Swami Dayanand Saraswati Jayanti

Held on 10th day Krishna Paksha, Falgun Month

Swami Dayanand Saraswati Jayanti is the birthday of Swami Dayananda Saraswati. Jayanti is a Hindi word standing for 'Victory' and as such refer to victorious celebrations in the name of the acknowledged personality. Swami Dayananda Saraswati was an important Hindu religious scholar reformer and the founder of Arya Samaj. Arya Samaj was a Hindu reform movement meant to break the idol and ritualistic worship prevalent during his time. Though popularly known as 'Swami Dayanand Saraswati', 'Maharishi Dayanand Saraswati' and 'Dayanand Saraswati', it wasn't his real name. His original name was Mool Shankar Tiwari as he was born under Mul Nakshatra (a Constellation movement). He was given his poular name by his Guru (teacher) named Swami Vrijananda. Swami is a hindi word standing for 'Master' and Maharishi stands for 'Great Sage'. As per the Hindu Calendar he was born on the 10th day of waning phase of moon or Krishna Paksha Dasami Tithi in Falgun month which is not fixed and keeps changing every year. As per the Gregorian calendar his birth date is 12th February, 1824. But it is celebrated according to the Hindu Calendar. This is a is a day of celebration and joy for everyone, especially hindus who remember him and his contributions to the society.

History

Dayanand Saraswati was born in the village of Tankara, near Morvi (Morbi) in the Kathiawar region (Rajkot district) of the princely state of Gujarat in 1824. His father's name was Karshanji Lalji Tiwari and mother's name was Yashodabai. Theirs was a brahmin family with his father being a tax collector, they were a rich, prosperous and influential. Dayanand led a comfortable life and was educated under the traditional brahmin education. Brahmanism dominated hs early childhood. At the age of eight, he was invested with the Sacred Thread (Upanayna). His father was a follower of Shiva and taught Dayanand methods to seek the blessings of god through rituals and was advised about the importance of fasting.

However, things were about to change in the life of the little Dayanand. Still in his childhood days, he attended a Shivratri night. He was supposed to remain awake the whole night in obedience to Lord Shiva. His family asleep, Dayananda saw a mouse eating the offerings made to the lord. He was shocked and wondered how can a  God protect humanity when he wasn't able to protect his own offerings. He argued with his father about the purpose of worshipping a helpless God or a god's statute. Though his father disapproved his views but young Dayanand wasn't convinced. This incident shattered his faith in idol worship and thereafter he refused to participate in the religious rites for the rest of his life. As time passed, dayanad witnessed the deaths of his younger sister and his uncle from cholera. Dayananda pondered over the real meaning of life and death. He had so many questions and very few insufficient answers, this condition worried his parents. His parents decided to get him married. But Dayanand had other plans, he ran away from home in 1846. Marriage wasn't meant for him and he wanted to seek the truth of life.

In his quest for his answers, Dayanand became a wandering monk and toured all over the country for around twenty years. During his travels, he visited temples and sacred places of religious devotion like haridwar, kashi amongst others. He met various scholars and spiritual gurus in the mountains and forests but nobody had the perfect answer Dayanand was seeking for. He learned Panini's grammar to read Sanskrit texts and understood from them that God can be found. He went to Mathura in his quest and it was here that he founded someone who could help him in finding the answers he was looking for. That person was Swami Virjananda who was a blind but his spiritual vision made him the Guru (teacher) of Dayanand. Swami Virjananda told him to throw away all his books. He told him to make a fresh start by learning directly from the Vedas, the oldest and foundational books. Dayananda remained Swami Virjananda's disciple for two and a half years. When Dayanand's education was complete, Virjananda asked him to spread the knowledge of the Vedas in society as his gurudakshina (tuition-dues). Dayanand now had a new mission that of reforming Hinduism.

With a new mission at hand, Dayanand Saraswati undertook a tour of the entire county. Wherever he went he made fiery speeches condemning the caste system, idolatry, and child marriages. He advocated the ideal age for a girl to be between 16 and 24, and for men between 25 and 40. Dayanand Saraswati was the first leader in the field of theology who welcomed the advances of sciences and technology. To him, the Vedas as the source book contain the seed of science, and to him, the Vedas advocate the philosophy of dynamic realism. Despite attempts on his life, Dayanand continued to spread the Vedic message. The in 1875, he founded Arya Samaj in Mumbai in 1875 to promote social service. Through Arya Samaj he condemned idol worship, animal sacrifice, ancestor worship, pilgrimages, priest craft, temple offerings, the caste system, approachability, child marriages and discrimination against women. The reform movement advocated equal justice for all men and all nations, together with equality of the sexes. 'Krinvanto Vishvam Aryam" was the motto of the samaj, which means, "Make this world noble". He gave new interpretations to reform the stagnant Hindu thought through his book "Satyaprakash" (The Light of Truth). He profusely quoted the Vedas and other religious texts to insist that salvation was not the only motto of a Hindu or Arya, as was believed. To lead a fruitful worldly life, working for a noble cause was important, and he preached that salvation was possible through social service.

As per the Indian history, Dayanand Saraswati took his last breath in 1883. In that year on the occasion of Diwali he was invited by the maharaja of Jodhpur. The king was a womaniser and Dayanand advised the king to lead a righteous life as a ruler, upsetting a mistress by the name of Nanhi Jan. That night Swami Dayanand was poisoned during the festival meal. Swami Dayanand Saraswati breathed his last chanting "Om".

Events

• On this day special programmes are organised by various educational institutes whose activities include display charts, collages, writings and pictures based on Swami Dayannd's life along with Vedic culture and education.
• Billboards featuring information about the movement’s presence are posted at various locations.
• Discourses on Arya principles are organised by various arya samaj bodies.
• Other activities include environmental initiatives, lectures, pamphlet distribution, charitable activities, free clinics etc.

Alternate Names - Swami Dayanand Saraswati Jayanthi, Dayanand Saraswati Jayanti, Maharishi Dayanand Saraswati Jayanti, Birthday of Maharishi Dayanand Saraswati.

Holiday Status - It is a restricted holiday.