Swami Dayananda made direct charge at the orthodox clergy, their rituals, customs, idol worship and distorted interpretation of the scriptures. He also espoused the cause of widow remarriage. He made a deep impact on the scene. Swami Dayananda began to win followers in large numbers. The masses were already fed up with fraudulant exploitation by the Brahmin priests. The people of unorthodox mindset found a rallying point in Swami Dayananda Saraswati.
Swamiji was becoming the talk of the town where-every he went. By 1865 he had become a religious reforms movement that began to rock the boat of orthodoxy. His true knowledge was spreading new awakening among the masses.
Gwalior king heard about the scholarly brilliance of Dayananda and invited him to his palace where he was accorded a royal welcome.
There, the king had organised a week long “Bhagwat Purana Katha,” the recital of the holy book of Bhagwat Purana which was an annual ritual for most Hindus.
The king asked, “Swamiji, what rewards this Katha would earn me?”
“Nothing except sadness and regret,” was Swami Dayananda’s sarcastic reply.
“How do you say that, Swamiji? The pandits say that listening to Bhagwat Purana Katha rids one of all the miseries. But you are singing a different tune,” the king tried to argue.
“King! The original Aryan scriptures are Vedas. They are followed by Upanishads and Smritis. Those authentic scriptures do not order any recital of Bhagwat Purana. For their own vested interests these orthodox Brahmin priests have created false myths and beliefs. Why should you accept whatever rubbish pandits tell you?’’ Swami Dayananda countered.
“Then, what should we do instead of recital of the Bhagwat Purana?” the king wanted to know.
“The recital of Gayatri Mantra will be more sensible,” Swamiji advised.
The king was not convinced. He spoke again, “But a number of religious scholars recommend Bhagwat Purana Katha. You are the only one who is opposing it as far as I know. Why should I take your word to be true?”
“You can do as you like.”
So saying Swami Dayananda Saraswati stormed out of the palace. The king went ahead with the recital of Bhagwat Purana which lasted seven days.
Then the fate intervened in favour of Swami Dayananda’s contention. As soon as the katha ended the prince of the state fell ill. It made the king a sad man. The queen remembered what Swami Dayananda had said.
The prince lay in unconscious state. The king sat nearby grieving at the tragedy. The queen whispered into his ears, “Maharaji, perhaps what Swami Dayananda had said was true. We are seeing the proof ourselves. We must call him back and apologize for not putting our faith in his words. I think it will help us and the prince will get well.”
The king nodded his head. He was ready to make any desperate move. So, he asked his soldiers to seek out Swami Dayananda. The soldiers ran around and looked every corner of the city but there was no trace of Swamiji anywhere.
He had gone too far. He could not afford to linger on at any one place. He had miles to go before the night fall. He was the soldier of the true knowledge who was required to be ever on the move.
By now he was being seen as a danger by the orthodox forces. The Brahmin clergy was building up opposition to him. At several places Swami Dayananda was jeered at or had to face protests. But he marched on undeterred by cat calls.
Pandit Ambadutt of Anoopshahr heard about the new brand Veda scholar, Swami Dayananda Saraswati who preached against the idol worship. He decided to challenge Swami Dayananda to a public debate. He sent an invitation letter to Swamiji for the same purpose.
Swami Dayananda accepted the challenge.
Infact, Swami Dayananda never refused any public debate challenge and welcomed it. It was a fashion of those days to hold public debates on the religious matters that attracted a large numbers of audiences or spectators. Winning a debate earned one great respect and the fan following. Such debates were proving very useful for Swamiji to spread his message and publicly defeating the orthodox opponents was a direct victory of his theories.
Swami Dayananda arrived at the appointed place to take up the challenge of Ambadutt.
For the debate Ambadutt had made extensive preparations. Swami Dayananda had found little time to prepare himself. But he would not care.
The stage was crowded with religious scholars of orthodox kind. A large number of people had gathered there to witness the debate.
The debate began at due hour.
Ambadutt asked, “Why do you oppose idol worship? Why do you think it is not sanctioned by our religious order?”
