By: Akanksha Shrivastava
Publisher
Aadhya Publishing House
Swami Dayanand Saraswati was a flambeau who laid the foundation of Swaraj.
Very few people would know that Swa- miji was a valuable constellation in the struggle of independence, apart from a Baba Sanyasi. The constellation that gave birth to stars like Bhagat Singh, Ashfaq Ullah Khan, Madan Lal Dhingra and Lala Lajpat Rai and showed the path of Swaraj.
Hello, I am Akanksha Shrivastava, Founder of Aadhya Publishing House, sharing a story of a great hero of a great country India.
Swami Dayanand Saraswati whose real name was Mool Shankar Tiwari, was a Brahmin born in a great sage tradition. He was born in 1824 when India was under British Raj. The British Raj who wanted to rob India's treasury, along with robbing India's morality and pride. Swami Dayanand Sarawati was one of those scholars who understood the policies of the British government and knew that a prosperous country like India can become a slave only when its education system and culture is abolished.
I am sharing with you all the statement of Lord Macaulay which he has given to the British Parliament on Februrary, 2, 1835.
"I have travelled across the length and breadth of India and I have not seen one person who is a beggar, who is a thief such wealth I have seen in this country, such high moral values, people of such caliber, that I do not think we would ever conquer this country, unless we break the very backbone of this nation, which is her spiritual and cultural heritage and therefore, I propose that we replace her old and ancient education system, her culture, for if the Indians think that all that is foreign and English is good and greater than their own, they will lose their selfesteem, their native culture and they will become what we want them, a truly dominated nation".
Lord Macaulay's Address to the British Parliament on 2nd Feb 1835
Swami Dayanand Saraswati is one of those intellectuals who understood how we are being taken advantage of because of our weaknesses. He understood that the weakness of the Indians is that, they believe in ATITHI DEVO BHAVA. How Indians, seeing God in every living being, bow before each one and believe in his words. How easy it is to fool people who are compassionate and always ready to help. Keeping these things ahead, Indians were first misguided by the British rulers in a way that they love Indians and they are their well-wishers, then it was explained to them that Indian culture, dress, food and drink are all inferior.
Their traditions and beliefs are all meaningless. They were told that if they want to live a happy life, then they have to follow the rules and regulations of the British government. Swami Dayanand Saraswati understood that we have become part of a well thought out conspiracy and if we want to get out of this trap, then we have to strengthen our roots again. We have to know our Vedas again, have to read and understand them. He started the promotion of Hindi language, Vedic traditions and Vedas and he also took this revolutionary step when almost all of them had come under the myth that whatever britishers do is always right. They began to consider themselves wrong and the British right. But Swami ji fearlessly took the side of the right and always said that India can never be a slave of the British rule. Oh! who has the ability to weaken the Sanatan tradition that has been going on for centuries. Swamiji knew that Indians are perfect in every way, but in the shadow of the dust of inferiority complex, they have forgotten themselves.
Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel had said that Swami Dayanand Saraswati laid the foundation of Swaraj in the true sense. We do not even know that the credit for what we are breathing in independent India today also goes to Swami Dayanand Saraswati. Swamiji was so fearless that he always had the power to say right as right and wrong as wrong. When people got entangled in useless rituals, he founded ARYA SAMAAJ to bring people who had strayed from God and brought them on the right path.Then he himself stood against the superstitions of his own people. Everyone is well aware of how much dam it takes to fight against the loved ones as compared to others. And the one who has the power to say right in front of his own people as right and wrong as wrong, will he care about others? From this you can understand that with what fearlessness Swamiji must have laid the foundation of the struggle of Independence. Wouldn't intellectuals like Swami ji know that how much effort, how much time and how much sacrifice will it take for us to regain freedom? Surely you must have known, but without taking care of these things, he kept the flame of Swaraj burning in the heroes of the country and kept motivating them to give supreme for freedom.
If the culture is as rich as Our Sanatan Culture then one can suppress it, but no one has the courage to destroy it. Our heroes achieved freedom but could not save the history written in books and libraries that were available to common people, because the invaders destroyed the libraries holding the books having stored the major part of out culture, history and tradition. They vanished whole libraries of schools like takshila, Nalanda etc. and these things are very intelligently removed from the text book also.
But this is a blessing and we should thanks to our heroes that today we are able to breathe in the independent air. Heroes like Swamiji have done their duty for the country very well, now it is our responsibility to make our children know the correct history and feel proud that they belong to a great country. We are full of such sons and glorified history. This is our truth and we should be proud to tell it.
Jai Maa Bharati
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