Swami Dayanand Saraswati was a social reformer his promoting equal rights for women, such as the right to education and reading of Indian scriptures, and his commentary on the Vedas from Vedic Sanskrit in Sanskrit as well as in Hindi. Arya Samaj temples can be found in Europe. Schools are run by Arya Samaj in many African and Caribbean countries. Arya Samaj is active in many countries around the world. Arya Samaj has more than eight million followers. They run more than 900 schools known as DAV (Dayanand Anglo Vedic) schools across the country. Today Arya Samaj temples and schools are to be found in almost every major city and in rural areas. Arya Samaj conducts Havans based on Vedic principles. The Gayatri Mantra and Pranava (AUM) are considered the holiest mantras and should be chanted regularly. Arya Samaj works on Ten Basic Principles. Mumbai, Gujarat, Punjab and Sindh were the areas where Arya Samaj was particularly active and also had a presence in numerous towns in India. Arya Samaj was now a nation wide organisation with hundreds of thousands of members and followers. Strict discipline was maintained and teaching included the Vedas, Upanishads and other religious texts.īranches of Arya Samaj were soon established across multiple towns and cities in India. Food, clothes and books were provided for the students.
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These schools were residential institutes and completely free of cost for students. Even before Maharishi Dayanand Saraswati founded the Arya Samaj, he had established Gurukul Schools in at least eight locations in India. Members of Arya Samaj believe in One God.
Arya Samaj promotes values of life-based solely on the Vedas. The samaj was founded on the 10th of April, 1875. Maharishi Dayanand Saraswati went on to establish the Arya Samaj.
He felt all these are contrary to the Vedas. Swami Dayanand Saraswati was against idol worship, animal sacrifice, child marriage, and pilgrimages. He took part in various debates with scholars and religious leaders all over the country which resulted in more and more people accepting his teachings. He particularly emphasized education for children. Maharishi Dayanand Saraswati also worked for social equality and more rights for women. He also gave the call for Swarajya – freedom. Priests encouraged needless superstitions by creating a feeling of fear in people’s minds.Īccordingly, Swami Dayanand Saraswati preached his own thoughts and soon had a large following across India. He felt priests and other religious figures had gradually corrupted religious practices for their own benefit. Swami Dayanand Saraswati wanted the nation to return to the Vedic way of life.
He felt the four Vedas were the core of religion and should be the base of all practices. Maharishi Dayanand Saraswati felt Sanatan Dharma had strayed from its roots over the centuries. Soon his thinking and ideas began to fall in place and he decided to spend the rest of his life restoring purity in religious practices. During the early part of his wanderings, Swami Dayanand Saraswati met his Guru – Swami Virajanand Dandeesha. He lived an ascetic life and devoted himself to spirituality. Wanderings in Forests and Himalayan RetreatsĪfter leaving home, Swami Dayanand Saraswati spent 25 years wandering from place to place.
He ran away from home in 1845 to seek spirituality and find answers to his questions. Mool Shankar was engaged when he was about 20 years old, but he felt marriage was not for him. Mool Shankar was brought up in a strict religious environment but he had his own ideas and often questioned traditional practices. His parents were devout followers of Lord Shiva. Swami Dayanand Saraswati was born in 1824 in Tankara, near Morbi in Gujarat. 5 Celebration of Maharishi Dayanand Saraswati Jayanti Birth and Early Life