“Because idols are not images of God,” Swamiji calmly replied and looked into the eyes of the opponent.
“Give me proof.”
“First you give me proof that the idols are the images of God because you put the question first which implied that God existed in the idols.”
“Idols are images of God, that is why we worship them.”
“Which scriptures say so?” Swamiji asked.
“Religious scriptures.”
“Which religious scripture? What are the most authentic of Aryan religious scriptures?”
“Four Vedas”
Swami Dayananda Saraswati smiled before revealing, “So, I will give you a quote from Vedas. A clause of chapter 23 on Yajurveda says ‘All the creatures of the world are the offsprings of the God in conscience form. All the people must worship Him. It will lead to the true spiritual knowledge. The idol worship can never gain one that knowledge’.’’
It was a revelation for Ambadutt. He stared at Swami Dayananda incredulously. He could utter no word. Dayananda comforted him and brought him to the normal state of mind.
Then, Swami narrated to him the incident of his childhood when he had seen a rat desecrate Shivalingam on the Mahashivaratri night.
He asked, “Panditji, when Shiva idol can’t defend itself from a miserable rat then how can it protect its devotees or worshipers?”
“But Lord Shiva who dwells on mount Kailasha can do everything,” Ambadutt weakly said.
“Alright, let us say your claim is correct. Then, can you tell me when Shiva is dwelling on the Kailasha for whose worship do you go to the temple?” Swami Dayananda raised his voice.
Ambadutt looked around sheepishly. He had no answer.
Swami Dayananda went on, “Panditji, what path our Vedas have shown is the only true path. All those who are indulging in idol worship are only showing how steeped in blind faith they are. False knowledge has gripped them. We must fight these blind faiths and superstitions to redeem our society. Vedas are our thought and our religion. Accept this truth and join me in the mission to spread the true knowledge. There lies the good of us all.”
Ambadutt pondered over what Swamiji had said all night. In the morning he went to Swami Dayananda and surrendered saying, ‘‘All you said yesterday was the truth. I find my soul lit up with your true knowledge. I have come to join your fold. Teach me true message of Vedas. Then I will dedicate my life in the spread of the true knowledge to fight the blind faiths and superstitions.”
Swami Dayananda embraced him.
He said, “I am happy that you have seen the light. You are a scholar. Hence, you need not be taught anything. Only thing that is needed is looking at whatever knowledge you have from a different angle. So far you have read Vedas as a greedy priest. Now study them again purely as a seeker of true knowledge. The same words will give different meanings.”
Ambadutt followed Swamiji’s advice. He restudied the Vedas and at sublime level the scriptures revealed a different meaning opposite to what was filled up in his mind by orthodox clergy.
And thereafter as a disciple of Swami Dayananda he preached the true message of Vedas.
Meanwhile, Swami Dayananda in the course of his preaching ran into another pandit named Heera Ballabh. He was an arrogant person and prided over his knowledge of Vedas. Taking on Swami Dayananda had become his obsession ever since he heard about the rebel scholar.
He had installed god idols on a throne and declared that he won’t move from that place until he made the idol worship hater Swami feed and worship those idols.
He invited Swami Dayananda for a debate. If Dayananda got defeated he would feed the idols. That was the condition of the debate.
A huge crowd assembled to see the debate. It was decided by mutual consent that Sanskrit would be the language of the debate.
The debate began. Sanskrit couplets and quartets were exchanged. It proved to be a marathon debate which continued for six days without any party accepting defeat.
The people waited for the decision. They would go home to eat and on return would find the debate still raging on. On the sixth day there was altercation on some point of grammar.
Heera Ballabh was very proud of his knowledge of the grammar. But Swami was not on the weak ground here too. His guru Swamiji Virjananda was a wizard of Sanskrit grammar. He had drilled grammar into Dayananda well. And Swamiji’s hold on the Sanskrit literature was amazing.
Heera Ballabh finally wilted and broke down.
He accepted his defeat and announced to the people, “Swamiji’s knowledge is incredibly vast. I can’t match his true knowledge.”
