Swami Dayanand Saraswati
- The Arya Samaj was founded by Swami Dayanand Saraswati (1824 – 1883) at Bombay on April 7th, 1875. Its aim is to ameliorate the condition of man all over the world, spiritually, physically, and socially, by reviving the ancient Vedic culture of ancient India and applying old and well tried remedies to the modern ills of human society.
- Swami Dayanand’s finding was that while the world has progressed much in material matters, people have lost sight of those fundamental laws, which the peace and prosperity of mankind is based on. Therefore he framed the ten principles of the Arya Samaj.
- Swami Dayanand was born in 1824 in Gujrat, India.
- He was the greatest reformer, socially, religiously, and politically, in India. He was a yogi of high quality and a very learned man. He had studied the Vedas thoroughly and believed that only the Vedas are the books of all true knowledge given by God. All of his teachings were based on the Vedas.
- Swami Dayanand lived in a time when women were not treated well at all. He was a radical in his advocacy of women’s education and widow marriage, as he quoted from Manusmriti: “The household that respects its women is blessed with happiness; and where women are not treated well, none will be happy.”
- Swami Dayanand also opposed the caste system. He believed that all men were born equal and that no Vedic scripture allows the disparities among men on the basis of their birth.
- Swami Dayanand wrote about 26 books in his lifetime, but the most important is Satyarth Prakash – The Light of Truth. Satyarth Prakash explains and clarifies Vedic principles on all values of life. It also contains chapters on all of the world’s religions – Buddhism, Christianity, Islam, and Hinduism – and showing their similarities and differences with the Vedic Dharam in areas of logic, natural science, and universal laws. Swami Dayanand also wrote an Introduction to the Translation of Vedas and a direct translation of the Vedas.
- Swami Dayanand died in 1883 on the day of Diwali. He was poisoned for his radical and morally conscious beliefs several times in his life, but this time it proved fatal.
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