As proud as we are to be Indian, how much do we really know about our culture? Here is a little bit a friend sent me about one of the great men who truly did something for our culture!!! This is only a brief blurb but if you search any of his books or anything else you will find much more information for those of you who are interested...
Dayanand Saraswati (1824-1883) is proclaimed as the true reviver of Vedic culture. During his time period, India was under rule of the British. Many beliefs and life styles changes were being administered especially in the education system. However, he was brought up in an isolated community that didn’t get influenced much. In fact, he didn’t know English. However, he was a scholar in Sanskrit without western influence.
During Shivrati, the tradition is to stay up all night doing parayana. Dayanand’s Dad told him to do this. During his worship, a mouse came and ate the prasad and he thought to himself, why couldn’t god protect his own offerings? Dayanand Saraswati at this point lost his faith in idols as God because during his time it had become a blind worship. People truly believed that the murti was God, and forgot the meaning of murti pooja and Sanatana dharma.
Saraswati then left home to find a guru. He served many so called sadhu’s but soon realized their hypocrisy or corruption. He finally came across a blind saint (Swami Virjanandji Dandhi) who he worshiped and served with utmost regard. From him he learned everything about Vaidic culture, from Sanskrit, the systems, the Vedas and even how to debate. For his final test he was to go to Kashi to debate with the most well renowned Vedic scholars. He was able to defeat them by giving pin point interpretations from the Vedas with accurate references. He was obviously not liked much in Kashi because of his strong adherence to the original word. He went “BACK TO VEDAS”. He denounced all corrupted practices and puranas as they were believed to be truths instead of educational fables or stories. One amazing part about him was that he wrote a commentary on the Vedas, which was done before he entered main stream society. It is considered the only modern commentary that is uninfluenced by western culture and thought. (I will not go into his philosophy but if anyone has any questions please let me know- just be aware that it can be easily be misinterpreted.).
He also wrote Satya Prakash. It is a book outlining how to live a life as a true Sanatani. It is available in English (The Light of Truth).
After some time, he began to get many disciples one of which is Lal Rajpat Rai. Together the led the Arya Samaj. Today, the Arya samaj is strong and has influences with many organizations including the United Nations. The swami’s in the Arya samaj go through a rigorous process of learning the Veds and their interpretation. Some are even Chaturvedis. They hold agni hotras, yagna’s, and also do the Upanayana (Janoi) ceremony for anyone (male and female). They are staunch follower of the words of the Vedas and will not deviate. Other scriptures such as the smrutis, ithihases, and puranas are used as secondary material only.
If we look at our recent history, revival of our scriptures into our culture has been mostly pioneered by the west. It is our ignorance but we must praise them for their effort. People such and Roman Rolland and Max Muller have dedicated their lives to understanding the true meaning of our dharma from the primary sources. Dayanand Saraswati was the only one to open up the Vedas and bring it back to the common person. He did not feel it was an exclusive right of Brahmins. He proved that classes were no where to be found in the Vedas and thus are obsolete. He broke many of the misconceptions and corruptions of the Brahmins. As a result there were numerous attempts to take his life, until the final one, on October 30, 1883. For this we should remember today, as the beginning of the revival of our ancient Vedic culture.
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