dutt and Lala Lajpat Rai. Dayanand’s political slogan was India for the Indians. While the Bramho Samaj and the Theosophical Society appealed to English educated elite only, Dayanand’s message was for the common masses also. The Arya Samaj had taken deep roots in Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Rajasthan.