Swami Shraddhanand Is Even More Relevant Today

For the defense of Vedic dharma (righteous cosmic order), Vedic culture, and the Arya race, to infuse it anew with life and vigor from its moribund state and elevate it to the highest pinnacle, the Arya Samaj has made hundreds of sacrifices. And the foremost blossom in the front rank is Swami Shraddhanand Saraswati, whose Balidan Divas (martyrdom day) falls on 23 December. The name of Swami Shraddhanand is spoken with profound reverence among those exalted martyrs who defended nation, dharma, and culture, dedicating themselves to the nation and society without regard for their own lives. To sacrifice oneself for dharma, culture, and country is regarded as the highest karma (action), and it becomes greater still when such monumental deeds are performed without the slightest self-interest.

Swami Shraddhanand was precisely such an unselfish, mighty warrior of dharma and karma. His name, Shraddhanand, was entirely true to his work. He consumed himself bit by bit in monumental undertakings: securing swaraj (self-rule), liberating the country from British subjugation, conducting the shuddhi (purification and reconversion rites) of Hindus who had been converted away, securing for Dalits their rightful dues, and establishing an educational system patterned on the Vedic gurukul (traditional residential academy) rather than Western schooling.

In the 18th century, if there was any universally accepted leader of Hindus and Muslims, it was Swami Shraddhanand. On 4 April 1919, Muslims, accepting Swami ji as their leader, honored him by seating him upon the minbar (pulpit) of India’s largest historic Jama Masjid. This remains the solitary event in the world where Muslims invited a non-Muslim to preach from the minbar of a mosque. Swami ji began his discourse with the Vedic mantra त्वं हि नः पिता वसो त्वं माता शत् क्रतो बभूविथ (“Thou art our father, O Bountiful Lord, thou art our mother, O Lord of a hundred sacrifices”) and concluded his address with the shanti path (peace invocation).

An ardent devotee of Maharshi Dayanand Saraswati and wholly dedicated to his ideals, the staunch social reformer of revolutionary convictions, Shraddhanand, was born on 22 February 1856 (Phalguna Krishna Trayodashi, Vikram Samvat 1913) in the town of Talwan, richly endowed with natural beauty on the banks of the Sutlej river in Jalandhar district of Punjab province. His father, Lala Nanak Chand, was a police officer in the United Provinces (present-day Uttar Pradesh), then governed by the East India Company.

His childhood names were Brihaspati and Munshi Ram, but Munshi Ram became more common due to its simplicity. He was brilliant in his studies yet extremely headstrong and unruly by temperament. Owing to his father’s frequent transfers from place to place, his early education suffered. Witnessing the gates of the Kashi Vishwanath temple thrown open exclusively for the Queen of Rewa while shut to ordinary pilgrims, together with witnessing the debauchery of a Christian missionary, shattered Munshi Ram’s faith in religion; he fell into bad company and fell prey to all manner of vices. The truth is that Swami Shraddhanand, alias Munshi Ram, is among those great men whose early lives—despite being born into an exalted lineage—were deeply degraded by vile habits.

His father felt profoundly distressed by the boy’s atheism and remained consumed with worry over how to steer his son away from vices onto the path of dharma. In Samvat 1936, when Maharshi Dayanand Saraswati arrived in Bareilly, Nanak Chand insisted on taking his son Munshi Ram along to hear Swami Dayanand's discourse. Munshi Ram was not merely impressed by his teachings; a deep sense of shraddha (reverence) was kindled within him. Swami Dayanand ji’s incisive logic and blessings transformed Munshi Ram into a steadfast believer in Ishvara and an unswerving devotee of Vedic dharma, drawing him close to the Arya Samaj. The satsang (holy company) with Swami Dayanand Saraswati in Bareilly bestowed upon him the priceless bliss of life, which he subsequently distributed to the entire world.

