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Dayananda Saraswati
Part of a series on Hindu philosophy Āstika Samkhya Yoga Nyaya Vaisheshika Mīmāṃsā Vedanta Advaita Vedanta Vishishtadvaita Dvaita Dvaitadvaita Achintya Bheda Abheda Bhedabheda Nāstika Cārvāka Ājīvika Jainism Buddhism Other schools Shaiva Pratyabhijña Pashupata Siddhanta Tantra People Acharyas Nyaya Akṣapāda Gotama Jayanta Bhatta Raghunatha Siromani Mimamsa Jaimini Kumārila Bhaṭṭa Prabhākara Dayananda Saraswati (Arsha Vidya) Advaita Vedanta Gaudapada Adi Shankara Vācaspati Miśra Vidyaranya Sadananda Madhusūdana Sarasvatī Ramakrishna Vivekananda Ramana Maharshi Siddharudha Swami Narayana Guru Sivananda Saraswati Chinmayananda Saraswati Nisargadatta Maharaj Dayanand Saraswati Nigamananda Paramahansa Vishishtadvaita Nammalvar Alvars Yamunacharya Ramanuja Vedanta Desika Pillai Lokacharya Manavala Mamunigal Lakshmi Kumara Thathachariar Dvaita Madhvacharya Jayatirtha Vyasatirtha Sripadaraja Vadirajatirtha Raghavendra Swami Achintya Bheda Abheda Chaitanya Mahaprabhu Jiva Goswami Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Prabhupada Tantra Shakta Abhinavagupta Nigamananda Paramahansa Ramprasad Sen Kamalakanta Bhattacharya Bamakhepa Anandamayi Ma Others Samkhya Kapila Yoga Patanjali Vaiseshika Kanada Dvaitadvaita Nimbarka Shuddhadvaita Vallabha Acharya Poet-Saints Purandara Dasa Kanaka Dasa Jagannatha Dasa Vijaya Dasa Gopala Dasa Basava Allama Prabhu Akka Mahadevi Dnyaneshwar Sankardev Jayadeva Namdev Ramananda Kabir Tulsidas Guru Ravidass Mira Bai Narsinh Mehta Surdas Samarth Ramdas Tukaram Eknath Janabai Brahmanand Swami Tukdoji Maharaj Tyagaraja Annamacharya Kancherla Gopanna Nayanars Muthuswami Dikshitar Syama Sastri Yogin Nigamananda Paramahansa Sri Aurobindo Paramahansa Yogananda Philosophers Ananda Coomaraswamy Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan Swami Gahanananda Ravi Shankar v t e Dayanand Saraswati  pronunciation (help·info) born (12 February 1824 – 30 October 1883), at Tankara was an important Hindu religious leader of his time. He is well known as the founder of the Arya Samaj, a Hindu reform movement of the Vedic tradition. He was a profound scholar of the Vedic lore and Sanskrit language. He was the first to give the call for Swarajya as "India for Indians" – in 1876, later taken up by Lokmanya Tilak. Denouncing the idolatry and ritualistic worship prevalent in Hinduism at the time, he worked towards reviving Vedic ideologies. Subsequently the philosopher and President of India, S. Radhakrishnan, called him one of the "makers of Modern India," as did Sri Aurobindo. Those who were influenced by and followed Dayananda included Madam Cama, Pandit Guru Dutt Vidyarthi, Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, Lala Hardayal, Madan Lal Dhingra, Ram Prasad Bismil, Mahadev Govind Ranade Swami Shraddhanand, Mahatma Hansraj, Lala Lajpat Rai and others. One of his most influential works is the book Satyarth Prakash, which contributed to the Indian independence movement. He was a sanyasi (ascetic) from boyhood, and a scholar, who believed in the infallible authority of the Vedas. Maharshi Dayananda advocated the doctrine of Karma (Karmasiddhanta in Hinduism) and Reincarnation (Punarjanma in Hinduism). He emphasized the Vedic ideals of brahmacharya (celibacy) and devotion to God. The Theosophical Society and the Arya Samaj were united from 1878 to 1882, becoming the Theosophical Society of the Arya Samaj. Among Maharshi Dayananda's contributions are his promoting of the equal rights for women, such as the right to education and reading of Indian scriptures, and his intuitive commentary on the Vedas from Vedic Sanskrit in Sanskrit as well as Hindi so that the common man might be able to read them. Dayanand was the first to give the word of Swadeshi and Harijan to the dalits and Pariahs(Outcastes) long before Mahatma Gandhi.

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photo Dayananda Saraswati
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