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Arya Samaj, 1875 – Punjab
- Founder: Swami Dayanand Saraswati
- Original name – Mul Shankar.
- Guru: Swami Virjanand.
- Dayanda Saraswathi found out that the Vedas contained all the truth and he devoted his life to the propagation of Vedas.
- In his view, contemporary Hinduism had become degenerate.
- In 1875 he founded the Arya Samaj and published his major work the Satyarth Prakash.
- His motto – ‘Go back to Vedas’.
The Arya Samaj condemned
- Animal sacrifice
- idol worship , ritualism
- idea of heaven and hell
- the concept of fatalism
- puranas,
- polytheism, idolatry
- the role of Brahmin priests
- child marriage
- Polygamy, sati
- Purdha system
- Casteism
- pilgrimages
The Arya Samaj advocated
- women education
- inter-caste marriage
- inter- dining
- upliftment of the depressed classes
- He started the ‘Suddhi Movement’ a ritual to reconvert the Hindus who had been converted to other religions earlier.
- He was often described as the ‘Martin Luther of Hinduism’.
- He was the first Indian who preached the gospel of ‘Swadeshi’ and ‘India for Indians’.
- The Samaj started a number of schools all over the country to impart English and Vedic education, called Dayananda Anglo Vedic (DAV) schools and Colleges.
- His followers were Lala Lajpat Rai, Lala Hansraj, Pandit Guru Dutt, Bala Gangadhara Tilak and Gopala Krishna Gokhale.
Split in Arya Samaj
- In 1893, there occurred a split in the Arya Samaj by Shraddhananda on the issues of:
- Anglicised education and Sanskrit-based education
- Meat-eating and vegetarianism
- He advocated for Gurukul form of education and non-meat eating.
Ramakrishna Mission- 1897
- The Ramakrishna Mission was named after Sri Ramakrishna Parahamsa.
- Founder: Swamy Vivekananda, the chief disciple of Shri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa.
- Headquarter: Belur Math near Kolkata.
Shri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa (1836-1886)
- Ramakrishna was born in an orthodox Brahmin family in Bengal.
- He married Saradhamani Devi.
- He was a devotee of Godess Kali.
- He was a priest in the Dakshineswar Kali Temple.
- He had visions of Rama, Shiva, Kali, Allah and Jesus. This convinced him that there is only One God and the different forms of God are only but different manifestations.
- He said, “Jiva is Siva” (all living beings are God).
- ‘Not mercy, but service, service for man, must be regarded as God.’
Swami Vivekananda (1863-1902)
- Real name: Narendra Nath Datta
- His ideas bred a sense of self-confidence among Indians who felt inferior in relation to the materialist achievements of the West.
- The two fold national ideals of modern India is – “Renunciation and service.”
- According to Swami Vivekananda ‘Service to poor is Service to God’.
- In 1893, he was a delegate to the Parliament of the World’s Religions at Chicago in the USA.
- His speech here, beginning with “Sisters and Brothers of Universe” became very famous and brought him widespread recognition.
- Swami Vivekananda is called “The Morning Star of the Modern India”.
The activities of Ramakrishna Mission
- Educational work
- Health care
- Cultural activities
- Rural upliftment
- Youth movement.
- Tribal welfare
- Orphanages and homes for the elderly
- Hospitals, charitable dispensaries, maternity clinics, tuberculosis clinics, and mobile dispensaries.
- educational institutions – university, colleges, vocational training centres
- The Ramakrishna Mission has also involved in disaster relief operations during famine, epidemic, fire, flood, earthquake, cyclones and communal disturbances.
- The Ramakrishna Mission played an important role in the installation of Photovoltaic (PV) lighting system in the Sundarbans region of West Bengal.
- In a speech made in 1993, Federico Mayor, Director-General of UNESCO, stated, “I am indeed struck by the similarity of the constitution of the Ramakrishna Mission which Vivekananda established as early as 1897 with that of UNESCO drawn up in 1945”.