Swami Dayanand Saraswati was a great soul that had descended on this planet and he can be rightly called the ‘renaissance man of India’ for his priceless contribution towards the enlightenment of all humanity. His messages, preaching, writings—all were instrumental in dispelling the darkness of ignorance and illusion that had engulfed humankind.
Swami Dayanand was the lighthouse for the lost and deluded sailors navigating the turbulent seas of the world in this journey called life. He awakened us all to the strands of eternal knowledge that had been divinely revealed by the supreme creator at the onset of creation. He deciphered, interpreted and elucidated the timeless texts of the Vedas. Ignorance is the root cause for all ills afflicting humanity, and knowledge the cure. Swami Dayanand, the erudite scholar of Vedic Sanskrit, presented accurate interpretations of the Vedas to help the faltering humanity navigate smoothly through the tough terrains of mundane life. His magnum opus Satyarth Prakash (The Light of Truth) addressed all problems and challenges of worldly life—those related to the grinding wheel of daily existence, those pertaining to metaphysical principles and precepts, and those connected with religion, philosophy and the prime principles of peace, prosperity and progress.
His sermons and writings played a great part in striking at the roots of superstitions plaguing society and in removing obscurantism and religious bigotry. Drawing upon the divine message contained in the Vedas, he brought out the true meaning of dharma (righteousness) and salvation. He made forthright expositions on subjects such as education, governance and religion. He picked out threads of divine wisdom from the Vedas and their derived texts to expound on the duties of a student, a householder, a businessman, an agriculturist, an administrator, a ruler and an ascetic. He provided expositions on the subjects of good conduct and yoga for the multifaceted development of the individual. Swami Dayanand was an accomplished yogi in that he preached and practised the yoga of the body, mind, intellect and soul. He was a true maharishi—someone who is above ordinary persons in human attributes and in knowledge and learning. He immortalised himself in the annals of history through his sublime deeds for the welfare and well-being of humanity.
Swami Dayanand was born on February 12, 1824, as Moolshankar Tiwari in an orthodox Brahmin family in Kathiawad, Gujarat. He could have led a comfortable life, as his father was a local collector in the British India times. But Moolshankar had other ideas. Observing his ascetic inclination, his parents fixed up his marriage at age 19, but this could not hold him from his quest for the ultimate truths of life—knowledge and realisation of true god, not the ‘false idol gods’ worshipped by his family earlier. He left home quietly one day on his mission, never to return but to appear 20 years later as an erudite, enlightened seer—Dayanand Saraswati. He authored 24 books and delivered hundreds of lectures to educate folks on true facts of life, including education, avocation, domestic duties, society, nation, governance, religion and spirituality. He made a notable contribution to dispelling social malpractices, superstition and bigotry prevalent in society during one of the most turbulent periods of Indian history.
He is widely regarded as the ‘grandfather of the Indian nation’ for his stellar role in organising the Indian freedom struggle of 1857 against the British. He actually kindled the movement for freedom which eventually came 90 years later. By perfecting himself in the yoga of the mind and body, Swamiji had developed all the sublime human qualities. That was the reason why his preaching cast an indelible impression on people across religions and sects.
He was the ideological driver of not just the Indian society of his times, but even the larger global society. His teachings influenced prominent persons, including Max Mueller, the famous German scholar of Sanskrit. Arya Samaj, the institution established by him in 1875 for the propagation of Vedic ideology for all-round human progress and welfare, celebrates Swami Dayanand’s 200th birth centenary in 2023-24.