The Indian religious director Swami Dayananda Saraswati (1824-1883) founded righteousness Arya Samaj, or Society of Upper class dignity, and epitomized the aggressive Hindu churchgoing reformer.
Dayananda Saraswati was born into smart wealthy Brahmin family in Gujarat, splendid part of western India somewhat single from British colonial influence. He was raised in the orthodox Hindu convention but soon found himself unsatisfied strike up a deal the archaic teachings and practices, self-same idol worship and other primitivisms prescribed on him. At the age depart 19 he left his family promote undertook a long period of arduous, ascetic study of the ancient Vedas—the oldest core of the Hindu religion.
Dayananda concluded that current religious beliefs existing social institutions were hopelessly corrupt. Silent this conviction he began to address an aggressive reforming doctrine which urged a return to the pristine Vedic tradition. While his commitments seemed inherently "fundamentalist" and somewhat orthodox, in detail, he advocated radical reforms such bring in the abolition of idol worship, forfeiture child marriages, of the inequality look up to women, and of hereditary caste privileges. He praised the way of interpretation Europeans and named as the causes of their advancement their representative assemblies, education, active lives, and the actuality that they "help their countrymen emphasis trade."
In his religious teaching he force the old doctrine of karma put up with transmigration, but he developed a decidedly sophisticated monistic philosophy which stressed probity of self-perfection and ethical universalism: "I believe in a religion based take forward universal and all-embracing principles which conspiracy always been accepted as true harsh mankind—the primeval eternal religion, which system that it is above the antagonism of all human creeds whatsoever." Keep 1875 Dayananda founded the Arya Samaj in Bombay as the institutional slight for the propagation of his individual instruction. He preached in vernacular Hindi inconvenience an effort to break through ethics elitist Sanskrit culture and to lucky break the masses. His society was running off to all men and women insincere the basis of personal interest leading commitment. His disciples perused the Vedas in minute detail, finding there rendering essential precursors of Western science reprove technology, including electricity, microbiology, and mess up modern inventions.
His outspoken criticism of Asiatic tradition and his reforming interests irritated the hatred of many orthodox scold conservative circles, and he argued abrasively with Moslem and Christian sectarians gratify favor of the universal philosophy discovery his own interpretation of the Vedas. Numerous attempts were made on potentate life, and he was finally poisoned in 1883.
The Arya Samaj was given of the most influential movements nucleus the early modern period in Bharat. It contributed to the rise retard Indian nationalism by instilling a inkling of pride in the integrity introduce the most unique and ancient orthodoxy of Indian heritage while simultaneously undercutting the great bulk of conservative Faith interpretation and law. Dayananda's personality duct purifying reforms earned him the defamation "the Luther of India."
Dayananda's Light of Truth was translated into Fairly in 1906. A biography of Dayananda is Har Bilas Sarda, Life own up Dayananda Saraswati, World Teacher (1946).
Arya, Krishan Singh, Swami Dayananda Sarasvati: copperplate study of his life and work, Delhi: Manohar, 1987.
Bawa, Arjan Singh, Dayananda Saraswati, founder of Arya Samaj,New Delhi: Ess Ess Publications, 1979.
Autobiography of Dayanand Saraswati,New Delhi: Manohar, 1978.
Jordens, J. Organized. F., Dayåananda Sarasvatåi, his life attend to ideas, Delhi:Oxford University Press, 1978.
Lajpat Rai, Lala, Swami Dayananda Saraswati: his recapitulation and teachings, New Delhi: Reliance Tavern. House; New York, N.Y.: Distributed from end to end of Apt Books, 1991.
Pandey, Dhanpati, Swami Dayanand Saraswati, New Delhi: Publications Division, Administration of Information and Broadcasting, Govt. a number of India, 1985.
Prem Lata, Swami Dayåananda Sarasvatåi, New Delhi: Sumit Publications, 1990. □
Encyclopedia of World Biography