Arya Samaj is a reform movement founded by Swami Dayanand Saraswati on 10th of April 1875. As every year, the whole world is celebrating this event with great pomp.
To better appreciate the celebration, we need to understand the social conditions of India at the time the movement started. India had been governed by foreigners for over ten centuries. In the nineteenth century, India was facing a lot of social evils namely image/idol worship, animal sacrifice, rituals on behalf of ancestors untouchability, child marriage, priestly craft, temple offerings etc.
Swami Dayanand was born when the rich Indian culture and the Vedic religion were in trouble because of some selfish people, who in the name of religion, were working for their own interest. The Arya Samaj movement sought to revive the Vedic teachings and address the pressing issues.
Instead of the Vedic Dharma, people were giving more importance to black magic, superstition and meaningless rituals that had no relevance to the Vedas. Western language and culture were influencing the Indian society. People were adopting the English language at the expense of their ancestral Hindi language.
During the British rule, men were the slaves of the Englishmen and women were in turn, their slaves. Women had very few rights. Swami Dayanand was the pioneer of women’s rights and equality.
Promotion of education and the revival of the Vedic values were the top priorities of the Arya Samaj movement. Schools and colleges, namely the DAV institutions, irrespective of caste or class, were opened throughout the country for boys and girls. Swami Dayanand stressed on the parental duty to educate children. He proposed that from the age of five, children should learn Sanskrit, Hindi and foreign languages.
Swami Ji opposed child marriage and declared that girls be married not below sixteen and boys not below twenty-five. He led a crusade against child marriage and promoted widow marriage.
Swami Ji gave everyone the right to perform the yaj (the sacrificial fire). The learned priests had imposed a monopoly over the performance of the yaj. They introduced certain non-Vedic practices to suit their personal needs and interests. Swami Ji democratized and simplified the performance of yaj by making it an integral part of our life. Some priests rendered the Yaj so complicated and expensive that a normal person could not afford to perform it. Their only objective was to extort money on various pretexts of rewards. Hence, Swami Dayanand simplified the yaj and made it less costly.
A few words about the uniqueness of the founder of the Arya Samaj, Swami Dayanand. People with new ideas stand apart from the crowd. Swami Ji is unparalleled to others in his preaching and practices.
While all the social reformers and religious gurus have adopted a place as their center to perform their activities and very often their names are associated with that place, Swami Dayanand was different. Unlike others, after leaving his birthplace Tankara, his guru’s ashram in Mathura, Mumbai where Arya Samaj was founded, Jodhpur and Ajmer where he sacrificed his life, he never returned to those places nor showed any affection towards them. He was always on the move.
Swami Ji knew many rich and influential people who could have generously donated land and money to build an Ashram, however, he never thought of setting up a ‘math’ or Ashram nor to have disciples. He founded the Arya Samaj for social activities. The responsibility of propagating the principles of Arya Samaj and those of the Vedic religion were the main aims of the Arya Samaj.
It is a fact that anybody wishing to start a new sect, faith or belief promulgates his own ideology, but Swami Dayanand never subscribed to such method. He propagated the ideology of Sanatan Vedic Dharma.
Some religious gurus boast of thousands of followers to sustain themselves. It’s only because these followers are silent spectators and have no right to question the guru or to use their logic. Swami Dayanand never believed in such a show. He believed and allowed questions and answers with the public after each discourse.
Swami Ji adopted a democratic approach in religion. While disciples of other sects tend to follow blindly their gurus and the guru appoints his successor, Swami Ji did not follow such a tradition. He was in favour of a democratic selection.
One more uniqueness of Swami Ji was that he advocated the study of the Vedas to all; irrespective of caste or creed. He destroyed the strong fortress of those who had established their monopoly over the Vedas.
Several Vedic textbooks were distorted for selfish motives. Swami Ji restored them to their original form.
No one can deny the contribution and achievements of Arya Samaj. It is mostly because of the strong leadership of Swami Dayanand and the legacy he left.
If I must make an analysis of the present situation of the Samaj, it reminds me of the old story of the rabbit and the tortoise. The rabbit overconfident of winning the race rested for some time while the tortoise, slow and steady, won the race. Leaders of the Arya Samaj think that all the social problems have been solved and now it is time to organize functions and invite politicians to use the religious platform for personal propaganda. The Hindu community is facing many problems which demand urgent attention. It is time to sit and list all the problems and tackle them one by one. Long lectures are pleasant to the ears however, they won’t solve the problems.
On this auspicious occasion, I wish plenty of success to the Arya Samaj movements all over the world and pay tribute to Swami Dayanand and others who have contributed immensely to improve the fate of the Hindu= community at large. Long live the Arya Samaj!
V.K.Beeharry
Member Arya Veer