Heera Ballabh collected all the idols and consigned them into the waters of Ganga.
In their place he put Vedas on the throne.
After this stunning victory Swamiji moved ahead to take on newer challengers. He had no time to relax and savour his victories. His mission was complete destruction of blind faith, superstitions and social evils. Wherever he went the flag of true knowledge went up.
No Brahmin was able to defeat him in debates. Even more people were becoming his followers and disciples. The traditional priests were feeling threatened. Their position in the society was becoming weak. They took recourse to devious methods.
Even murder conspiracies were being considered.
On that day. Swami Dayananda was preaching his new true knowledge to a group of people.
Suddenly, a wrestler-gangster named Ratiram appeared on the scene. Infact, some Brahmins had set him on Swami Dayananda. He looked hellbent on making trouble. The sight of him made the locals whisper fearfully. They were apprehensive of some ugly thing happening. Ratiram was a vicious character, a feared goonda.
Swami Dayananda although took notice of the menace but he continued his speech. The gangster was playing with a bottle of country liquor in his hands.
What was he upto?
He neared Swamiji and began to stare at him. It made no impression visibly on Swamiji. He continued to address the people.
Then, after he looked at the wrestler and smiled.
Ratiram dangled the bottle at Swamiji’s face and announced, “I will make you drink this. It is the real spiritual knowledge. Drink it and join my fold. It is far far better than your blah blah blah blah!”
Swamiji paid no heed to him and again started his preaching. It angered the goon. He stood before Swamiji shutting him out from his faithfuls.
Swami politely said, “Move aside, brother”.
Ratiram mocked, “Brother! Drink this bottle if your really consider me your brother. You are tired of speaking, swami. This bottle will refresh you, bra…ssss…ddar.”
“What if I refuse to drink?” Swamiji asked.
“Then, I will have to force feed you. I have taken a vow to do it. And I will do it.” His smile was satanic.
He laughed like a hyena.
Swamiji looked at him. The goon avoided his gage.
Swamiji spoke to him. “Dear man! Does that drink make one immortal or does it grant Nirvana?”
The wrestler laughed. “It does not make one immortal or gets one Nirvana. It warms up your cockles, man!” the wrestler informed.
“How long does the warmth last?” Swamiji asked.
“A few hours!”
Swamiji raised his eye brows saying, “Only a few hours! Try our true knowledge. It will keep you in ecstasy all your life.”
The wrestler looked a bit uncomfortable. But he said, “Drink it. I have no time for your blah blah. You will have to drink this.”
“Really!” Swami Dayananda taunted.
Ratiram had to meet the eyes of Swamiji he was avoiding so far. One look of Swamiji into the eyes of the wrestler changed everything for the latter. The sinful eyes had met the eyes of the spiritual power. A new understanding flashed into the wrestler and his entire mindset instantly transformed.
His hands fumbled and the bottle fell down to hit the ground. Red liquid spread around as the bottle crashed into shards.
A very unpleasant smell hit the air.
“Swamiji, please pardon me for my misconduct,” the wrestler begged of Swamiji and added, “I was mistaken about you. Some people misled me. I humbly apologize and please allow me to join your fold.”
Swami Dayananda smiled, “You have committed no crime, Ratiram. Your only fault was in paying heed to the backbiters. But God has mercifully blessed you with true understanding. I invite you to join the mission of spreading the true knowledge.”
And Swamiji embraced him. Ratiram became a disciple of Swamiji and worked dedicatedly all his life for his mission.
Thus, Swami Dayananda was winning academic battles and hearts to enlarge his following. More and more people were accepting Vedic message to be the true Hindu religion. It was further antagonising the orthodox Brahmin clergy who was watching their empire of falsehoods crumbling.
The clergy went on hatching conspiracies against Swami Dayananda. But all their plots were falling flat.
Swamiji was truly celibate. His face always glowed and his skin gleamed like some pink metal. It greatly impressed the people and evoked their devotion to him. Swami Dayananda religiously did yoga exercises everyday. That was the secret of his radiant health.
