REVIVALISM FOR TRANSFORMATION

SWAMI DAYANAND SARASWATI, A REMARKABLE EDUCATIONIST AND REFORMER, PLAYED A SEMINAL ROLE IN REMOVING ORTHODOXY AND OTHER SOCIAL ILLS PLAGUING THE HINDU SOCIETY. HE ALSO MADE EDUCATION ACCESSIBLE TO ALL

- VAGISH ISSAR

Swami Dayanand Saraswati, Yug Pravartak/ Yug Drashta and founder of Arya Samaj, rebuilt the Hindu society in a new mould. He established the vision that Bharat is our own land and no person of foreign birth could ever become head of its affairs. Swamiji believed and proved that untouchability did not exist in our Vedas. Through his reform movement ‘Arya Samaj’, Swamiji succeeded in launching a great movement against untouchability. Later, Mahatma Gandhi and the Congress followed in Swamiji’s footsteps during the freedom struggle and even post-Independence.

ERADICATING CHILD MARRIAGE

During Swami Dayanand’s days, child marriages were common. He vehemently opposed this practice and worked hard to eradicate this curse from the Hindu society. Child marriages were later legally abolished, though sadly it is still practiced to some extent in certain regions and among backward Hindus.

Swami Dayanand also launched a movement against polygamy – the practice of marrying more than one woman. Later, Arya Samaj, through “Magic Lantern”, worked for eradicating this evil. Arya Pracharaks travelled widely to remote villages and towns of Bharat and successfully removed this evil from our Hindu society. Subsequently, it was lawfully abolished under the Hindu Code Bill.

FOCUS ON VEDAS