Jignasa Journal Of History Of Ideas And Culture Part 02

Author(s): Vibha Upadhyaya and Others
Publisher: University of Rajasthan

Page 59

Dayanand Saraswati: Campaign for Social Regeneration
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creating a reformed and regenerated social order. In fact, his efforts at reinterpreting theology and the fundamental religious tenets of Hinduism were basically intended to relate them to social concerns. Significantly, his concept of religion was essentially a moral ethical concept linked to the tradition of service, charity and respect for learned, aged and the saintly people. In addition to his concept of religion, his comprehensive and consistent deliberations on proper upbringing of children, settlement of marriages, concept of education, restructuring of the social organization, role and functions of state and law were all motivated to create a moral order.
For the regeneration of the Aryan race, he carved out a grandiose blueprint of socio-religious and political structure through a painstaking reinterpretation of the Vedas. Reforms in the institutions of caste and marriage, comprehensive and compulsory education, gender relations and women's issues occupied a seminal place in Dayanand's programme of social change. Significantly, it was his vision of rejuvenated womanhood that was of seminal significance due to various reasons. Dayanand's primary agenda was creation of physically robust, morally upright, intellectually enlightened and culturally proud Hindu race. Women, therefore, had a vital role to play in reproducing and nurturing a healthy race. Secondly, unlike other reformers who advocated limited education for women, he advocated a comprehensive and compulsory programme of education for women, at par with men. Thirdly, he vigorously pleaded for eradication of social evils that adversely affected women's status in society. Fourthly, he was particularly sensitive to the deprived sections of women, especially the widows, on whose predicament he was particularly articulate. Dayanand was able to inculcate urgency as far as improvement in women's status was concerned. His liberal stance was perceptible in his unequivocal declaration that the privilege of studying as well as interpreting the Vedas and other sacred scriptures should be accessible to all the groups, including women and sudras, who had traditionally been barred from Vedic knowledge. He bravely defied tradition and had scandalized the orthodox community beyond measure since he had extended revealed knowledge to women and the sudras. Significantly, Dayanand linked national regeneration to betterment in social situation.
Dayanand's journey into the past was compelled by the challenges that he came across during his journeys to numerous parts of the country. Until 1860, Dayanand undertook extensive journeys in search of learned yogis to attain real knowledge. His quest took him to various strongholds of Brahmanical religion such as Haridwar on the occasion of Kumbh Mela), Rishikesh, Garhwal, Shrinagar, Rudraprayag in 1854, Kedarnath, Okhimath, Joshimath, Badrinarayan in 1855 and Farukhabad and Benaras in 1856. In November 1860, Dayanand reached the hermitage of Virjanand and stayed here for three years to study Sanskrit grammar.
Dayanand's sojourns during this period gave him a clear perception of the decaying conditions of Hindu religion. He was deeply disillusioned with the contemporary state of Hinduism. He was particularly appalled by the Brahmannical domination over Hindu society. It was during this phase that Dayanand expressed his preference for an action oriented life when he came to the conclusion that "acquisition of knowledge and then doing good to others was a better proposition."
It needs to be emphasized that Dayanand considered the challenges from within Hinduism to be as serious and widespread as the challenge from Christian missionaries. In his highly popular series of lectures, Poona Pravachan, Dayanand is more articulate and critical of the immoral and unethical domination of the Brahmins. In his trips to Calcutta, Allahbad, Kanpur, Jabalpur, Bombay, Ajmer, Jaipur, Haridwar and Vrindavan he was more combative of the Brahmannical challenge who were deeply stirred and disturbed by Dayanand's reformulation of the tenets of Hinduism. At all these