After exercise he spent hours in meditation. His body would remain in a perfect static state while his soul soared into the space where lay spiritual kingdom.
It was Swamiji’s daily custom to get up in the wee hours of the morning and go to the river to take bath. After bathing he would preach to the people who always gathered at the river bank to hear him.
He never broke this rule.
Once it was the month of December and a very cold winter day of North India.
Swamiji was taking his bath in the icy water of the river. The sun was yet to come up. As usual a crowd had gathered at the bank waiting for Swamiji to emerge out of the waters. The people were in their heavy woollens and yet were shivering. Swamiji’s endurance power was amazing. The people started talking about it.
There were many wild guesses. One said, “I bet Swamiji is a divine being. Look, how the cold makes no impression on him.”
Another man piped in, “I guess some goddess is in the body of Swamiji.”
Meanwhile Swamiji had come out of the water and wrapped himself in a flimsy piece of saffron cloth which offered no protection from the cold.
Yet he looked quite comfortable. Swamiji took his seat. The people waited for him to start the sermon.
In a casual way Swamiji asked, “Just a while ago you were talking about something. What was it?”
The crowd fell silent. An old man took courage and revealed. “We were talking amongst ourselves. Our own affairs.”
Swami Dayananda smiled. He had guessed what the people had been talking about. A disciple named Gopal Singh came up with the truth, “Swamiji, really we were talking about how you manage to endure such cold, in taking bath in the icy cold water and in the thin robe you wear. Doesn’t the cold affect you?”
Several people nodded their heads in agreement.
Swamiji smiled again.
“Don’t take it for some miracle of magic. It is easy. You too can do it with the help of regular yoga exercise and celibacy,” he informed.
The people looked far from convinced.
Gopal Singh said, “But for us it is no short of a miracle anyway.”
Swamiji didn’t mind. Infact the smile on his face extended itself from the ear to the ear. He appeared to tighten up his muscles. In a few minutes his body began to sweat. The wetness made his body glisten and the people watched in utter amazement. Now everyone believed in what Swamiji had said about the powers of the yoga and the celibacy.
As Swami Dayananda’s popularity was increasing by leaps and bounds and the acceptance to his Vedic dharma was snowballing, the orthodox clergy was becoming desperately angrier and angrier. The fanatics were furious. But they were unable to defeat Swamiji in debates and the frustration was pushing them to the limits.
In desperation a group of fanatics sent a rustic jaat to eliminate Swamiji.
The rustic hoodlum went to the congregation of Swami Dayananda when he was delivering his sermon to his followers. The hoodlum had a thick stick in his hand. He positioned himself near Swamiji and stood in a stalking posture.
After the sermon Sawmiji asked, “Brother, why do you stand there with that stick? Why so angry? What is your problem?”
“I am a jaat, saffron brother. I have come to teach you my religion of stick. Where do you want my stick to hit you?” the jaat barked.
“Why do you want to hit me?” Swamiji asked calmly.
“Because you preach against idol worship. You talk ill of Ganga Maata. God knows what hell of religion you preach! Today, I will teach you the real religion,” the hoodlum was screaming.
“By killing me what do you wish to gain?”
“I will gain dharma. You are a non-believer. Tell me where do I hit you?” the jaat snarled.
“The punishment is dealt to criminals. Do I look a criminal? If I do then you can kill me and gain your dharma. If I don’t then you must do justice to me.” Swamiji offered calmly.
The hoodlum Jaat had to look into the eyes of Swami Dayananda. As he did that the eyes of the yogi flashed hypnotic beams into the hoodlum eyes.
The hoodlum felt a new understanding lighting up his mind. His thoughts changed instantly. The stick fell off his hands. His anger and hatred for Swami Dayananda had suddenly transformed into reverence.
He fell at Swamiji’s feet and cried saying, “You are a great soul, O Swamiji. I am a sinner. Please forgive me. I seek your pardon.”
Swamiji caressed the head of the Jaat and said patronisingly, “You have done no wrong on your own, brother. You were merely misled by the enemies of our society.”
