Asian Journal of Research in Social Sciences and Humanities
Vol. 5, No. 7, July 2015, pp. 110-115.
Asian Journal
of Research in
Social Sciences
and
Humanities
ISSN 2249-7315
www.aijsh.org
Asian Research Consortium
Role of Arya Samaj in Propagation of Vedic Religion
Tajinder Kaur*
*Associate Professor,
Head of Department of History,
D.A.V College,
Malout, India.
DOI NUMBER-10.5958/2249-7315.2015.00164.1
Abstract
The Arya Samaj is a socio-religious movement different in many ways from similar other movements
in Hinduism. Starting as a movement of protest about a hundred years ago, it not only condemns the
evils' of traditional Hindu society such as suttee, human and animal sacrifice, idolatry, polytheism, the
ban on widow remarriage, ritualism, caste rigidities, and untouchability, but also marks a sharp break
from traditional Hinduism as regards proselytization. Distinctive of the Arya Smaj is its determination
to stem the conversion of Hindus to Islam and Christianity. Its programmes of shuddhi (purification)
and sangathan (unification) aim to reclaiming Hindus converted to these religions as well as stopping
further conversion. The Arya Samaj has developed gradually into a complex organisation. It has a
hierarchical structure with the Sarvadeshik Sabha (international Aryan League) at the apex, followed
by Pratinidhi Sabhas (Provincial Leagues) and local, RMandirs (temples). It has leaders, officials and
members, each with a set of specific tasks to be performed by them, and an apparatus for performing
the tasks. The organized round of life of the Arya Samajis focuses. Upon meetings, ceremonies and
rituals .They also have a shaved body of articulate beliefs and values. The Arya Samaj has been studied
extensively from many different points of views. Scholars had studied its historical growth, its scope
and mission, and its theology and philosophy. A few social scientists had studied its contribution to
socio —religious reform and to the growth of Indian nationalism. However, all these studies were
based on literary sources, neglecting the actual relations and institutions. None of them had any
reference to the internal organization of the Arya Samaj, the effect it had on the day-to-day life of its
members, and its relation to the wider society.
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Introduction
The Arya Samaj, the last of the major religious protest movements of the 19th Century emerged as a
reaction against Christianity and Islam as well as against the earlier reform movements such as Brahmo
Samaj and Prarthana Samaj. Dayanand sought to reform Hinduism by purging it of all evils which had
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become the target of Christian missionaries' attack. But as soon as he took up the idea of engendering a
radical social and religious reform in Hindu thought and life, he realized that Hinduism had formidable
rivals in Christianity and Islam, both of which were proselytizing religions. Therefore, he thought it is
necessary to give the same character to Hinduism. This, he thought, could be achieved if, in addition to
be able to defend their religion, Hindu could learn to take offensive against their assailants, throwing
upon them, in turn, the onus of defense. Dayanand not only criticized Christianity and Islam but
declared that the Vedas were the only source of true religion. As a result, the Arya Samaj developed
into puritanical, austere, anti-organistic, and highly militant movement — reviling Islam and
Christianity, and advocating reform in those areas of social life which were vulnerable points of attack
from Christians and Muslims.
It is significant that several of the eminent Maharashtrian reformers, Phule, Agarkar, and D.K.
Karve, had no connections with Prarthana Samaj. In 1874 the Samaj was visited by Swami Dayanand
Saraswati. However, his ideas regarding the infallibility of the Vedas prevented the Prarthana Samajists
from following him.
The Arya Samaj founded in 1875 was more conservative and aggressive than either Brahmo
Samaj or Prarthana Samaj. Brahmo Samaj was a mere group of the intelligentsia. It was under Swami
Dayanand that Hinduism, for the first time, took a militant turn. Unlike Brahmo Samaj and Prarthana
Samaj, Dayanand sought to make Hinduism a proselytizing religion and started the twin movements of
Shuddhi (purification) and sangathan (unification) to check the proselytizing activities of Islam and
Christianity. Dayanand wanted not only to check the conversion of Hindus to Islam and Christianity,
but also to bring non-Hindus into the Hindu fold and to convert them to Hinduism.
Propagation of Vedic Religion
Dayanan's idea of forming a Samaj for the propagation of Vedic religion, however, came from the
example of Brahmo Samaj and Prarthana Samaj. The organizational approach to religious and social
reform was an innovation derived from the West and was first used by Brahmo Samaj and Prarthana
Samaj. Dayanand had functioned until 1873 in the world of temples, melas (religious fairs), ashramas
and pilgrimages, in the company of pundits and yogis, and through the traditional medium of shastrarth
(religious debates).
