Home Minister Amit Shah today paid tributes to social reformer Dayanand Saraswati on his birth anniversary. In a social media post he said, Swami Dayanand Saraswati gave the slogan ‘Return to the Vedas’ and revived cultural nationalism.
Mr. Shah said that Swami Dayanand Saraswati was a strong supporter of women’s education. He added that Swami Dayanand Saraswati made people aware of social evils and made the feelings of Swaraj, Swadharma and Swadesh a subject of public awareness. Dayanand Saraswati, born Mool Shankar Tiwari (12 February 1824 – 30 October 1883), was a Hindu philosopher, social leader and founder of the Arya Samaj, a reform movement of Hinduism.
His book Satyarth Prakash has remained one of the influential texts on the philosophy of the Vedas and clarifications of various ideas and duties of human beings. He was the first to give the call for Swaraj as “India for Indians” in 1876, a call later taken up by Lokmanya Tilak.
Denouncing the idolatry and ritualistic worship, he worked towards reviving Vedic ideologies. Subsequently, the philosopher and President of India, S. Radhakrishnan, called him one of the “makers of Modern India”, as did Sri Aurobindo.
He was a sanyasi (ascetic) from boyhood and a scholar. He believed in the infallible authority of the Vedas. Dayananda advocated the doctrines of karma and reincarnation. He emphasized the Vedic ideals of brahmacharya, including celibacy and devotion to God.