In his autobiography, Kalyan Marg ka Pathik (The Traveler on the Path of Well-being), he wrote:

"O noble Rishi! Forty-one years have passed since you shed your mortal frame, yet your divine visage remains on the canvas of my heart just as it was. Who among mortal men, save my own frail heart, can know how many times, on the verge of falling, the mere remembrance of you guarded my soul? Who among men can reckon how many fallen souls you have utterly transformed? Apart from Paramatman, in whose sacred embrace you now abide, who can tell how many prevailing sins of the world have been consumed by the fire that leaped from your teachings? But of myself I can say this: your satsang raised me from such a degraded state and made me worthy of attaining true spiritual good."

His journey from Munshi Ram to Swami Shraddhanand is an inspiration for the entire world. A single encounter with Swami Dayanand Saraswati, coupled with the pativrata dharma (wifely devotion) and the pure, guileless love and spirit of service of his wife Shiva Devi, transformed his life beyond measure.

His public life began alongside his legal practice as president of the Jalandhar district Arya Samaj. Following the mahaprayana (great departure) of Maharshi Dayanand, he dedicated himself wholeheartedly to advancing the causes of one’s own nation, one’s own culture, one’s own society, one’s own language, one’s own education, women's welfare, Dalit uplift, propagation of swadeshi (indigenous goods), revival of the Vedas, pakhanda-khandana (refutation of hypocrisy and orthodoxy), eradication of superstition, and the resurgence of dharma. The founding of Gurukul Kangri, the uplift of untouchables, shuddhi, propagation of dharma through the journal Saddharma Pracharak, literary creation rooted in satya dharma, establishing arrangements for the study and teaching of the Vedas, remaining steadfast on the path of dharma, promoting the Arya language (Hindi) with successful efforts to make it a language of livelihood, and striving by every means for the advancement of the Arya people—these are the deeds that made Swami Shraddhanand immortal for all eternity.

By establishing the Gurukul, he revived Vedic education in the country, propagating and translating into action the principles formulated by Maharshi Dayanand, and through them accomplished epoch-making work in advancing the causes of the country, society, and freedom. Through the shuddhi movement, he spearheaded a campaign to bring converts back into the Arya (Hindu) fold. He fearlessly championed the welfare of Dalits, while also taking a prominent lead in the Congress’s freedom movement. He played an active and significant role in the Congress from 1919 to 1922.

In 1922, the British government arrested him; however, his arrest was not due to his being a Congress leader, but because he was taken prisoner while offering satyagraha (peaceful resistance) to defend the religious rights of the Sikhs. Owing to his disagreements with Mahatma Gandhi’s politics of appeasement within the Congress, he resigned. Yet he continued his ceaseless efforts for the nation's independence. Hardly anyone at that time risked his life for Hindu-Muslim unity to the extent that Swami ji did. He was an epoch-making visionary who, sensing the pulse of the age, worked to awaken public consciousness across every stratum of society. The true essence of dharma that Maharshi Dayanand had established among the masses was fearlessly carried forward by Swami Shraddhanand.

Maharshi Dayanand founded the Arya Samaj with the core ideal of service to the nation. He declared: ‘It is incumbent upon you and me that the country from whose substances our bodies were formed, are sustained now, and will be sustained in the future, should be advanced by all of us uniting in affection, with body, mind, and wealth.’ Swami Shraddhanand made this the bedrock of his life. Looking at his life as a social reformer, we find that despite fierce opposition, he played a pioneering role in women’s education.

When he heard his own daughter Amrit Kala singing, ‘Isa-Isa bol, tera kya lagega mol’ [“Chant Jesus, Jesus, what does it cost you?”], he went door to door collecting donations, founded Gurukul Kangri Vishwavidyalaya in Haridwar, and enrolled his own sons, Harishchandra and Indra, as its very first students. Swami ji believed that a society and nation whose teachers themselves lack character can never prosper. He used to say that we have teachers, professors, principals, ustads, and maulvis, but we have no acharyas (preceptors of exemplary conduct). There is a dire need for an acharya—that is, a person of upright conduct. In the absence of men of character, the greatest and wealthiest of nations perish.

