Swami Dayanand Saraswati Biography | Swami Dayanand Saraswati Full Information

Swami Dayanand Saraswati Biography 

Maharshi Dayanand Saraswati, the founder of Arya Samaj...He has also been called the father of modern enlightened society. Dayanand Saraswati made many reforms in Indian society. Not only this, but he also fought tirelessly for our country. He gave the message of Swarajya, which was later accepted by Lokmanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak and took the Bhishma pledge that Swarajya is my birthright and I will achieve it. Apart from this, Dayanand Saraswati also made great efforts for the development of Indian culture. He had the qualities of a great guide, he gave a new direction and energy to the society with his great work. His great thoughts also influenced the talented personalities of India. By dedicating his entire life to the national interest, the Maharishi tried to eliminate the prevailing superstitions and bad practices in the society. His effective and powerful thoughts spread a new consciousness in the society. He strongly criticized many Hindu beliefs and superstitions such as idol worship, caste discrimination, killing animals in the name of God, and not allowing women to recite the Vedas. The modern thoughts and efforts of Maharishi Dayanand Saraswati revived the Indian educational system. Due to this, students of different castes and religions were brought together under one roof. Today we know it as the ‘class’ in school. On the other hand, by advocating Swadeshi, he also started a new social, religious, economic and political era. Today, we will try to learn more about such a great personality through this article.

 

Swami Dayanand Saraswati Information –

Name - Maharshi Dayanand Saraswati

Real name - Mul Shankar Tiwari

Born - 12 February 1824 Tankara, Gujarat

Father - Karshanji Lalji Tiwari

Mother - Yashodabai

Education - Vedic knowledge

Teacher - Swami Virjanand

Death - 30 October 1883

Speciality - Founder of Arya Samaj

The first person to advocate Swarajya

He changed traditional ideas and opposed many customs and evil practices.

 

Early life of Swami Dayanand Saraswati –

A sincere patriot and great social reformer, Swami DayanandSaraswati was born in a prosperous Brahmin family on 12 February 1824 in Tankara in the state of Gujarat. In childhood, he was known as Mul Shankar Ambashankar Tiwari. His father, Karshanji Lalji Tiwari, was a tax officer and was known as an influential personality from a happy, prosperous and wealthy family. Apart from this, he was also a staunch follower of Shaivism. His mother, Yashodabai, was a housewife. Born into a happy and prosperous family, Dayanand Saraswati spent his childhood in luxury. From childhood, Swami Dayanand was endowed with extraordinary talent and sharp intellect. At the age of just two years, he was introduced to the Gayatri Mantra with clear pronunciation. Since the atmosphere at home was religious and the family was devotees of Shiva, the same culture was also instilled in Swami Dayanand and gradually a deep devotion towards God was formed in his mind. Later, to become a Vedic scholar, he studied Vedas, religious texts, and Sanskrit language with great devotion from childhood. At that time, an incident in his life changed his life completely and he was forced to raise serious questions about the traditionally followed rules and regulations and about God.

 

This incident changed the life of Swami Dayanand Saraswati – 

Swami Dayanand Saraswati's father was a staunch Shiva devotee and was always engaged in religious activities, so Swami Dayanand also used to participate in his father's religious activities. Once on the day of Mahashivratri, his father explained to him the importance of Shivaratri and asked him to fast. Swami Dayanand also fasted as per his father's instructions and went to the temple to worship at night. Dayanand saw many rats eating the prasad near the Shiva-pindi in the temple and many questions arose in his childish mind at that moment that in reality the idol of God is a stone, and how can a God who cannot protect his food protect himself? This incident deeply affected Swami Dayanand's mind and his faith in idol worship was shattered.

 

He left home at the age of 21 –

Swami Dayanand had a lot of arguments with his father regarding this issue. He firmly told his father that he should not worship a helpless God. Later, at the age of just 21, in order to know the truth of the cycle of birth and death, he decided to renounce illusions and become a monk in 1846. His desire to know this truth was so strong that he felt that worldly life was useless and he even rejected his marriage proposal. There were many arguments between him and his father regarding this issue, but finally, Swami Dayanand's strong determination forced his father to back down.

