Bharat Bhushan Arya
From the time ,the universe came into existence , Vedic Dharm guided the lives and activities of the people .There was peace and contentment everywhere. But many years before Mahabharata war the seeds of degeneration began to be sown. The country has seen many ups and downs over a period and so was the period of 19th century, when after the first war of independence of 1857 failed and the British Govt. directly took over the reins of power from East India Company.
This was the time when a child named Moolshanker ( later Maharishi Dayanand Sarswati) took birth on 12th February 1824AD ( Samvat 1881)in a rich family of Krishan Ji Tiwari in Morvi town of Tankara in Kathiawad (now Gujrat). Family of Krishan ji was follower of shaivism adoring Lord Shiv . At the age of 13 the festival of Shivratri was the turning point in the life of Maharishi who continued his quest for the real Lord Shiv ( God) but could not get any satisfactory answer . At the age of 22 ,Maharishi finally left his house in search of real Lord Shiv (God ) and never turned back.
Maharishi visited number of religious and other places , met number of sadhus, sanyasis ,intellectuals and common people but could not get satisfaction unless in the year 1859 AD he met Swami Virajanand Saraswati ( a blind Saint) a great Vedic Sanskrit Scholar of Mathura . It is said ” without a Virajanand there could have been no Dayanand and without a Dayanand there could have been no revival of Vedic Dharam “. Maharishi studied vedas and other vedic books under guidance of Swami Virjanand Sarswati for nearly three years. After completing his studies and in lieu of Guru Dakshina ,Maharishi offered his whole life and promised to Guru Virjanand to work for the revival of Vedic Dharm and welfare of people .
Foundation of Arya Samaj:
Maharishi’s greatest achievement in the religious field was the foundation of Arya Samaj which carried on his mission of religious ,social and educational reforms even after his death . 1st Arya Samaj was established at Mumbai in the year 1875 AD. At the time of foundation of Arya Samaj ,Maharishi clearly told that Arya Samaj is not any separate religion or a sect (Panth) but an organization of people wedded to certain principles ,the purpose of such principles being making the world happy place to live in and reforming the people so as to make them noble and good . Maharishi also made it clear that whatever he is preaching is all from Ved and nothing from his own. Arya samaj had done a very splendid work in the religious , social and educational fields. Maharishi proposed 10 common principles of Arya Samaj applicable universally to all irrespective of caste, creed or sect.Today the seed of Arya Samaj sown by Maharishi ,has grown to a full fledged tree with thousand of its branches not only in India but in 33 -35 countries abroad also.
Social Reforms:
i) First of all Maharishi put before the people some of the attractive elements of ancient vedic civilization / vedic dharam and in this way he created a feeling of self confidence and self respect in the people .
ii)Next Maharishi preached against idol worship and taught the people to have faith in one God all powerful ,omnipresent and omnipotent.He raised the “pakhand khandini pataka” in Haridwar and then in the very heart of Kashi ( Varanasi) where Maharishi severely challenged the pandits single handedly and asked them to show the genuinity of idol worship from Vedas.
iii)Maharishi was against caste system based on birth .He preached the caste system based on merits , qualities ,talents and academic qualification of the said person and not by birth.
iv) Maharishi preached against untouchability and advocated the equality of status for all the members of the society
v) Maharishi was against animal sacrifice in the name of religion .He preached compassion , ahimsa (non violence) and love towards animals and other living beings .Maharishi had esteem faith in cows. He wrote the famous book “Gau Karunanidhi ” giving details of how a cow can change the economic life not only of a farmer but the country as a whole . Maharishi also explained that cow is not only an animal but is one of the important factors of a country’s economic growth as it gives us milk the best complete food especially for infants and children . Cow-dung is also used as a good manure which in turn boost agriculture production and helps improving the economic conditions of a farmer . For a country like India whose economy is mainly dependent on agriculture ,cow farming must not only be encouraged but the cow breed must be developed and preserved.
vi) Maharishi was of the firm view that India had a glorious past and that its present and future could reach to the heights of its past glory only by following the path of Vedas ( Vedic Dharm) , to which he gave a slogan of ” Back to the Vedas ” .
In a short span of time which he could get , Maharishi has done numerous religious ,social and educational reforms. Had Maharishi got some more life time ,he could have done some more good works for the country. Unfortunately the destiny played its role on a fateful night of Kartic Amawas of Samvat 2040( 30th October
1883 AD – festival of Deepawali) when he had an insight and prepared himself ready for his last journey of the life .Maharishi chanted Gaytri Mantra , saying ” Ishwar Teri Iccha puran ho ” ( o God I bow before your will ) and breathed his last (got Nirwana).
(The author is President, Arya Samaj Trikuta Nagar, Jammu)
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