‘Swami Dayanand influenced freedom fighters, social reformers’
Sanjeev K Sharma
JAMMU, July 20: Terrorism, conflicts and wars are going on almost everywhere in the world today and the world is sitting on a big heap of explosives but for all these and many other dreaded problems existing across the globe, Vedas have the effective solution.
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This was stated by the Governor of Gujarat, Acharya Devvrat while addressing a jam-packed auditorium at SKUAST campus in Chatha in the outskirts of Jammu city on Sunday during a mega event organised by Arya Pratinidhi Sabha J&K to celebrate 200th birth anniversary of Arya Samaj founder, Swami Dayanand Saraswati Ji and 150th foundation day of Arya Samaj. Click here to watch video
He said that it is proud moment for all the followers of Arya Samaj ideology that for the last two years programmes have started across the country by PM Narendra Modi and these programmes were also joined by President, Droupadi Murmu, Union Home Minister, Amit Shah; Defence Minister, Rajnath Singh and all such programmes are being organised by Arya Pratinidhi Sabhas and Sarvedeshik Pratinidhi Sabhas to spread a new energy among those who are on the Vedic path across the country.
“Such programmes boost the working of Arya Samajs and inspire us. When Swami Dayanand Saraswati Ji came, the population of our country was 33 crore and he single handedly attacked the orthodoxy, outdated rituals, blind faiths and other such evils existing in the country that time,” the Governor claimed.
He said at that time dust was accumulated over Vedas and Swami Dayanand Saraswati reintroduced these spiritual texts to mankind and the result was emergence of a new class of firebrand intellectuals like Gurudutt Vidarthi, Swami Shradanand, Pandit Lekh Ram and many others who took the ideology of Swami Dayanand across India.
“Today a belief prevails in the world that only our faith is right else all the others are untrue and this very thinking has become the prime cause of most of the conflicts across the world today,” the Governor said.
He asserted that the Vedas are meant for the welfare of the entire world and not for the residents of selected geographical boundaries and the only person who made us familiar with Vedas is Swami Dayanand.
“Though many of us have the knowledge of Vedas but unfortunately we are unable to share it further with our neighbours and the world,” Acharya Devvrat maintained adding: “Of what use this knowledge will be if we die without giving it to others. How will this knowledge be spread to the coming generations and how will the future generations take benefit from this if we fail to share it with others.”
Earlier, the Governor had started his address by chanting the popular hymn: “Om Asato Maa Sad-Gamaya, Tamaso Maa Jyotir-Gamaya, Mrtyor-Maa Amrtam Gamaya (O Lord from the phenomenal world of unreality lead me towards the reality of eternal self, from the darkness of ignorance, lead me towards the light of spiritual knowledge, from the world of mortality of material attachment lead me to the world of immortality of self-realization).”
Acharya Devvrat further said that the era from 1900 to independence was golden period of Arya Samaj as the Vedic ideology flourished at this time in almost entire of north India and almost no household was without the influence of Swami Dayanand Saraswati and Vedas.
“Even during the freedom struggle, all the freedom fighters were in one way or the other influenced by Swami Dayanand and Arya Samaj and after the independence of the country, the social reformers who did great jobs for the country were impacted by Swami Dayanand,” he continued adding that shockingly in the present era with population of India touching the 145 crore mark, the ideology of Swami Dayanand is going dim and blind faiths, superstitions, ignorance and illogic rituals are acquiring prominence.
“In such a situation our responsibility increases manifolds and many people have already accomplished such tasks successfully,” the Governor of Gujarat stated.
He underscored the role of Dayanand Anglo-Vedic (DAV) institutions, Lala Laajpat Rai and other prominent social reformers of that time and informed how they including Mahatama Hansraj contributed their lives to educate the coming generation and the DAV was founded.
“The passionate Lala Munshi Ram who later on became Swami Shradanand read Satyarth Prakash of Swami Dayanand Saraswati and got inspiration to revive the extinct Gurukul institutions during the British rule and he discovered such a place in mountainous Haridwar on the banks of Holy Ganga which was very near to the nature where he raised huts and started the Gurukul but no one sent their children that time to such institutions though the Arya Samaj was at its zenith then as many from bigwig families were becoming saints, preachers, devotional singers etc,” Acharya said.
He informed that ultimately Swami Shradanand made his sons his disciples and became their mentor and started the Gurukul which progressed after that.
“You all know today what type of preaching have befooled the people with mushrooming number of mentors and their several followers,” the Governor said.
He stated that while those with certain wrong designs wrongly interpreted Vedas, Swami Dayanand translated the Vedic texts properly which if the country reads today will end all the existing problems.
“Swami Dayanand Saraswati made big sacrifices in his life, consumed poison, bore humiliation from this world but paid no heed to all such happenings and founded the Arya Samaj,” Acharya Devvrat said making an appeal to the followers of Arya Samaj to find the ways and means to further the path and ideology of Vedas to enlighten the world.
“My firm belief is that the revival of Arya Samaj can be done by Arya Vir Dals and Arya Veerangna Dals but such bodies today are almost empty and same is the case of Ved Prachar Vibhags in Arya Samajs which are existing no more these days. Big speeches can’t do what such frontal organisations of Arya Samaaj can do,” he said.
“Acharya said that in 1912, the annual function of Gurukul Kangri had a gathering of one lakh when the population of India was 33 crore but now as the population of country is 145 crore not even 15 people remain present in the annual day of the varsity. This is our progress. Take this seriously. When we will be in big number we will proudly say that we are Arya Samajists,” he maintained.
“Today the educated Hindu youth of our country is not satisfied with the existing knowledge in our country as the same contains false and non-convincing tales and to satisfy such persons the true knowledge of Vedas as preached by Swami Dayanand Saraswati can be the solution,” the Governor said.
The programme was conducted under the leadership of Arya Pratinidhi Sabha J&K president, Narendra Trehan, with support from Vinay Arya (general secretary of Arya Pratinidhi Sabha, Delhi) along with general secretary, Rajive Sethi, treasurer, Yogesh Gupta, Ranvijay Shastri, Mukesh Shastri, Chain Lal Shastri, Dr. Satyapriya, Dr. Priyanka, Kuldeep Gupta and senior vice president, Arun Kumar Gupta.
On this occasion, Dr Vivak Manohar Arya, a distinguished professor acclaimed for his work in soil science, climate change and natural resource management at SKAUST Jammu, received an appreciation award from the Governor of Gujarat Acharya Devvarat for his exceptional contributions to the society.
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