1. LIFE OF MAHARSHI DAYANANDA
SARASWATI

2.  At that time, Bharat
Mata was under British
rule
 Country was
under economic
backwardness, social
evils like Sati tradition,
un-touchability, child
marriage, blind beliefs,
illiteracy, belief in
miracles etc.

3.  Birth on Phalgun Krishna
Dasmi 1881 Vikram
Samwat i.e. 12th Feb,
1824
 Village Tankara,
Gujarat.
 Name – Mool Shankar
 Mother – Amrithbai
 Father – Karsan Ji Tiwari,
Tax collector & rich
person

4.  Father was religious
person & staunch
devotee of Lord Shiva &
wanted his son also be
a religious person
 At age 8, Mool
Shankar‟s Upnayan
(Sacred Thread)
ceremony was
performed

5.  On Father‟s inspiration,
Mool Shankar decided to
keep fast & keep awake
whole night on Shivaratri
 But when he observed a
rat running on the idol
and eating the offerings,
he was surprised as to
how come the idol is
Shiva, if he can‟t remove
a rat.
 He understood the futility
of idol worship & decided
to seek darshan of true
Shiva.

6.  Turning point came in
his life with death of
younger sister & uncle,
which made him think
about agony of death
and purpose of life.
 He started thinking of
renouncing worldly life.
 So, later when his family
planned his marriage,
he left his home in 1846,
with an intent of never
to return back.

7.  Having started his
journey in search of true
Shiva, Moolshankar met
some thugs.
 They persuaded him to
renounce the costly
items which he did and
proceeded on his
journey on high mission.
 He started in search of
true yogi but most of
them had aim only to
misguide ignorant
masses.

8.  Stayed at Kot Kangra
for 3 months & got
name as Brahmchari
Shudh Chaitanya.
 Went to Sidhpur fair for
search of true Guru but
his father reached there
& took him back to
home in Tankara.
 On third night, when
guards were in deep
sleep, he ran away from
home.

9.  Swami Purnanand Ji
initiated him as „sanyasi‟
& gave him name as
„Swami Dayanand
Saraswati‟.
 He got yog vidya from
Yogi Shivanand Giri and
Yogi Jwala Nand Giri at
Chanod.
 He was offered
priesthood of Uhki-Muth,
which had big income
& large property but he
refused as his aim of life
was to attain Salvation.

10.  In search of true Guru,
he travelled extensively
on foot. From Gujarat to
Rajasthan to Haridwar,
he started his journey to
Himalayas.
 In forest of Narmada
valley, a big black bear
rushed to attack him
but instead, he
attacked the bear with
his thick stick & bear
returned back to forest.
He was fearless sanyasi.

11.  Heard about Swami
Virjanand Ji, he
reached Mathura.
 But Guru told him to
forget all he had
learned till now & start
afresh with the books
written by great rishis.
 As a student in ashram,
he got duties to fetch
water from river
Yamuna and clean the
ashram with broom.

12.  Swamiji was able to
defeat other students in
religious discourses, as
Guru saw him as the only
student who could do
„Ved Prachar‟.
 He offered cloves in Guru
Dakshina. But Guru said
that the whole country is
suffering from ignorance,
blind belief and other
social and religious evils.
Take the light of truth of
Vedas and enlighten the
humanity. This will be your
Guru Dakshina.

13.  Swamiji started working
on social issues &
discussed cow-slaughter
with British officers & got a
petition sent to Queen
Victoria to ban cow-
slaughter.
 In Khumbh in Haridwar, he
hoisted a flag with
„Pakhand Khandini
Patakha‟ & started his
discourses.
 People started to listen &
understand his logic.

14.  A brahmin, angered by
Swamiji gave poisonous
betal but he recovered
through yoga practices.
 He let the culprit go free as
he said, I have come to free
people from bondage.
 He wanted to create unity
in Hindu Society and to
eliminate restrictions on
sharing meals as he
accepted food from a
lower caste person.

15.  He defeated a lot of pundits
in discourses (shasatrathas).
They were influenced by his
logic and drowned their
idols in rive Ganga. This
brought great name and
fame to Maharishi.
 In Kashi as well, the pundits
could not produce any
evidence of Idol worship
from Vedas.

16.  He devoted his life for the
revival of the Vedas, for the
removal of the social evils,
bad customs and blind
belief.
 On 7th April 1875, Arya
Samaj was established in
Bombay with 10 principles.
 Motto – Krinvanto Vishwam
Aryam – i.e. Make the world
noble.

18.  He was the first person to
ask about Swaraj. He said
“However nice a foreign
govt. may be, it can never
compete with Swaraj.”
 He stressed on people to
use articles prepared by
their own country men.
 He also stressed Hindi to be
main language of India.

19. Works of Swami Dayanand
 Sandhya
 Satyarth Prakash
 Yajurveda and Rgveda
Bhashya
 Sanskrit Vakya Prabhodha
 Bhranti Niwarana
 Gokaruna Nidthi
 Vedanti Dhvant Niwarana
 Panch Maha Yajna Vidthi
 Advaita Mat Khandanam

20. Arya Samaj movement paved the way for upliftment
of women through educational opportunities,
removal of social evils like smoking, drinking, sati
tradition, purdah system, animal sacrifice, ancestor
worship, pilgrimages etc.
The United States, Canada, Trinidad, United
Kingdom, Netherlands, Kenya, South Africa, Malawi,
Mauritius, Singapore, Hong Kong, and Australia are
some of the countries where the Samaj has its
branches.

21. Pictures & story inspired from http://tinyurl.com/c5oj2dk & various other online sources