The Jaat became a disciple of Swamiji’s line of thinking and of his true knowledge.
The detractors of Swami Dayananda continued their evil attempts to harass him. Wherever Swamiji went groups of thugs and fanatical hoodlums created problems for him.
But Swami Dayananda continued his crusade undeterred.
Once, at a place, a poor Brahmin came to him and presented him a paan as a token of his reverence. Swamiji habitually did not eat paan. But he ate that paan to honour the Brahmin’s devotion. The Brahmin was an imposter.
The paan was poisoned.
The Brahmin didn’t depart after feeding the paan to Swamiji. He had quietly sat down before Swamiji and waited to see the poison take effect as if he had done some noble deed. By now Swamiji had realised that he had been poisoned because he was feeling his stomach suffer from the cramps.
He rose up and departed without saying anything to the offender.
He rushed to the bank of the river Ganga. There, he washed his stomach through yogic act of Nauli and threw up all the poison.
This yoga act helps the accomplished yogis wash their intestines as well.
Swami Dayananda did not tell anyone about the poison bid. But the people somehow learnt about the crime of the Brahmin. The Tehsildar of the area was Swamiji’s disciple. He would not let the Brahmin go unpunished. The offender had to go to the jail.
The act of the Tehsildar did not please Swamiji. Then the official paid a visit to him. After receiving his obeisance Swamiji dryly asked, “What brings you here Mr. Tehsildar?”
“To pay my obeisance to you, Swamiji.”
“I am no god or goddess. Why should you pay your obeisance to me?” Swamiji testily remarked.
It shocked the Tehsildar. Swamiji didn’t look pleased with him. He could not guess the reason for the displeasure of Swamiji.
He asked, “Are you unhappy with me, Swamiji? What wrong have I done?”
“I am not prone to displeasures, officer. But if some poor man gets in trouble because of me it becomes intolerable to me,” Swamiji grumbled.
“Which poor man is troubled?”
“That poor Brahmin whom you have put in prison,” Swamiji’s voice was painful.
“But that Brahmin had poisoned you which amounts to murder bid. He went in for his crime.”
“You may be right. But he is a fool. And the fools commit such mistakes. You are an official luckily blessed by God with wisdom. You should have considered my case differently. I am a man on God’s mission. My duty is to liberate people from ignorance and not to cause imprisonment of the poor ones in any way. But for me you put that man in jail.”
Now the Tehsildar has realised his mistake. He had forgotten that Swami Dayananda Saraswati was no ordinary man. He was a saintly character.
Tehsildar apologized, “Swamiji, I realise my mistake. Kindly forgive me. I will release that Brahmin right away. Please keep your benevolence extended to me.”
Swamiji pardoned him and got the poor Brahmin released from the prison.
Meanwhile conspiracies against Swamiji were continuing inspite of his generosity. He was boldly dealing with the opposition. Forgiveness was in his nature.
An aristocrat of Baroli named Karan singh was devoted to Shivait sect, the faithfuls of Lord Shiva. He had a change of heart and he joined Vaishnava sect, the worshipers of Lord Vishnu.
He arrived at Haridwar with his group for a holy dip in Ganga. Swami Dayananda was also at Haridwar during that period.
Karan Singh was told that a monkish person named Dayananda was spitting poison against Hindu dharma. He learnt that the monk was preaching against the idol worship besides criticizing the beliefs of Vaishnava sect.
It enraged Karan Singh.
To punish the infidel monk he prepared a gang of 12 hoodlums and stormed into the hut where Swamiji was living. Karan Singh had a drawn sword in his hand. He barged in brandising his sword.
He asked Swami Dayananda in an abusive tone, “Hey sadhu! Where do I sit?”
“Wherever you like, brother,” Swamiji said in a cool voice.
“I will sit on your seat,” Karan Singh announced and moved towards Swamiji.
“I have no objection. Sit here.” Swamiji motioned him to take the seat. But Karan singh stood before him in a belligerent posture.