 

Swami Dayanand Saraswati's Guru Shri Virjanand –

Swami Dayanand met Swami Virjanand in Mathura for spiritual studies. There he acquired knowledge of Yoga Vidya, Shastra, and Arya Granth. After attaining enlightenment, when it was time to give Gurudakshina, Guru Virjanand asked Swami Dayanand to work against the undesirable customs, injustice, and atrocities prevalent in the society and to spread awareness among the common people. In this way, Swami Dayanand's Guru showed him the path of social welfare. Later, he did many great works for the society and strongly opposed the British government, not only that, but also made Indians aware of the Aryan language, i.e. Hindi.

 

Contribution of Swami Dayanand Saraswati in the 1857 freedom struggle:-

After attaining enlightenment, Swami Dayanand toured the entire India, he came to know that the British government was inhumanly torturing Indian citizens. After that, he started speaking against the British and encouraged people to raise their voices against the atrocities of the British.

The great sons of India, Tatya Tope, Nanasaheb Peshwa, Haji Mulla Khan, Swami Dayanand were influenced by this work. Not only this, but all of them also followed the thoughts of Swami Dayanand and started walking on the path shown by him. Apart from this, Mahatma Gandhiji also accepted many of Swami Dayanand's initiatives for social reform. He made the citizens aware and made everyone a message carrier, so that their relationship with each other would be stronger and they would come together. Swami Dayanand first of all involved the saints in this struggle for independence so that through them the common citizens could be inspired to achieve freedom. But even though this uprising of 1857 did not achieve much success, Swami Dayanand did not get discouraged and wanted the people to understand that years of slavery could not be ended with just one struggle and this would also take some time. Rather than expressing sorrow, express joy because this battle for freedom has now begun on a large scale. If we continue to struggle relentlessly, we will definitely see India free from the slavery of the British. Seeing the contribution of Swami Dayanand Saraswati in the Indian freedom struggle, the Iron Man of India, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, had said……

The foundation of India's independence was actually laid by Swami Dayanand. After the guidance received from his Guru, Swami Dayanand made many reforms in the society, toured India and propagated the Vedas. During this, he also had to face many difficulties. Even after being insulted many times, he did not waver from his path and strongly opposed the undesirable practices spread in the society. He openly opposed Christianity, Islam and Sanatan Dharma. He considered the knowledge contained in the Vedas to be the best and authentic and it was with this feeling that he founded the Arya Samaj.

 
Arya Samaj Established -

Keeping in mind the principles of charity, public service, knowledge, and karma, the great social reformer Dayanand Saraswati established the Arya Samaj on the day of Gudi Padwa in 1857. This historical welfare step of his became a milestone. The purpose of establishing the Arya Samaj was to bring about mental, physical, and social progress. And with these thoughts, Swamiji had established the Arya Samaj. Just as his work inspired many scholars, there was no shortage of opponents of his work either. Many also opposed it, but they could not stand before the rational knowledge of Dayanand Saraswati and even the great learned Pandits had to bow down before Swamiji. Swamiji explained the importance of the Vedas to many scholars. He inspired the converted people to become Hindus again and launched a purification movement for that. In 1886, Dayanand's follower Lala Hansraj established the Dayanand Anglo Vedic College in Lahore. This led to an increase in awareness in the Hindu community.

The personalities who were influenced by Swami Dayanand Saraswati included Madam Cama, Pandit Lekhram, Swami Shraddhanand, Pandit Guru Dutt Vidyarthi, Shyam Krishnan Verma (who arranged accommodation for Indian students in England), Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, Lala Hardayal, Madan Lal Dhingra, Ram Prasad Bismil, Mahadev Govind Ranade, Mahatma Hansraj, Lala Lajpat Rai, etc. Swami Dayanand always took the initiative for the welfare of the society and emphasized the importance of unity. Swami Dayanand Saraswati was a great social reformer, who tried to eradicate the undesirable customs prevalent in the society, e.g. He stopped practices like child marriage, Sati, widow remarriage and raised his voice against superstition. Giving a message of unity, Swamiji also supported women's power.

 

Opposition to Child Marriage -

When Swami Dayanand Saraswati was busy with the work of social reform, the practice of child marriage was gaining momentum in the society. Most classes used to marry their children at a young age, due to which girls had to suffer a lot of physical hardship and were also physically abused at an immature age. Swamiji, taking the basis of scripture, explained to the people against the practice of child marriage that celibacy should be followed for the first 25 years of a human life and child marriage is an undesirable practice. Child marriage weakens the body of a person very quickly and due to weakness, he also dies prematurely.

