Dayanand Saraswati () born Mool Shankar Tiwari (12 February 1824 – 30 October 1883), was a Hindu philosopher, social leader and founder of the Arya Samaj, a reform movement of Hinduism. His book Satyarth Prakash has remained one of the influential texts on the philosophy of the Vedas and clarifications of various ideas and duties of human beings. He was the first to give the call for Swaraj as "India for Indians" in 1876. The word swaraj in the modern political sense, however, does not appear in his written communications.Aurobindo Ghosh, Bankim Tilak Dayanand (Calcutta 1947, p. 1.) Denouncing the idolatry and ritualistic worship, he worked towards reviving Vedic religion. Subsequently, the philosopher and President of India, Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, addressed him one of the "makers of Modern India", as did Sri Aurobindo.
Those who were influenced by and followed Dayananda included Chaudhary Charan Singh, Madam Cama, Pandit Lekh Ram, Swami Shraddhanand, Shyamji Krishna Varma, Kishan Singh, Bhagat Singh, Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, Bhai Parmanand, Lala Hardayal, Madan Lal Dhingra, Ram Prasad Bismil, Mahadev Govind Ranade, Ashfaqullah Khan, Mahatma Hansraj, Lala Lajpat Rai, Yogmaya Neupane, Vallabhbhai Patel and others.
He was a sannyasi (ascetic) from childhood and a scholar. He believed in the infallible authority of the Vedas. Dayananda advocated the doctrines of karma and reincarnation. He emphasised the Vedic ideals of brahmacharya, including celibacy and devotion to God.
Among Dayananda's contributions were his opposition to untouchability, promotion of the equal rights for women, and commentary on the Vedas from Vedic Sanskrit in Sanskrit as well as in Hindi.
Early life
Dayananda Saraswati was born on the 10th day of waning moon in the month of Purnimanta Phalguna (12 February 1824) on the tithi to an Indian Hindu Brahmin family in Tankara, Kathiawar region (now Morbi district of Gujarat). He belonged to the Audichya Brahmin sub-division. His original name was Mool Shankar Tiwari, because he was born in Dhanu Rashi and Mul Nakshatra. His father's name was Karshanji Lalji Tiwari, and his mother was Yashodabai.
When he was eight years old, his Yajnopavita Sanskara ceremony was performed, marking his entry into formal education. His father was devotee of Shiva and taught him the ways to worship Shiva. He also learnt the importance of keeping fasts. On the occasion of Shivratri, Dayananda sat awake the whole night in obedience to Shiva. During one of these fasts, he saw a mouse eating the offerings and running over the idol's body. After seeing this, he questioned that if Shiva could not defend himself against a mouse, then how could he be the saviour of the world.
The deaths of his younger sister and his uncle from cholera led Dayananda to ponder the meaning of life and death. He began asking questions about it to his parents and they were much worried by this. He was engaged in his early teens, but he decided marriage was not for him and ran away from home in 1846.
Between 1845 and 1869, Dayanand travelled extensively across India as a wandering ascetic. During this period, he visited forests, pilgrimage centres, and retreats in the Himalayas, dedicating himself to spiritual study and meditation. He practised various forms of yoga and sought teachers who could guide him toward spiritual truth. Saraswati was a strict vegetarian who recounted that he felt "sickened at the very sight of meat" after witnessing a Brahmin cut and prepare a rump steak.
Saraswati became a disciple of a teacher named Virajanand Dandeesha. Virajanand believed that Hinduism had strayed from its historical roots and that many of its practices had become impure. Sarasvati promised Virajanand that he would devote his life to restoring the rightful place of the Vedas in the Hindu faith.
Teachings of Dayananda Maharshi Dayanand advocated that all human beings are equally capable of achieving anything. He said all the creatures are the eternal Praja or citizens of the Supreme Lord. He said the four Vedas which are Rigveda, Yajurveda, Samaveda, and Atharvaveda are the only true uncorrupted sources of Dharma, revealed by the Supreme Lord, at the beginning of every creation, also because they are the only perfectly preserved knowledge without alterations using Sanskrit prosody or Chandas and different techniques of counting the number of verses with different Vedic chanting techniques. He says that confusion regarding the Vedas arose due to the misinterpretations of the Vedas, and the Vedas promote science and ask humans to discover the Ultimate Truth, which he has emphasised throughout his Commentary on the Vedas.
He accepted the teachings of the first ten Principal Upanishads also with Shvetashvatara Upanishad, which explains the Adhyatma part of the Vedas. He further said that any source, including Upanishads, should be considered and accepted to only that extent as they conform with the teachings of the Vedas.
He accepted the six Vedanga texts, which include grammar and the like required for the correct interpretation of the Vedas. Among Sanskrit grammatical texts, he says, Pāṇini's Aṣṭādhyāyī and its commentary, Mahabhashya by Maharshi Patanjali are the current surviving valid texts, and all other surviving modern-grammatical texts should not be accepted as they are confusing, dishonest, and will not help people in learning the Vedas.
He accepted the six Darshana Shastras which includes Samkhya, Vaisheshika, Nyaya, Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, Purva Mimamsa Sutras, Vedanta Sutras. Unlike medieval Sanskrit scholars, Dayanand said that all six Darshanas are not opponents, but each throws light on different aspects required by the creation. Hence, they are all independent in their own right, and all of them conform to the teachings of the Vedas. He says Acharya Kapila of Sankhya Darshan was not an atheist, but it is the scholars who misinterpreted his sutras.