Towards the end of 1874 and early months of 1875 Dayanand was in Bombay Presidency and
was able to attract some of the reformers like M.G. Ranade, R.C. Bhandarkar, N.G. Chandavarkar, N.
Nadajan, S.N. Gokhale, and V.R. Shinde. Ranade gave him strong support in Poona in his first
encounter with the local pundits and later edited a Marathi translation of some of the lectures which
Dayanand delivered in Bombay. Dayanand's strongest support came from Gopal Hari Deshmukh, the
Marathi publicist and at one time the president of the Bombay Arya Samaj. With the encouragement
from these distinguished men, Daypand established the first Arya Samaj (local Arya centre) at Rajko in
Saurashtra in 1875.
Although in the beginning Bombay intellectuals were impressed by the Arya Samar they soon
left it. Dayanand's attack on popular Hinduism and against the religious teachings of Braluninism and
his rigid belief in the infallibility of the Vedas were some of the reasons why the Arya Samaj failed to
establish roots in the place of its origin. While Dayanand's views on the infallibility of the Vedas
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alienated him from other Bombay reformers, his naked attack on Vallabhacharis made him unpopular
with the traditional religious pundits. Around 1870, Vallabhachari and Swami Narayana sects were
flourishing in Gujarat. Dayanand condemned the idolatry, temple worship, pilgrimages and other
religious practices of these sects. He challenged the local religious pundits to Shastartha at Poona,
Rajkot, Ahmedabad and Baroda to prove that the Vedas preached idolatry (Vidyavachaspati 1957).
Although Dayanand was able to get support of eminent men like Mahadev Govind Ranade, he did not
succeed in winning over any particular section of the population.
Before Dayanand achieved his success in Punjab, he went to Dehi in 1877 with the prospect of
gaining recognition for his religious beliefs among high personages who had come to Delhi to attend
Lord Lytton's Imperial Assemblage. Dayanand had hoped to unify the various reform groups into a
similar body. It was with this aim in mind that he met the Brahmo leader Keshav Chandra Sen and the
Muslim leader Sayyid Ahmad Khan. His proposal to join together for the reform of Indian society was,
however, rejected. The Brahmos found it difficult to accept his belief in the infallibility of the Vedas.
Muslim leaders, on the other hand, not only found his doctrine unacceptable but also saw in him a
militant challenge to their community.
The prospect of meeting all Hindu rajas and Muslim nawabs at the Imperial Assemblage was
another temptation for Dayanand to visit Delhi. He had hoped to convince them all about the necessity
of having a unified policy for the reform of Indian society. Dayanand believed that it would be easier to
achieve his aim if he was able to convert the local rulers and the dominant groups to his beliefs. He had
then hoped to use them as his "agents" to spread his message to all parts of India. The raja of Indore
tried to arrange a meeting between Dayanand and the other Rajas but failed.
Hierarchical Structure of Arya Samaj
The Arya Samaj has Hierarchical structure. At the base are the Arya Samaj mandirs. In the middle, the
Provincial Councils, called Pratinidhi Sabhas, and at the apex, the International Aryan League, Called
Arya Sarvdeshik Sablia. These different levels of Arya Samaj were established over a period of time.
Literally, an Arya Samaj mandir is a temple. However, as we shall see, it is a number of other
things besides a temple, and some Arya in name. For this reason as well as for the sake of brevity, we
call an Arya Samaj mandir 'a local Arya centre'. A local Arya centre is an organization of people who
meet periodically at a particular place to perform certain rituals according to the norms of the Arya
Samaj. If the members meet under a tree in the open air, even that would be called a local Arya centre.
Every local Arya centre has a fixed meeting place. In big cities, many local Arya centres own palatial
buildings, containing lecture halls, committee rooms, etc. In smaller places, they often hire rooms for
meetings. Even when a building is in regular use and referred to as a mandir, the Arya Samajists never
bow before it as is a common sight in India with regard to Hindu temples.
Ideally, any nine individuals believing in the tenets of the Arya Samaj and ready to abide by its
constitution form a local Arya centre. In addition, effective membership involves attendance at
meetings and upright conduct. The minimum age required for membership is eighteen. A person who
thus joins the local Arya centre is called an Arya.
