Arya Samaj

The Arya Samaj is a voluntary organization working across the world for physical, moral, spiritual and professional education, eradication of superstition, inculcation of universal values, comparative study of cultures, religious and social systems, with open enquiry and debate for the propagation of truth. The organization is thoroughly democratic and works on the basis of the ten principles formulated by the founder. The principles are universal and have no tinge of sectarianism at all. The Arya Samaj is a socio-cultural organization founded by Swami Dayanand Saraswati in 1875. The mission of the Samaj is to mould the lives of its members and all others according to the message of the Vedas with reference to the circumstances of the time and place. The Vedas are the poetry of eternity in meta language. They are pure knowledge, primary, original, universal, complete, revealed at the dawn of creation for all mankind without distinction or discrimination of race or colour, caste or creed or sex. The idea behind this universality is: God is one, His creation is one, his law is one, Humanity is one, Revelation is one; all that follows is historical and relative justifiable as corrective with reference back to the universal.

!0 Principals of Arya Samaj

1. God is the primary cause of all true knowledge and of everything known by its means.2. God is Absolute Truth , Absolute Intelligence, and Blissful. He is Formless, Almighty, Just, Merciful, Unborn, Infinite, Unchangeable, Beginningless, Incomparable, the Support of all, All-pervading, Omniscient, Omnipotent, Omnipresent, Eternal, Immortal, Fearless, Holy , and the Creator of the Universe. To him alone worship is due. 3. The Vedas are the books of true knowledge. It is the paramount duty of every Arya to read, teach, hear and recite them. 4. All should be ready to accept truth and renounce untruth. 5. All acts should be performed in conformity with Dharma, that is, after due consideration of the right and wrong. 6. The primary object of the Arya Samaj is to promote the welfare of the whole world, by the promotion of physical, spiritual and social progress of all human beings. 7. All people should be treated with love, justice and with due regard to their merits. 8. Ignorance, Avidya, must be dispelled and Vidya, the realization and acquisition of true knowledge, should be promoted. 9. No one should be content with his own welfare alone, but every one should look towards the welfare of others also. 10. One should subordinate oneself to the common welfare of society while one is free to act for one’s own welfare.