He said the books called Brahamanas, such as Aitareya Brahmana, Shatapatha Brahmana, Sāma Brahmana, Gopatha Brahmana, etc., which are authored by the seers to explain the meaning of the Vedas, are also valid, but again only to that extent as they agree with the four Vedas, because these texts are prone to interpolations by others. He said it is these books which are called by the names "Itihasa, Purana, Narashamsa, Kalpa, Gatha" since they contain information about the life of seers and incidents, they inform about the creation of the World, etc...
He stated that the eighteen Puranas and the eighteen Upapuranas are not the authentic Puranas and are not authored by sage Vyasa, and they violate the teachings of the Vedas and therefore should not be accepted. The eighteen Puranas and Upapuranas are filled with contradictions, idol worship, incarnations, and personification of God, temples, rituals, and practices that are against the Vedas. In his book Satyarth Prakash, he says whatever 'good' is present in these eighteen Puranas and Upapuranas is already present in the Vedas, and since they contain too many false pieces of information that can mislead people, they should be rejected.
He points out that the sage Vyasa was called so not because he divided the Vedas, but the name indicates the "diameter or breadth," which means sage Vyasa had studied the Vedas in great depth.
He lists out various texts that should not be treated as honest texts to develop one's understanding of the World and the Lord. He rejected all of the Tantric texts, including Pancharatra. He said that these texts are not valid as they teach different customs, rituals, and practices which are against the Vedas.
Dayanand based his teachings on the Vedas, which can be summarised as follows: three entities are eternal: 1. The Supreme Lord or Paramatma, 2. The Souls or Jivatmas, which are vast in number but not infinite, 3. Prakriti or Nature. Prakriti or Nature, which is the material cause of the creation, is eternal and is characterised by Sattva, Rajas, and Tamas, which tend to be in equilibrium. In every cycle of creation, the conscious Supreme Lord will disturb its equilibrium and make it useful for the creation of the World and its forces and to manufacture the bodies required by the Souls. After a specific time called the Day of Brahma (Brahma means great, lengthy, etc.), the creation would be dissolved, and nature would be restored to its equilibrium. After a period called the Night of Brahma, which is equal to the length of the Day of Brahma, the creation would set forth again. This cycle of creation and dissolution is eternal. Jiva or Jivatma or Soul or Self, many are different from one another yet have similar characteristics and can reach the 'same level' of bliss in the state of Moksha or Liberation. They are not made out of natural particles and are bodiless, beyond all sexes and all other characteristics as seen in the World, but they acquire a body made out of Nature, and it is known as taking birth. These souls are subtler than Nature itself but take birth through the body as per the creative principles set by the Supreme Lord based on their past Karma, and they put effort into improving themselves. By realising oneself, Nature, and the Supreme Lord, Souls are liberated. But this realisation depends on their efforts and knowledge. They keep coming to the World, use Nature, obtain the fruits of their actions, and appear to take of lives of different animals (Those who have attained higher bodies can also go back to lower forms based on their actions or Karma), they redo their actions, and are free to choose their actions, learn and relearn, and attain Liberation. After the long duration of Moksha or Liberation, one would come back again into the World. Since this period of Moksha or Liberation is long, it appears as though they never return or they never take birth again, to the other beings who are still in the World. Since they are eternal and capable of working, these characteristics cannot be destroyed. They are timeless, eternal, but are not omniscient and hence cannot be the pervaders of the entire Space. The Supreme Lord who is one without a second like him, whose name is Om, is the efficient cause of the Universe. Lord's Chief characteristics are – Sat, Chit, and Ananda, i.e., "Exists", has "Supreme Consciousness", and is "Eternally Blissful". The Lord and his characteristics are the same. The Supreme Lord is ever present everywhere, whose characteristics are beyond Nature or Prakriti, and pervades all the Souls and the Nature. It is not characteristic of the Supreme Lord to take birth or incarnate. He is ever pure, i.e., unmixed by the characteristics of Nature and the Souls. The Supreme Lord is bodiless, infinite, hence has no form and hence cannot be worshipped through idols but can only be reached by any being through Yogic Samadhi as advocated in the Vedas, which is summarised in the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali. Since the Lord is bodiless and hence beyond all sexes, the Vedas address him as Father, Mother, Friend, Cause of the Worlds, Maker, etc He is the subtlest entity which is subtler than Nature, pervading and filling the entire existence and Space. It is due to his subtlety that he could take hold of Nature to create the Worlds, and he proposes no difficulty for the motion of the Worlds in Space. Hence, he is called Paramatman, which means 'Ultimate Pervader". There exists neither one who is equal to him nor completely opposed to him. The ideas of Satans, Ghosts, etc., are foreign to the Vedas. He said the names Agni, Shiva, Vishnu, Brahma, Prajapati, Paramatma, Vishva, Vayu, etc. are the different characteristics of the Supreme Lord, and the meaning of each of the names should be obtained by Dhatupatha or Root. And these names do not refer to any Puranic Deities. Also, certain names may also refer to the worldly elements, which should be distinguished from their contexts.