Dayanand Saraswati[3] (pronunciationⓘ) born Mool Shankar Tiwari (12 February 1824 – 30 October 1883), was a Hindu philosopher, social leader and founder of the Arya Samaj, a reform movement of Hinduism.

His book Satyarth Prakash has remained one of the influential texts on the philosophy of the Vedas and clarifications of various ideas and duties of human beings.

Dayananda Saraswati was born on the 10th day of waning moon in the month of Purnimanta Phalguna (12 February 1824) on the tithi to an Indian Hindu Brahmin family[14] in Tankara, Kathiawad region (now Morbi district of Gujarat).

He found out that the joy from material goods was not enough, therefore he decided to devote himself to spiritual pursuits in forests, retreats in the Himalayan Mountains, and pilgrimage sites in northern India.

He said the four Vedas which are Rigveda, Yajurveda, Samaveda, and Atharvaveda are the only true uncorrupted sources of Dharma, revealed by the Supreme Lord, at the beginning of every creation, also because they are the only perfectly preserved knowledge without alterations using Sanskrit prosody or Chhandas and different techniques of counting the number of verses with different Vedic chanting techniques.

Unlike other medieval Sanskrit scholars, Dayanand said all the six Darshanas are not opponents but each throws light on different aspects required by the Creation.

The eighteen Puranas and Upapuranas are filled with contradictions, idol worship, incarnations and personification of God, temples, rituals, and practices that are against the Vedas.

[23][24][25] Dayanand based his teachings on the Vedas which can be summarised as follows:[23][24][25] He opposed caste system, Sati practice, Murti worship, child marriage, etc.

The Varnashrama is based on education and profession and in his book Satyarth Prakash, he quotes passages from Manusmriti, Grihya Sutras, and Vedas which support his claims.

He travelled the country challenging religious scholars and priests to discussions, winning repeatedly through the strength of his arguments and knowledge of Sanskrit and Vedas.

Through his daily life and practice of yoga and asanas, teachings, preaching, sermons and writings, he inspired Hindus to aspire for Swarajya (self-governance), nationalism, and spiritualism.

In the Ten Principles of the Arya Samaj, he enshrined the idea that "All actions should be performed with the prime objective of benefiting mankind", as opposed to following dogmatic rituals or revering idols and symbols.

[31][32] In his book Satyarth Prakash, Maharshi Dayanand has analysed critically current form of Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism, Christianity and Islam.

[35] One commentary notes many alleged discrepancies and fallacies of logic in the Bible e.g. that God fearing Adam eating the fruit of life and becoming his equal displays jealousy.

[36] He further said that followers of Sikhism are to be blamed for making up stories that Nanak possessed miraculous powers and met God.

Dayananda asked the Maharaja to forsake the girl and all unethical acts and to follow the Dharma like a true Arya (noble).

[2] On 29 September 1883, Nanhi Jaan bribed Dayananda's cook, Jagannath, to mix small pieces of glass in his nightly milk.

[41] Dayananda was served glass-laden milk before bed, which he promptly drank, becoming bedridden for several days, and suffering excruciating pain.

On his deathbed, Dayananda forgave him, and gave him a bag of money, telling him to flee the kingdom before he was found and executed by the Maharaja's men.

[2] Later, the Maharaja arranged for him to be sent to Mount Abu as per the advice of Residency, however, after staying for some time in Abu, on 26 October 1883, he was sent to Ajmer for better medical care, but the Rajadhiraj of Shahpura, Ajmer, Sir Nahar Singh Bahadur, was radicalized against the Arya Samaj through books written by Bhai Jawahir Singh Kapur, who was one of his close personal friends.

[41][42] There was no improvement in the Swami's health, no medical aid was given and he died on the morning of the Hindu festival of Diwali on 30 October 1883 chanting mantras.

[44] Rishi Udyan, which has a functional Arya Samaj temple with daily morning and evening yajna homa, is located on the banks of Ana Sagar Lake off the NH58 Ajmer-Pushkar Highway.

[45] Every year on Maha Shivaratri, Arya Samajis celebrate Rishi Bodh Utsav during the 2 days mela at Tankara organized by Tankara Trust, during which Shobha Yatra procession and Maha Yajna is held; event is also attended by the Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi and Chief Minister of Gujarat Vijay Rupani.

[46] Navlakha Mahal inside Gulab Bagh and Zoo at Udaipur is also associated with him where he wrote the second edition of his seminal work, Satyarth Prakash, in Samvat 1939 (1882-83 CE).

Industrialist Nanji Kalidas Mehta built the Maharshi Dayanand Science College and donated it to the Education Society of Porbandar, after naming it after Dayananda Saraswati.

His views and writings have been used by various individuals, including Shyamji Krishna Varma, Subhas Chandra Bose, Lala Lajpat Rai, Madam Cama, Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, Lala Hardayal, Madan Lal Dhingra, Ram Prasad Bismil, Mahadev Govind Ranade,[10] Swami Shraddhanand, S. Satyamurti, Pandit Lekh Ram, Mahatma Hansraj and others.

[51] Other admirers included Swami Vivekananda,[52] Ramakrishna,[53] Bipin Chandra Pal,[54] Vallabhbhai Patel,[55] Syama Prasad Mukherjee, and Romain Rolland, who regarded Dayananda as a remarkable and unique figure.

This includes a 16-volume explanation of the Vedangas, an incomplete commentary on the Ashtadhyayi (Panini's grammar), several small tracts on ethics and morality, Vedic rituals and sacraments, and a piece on the analysis of rival doctrines (such as Advaita Vedanta, Islam and Christianity).

The Paropakarini Sabha located in the Indian city of Ajmer was founded by Saraswati to publish and preach his works and Vedic texts.

Arya Samaj ke Niyam aur Upniyam (30 November 1874) which deals with code of conduct for the Arya Samaj Updesh Manjari (Puna Pravachan) (4 July 1875) which is a record of his sermons delivered to his followers at Pune Swami Dayanand dwara swakathit Janm Charitra (During Puna pravachan) (4 August 1875) which is a record of his early life spoken by himself to his followers at Pune Maharshi Dayanand Saraswati Jivan Charitra Photo Gallery[61] Swami Dayanand dwara swakathit Janm Charitra, for the Theosophist Society's monthly Journal: Nov & 1 Dec Rishi Dayanand ke Patra aur Vigyapan which is a collection of the letters & pamphlets written by him.