Arya Samaj

Arya Samaj was founded by Swami Dayanand Saraswati to organize a Hindu reformist movement in India. As an integral part of the movement, Swami Dayanand set up a number of “Vedic Schools” where special emphasis was laid on imparting Vedic values, culture and religion to the students.

In the Vedic schools, students led a disciplined life according to the guidelines sanctioned by the Vedas. Students were not allowed to perform idol worship. They used to perform ‘sandhya’ and participate in ‘agnihotra’. Books were given to them free of charge and for the first time in our history, non-Brahmins were allowed to study Sanskrit. In the syllabus of the schools, only the texts that recognized the authority of the Vedas were taught.

However, Swami Dayanand had a hard time running the schools. There were not many qualified teachers who agreed with the Swami’s radical views on reforms. Scarcity of suitable text books, paucity of funds and poor public response were other deterrents that forced Swami Dayanand to close the schools. Afterwards, however, some of Swamiji’s disciples like Swami Shradhanand, Guru Datt Vidyarthi and Lala Hans Raj established Gurukul, Dayanand Anglo-Vedic Schools and Colleges respectively to spread the Vedic ideals along with the teaching of formal courses.

With the closure of the schools, the Swami shifted his focus on the propagation of his reformist ideology by other means. He visited different places of the country and organized a series of lectures in Ahmedabad and Bombay. During his visit to Calcutta, he also came in touch with leading spiritual leaders of the Brahmo Samaj which also gave an unconventional interpretation of religion.

Swami Dayanand’s views soon received wide acceptance by the elite and enlightened classes of people in society. The popularity of Arya Samaj crossed the frontiers of India and spread to countries particularly with sizeable Hindu population, such as South Africa, Fiji and Guyana.

Arya Samaj condemns many age-old beliefs and practices such as idolatry, polytheism, pilgrimage, animal sacrifice, priest craft, untouchability, hereditary caste system and child marriage, because these are not in keeping with the Vedic principles.

Arya Samaj’s present activities include organizing Veda Yagnas, helping orphans, elderly and street children, and organizing awareness programs to enlighten the masses on the objectives of the movement. It also devotes itself to the promotion of Vedic values and Indian culture abroad.

Arya Samaj has a notable historical significance. It came into being when sectarian prejudices and religious fanaticism had darkened our social and personal life. Swami Dayanand taught people to judge all beliefs by the yardstick of rationalism. None of the beliefs, he said, should be regarded as final and infallible. Not many spiritual leaders before Swami Dayanand had stressed the importance of reasoning so clearly.

Swami Dayanand’s book “The Light of Life”, containing his radical views and beliefs on a wide range of subjects including the Vedas, Dharma, the soul, philosophy, science and education, was published in 1875 at Varanasi. It played a crucial role in guiding the followers of Swami Dayanand to make Arya Samaj what it is today.