Dayananda Saraswati (Arsha Vidya)

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This article is about the founder of the Arsha Vidya Gurukulam. For other uses, see Swami Dayananda (disambiguation).


Swami Dayananda Saraswati
Swami Dayananda Saraswati.jpg
Oil on canvas painting of Swami Dayananda Saraswati, from the private collection of Arsha Vidya Gurukulam
Personal
Born
Natarajan Gopala Iyer

(1930-08-15)15 August 1930
Manjakkudi, Tamil Nadu, India
Died23 September 2015(2015-09-23) (aged 85)
Rishikesh, Uttarakhand, India
ReligionHinduism
NationalityIndian
Founder ofArsha Vidya Gurukulam
AIM For Seva
Swami Dayananda Educational Trust
PhilosophyAdvaita Vedanta

Swami Dayananda Saraswati (15 August 1930 – 23 September 2015) was a renunciate monk of the Hindu Saraswati order of sannyasa. Pujya Swamiji as he was fondly known was a renowned traditional teacher of Advaita Vedanta, and founder of the Arsha Vidya Gurukulam in Pennsylvania, USA and Coimbatore. He was also the spiritual Guru of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He was awarded the Padma Bhushan posthumously for his exemplary service to the nation in the field of spiritualism in 2016.

Biography[edit]

In July 1982, Swami Dayananda decided to leave Chinmaya Mission. He felt a strong incompatibility between his growing role in, essentially, management of a multinational spiritual organization, and his desires to live a simpler spiritual life as an itinerant monk. The split had been a long time in the making, having been a topic of discussion between Swami Dayananda and Swami Chinmayananda for some time.[1][unreliable source?]

The timing of Swami Dayananda's departure created problems for the Mission. He had just graduated nearly 60 Vedanta teachers from Sandeepany West two weeks before his departure, nearly all of whom left Chinmaya Mission to follow Swami Dayananda once he left. Swami Dayananda's departure, wrote a journalist in October 1983, Hinduism Today, "created a tidal wave of shock that washed across the international Chinmaya Mission shores, and has only recently weakened enough to not be an emotion-charged topic of the international Mission's monthly magazine's letters to the editor."[1] In an interview shortly after his departure, Swami Dayananda did not comment on Chinmaya Mission but emphasized that he was "a simple teacher spreading the universal truths of Vedantic self-knowledge."[1]

The most well-known student of Swami Dayananda Saraswati is Narendra Modi, prime minister of India.[2][3]

Other activities[edit]

All India Movement for Seva[edit]

Main article: AIM For Seva

In 2000, All India Movement for Seva (AIM for Seva) an NGO focused on making education and healthcare available to children in rural areas of India.[4]

Acharya Sabha[edit]

In 2003, Dayananda Saraswati brought various monks and matathipatis across India under one umbrella called Hindu Dharma Acharya Sabha,[5] otherwise known as HDAS or simply Acharya Sabha.

By its fourth congregation in 2010, the Sabha had as many as 100 Dharmacharyas from various traditions participating.[6]

As of 2021, the Sabha remains active and continues to seek protections for Sanatana Dharma and places of worship.[7] Presently the chairman of Acharya Sabha is Swami Avdheshanand Giri Ji Maharaj, Acharya Mahamandleshwar of Juna Akhara[8]

Others[edit]

In 1999, Swami Dayananda founded the Dharma Rakshana Samiti.

In 2003, Swami Dayananda established the Swami Dayananda Educational Trust (SDET). The educational trust manages the Swami Dayananda College of Arts & Science of Manjakkudi which was established in 2001. It is affiliated with Bharathidasan University.

Litigation[edit]

In 2012, Swami Dayananda filed Writ Petition 476 challenging the Constitutional validity of various provisions of the Hindu Religious Endowments and Institutions Acts in the two states of Tamil Nadu[9] and Andhra Pradesh, and the city of Pondicherry. The case was deferred to the Supreme Court of India,[10] and an outcome remains to be seen as of 2019.

Subramanian Swamy was impleaded in the case for the Podu Dīkṣitars[11] of the Chidambaram Temple. When the matter was dismissed at the Madras High Court in 2009, Dr. Subramanian and the represented appealed to the final court. About 5 years later, on 6 January in 2014, the high court's ruling was overturned at the Supreme Court of India, which resulted in the release of government control over the affairs of the temple.[12]

Subramanian is also litigating the defense and protection of Ram Sethu at the behest of Swami Dayananda, who on 20 April 2008 organized for the release of Subramanian's book, Ram Setu: a Symbol of National Unity.[13] In 2020, the Supreme Court of India motioned to consider designating the so-called Adam's Bridge as a national heritage site.[14] In 2021, a former vice chancellor from Alagappa University motioned to the court that the Ram Sethu does not meet the requirements of an ancient monument under the law, and the top court has no power to declare it a national monument, on the basis of the claim that the Adam's Bridge is not a permanent structure, and that its geological features are subject to change.[15]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 "Swami Dayananda Renounces Chinmaya Mission West: Changes and Challenges Ahead". Hinduism Today. Vol. 5, no. 4. 31 October 1983. p. 2. ProQuest 220854666. Retrieved 3 September 2021.
  2. ↑ "PM Narendra Modi's Spiritual Guru Swami Dayanand Dies at 87". NDTV. 24 September 2015.
  3. ↑ Hebbar, Prajakta (24 September 2015). "PM Narendra Modi Says His Spiritual Guru Swami Dayanand Saraswati's Death Is A 'Personal Loss'". HuffPost.
  4. ↑ "All India Movement for Seva".
  5. ↑ Bender, Michael Mclean (30 March 2011). The Hindu-Jewish relationship and the significance of dialogue (PDF) (MA thesis). Florida International University. doi:10.25148/etd.FI14050497. Retrieved 14 April 2021.
  6. ↑ "Hindu Dharma Acharya Sabha in Hyd from 9 Jan". The New Indian Express. 8 January 2010.
  7. ↑ "Seers emphasize protection of sanatana dharma". United News of India. 28 February 2021.
  8. ↑ Negi, Manjee (10 November 2019). "NSA Ajit Doval meets Hindu, Muslim religious leaders post Ayodhya verdict on how to maintain peace". India Today. Retrieved 27 July 2021.
  9. ↑ "The Tamil Nadu Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Act, 1959" (PDF). 1959.
  10. ↑ "Sh.Dayananda Saraswati Swamiji vs The State of Tamil Nadu". 12 January 2018.
  11. ↑ Ramesh, TR (31 July 2011). "Chidambaram Temple & the Podu Dikshitars".
  12. ↑ Bhaskar, RN (12 September 2018). "Courting god: The Supreme Court attempts to rescue India's temples". Firstpost.
  13. ↑ Christophe Jaffrelot (31 December 2008). "Hindu Nationalism and the (Not So Easy) Art of Being Outraged: The Ram Setu Controversy". South Asia Multidisciplinary Academic Journal (2). doi:10.4000/samaj.1372.
  14. ↑ Pandya, Jay (23 January 2020). "SC to consider Swamy's plea for giving Ram Sethu national heritage status after 3 months". The Hindu.
  15. ↑ "Ram Setu not an ancient monument, former V–C tells SC". The Hindu. 11 February 2021.
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