Dayananda Saraswati was a social reformer, Vedic philosopher, and the founder of the Arya Samaj community who values the Vedas (ancient Indian spiritual texts) as their supreme authority. Members of this community believe in the existence of ‘One God’ as the ultimate reality. They refrain from ritualistic ways of worshipping as well as the practice of idolatry.
Dayananda was born in 1824 in the Tankara region of Gujarat to a Brahmin Hindu family. The name his parents gave him was Moola Sankara. From an early age, Dayananda had an inquisitive mind with a strong inclination towards exploring the true meaning of life. When he was 13-14 years old, he accompanied his father to a local Shiva temple on a Shivratri night. There, he observed that a mouse was stealing the offerings and was running all over the idol of Shiva. This incident had a profound impact on him and led him to conclude that idol worship is pointless.
In 1846, he left home and became an ascetic, exploring different schools of yoga, meditation, and visiting famous pilgrimage sites of North India, especially the Himalayas. During one such exploration, he found his guru, Virajananda Dandeesha, who believed that Hindus have lost their way of life and that there’s a strong need to revive ancient Vedic practices. Based on his guru’s guidance, Dayananda started reforming Hinduism by traveling to several parts of the country, challenging religious scholars and pandits to public debates. His knowledge of the Vedas and Sanskrit literature was phenomenal, and it was very difficult to break his logic. He established Arya Samaj by giving Ten Universal Principles called ‘Krinvanto Vishwaryam’ as a code of ethics. He fought against gender discrimination, child marriage, and the caste system. He promoted the idea of the adoption of Hindi as the national language. He inspired the nation to adopt the principles of Swarajya (self-governance) and spiritualism.