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The membership of any local Arya centre is in terms of the individual rather than the family;
thus even a husband and wife or a father and son may belong to two different centres. In the two local
Arya centres we studied such as the husband and wife, or father and son, were divided between
different Arya centres. In theory, caste, class, race, creed and nationality are no bars to becoming a
member of the Arya Samaj. All are equal and hence have equal rights.
The organization of a local Arya centre corresponds to the organization of secular associations.
Each local Arya centre has a hierarchy of offices and a body of rules and regulations. There are formal
rules governing the recruitment of members and their rights and obligations. The common offices of a
local Arya centre are those of Prathan Mantri (President), Up-Pradhan Mantri (Vice-President), Mantri
(Secretary), Khazanchi (Treasurer or Accountant) and Pustakadhyaksha (Librarian). The Samaj does
not ordain ministers or priests. Any layman can officiate at the services or ceremonies and be asked to
lecture.A person in normally expected to be on probation for a period of eleven months before he
acquires the right to vote. All the offices are honorary.
Every local Arya centre constitutes an Antrang Sabha (Executive Committee) consisting of
elected office-bearers and distinguished members, to manage the affairs of the local centre.
The Executive Committee has the right to suspend any member for failure to pay the stipulated
one percent of income or for any other misconduct. All decisions of the committee can be referred to
the general body. Neither the Executive Committee nor the general body is, however, empowered to
make changes in the creed or the constitution of the Samaj.
In addition to the local Arya centres there are in every city one or more young men's Arya
centres which serve as recruiting centres for the local Arya centres. the young men's Arya centres,
unlike the local Arya centres, recruit young children and insist on nothing more than a belief in God
and the payment of a trifling monthly subscription. The young men's separate rooms of their own.
At the second level of the hierarchy of the Arya Samaj are the bodies called Pratinidhi Sabhas
(Provincial—Councils). They are composed of the representatives of the local Arya centres. Each local
centre is entitled to send one representative for every ten members on its rolls and it has to give ten
percent of its total income to the respective Provincial Council. A Provincial Council has three types of
persons as its members: (a) the representatives from local Arya centres. (b) the secretarial staff, and (c)
the Updeshaks (Preachers). The Updeshaks are trained at various gurukuls (seminaries) run by the Arya
Samaj. No local Arya centre has its own preachers. Whenever required, it asks for a Preacher from the
Provincial Council.
It is the duty of the Provincial Councils to arrange for dissemination of the Vedic religion.
These Councils also publish newspapers or weeklies containing news regarding the activities of various
affiliated local Arya centres, other Provincial Councils, and matters relating to the Arya Samaj in
general. The Provincial Councils have the power to amend rules of management by a general
referendum of all the effective members in the province, but it is powerless to alter the basic principles
or the creed of Arya Samaj. The general body of Provincial Council is elected every three years, but the
office bearers and the members of the Executive Committee of the Provincial Council are elected every
year.
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According to Dayanand's Satyarth Prakash, there should be only one Provincial Council for
every province or state (considered as an administrative unit). In reality, however, it is not so.The local
Arya centres in Iraq, Thailand, Singapore, USA and England, for instance, are not attached to any
Provincial Council.
Above the Provincial Councils there is a universal body called the Sarvadeshik Arya Pratinidhi
Sabha. 1t is constituted by the representatives of all the local Arya centres and Provincial Councils of
the world. As already mentioned, all the local Arya centres are not attached to the Provincial Councils.
These local Arya centres are, therefore, controlled by the Sarvadeshik Sabha. It is the supreme body of
the Arya Samaj. In day-to-day work each local Arya centre is an autonomous unit and the Provincial
Council derives its sanction from it. The Sarvadeshik Sabha forms the connecting link between
different provinces. All the different offices of the Arya Samaj are required to record the proceedings of
the various meetings in Arya Bhasha (Hindi language) in Devanagari script. This rule, however, may
be relaxed in the case of local Arya centres outside India.
Arya Samaj and Politics
However, it is becoming increasingly clear that in very region in India, the region's history, traditions
and social institutions mould its political developments and the responses of its politicians. Just as caste
has become an important factor in the political life of some regions, religions has assumed ascendancy
in the political life of Punjab.
