Swami Dayanand: the Pivot of Arya Samaj
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IMPACT: International Journal of Research in Humanities, Arts and Literature (IMPACT: IJRHAL) ISSN(P): 2347 - 4564; ISSN(E): 2321 - 8878 V ol. 5, Is sue 2, Feb 2017, 49 - 58 © Impact Journals SWAMI DAYANAND: THE PIVOT OF ARYA SAMAJ SUKHJIT KAUR Lecturer Department of History , Khalsa College for Women , Civil Lines, Ludhiana , Punjab , India ABSTRACT Indian soil has remained the soil of Vedas, Puranas and Rishis etc. Many great personalities and leaders took birth in India. One of such great personality was Swami Dayanand who was not revivalism the Hindu religion but has also spread the Vedic philosophy in India. Through the Shuddhi movement, the followers of Swami Dayanand who had left the Hindu religion came back to Hindu religion. They had not only spread the Vedic philosophy but also worked for social, political, educational upliftment. After his death, his followers had spread his philosophy and continued his religion. KEYWORDS : Swami Dayanand, Swami Virjanand, Ved as, Satyarthprakash, 1875, 1877 INTRODUCTION Indian soil has remained the soil of Vedas, Puranas and Rishis etc. Many great personalities and leaders took birth in India. One of such great personalities was Dayanand Sararswati, who attempted to spread Vedic religion in the World. 1 He was born in Audichya Brahmin family at Tankara in the Morvi state of Gujarat ( Kathiawar ) in 1824. Mool Shankar was his childhood name. His father Krishanji Lalji Trivedi or Amba Shankar was the head in the office of Revenue Collector at Tankara village. 2 being an orthodox Brahmin; he was bound with the traditions and practices of Brahmin family. He was a Shaivite and thus was staunch devotee of Shiva according to his belief. He expected from his son, Mool Shankar to keep with these traditions in due course . 3 Mool Shankar's mother Amrita Ben on the other hand was, like the mother of Nanak, nothing but a personification of patience, gentleness and sweetness. 4 When Mool Shankar became five years old, arrangements for his education were made by his parents. He proved to be an extraordinary pupil passing from one elementary book to another in rapid succession. In his eighth year his Yajnopavita Sanskara was performed and the investiture with the thread of the ‘twice born’ was forthwith followed by his initiation into the Sandhya and Upasna . 5 His father was a Shiva devotee and wanted to make him the same. He was never allowed to express his views. He started studying Sanskrit language and he studied many religious books. He soon became a person of rigid views who a ttained great self confidence. He studied all the four Vedas. He started reading those Sanskrit books which had reference about Indian customs & religions. He wanted the Indians to be great learners so that on being taught they would become famous worldwid e. 6 He used to say that with the help of Veda and good labor a person can make inventions in the fields of modern science, engineering, military and semi military discipline. He used to say that nobody has any right to keep their children aloof from knowle dge. 7 In 1837, on Shivratri day, his father took him to the Shiva temple to participate in night long vigil. His mother told his father that he will be unable to do all this but his father did not care for it. On the command of his father Mool Shanka r went to the temple and also kept fast. He kept awake and was surprised to see his father & Pujaris having fallen asleep, one after the other. Suddenly a rat came and started devouring eatables placed near the Statute and creating sacrilege. Impact Factor(JCC): 2.1783 - This article can be downloaded from www.impactjournals.us 50 Sukhjit Kaur The inci dent of rat brought the truth that the life of living is greater than that of the idol. He felt that in any case a Statute can’t save itself from even a rat then how it can save the universe. He felt that if rather than worldly objects one should bow befor e real power then it will be far better. His awakening was not merely the awakening of his own spirit but it was the awakening of Aryavasta and the whole mankind. This was an awakening which defeated all the physical claims and was against an awakened soul . 8 He awoke his father from his sleep and asked questions one after the other. Not satisfied with the explanations given by his father. He went home and broke his fast. 9 This is how he began to have reservations about idol worship and the rationale on whic h it was based. 