ARYA
SAMAJ- The Intrepid Swami Dayanand Saraswati
The year was 1986, date 27 July. Thirty
years ago a soap opera titled Buniyaad captivated the minds of thousands of television viewers across Northern India, in
particular in Panjab, Haryana and Delhi. This was the era of Doordarshan with no
private TV channels remotely in sight. The economy was yet to open up,
particularly the telecom sector. However, come Tuesday and Friday, people were
glued to the idiot boxes (no flat screens, LEDs, home theatres, lap tops or You-tube
to watch this serial).
Avid viewers connected with Master Haveli Ram and
Lajoji, like fish to water. A few years prior to that there was another TV show
which had held the populace of North India spellbound. The tele serial called
Hum Log. Those hooked on to the serial dreaded the infamous load shedding and
power cuts which were quite common place. While the former serial had a
riveting story spanning across three generations, the latter was staider and
pedestrian in its treatment and approach.
That apart, curious viewers connected with the tenets
and principles of Arya Samaj in the soaps. These formed the bedrock of the
productions. Arya Samaj had by then struck roots in Panjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh
(erstwhile PEPSU), Delhi, Rajasthan and Gujarat.
Way back in the 6th Century BC, there were
62 heterodox sects which challenged the supremacy and orthodoxy of Aryanism and
Brahmanism. This resulted in the establishment of Buddhism, Jainism and the
Charavaka philosophy (almost bohemian in thought process).
After the passage of numerous suns and seasons,
several centuries later, tectonic changes were ushered in at the subaltern
levels of India once again. This was in the 19th century. Socio-economic,
religious and political glasnost and perestroika established roots in India. Be
it the Bengal, Madras or Bombay Presidencies or even North India, into the inquisitive
and febrile minds dubiety of the existing order had crept in.
Ironically cataclysmic forces were unleashed by the subjugators
(British) themselves through their tyrannical rule and the idiom of liberty,
fraternity, equality and democracy. It was thus not surprising that the
potentate had let the proverbial genie out of the bottle which was to break
glass ceilings and waves of change surged through the swathes of intellectuals
and the flotsam and jetsam. Simultaneously the Christian thought of the west
triggered off a classic debate among the varied religious philosophies and
practices between Christianity vs Hinduism vs Islam.
Nevertheless, it goes to the credit of the reformers
and minds
that were agog and questioned the validity of the established order to conjure
something exhaustive and radical. More importantly, the catholic traditions and
pluralism were kept uppermost in the mind even as the intellectual pot
boiling was kept boiling.
Swami Dayanand Saraswati (830 to 1883), pioneered what
is known as the Arya Samaj movement which was relatively inclusive in
comparison with the Weltanschuung of
the Ramkrishna Mission.
As a stripling youth two events had an anatomical
impact on his impressionable mind. One, he was stupefied to watch
a mouse climb upon a Shivalinga in a temple in his native Gujarat. And second
the unforeseen tragedy of the passing away of his uncle. No amount of logic or
reasoning could quieten his distraught mind.
His robust and intrepid mind confronted the
sanctity of idolatry as he simultaneously sought sanctuary in knowledge to
overcome the trauma encountered on the unfortunate demise of his uncle.
In the moment of grief, he comes across as Buddha.
Swami Dayanand Saraswati began to view everything as transient and ephemeral.
Not to bound in the marital knots, he chose to become
an ascetic and wanderer. He found spiritual solace at the feet of his Guru, Swami
Brijananda. He soon began catechizing the Puranic faith. Dayananda Saraswati
opened a dialogue with Brahmo Samaj in order to close ranks. But that was not
destined.
This was primarily because, Swami Dayananda Saraswati
stood for the veneration of cow, offering of daily sacrifice of butter to the
hearth fire and condemnation of monotheism as propounded by Islam which was not
acceptable to Brahmo Samaj. The Samaj also did not accept the infallibility of
the Vedas and transmigration of souls.
The interaction between Arya Samaj and Brahmo Samaj,
though short-lived had one positive fall out. Keshub Chandra Sen, once the chief
of the latter was to endorse the view of carrying on the propaganda in the
language of the masses.
Thus, Swami Dayanand Saraswati began preaching and
propagating his esoteric knowledge in Hindi and Sanskrit and went on to publish
Satyartha Prakash in Hindi, Veda Bhashya Bhumia partly in Hindi and partly in
Sanskrit and Veda Bhashya entirely in Sanskrit.
The organisation found reception in Northern India
spanning from Panjab to Gujarat. The preamble of Arya Samaj laid down three
cardinal principles, namely:
a) Vedas
are infallible and absolutely authoritative as a guiding principle
b) Every
member ought to contribute 1/100th part of his money towards the
organisation
c) The
repository of the knowledge of Vedas were to be imparted in Arya Vidyalayas.
In addition to the above
tenets, Arya Samaj paid attention to morals and virtues which every individual
needed to imbibe in their daily lives. These became a kind of ten
commandments or ten principles of the Arya Samaj.
Swami Dayanand Saraswati
simultaneously rejected the prevalent caste system, the supremacy of Brahmins, idolatry
and worship of figurines. Instead the worship of the Supreme Being and
consciousness became the pivots of the organisation. The body encouraged
inter-caste marriages and also the Shuddhi movement- reconversion or re-proselytization
of Hindus who had become apostates.
Dayananand Saraswati
abhorred the ignorance of the masses and set up several educational
institutions like the DAV colleges and schools and Dayanand Anglo-Vedic
Schools. This assisted in the grand design of fomenting the spirit of
nationalism in the country.
All organisations and
movements are fired and ignited with zealous beginnings, but over a period get
intertwined in the politics of the times. A veritable split took place in the
Arya Samaj over the question of eating non vegetarian fare and the ten
principles or ten commandments. There were nay sayers and those who vouch safed
for maintaining the pristine currency of the organisation. Ultimately the will
of the orthodox elements prevailed.
The Arya Samaj movement
was to produce two fertile minds in Lala Hansraj and Lala Lajpat Rai who were at
the forefront of our nationalistic struggle and also championing the cause of
social reform with a tinge of Hinduism; willy-nilly this lead to a conflict
between the Indian National Congress and the Muslim League.
We dare not view the contribution
of Arya Samaj through a narrow prism. It provided an aperture to the people of
North India to join the nationalistic struggle against a tyrannical rule and
successfully laid the ground rules for reformation, renaissance and
regeneration of the Hindu society.
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