It would be incorrect to think that the involvement of religion in Punjab politics is a recent
phenomenon. Religion has played a significant role in the politics of Punjab during Sikh as well as
British rule. What is of significance is that the attainment of Independence by India and its acceptance
of the democratic constitution based on adult franchise have increased the intensity of the political role
of religion. Many religious groups are not closely associated with various political parties at the
national, the State and the local levels in a variety of ways.
While the great deal has been written about the political involvement of religious groups and
the exploitation of religious sentiments by politicians, little attention has been paid to the relationship
between specific religious groups and political parties.
Dayanand the founder as a Social Reformer.
Dayanand's call for return to the Vedas combined a call for social reform. He was a monotheist
and opposed to idolatry. He fought the orthodox pundits with arguments they could appreciate. He tried
to purge Hinduism of idolatrous accretions and other "evils" it had acquired over the centuries, by
advocating a return to "pure Hinduism", of which the basis was a belief in one God, which did not
prescribe idolatry, and which gave no sanction to distinctions of caste, untouchability, early marriage,
wasteful expenditure on dancing girls and fire-works at the time of marriage, tirathas (sacred places)
and vratas (festive vows).
Although Dayanand disapproved of privileges and inequalities based on birth, he held fast to
the Vedic notion of four varnas .But he added that the varna of a person was not determined on the
basis of birth but on the basis of gun (character), karma (action), and svabhava (temperament).
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Although Dayanand recognized the four asramas or grades of life, he did not think it Was
compulsory for a person to go through them all to obtain salvation. These four asramas are
Brahmacharya asrama (life of a student), Grihastha asrama (life of a householder), Vanprasthasrama
(life of meditation and austerity) in which a man leaves his family and gives up worldly enjoyments,
and Sanyasarama (life of renunciation), in which a man gives up all personal ties and claims nothing,
not even self-protection.
In his ethical teaching for which he greatly relied on the authority of Manusmriti, Dayanand
laid great stress on social customs having to do with marriage, food, dress and relationship between
sexes. He said none of these customs had any religious significance. He wrote, "Let all good men
remember that good conduct consists only in the avoidance of untruthfulness, injustice, inordinate
affection or hatred and other evil habits, and in the practice of love and kindness towards the
cultivation of gentle disposition and in the promotion of public good, etc.
Dayanand allowed the practice of niyoga, sexual relationship outside marriage, to husbands
and wives in certain circumstances. This practice was described by many orthodox Hindus as adultery.
In 1892 some Arya Samajists brought a law suit against a Hindu who had described niyoga as adultery,
but the case was dismissed. Many Arya Samajists themselves repudiate the practice of niyoga.
Nevertheless, Dayanand also advocated certain reforms in the social customs as laid down in the
Manusmriti.
Dayanand supported the idea of foreign travel. In 1870, there was a controversy regarding
overseas journeys. On the one hand were a band of social reformers who held that overseas journeys
should be allowed as they would help Indian to come out of the grip of 'absurd' customs. The upholders
of orthodoxy, however, disagreed and frequently excommunicated men on return from their journeys
abroad. Dayanand tried to establish his point by quoting verses from Sanskrit literature. He wrote,
"Those who do no hesitate to go abroad become fearless and bold and attain great superiority by
studiously imbibing the good qualities and adopting the good customs and manners of the foreigners
and rejecting their faults and their evil habits and bad manners. 0 ye foolish people! Your character and
faith are not lost by having sexual intercourse with a low despicable prostitute, but you consider it
harmful and debasing to associate with good men of other countries.
Concluding Remarks
Unlike Hinduism the Arya Samaj has clearly defined dogma. To be an Arya Samajist it is not sufficient
to believe in the principles of the Arya Samaj, but it is also necessary that a man should accept
Dayanand's translation of the Vedas. It is revealing to consider the views expressed by Lala Lajpat Rai,
one of the important Arya Samaj leaders in Punjab, on this subject. He writes, "The beliefs of Swami
Dayanand were tacitly accepted as the doctrines of the Arya Samaj and formed its propaganda. No one
raised any question for years, when the question of meat-diet was unfortunately pushed to the front on
grounds more or less personal in their origin. Those who stood by this practice argued that the Samaj
had by its conduct given it the character of an unwritten law, and that without a definite creed it was
impossible to carry on any religious propaganda. They saw the dangers of eclecticism, which had
retarded the progress of Brahmo Samaj and did not wish the same fate to overtake the Arya Samaj".
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