He undertook countless works for the welfare of the entire society by eradicating the distinctions of caste and high-and-low hierarchy. In the face of intense social resistance, he solemnized the marriages of his daughter Amrit Kala and sons Harishchandra and Indra by shattering all barriers of caste. He held that untouchability had given rise to innumerable tribulations in this land, and that only through the Vedic varna system (social order based on aptitude and conduct) could it be eradicated and the uplift of untouchables achieved.

He championed the adoption of Hindi as the national language and Devanagari as the national script. In those days, the journal Saddharma Pracharak was printed in Urdu. One day, when subscribers unexpectedly received the paper in Hindi, they were stunned, for Urdu was the prevailing norm at the time. A man of supreme renunciation and unyielding resolve, Swami Shraddhanand declared that he would not set foot in his home until 30,000 rupees were raised for the Gurukul. Slinging a mendicant’s bag over his shoulder, he not only went door to door to raise 40,000 rupees, but pitched his camp there and dedicated his entire library, printing press, and his kothi (bungalow) in Jalandhar to the Gurukul.

His single greatest monumental achievement was the organization of the Shuddhi Sabhas. He believed that the shuddhi of kin alienated through conversions driven by ignorance, self-interest, and inducement was paramount to strengthening the nation. Therefore, wherever the Arya Samaj existed, Shuddhi Sabhas were organized, and gradually this endeavor of shuddhi grew into a full-fledged movement. Swami ji revived the tradition initiated by Adi Shankaracharya by bringing back into Hindu dharma Muslims from 89 villages of western Uttar Pradesh who were originally converts from Hinduism, instilling confidence in society that all those who had been alienated from their faith could return to their Hindu fold. As an atmosphere conducive to returning to Hindu dharma took root in the country, a great wave of such efforts swept across the land.

He once wrote in a letter to the president of the Shuddhi Sabha, ‘Now my only desire is to assume another body to complete the unfinished task of shuddhi.’ He established the Bharatiya Hindu Shuddhi Sabha and purified over two lakh Malkanas, and this ultimately proved fatal for him. Certain fanatical Muslims turned fiercely against his shuddhi work, and in the toxic atmosphere they whipped up, a fanatic Muslim youth named Abdul Rashid deceitfully pumped bullets into him, murdering him on 23 December 1926 in Chandni Chowk, Delhi. Thus, this epochal titan of dharma, nation, culture, education, and Dalit uplift was martyred for humanity.

He was an extraordinary hero. The Iron Man, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, remarked: ‘The moment I recall Swami Shraddhanand, the scene of 1919 flashes before my eyes. The soldiers are poised to fire. Swami ji steps forward, baring his chest, and says—‘Go on, shoot!’ ' Who would not be captivated by such valor?’ According to Mahatma Gandhi: ‘He was a brave soldier. A brave soldier prefers to die not on a bed of sickness, but on the battlefield. He lived like a hero and died like a hero. ' .

To advance rashtra-dharma (duty toward the nation), he desired that:

"In every city there should be a ‘Hindu-Rashtra Mandir’ capable of seating 25,000 people together, where discourses on the Vedas, Upanishads, Gita, Ramayana, Mahabharata, and other texts are held. The temple should also house akharas (traditional wrestling arenas) where physical prowess is cultivated through exercise. On every Hindu-Rashtra Mandir, the Gayatri Mantra should also be inscribed."

Addressing the country’s myriad problems and the regeneration of Hindus, his book Hindu Sangathan: Saviour of the Dying Race continues to guide us today. Regarding politicians, Swami ji believed that India needs servants, not leaders. Shri Ram’s mission succeeded precisely because he found a servant like Hanuman. Swami Dayanand’s work lies incomplete, and will only be completed when the Rama in the form of Dayanand finds servants like Hanuman. In the truest sense, he was Swami Dayanand’s Hanuman, who burned down bit by bit in service to the nation. A hundred salutations and humble homage to this peerless warrior of Maharshi Dayanand! The author’s series Rashtra Aradhak on great Indian figures is well worth reading.

– Vishal Agarwal (The author is a profound scholar of Indian history and culture, and an educationist. The author’s Rashtra Aradhak series on great Indian personalities is well worth reading.)

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