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Swami Dayananda Saraswati (स्वामी दयानन्द सरस्वती) (1824 - 1883) is an important Hindu religious scholar born in Gujarat, India. As a child, Dayanand sat with his father in a temple for overnight worship. One night, he saw mice eating the offerings kept for the God. He was utterly surprised and wondered how a God, who cannot even defend his own "prasad", would defend the humanity. He argued with his father that he should not be worshipping such a helpless God. He started pondering over the meaning of life and death and started asking questions, which worried his parents. His parents decided to marry him, but he decided marriage was not for him and ran away from home. He was disillusioned with classical Hinduism and became a wandering monk. He learned Panini's Grammar to understand the Vedas. He reached Swami Vrijananda's ashram at Mathura, who told him to throw away all his books in the river. He stayed in the ashram for two and a half years. After finishing his education, he spread the concept of Vedic Hinduism. 1824 was a leap year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ...
1883 (MDCCCLXXXIII) was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ...
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The Vedas are part of the Hindu Shruti; these religious scriptures form part of the core of the Brahminical and Vedic traditions within Hinduism and are the inspirational, metaphysical and mythological foundation for later Vedanta, Yoga, Tantra and even Bhakti forms of Hinduism. ...
Mathura (मथà¥à¤°à¤¾) is a city in India, located approximately 50 km north of Agra, and south of Delhi. ...
The Arya Samaj, society of virtuous men, a great Hindu reform movement, was founded by him in 1875. He was a sanyasin (one who has renounced the world) and an original scholar, who believed in the infallible authority of the Vedas. Dayananda advocated the doctrine of karma and rebirth, and emphasised the ideals of brahmacharya (celibacy) and sanyasa (renunciation). Arya Samaj (Aryan Society or Society of Nobles) is a Hindu reform movement in India that was founded by Swami Dayananda in 1875. ...
This article or section is missing references or citation of sources. ...
1875 was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ...
The Vedas are part of the Hindu Shruti; these religious scriptures form part of the core of the Brahminical and Vedic traditions within Hinduism and are the inspirational, metaphysical and mythological foundation for later Vedanta, Yoga, Tantra and even Bhakti forms of Hinduism. ...
Karma is a concept in Hinduism, based on the Vedas and Upanishads, which explains causality through a system where beneficial events are derived from past beneficial actions and harmful events from past harmful actions, creating a system of actions and reactions throughout a persons reincarnated lives. ...
Far from borrowing concepts from other religions, as Raja Ram Mohan Roy had done, Swami Dayananda was fiercely critical of Islam and Christianity as may be seen in his book Satyartha Prakasha. He was against what he considered to be the corruption of the pure faith in his own country. Unlike many other reform movements within Hinduism, the Arya Samaj's appeal was addressed not only to the educated few, but to the Indian nation as a whole. An oil-painting of Raja Ram Mohan Roy by Atul Bose Ram Mohan Roy, also written as Rammohun Roy, or Raja Ram Mohun Roy (Bangla: রাজা রামমোহন রায়, Raja Ram Mohon Ray), (May 22, 1772 – September 27, 1833) was the founder of the Brahmo Samaj, one of the first Indian socio-religious reform...
Islam (Arabic: ; ) is a monotheistic religion based on the Quran. ...
Christianity is a monotheistic[1] religion centered on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recounted in the New Testament. ...
The Arya Samaj unequivocally condemned idolatry, animal sacrifices, ancestor worship, pilgrimages, priestcraft, offerings made in temples, the caste system, untouchability and child marriages, on the grounds that all these lacked Vedic sanction. It aimed to be a universal "church" based on the authority of the Vedas.
Dayananda’s concept of Dharma is succinctly set forth in his Beliefs and Disbeliefs. He said, "I accept as Dharma whatever is in full conformity with impartial justice, truthfulness and the like; that which is not opposed to the teachings of God as embodied in the Vedas. Whatever is not free from partiality and is unjust, partaking of untruth and the like, and opposed to the teachings of God as embodied in the Vedas - that I hold as adharma." Again he says "He, who after careful thinking, is ever ready to accept truth and reject falsehood; who counts the happiness of others as he does that of his own self, him I call just." Dharma (Sanskrit धरà¥à¤®) or Dhamma (PÄli) means Natural Law or Reality, and with respect to its significance for spirituality and religion might be considered the Way of the Higher Truths. ...
He was the first among the great Indian stalwarts who popularised the concept of Swaraj - that is, right to self-determination vested in Indians, when India was ruled by the British.
His influence reduced the unnecessary rituals that had creeped into Hinduism, and this brought him in conflict with the classical Brahmans. There were many contests of knowledge, "shastrarth", between him and other priests, and he won all such contests. His legacy is still visible in the Indian countryside where people just believe in Vedic yagya and not going to the Hindu temples.
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Swami Dayanand wrote many books including "Rigvedbhashyabhumika". |
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