Maharshi Dayanand Saraswati Jayanti 2024: History, Quotes, How to Celebrate?

Maharshi Dayanand Saraswati Jayanti 2024 will be observed on 15th of February. He was the greatest philosopher of country, a social reformer and founder of Arya Samaj.

Dayanand Saraswati was a social reformer who worked from the betterment of mankind and is attributed with the formation of Arya Samaj. He was also the first one to coin the term Swaraj in 1876 which meant “India for Indians”.

The term was later taken up by Lokmanya Tilak in his fight against Bristish rule in India. According to the Hindu calendar, Dayananda Saraswat was born on the dashami tithi of Krishna Paksha in the month of Phalguna and this day is celebrated as his birth anniversary every year.

Maharshi Dayanand Saraswati Jayanti 2024 Date

Holiday	Maharshi Dayanand Saraswati Jayanti
Date	15th February 2024
Day	Thursday
Maharshi Dayanand Saraswati is best known for	Founder of Arya Samaj
Maharshi Dayanand Saraswati was born on	12 February 1824
Maharshi Dayanand Saraswati died on	30 October 1883 at an age of 59

Holiday on Maharishi Dayanand Saraswati

Birth anniversary of Maharishi Dayanand Saraswati is celebrated in many parts of the country.

However, no public holiday is observed on this day and offices, schools, colleges, etc remain open.

Some institutions might observe a holiday but normally everything remains open on this day.

Maharishi Dayanand Saraswati History

Dayanand Saraswati was born as Mool Shankar Tiwari into a Brahmin family on 12^th February 1824. At the age of 20 years, he left home to became a wandering ascetic and spent nearly twenty-five years in search of religious truth. 

He became a disciple of a religious teacher named Virajanand Dandeesha who believed that Hinduism has become impure and something must be done purify it. Inspired by that he did many Hindu reforming works including the establishment of Arya Samaj.

Achievements and Reform Work of Dayanand Saraswati

Dayananda Saraswati was totally against the discrimination practices going on basis of caste and gender. He was a promoter of equal rights for women and advocated that women must also be allowed to read and write.

A supporter of Hinduism, Dayananda Saraswati believed that the religion has been corrupted and misled by the priests for their own benefits and he did many reform works for betterment of Hinduism. He also inspired the people to move towards the attainment of swarajya, nationalism, and spiritualism. S. Radhakrishnan and Sri Aurobindo praised him as the maker of modern India.

Many well-known personalities including Lala Lajpat Rai, Bhagat Singh, Madam Cama, Swami Shraddhanand, Madan Lal Dhingra, etc were highly influenced with the work of Dayanand Saraswati and followed his principles and ideologies in their personal life.

Dayanand Saraswati also did over sixty literary works which included a 16 volume explanation of the six vedas. Satyarth Bhumika, Satyarth Prakash, Rigveda Bhashyam (up to 7/61/2), Rigvedadi Bhashya Bhumika, etc were some of his notable works.

Arya Samaj- Make the world noble!

The biggest contribution that Dayanand Saraswati made for the welfare of humankind was the formation of Arya Samaj. Arya Samaj was a religious-cum-social organization formed with the motto Make the world noble! where people were treated equally irrespective of their background, origin, caste, gender, etc. Immoral practices like child marriages, animal sacrifice, priest craft, discrimination against women were highly condemned.

The Arya Samaj was established in Bombay on 10 April 1875 and its members believed in one God and reject the worship of idols. Started earlier as a regional movement, the Arya Samaj soon turned into a celebrated reform movement and people from all over the country started enrolling as its members.

Maharishi Dayanand Saraswati Jayanti Celebrations

All Vedic institutions and religious establishments in India celebrate Maharishi Dayanand Saraswati Jayanti with great liveliness.

His preaches and teachings are remembered and people are encouraged to follow his path of promoting peace and equality in the society.

Essay writing and debate competitions based on his ideologies are conducted in many schools and colleges.

Quotes by Maharishi Dayanand Saraswati

Dayanand Saraswati was a great thinker and his quotes were very inspirational and influential. Some of his famous quotes are mentioned below:

1. God has neither form nor color. He is incorporeal and immense. Whatever is seen in the world describes his greatness.
2. Prayer in any form is efficacious because it is an action. It will, therefore, have a result. That is the law of this universe in which we find ourselves.
3. The greatest musical instrument given to a human being is the voice.
4. He is good and wise who always speaks the truth, acts on the dictates of virtue, and tries to make others good and happy.
5. The works of present life are more important that the whole and entire reliance on wholesale blind fate.
6. The tongue should express what is in the heart.
7. God is absolutely holy and wise. His nature, attributes, and power are all holy. He is omnipresent, incorporeal, unborn, immense, omniscient, omnipotent, merciful and just. He is the maker, protector and destroyer of world.

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