The institution called Arya Samaj was established in 1875 by Swami Dayanand Saraswati, a sage, spiritualist, Yogi and social reformer all rolled into one. This institution has played a stellar role in the socio-spiritual awakening of our people. Its concept of spirituality brings out the meaning and importance of this term comprehensively, which appeals to the logical sense of people dispersed far and wide across the globe, cutting across race, ethnicity, culture, and location.
The Arya Samaj concept of spirituality is fundamental to the core. It defines spirituality as knowledge and practice of the principles associated with the human soul in its relationship with material nature and the creator Ishwar, who is the supreme spiritual power in the universe. We can also name that creator the Supersoul. The concept of Traitwad (three metaphysical entities) in Vedic philosophy practised and propagated by the followers of Arya Samaj is the basic concept of Vedic spirituality.
Ishwar is the creator and controller of the universe. Material nature, i.e. the visible universe with its celestial bodies, was created by Ishwar for the countless living souls for their development, refinement and salvation. For this purpose, Ishwar provides them physical bodies and birth as sentient beings– humans, animals and plants. So spirituality is not about just visiting a place of worship or reciting some prescribed prayer extracted from a scripture provided by the priest. It is also not confined to sitting in a specific posture and meditating. It is much more than that. It covers in its ambit the entire set of experiences of the human soul as a seeker of fulfilment and salvation through its eternal connection with Ishwar, who is its friend, philosopher and guide through the tumultuous journey called life. When souls are born as human beings and ushered into this world, they have to undergo varied experiences—qualitatively good or bad, pleasurable or painful, happy or sad. They have to confront life’s numerous challenges and negotiate their way forward through its turbulent seas. Spirituality is the tool to acquire knowledge, guidance and motivation for the human soul in its progressive journey forward.
Vedas are the primaeval spiritual texts. Taking guidance from Vedas, one can carve out the way forward in life to fulfill all one’s desires and overcome all sorrow—these being the natural objectives of all living souls. But Vedas as spiritual texts are in the primal language of Pali Sanskrit and are in coded and cryptic form as revealed by Ishwar at the time of the creation of the universe. They have to be decoded, deciphered, elucidated, understood and practised. Scholarly persons called Brahmans performed discourse of Vedas and based on their profound understanding of these scriptural texts, they composed simpler texts on spirituality. These are the Darshan Shastras, which talk about philosophy. Philosophy is the interpretation of experience. Whatever is unclear in this experience of life, an attempt is made to clarify it through these philosophical texts.
Our physical senses open outwards; we are mostly merged in the external world. At times, our attention turns inward, and we see an entirely new world. The facts are then visible; and we start receiving the inner signals coming from Ishwar dwelling inside of us. The distinction between reality and possibility becomes clearer and conveys the idea of the ideal. We become conscious of the three eternal metaphysical realities. In this process, the main subjects of philosophy become the external world, the animate soul and the Supreme Soul or Supersoul. While we consider them, we naturally think about their mutual relationship, too. In ancient times, the main theme was the relationship between creation and the creator; in the medieval period, the relationship between the soul and the divine was the theme, and in the modern period, the relationship between man and nature became the centre of human discourse and investigation. These three were considered as three parts of philosophy. Modern Physics, as the modern subject of philosophical enquiry, looks outward; logic makes reasoning the mode of contemplation to arrive at the truth; ethics seeks to know whether an absolute order can be known to organize life, establishing peace and harmony.
There are six philosophies in the Vedic tradition—Sankhya, Yoga, Nyaya, Vaisheshika, Mimansa and Vedant. Through all these texts, the subject of spirituality is explained and elucidated for practical application in human life. Vedic spirituality is, therefore, broad-based and universal in nature. It transcends the differences of society, community, nation, culture or language. It applies to all humans dwelling on the planet earth and also to humans who inhabit other celestial abodes similar to mother earth in this vast universe.
Vedic spirituality, propagated by Arya Samaj helps humans to evolve and all through this process of evolution lead better and more fulfilling lives. This evolution is a process of spiritual refinement through acquisition of experiential knowledge. It doesn’t talk of any demigod, priest, founder, worship place or narrow sect or cult. It is universal and timeless, just like the Vedas. Every human being needs to embrace Vedic spirituality for happiness, fulfillment, success and salvation—the ultimate prize of his existence.
The nation celebrates the 150th anniversary of the Arya Samaj during this calendar year.