He barked, “I hear that you speak ill of the idol worship and Ganga Maata. That is a sinful act. I will make you pay heavy price for it.”
Swami Dayananda said, “No power can make me leave the path of the truth. I have condemned the beliefs based on falsehoods and I will continue to do so. No one can stop me.”
“Do you call the accepted values false? Why?”
“Yes, they are false. Vedas didn’t order them,” Swamiji said emphatically.
“What do you say about Ganga?” Karan Singh asked, now in a more normal tone.
“Ganga is just like any other river. It originates from a source and flows into the sea after traversing a course,” was Swamiji’s reply.
“What about incarnations?”
“God never took any incarnation,” Swami Dayananda looked hard at Karan Singh’s face and asked, “What is that sign on your forehead?”
“It is ‘Shri’ sign of we Vaishnavas. Those who don’t wear this sign they are human scum,” the aristocrat said in a voice full of sarcasm.
“Was your father Vaishnava?” Swamiji asked.
“No sir.”
“Then your father also was a human scum.”
It again sent Karan Singh in a raging mood. He raised his sword and warned, “How dare your call my father a human scum? You must apologize or I will deal you a severe punishment.”
Karan Singh’s fury made no impression on Swamiji. He remained calm and advised, “If you are so eager for a sword duel go to some warrior king and challenge him. This place is not fit for a violent duel and a monk is not the right opponent. I am ever ready for religious debate. For that you can send your spiritual guru to me. Let us hope that he is more intelligent than you are.”
That was too much. Karan Singh rushed at Swamiji with his sword raised. Swamiji swiftly grabbed the attacker’s wrist and gave it a twist. The sword fell off as Karan Singh cried in vain.
The sword snapped in two as Swamiji stepped on it.
He said to Karan Singh, “I won’t take any revenge on you. You better leave this place.”
Karan Singh stared at Swamiji and left.
Swamiji’s disciples wanted to report the case to the police. But Swamiji said that the matter was over. He remarked, “He didn’t act like a true Kshatriya. But I must behave like a true Brahmin.”
Karan Singh’s goons had already disappeared as crowds came to hear Swamiji.
One other time a man threw a bundle at Swamiji when he was giving a sermon. It contained a cobra.
The man yelled, “That is Lord Shiva. He will do you justice!” Swamiji grabbed the cobra by its neck and killed it.
He shouted back to the man, “Your Lord Shiva was too slow. Now it lies there dead. It proves that the god you believe in does not exist. Now accept the fact and start the worship of Power Supreme.”
There were some groups who opposed Swamiji for their own vested interests of different kind. One of them was that of idol makers.
They pleaded, “Swamiji, please don’t preach against the idol worship. It concerns our livelihood. You are killing our profession.”
Swamiji reasoned, “I am sorry for you. But unfortunately your products have become the tools of the exploitation of masses which can not be tolerated. I will continue to fight for the spread of the true knowledge.”
In May 1869 Swami Dayananda Saraswati was at Meerut. It was the area of the fanatical Shreegopal. He challenged Swamiji to a debate. Little did he know that Swami Dayananda was the veteran of debates.
Thousands of people gathered to witness the contest. Shreegopal quoted a couplet from Manusmriti in support of idol worship. He thought that his couplet would deal the knock-out blow. He had no idea that Swamiji had incredible range of the knowledge of scriptures.
Swami Dayananda laughed at Shreegopal and explained the real meaning of the couplet which infact denounced the idol worship.
Shreegopal was stunned. Swamiji quoted a number of other couplets and quartets which disfavoured idol worship. Shreegopal took refuge under a grammatical issue. Here too Swamiji outclassed him. In frustration Shreegopal used invectives and fled from there in defeat.
He was not reconciled to his defeat. He went to Kashi and with the help of some cunning pandits prepared a false ‘Commentary’ on Vedas. It was full of misstatements and distortions. He wanted to debate with Swamiji on the basis of that ‘Commentary’ which he wanted to present as authentic scripture.
