Remembering Maharishi Dayanand Saraswati

Bharat Bhushan Arya

Maharishi Dayanand Saraswati , a patriot saint of 19th century ( 1824AD to 1883AD), was among one of those great personalities ,who by his great deeds ,had changed the destiny of India.
Back to the Vedas :
” Back to the Vedas “was the slogan given by Maharishi Dayanand Saraswati . In fact since Mahabharata and thereafter ,for various political ,economical and religious reasons and under threats from Mughals and English regimes there was continuous degradation in the values of life . Vedic culture , the root of Indian prestigious social standings was gradually eroding .People were forced to read. write ,think and adopt the way of life taught by the invaders. Vedas , the holy books were taken away by the scholars of different other countries or even destroyed.The greatest achievement of Maharishi’s life, is his tireless efforts to reestablish the real concept of Vedas / Vedic culture, which the people of India have almost forgotten . Maharishi was of the firm opinion ,accepted and preached that since Vedas are the sermons given directly by God( Ishwar ) teaching the way of life ( Vedas do not contain any history) , hence require no authentication from any one else . Even UNESCO has now accepted that ‘Rigveda’ is the oldest religious book of the world.
Architect of Indian freedom movement:
When India was under British rule and nobody was allowed to speak against the British Empire ,Maharishi Dayanand Sarswati stood firmly against it .Four years period from 1856 AD to 1859AD of Maharishi’ life is considered to be a period when he was secretly busy in contacting and encouraging the people to be ready to fight against the tyrant English Govt. It is presumed that freedom fight of 1857 was the result of Maharishi’s above secret mission . Maharishi in his book named ‘Satyarth Prakash ‘ (The Light of Truth -published in the year 1875) ,has very clearly mentioned that ” Swarajya ” i.e.Our own Govt. will always be a good Govt. compared to the even best Foreign Govt.”. Maharishi was a motivating force behind hundreds and thousands of freedom fighters who sacrificed ‘their lives in the freedom struggle of India .
A great scholar:
Maharishi Dayanand Saraswati was a great scholar who throughout his life continued studying and writing on different subjects , political, economical, social and above all on values of human life . Maharishi gave us a treasure of knowledge through his preachings and writings. Maharishi wrote about 66 books but only 34 could be published during his life time , rest were published after his death . Some of his great works are, Sandhya, Rigvedadibhashya Bhumica, Panch Mahayagya , Sanskarvidhi, Satyarth Prakash etc. Since its first publication in the year 1875, lakhs of copies of Satyarth Prakash have been published and distributed.
A great social reformer:
Maharishi Dayanand Sarswati was a staunch supporter of women empowerment , widow remarriage , swadeshiya , one God , one religion ,one country, one language and one flag ,but was against the casteism,child marriage , superstitions ,use of drugs, corruption . Regards casteism , Maharishi has very clearly mentioned that caste is decided not by birth but by the Karma ( deeds) of a person. All human beings are Shudra by birth . If a person acquires a good higher knowledge and is doing good work of educating the people -he is a Brahmin, if a person becomes strong enough to fight against enemies of the country-he is a Kshatriya, if a person becomes a trader or a farmer who feeds the people of the country he is a Vaishya , but a person who can not do any of the said works but can only provide other required human services – he is a Shudra ( now called Harijans ). To abolish the difference of caste , Maharishi advised people not to add their surnames but only the word ‘Arya’ means a great person. The word Arya gives a sense of equality to all .
Follower of Truth:
Maharishi Dayanand Saraswati ,throughout his life ,followed and preached truth. Maharishi’s version was” No matter if somebody burns all my fingers ,even then I will not speak a lie but truth only “. Maharishi has given us ten principles of life not for Hindus or Indians alone but applicable to the whole humanity. The fourth Principle says” one should always be ready to adopt a truth and leave a lie “.
Establishment of Arya Samaj:
Maharishi had a foresight . For that reason ,the work of ved prachar and social reforms , started by Maharishi did not stop after his death ,Maharishi established first Arya Samaj at Mumbai on 1st day of Vikrami Samvat 1932 (10th April 1875 AD ) stating that it is not a New Dharma or a Panth but a group of good people who will jointly carry on the work of ved prachar and social reforms . Maharishi was also against the Gurupratha or Gurudom ,that is why he never posed himself as a Guru.
Supporter of Indian Education system by Gurukuls .
Maharishi Dayanand Saraswati was in favour of revival of Indian / ancient system of education by Gurukuls . Later on Swami Shraddhanand Saraswati , Mahatma Hansraj and other followers of Maharishi did a great job in spreading education by Gurukuls and DAVs .Today there are more than 10000 Arya Samajs, Gurukuls, DAV Schools spread all over India and 33 foreign countries providing vedic and modern education to lakhs of people /students.
Maharishi’s place in the jistory:
Above few words are only a fraction of unlimited contributions to the society made by Maharishi Dayanand Saraswati . Maharishi’s contribution to the society is as large as Himalayas but with deep regrets I must frankly state that neither the Government nor our historians have given enough respect to the great patriot saint for the reasons better known to them.
Maharishi Dayanand Sarswati was a true son of God and wanted to see every human being likewise. My Shraddhanjali (Homage ) to a Great Patriot Saint on his 135th Nirwan Diwas i.e.Amavas of Kartik Month (Deepavali) 7th November 2018.
Aum Shanti : Shanti : Shanti :
(The author is President, Arya Samaj Trikuta Nagar Jammu)
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