10 Shivratri festival had passed and everyone including Krishanji resumed their normal work. But the case was quite different with boy Mool Shankar. He was particularly a receptive and sensitive soul and was a would - be personality to occupy the important position in the galaxy of world teachers. The sight seen in the temple seated deeply in his soul. “Who is real Shiva whom I should worship? How was it possible to realize him? These were the questions puzzling him frequently since that nigh t. The answer to these questions was not so simple that anyone could satisfy Mool Shankar. These questions created a great pressure of urgency in his mind. 11 After five years, two other incidents occurred that again violently shook him. He had two brot hers and two sisters all younger than himself and for whom he had great affection. One night while his father, in company with himself and other male members of the family, was attending a nautch - meeting at the house of a friend, a servant came with the ne ws, that his eldest daughter, fourteen years of age, had suddenly fallen ill because of cholera. Everyone hasted towards home, the physicians were summoned and nothing was left undone that promised to afford relief, but all in vain. The condition of the pa tient grew worse every moment and she expired after four hours of great agony. It was a terrible shock to Mool Shankar. 12 Later on his beloved uncle too expired. Death of his beloved uncle who had rocked him in his lap many times distracted him at the age of nineteen and he was answered for his anxious enquires that Yogabhyas was the method by which he could understand the mystery but the Yoga as he understood could not be mastered till he leaves his home 24 . The Father, already having reason to suspect such working of his son’s mind, decided to weave a web of affection round him, but Dayanand resisted his parent’s plan with determination and declaimed note to be married. The marriage was postponed for a year with the intervention of friends. The boy’s pr oposal that he should be sent to Kashi - the Rome of Hindus, for further education having been rejected, he was sent to a learned theologian, in a neighboring village, for the purpose. This could not satisfy the boy, who was recalled and the day for his wed ding was fixed. But before a week of the fixed date or so, the boy fled from home and became a Sadhu . He was soon, however, traced out and imprisoned under a strong guard. The same night the boy succeeded once again in escaping and this time for good, never seeing his father again. Before leaving his house, Mool Shankar used to wander hither thither in search of the truth. First of all he came in contact with Sanyasis of Sayle and received some little instructions. He was initiated here formally into the order of Brahmacharis. He was given the name of Shuddha Cha itanya . 13 After this Mool Shankar had broken all ties of family and had crossed all the homely environments, so it leads to the name Shuddha Chaitanya that was very appropriate to mean all this distinctly. 14 In the course of his wonderings Shuddha Chaitan ya visited many places. He approached Swami Purnananda who initiated him into an order of Sanyasis . He gave him the name of Dayanand Saraswati. One cannot predict what events NAAS Rating: 3.10 - Articles can be sent to [email protected] Swami Dayanand: The Pivot of Arya Samaj 51 would be leading to. But in the case of Swami Dayanand we find the full trace. Th e name given to him was very appropriate. 15 Dayanand Saraswati was the embodiment of compassion, peace and wisdom which combined the name Dayanand Saraswati. Before this Shuddha Chaitnya had got the instruction of the doctrine of vedanta. 16 The wandering in the Himalayas gave him the opportunity of meeting some Yogis and Sanyasis where he learnt and practiced the Yoga . After becoming a Sanyasi Swami Dayanand’s interest seemed to have undergone a change. He became practical rather than metaphysical and scholastic master as the passion of his life was now Yoga . 17 He learnt a good deal from Yogis but the wanderings of hills and meetings with many Yogis could not fulfill his cherished goal. He was still in search of a competent Guru. The chang e in his interest was still marked. After He became a Sanyasi , Yoga replaced Vedanta and now from Yoga he swung back to studies. It was theology which this time claimed his attention. He had heard somewhere, the reputation of Swami Virjananda of Mathur a and therefore resolved to go to him for instruction. 18 Swami Dayanand Saraswati had left his father home in 1846, and in quest of knowledge had now wandered for about 14 years.