 

Opposition to the practice of Sati-

Like child marriage, the practice of Sati was also widespread during that time. Swamiji raised his voice to end the undesirable practice of Sati by burning his wife alive along with her husband's funeral pyre after the death of her husband. He gave a message of love and respect to the entire human race and taught philanthropy.

 

Encouragement of Widow Remarriage - 

Even today, in many areas, the mentality of people regarding widow remarriage has not changed, but during that time, widows had to face many types of inhuman torture. Not only this, they were also deprived of common rights. Swami Dayanand strongly opposed this behavior of the society, and put his thoughts before the society regarding widow remarriage and created awareness among the people.

 

Equal rights should be given to people of all classes - 

Swamiji opposed the evil practices like caste discrimination and caste discrimination and put his thoughts before the society saying that everyone should get equal rights. The four castes were created solely to ensure that society functions smoothly, and while living in society, no one is small or big, everyone is equal.

 

Emphasis on women's education, security, and empowerment

Swami Dayanand supported women's power and emphasized on women's education and security. He advocated that women should be given equal rights with men. Swamiji emphasized that if women are given the opportunity, they can progress in any field on par with men.

 

Four pillars mentioned by Swami Dayanand

 Karma Siddhanta

 Reincarnation

 Sannyas

 Brahmacharya

 

Death of Swami Dayanand Saraswati –

In 1883, Swami Dayanand Saraswati went to Jodhpur to meet Maharaj Yashwant Singh. During that time, he gave many of his lectures to Maharaj, Maharaj Yashwant Singh was very impressed by Swamiji's thoughts. He respected Swamiji very much. At that time, Raja Yashwant Singh was in a relationship with a dancer named Nanhi Jaan. Seeing this, Swamiji very humbly made Maharaj aware of his wrong and anti-social relationship and said, on the one hand, you express your desire to adapt to religion and on the other hand, you are trapped in lust… This way, knowledge cannot be attained. Swamiji's thoughts opened Maharaj's eyes and he ended his relationship with Nanhi Jaan. When Nanhi Jaan came to know that her relationship with Raja Yashwant Singh had ended because of Swami Dayanand, she became very angry and in a fit of rage, she killed Swami Dayanand. Angered, Nanhi Jaan conspired with the cook and mixed small pieces of glass in Swami Dayanand's food. After consuming that food, Swamiji's health started deteriorating. After investigation, the cook confessed to his crime, at which time the big-hearted Swami Dayanand also forgave him. But Swamiji did not survive after this incident, he was brought to Ajmer on 26 October for treatment, but he died on 30 October.

Great Thoughts of Swami Dayanand Saraswati – Swami Dayanand Saraswati Quotes

1. This body is ‘mortal’, we have only got the opportunity to express what humanity and conscience are through this body.

2. Only those who study the Vedas deeply can understand what is the original purpose of life.

3. Our ‘conscience’ is the food of anger, so we should be careful of it. Because if conscience is destroyed, everything is null.

4. Due to ego, a person loses his ‘self-strength’ and ‘self-knowledge’.

5. If a person is ‘peaceful’, his mind is ‘happy’, his heart is ‘joyful’, then this is definitely the result of his good deeds.

6. High-quality service is helping a person who is unable to say thank you.

 

Maharshi Dayanand Saraswati's Books and Literature - 

 Satyarth Prakash

 Role of Rigvedadibhasyabhumika

 Rigveda Commentary

 Yajurveda Commentary

 Chaturvedic list

 Rituals

 Panchamahayagya Ritual

 Aryabhivinaya

 Gokarunanidhi

 Aryoddeshyaratnamala

 Confusion prevention

 Ashtadhyayibhasya

 Vedang Prakash

 Sanskrit Sentences Prabodh

 Transactional Bhanu

 

Educational institutions named after Swami Dayanand - Swami Dayanand Saraswati University

 Maharshi Dayanand University in Rohtak

 Maharshi Dayanand Saraswati University in Ajmer

 DAV University in Jalandhar

 More than 800 schools are run under DAV College Management Committee

Swami Dayanand Saraswati not only eliminated the undesirable customs, traditions and superstitions in the society but also did many useful works for the welfare of the society. He also awakened the feeling of patriotism among the people by participating in the freedom struggle. His contribution to the society will never be forgotten.