Vedic Reforms in Colonial India

Today in 1875, Maharshi Dayanand Saraswati made an attempt to synchronize the pantheistic multi-textual traditions of Hindus into a single whole of monotheistic elements with a call of going back to Vedas, under the umbrella of Arya Samaj.

Swami Dayananda Saraswati; Source: Public Domain

In 19th Century British India, Hinduism the oldest religion in the world was facing an existential crisis. With abhorrent corruption of Hindu beliefs came in many evil practices like child marriage, caste system, Sati etc.

Hindu religion had inherited many unwanted traits in the ages and there was a serious need for reforms. That's when Swami Dayanand Saraswati came into the picture, one of the greatest spiritual leaders the world has ever seen.

At the mere age of 14, he rejected idol worship. He started preaching that God should be worshipped not in the form of idols but as an omnipresent spirit.

For him, Vedas were India's Rock and Ages. Hinduism originated from them and they imparted God's message to humans, in Vedas one could find all essentials of life and sciences.

He said, "Go back to Vedas". By this, he meant the revival of Vedic learning and purity of religion and not going back to Vedic times. He preached all over the country reinstating pride among Hindus.

While lecturing in Varanasi, Saraswati met a local officer there who convinced him to write a book about his ideas, this book became "Satyarth Prakash"( The Light of Truth) his most important work. His fame shot up drastically when he started preaching in Hindi rather than Sanskrit while Sanskrit garnered enormous respect.

In 1875 Swami Dayanand Saraswati founded the Arya Samaj in Bombay, which had 10 basic guidelines one being learning Vedas and others on morals and ethics in life. The Samaj opposed idolatry, caste distinction, and child marriage. It encouraged learning for both boys and girls, promoted widow remarriages and discarding unnecessary rituals.

Swami founded various Gurukuls to revive ancient modes of learning. Lala Hardayal instituted Dayanand Anglo Vedic School in 1886, which even today are run throughout the country as DAV schools and colleges.

The Shuddhi movement started by the Arya Samaj started to bring people back to the faith who had converted to Islam and Christianity. This movement is said to have caused further worsening of tensions between Hindu and Muslims. Several attempts were made on Swami's life due to this.

Even though his insistence on the infallibility of Vedas and supremacy of Hinduism he is considered the greatest spiritual leaders of the century.

He is considered as one of the makers of modern India his call "India for Indians" would later be adopted in the Indian Freedom struggle and has inspired many leaders like Lala Lajpat Rai, Bhagat Singh among others.

Today Arya Samaj has spread across the continents advocating its message of Universal Brotherhood and its mission of making the world a Noble place for all.