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Arya Samaj

Who established the Arya Samaj? What was its goal?
Arya Samaj was established  by Dayanand Saraswati on 7th April, 1875 in Bombay. Basically, it was a revivalist movement which intended to counter Western influences on the Indian society.

He believed in the ultimate authority of Vedas, and emphasized inculcation and propagation of the values of the same.

To attain his objective, he established 'Vedic Schools' or `Gurukuls' which put emphasis on Vedic values, culture and religion and taught the same values to the students, both boys and girls.

Dayanand published his views through his book `Satyarth Prakash', and gave the slogan, `Go back to Vedas'.

The goals of Arya Samaj were:
  • Reconstruction of four-fold Varna system on merit, rather than birth.
  • Opposition to untouchability, caste discrimination and child marriage.
  • Acceptance of authority of Vedas.
  • Preaching fatherhood of God, brotherhood of man, absolute justice, equality of sexes, etc.
Dayanand envisaged casteless and classless society. He taught the lessons of true spiritualism, which revived the self-esteem of Hindus through Shuddi movement. It helped them undermine the authority of the British in India.

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