Dayananda Saraswati

Overview

Dayananda Saraswati (born Mool Shankar Tiwari; 12 February 1824 – 30 October 1883) was a Hindu philosopher and social leader who founded the Arya Samaj, a reform movement within Hinduism. From childhood he lived as a sannyasi (ascetic) and devoted himself to the study of the Vedas, which he regarded as the infallible authority on spiritual and ethical matters.

His best-known work, Satyarth Prakash, has remained an influential text expounding Vedic philosophy and clarifying various ideas and duties of human beings. He also produced commentaries on the Vedas in Vedic Sanskrit as well as Hindi. Denouncing idolatry and ritualistic worship, he sought to revive what he described as Vedic religion, advocating the doctrines of karma and reincarnation, and emphasising the Vedic ideals of brahmacharya, including celibacy and devotion to God.

Dayananda is credited with giving an early call for Swaraj as "India for Indians" in 1876, a call later taken up by Lokmanya Tilak. He opposed untouchability and promoted equal rights for women. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan and Sri Aurobindo both described him as one of the "makers of Modern India". Figures said to have been influenced by him include Madam Cama, Pandit Lekh Ram, Swami Shraddhanand, Shyamji Krishna Varma, 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, Chaudhary Charan Singh and Vallabhbhai Patel, among others.

References

Adapted from the English Wikipedia article on Dayananda Saraswati (source).