Swami Dayananda got wind of the conspiracy and refused to debate on it. He outrightly rejected the ‘Commentary’ as phoney.
Egged on by other fanatics Shreegopal engaged in a debate with Swamiji again and got floored in the very first round.
He claimed, “Swamiji is a magician who muddles up the mind of his opponent through some trick of sorcery. He has little real knowledge. All he has is sorcery and magic tricks.”
Swamiji laughed at his comment.
Now the orthodox mob decided to pit Haldar Ojha of Kanpur against Swami Dayananda.
Haldar was reputed to be irrepressible debater.
The orthodox elements contacted Haldar and told him how Swami Dayananda was running down Brahmins and hurting their position in the society. It infuriated Haldar and he agreed to challenge Swamiji to a debate. He had made up his mind to win the debate in the favour of the idol worship.
The time for the debate was fixed after Swamiji accepted the challenge. The crowd to witness the debate was mostly made up of Haldar supporters. Haldar knew some tantra also.
He stood for drinking and sexual indulgence as a means of salvation.
Haldar started the debate by quoting a couplet in favour of drinking. He had deviated from the agreed subject of idol worship. But Swamiji could do nothing about it. He argued against drinking quoting a number of couplets. Haldar had no answers to the points raised by Swamiji. Even on the subjects like grammar Haldar could not stand his ground in face of the barrage of quotations from Swamiji.
So embarrassed was Haldar that he fell down unconscious. His supporters had to carry him away.
But Haldar refused to accept defeat when he regained consciousness.
He challenged Swamiji for a rematch which the latter had to accept because it had become a prestige issue for his disciples. The venue was again Kanpur.
There was a crowd of 20,000 spectators and listeners. The size of the crowd pleased Swamiji because he thought that the victory there meant a massive support to his true Vedic knowledge. Little did he know that the debate was fixed.
The entire venue was packed with the supporters of Haldar and other anti-Swamiji elements. The mobs were tutored to hoot down everything Swami Dayananda said and hail on Haldar’s arguments.
Assistant collector of Kanpur Mr. Thayn was to be the judge of the debate. He had a good knowledge of Sanskrit.
Haldar began the debate by asking Swamiji, ‘The widow marriage is forbidden by our Shastra. It is said that where there is the custom of the widow marriages that society gets destroyed. Then, why do you support widow marriages?”
Swamiji said, “I admit that I support widow marriages. That part of your statement is true. But all the rest is false. Our Shastra allows widow-marriages. I quote a couplet from Manusmriti—Saache dakshatyotrasyate gata prtayagtapiwa Paunarbhaven Bharta sa punah sanskar mahanti. It is irrefutable proof that our shastra allows the widow marriage. That is why I support it.”
It shut up Haldar Ojha. He tried to shift to another subject but the judge did not let him do it. He sat speechless.
Judge Thayn asked, “Swamiji, what do you believe in?”
“In God,” Swamiji replied.
“That means you worship fire,” Thayn spoke.
“No. We use fire for our benefit,” Swamiji corrected.
After this the judge left the place. The people had little idea about what was really going on, on the stage.
Haldar supporters began to hail him as if he had won the debate. It led the people to believe that Haldar had actually won against Swami Dayananda Saraswati.
A Kanpur newspaper infact carried the news of the defeat of Swamiji. Haldar supporters had succeeded in tricking everyone. The followers of Swamiji were pained and angry. They wanted to protest.
But Swamiji didn’t want any protesting. He wanted to forget it. But his followers went to Mr. Thayn with the newspaper. The news item shocked the Collector. He could not believe that Haldar supporters would spread such blatant canard.
He issued a statement to the following effect.
“Swami Dayananda Saraswati’s statements are in confirmation with Vedas. After the debate I had given the verdict in his favour. In my opinion Swamiji was the deserving victor.”
Signed
A.W. Thayn
7th August, 1869
Meanwhile Swami Dayananda had moved on. He was challenged to many more debates and he won each one of them. His true knowledge was driving away the darkness of ignorance and narrow-mindedness sustained by the orthodoxy. The scholars and educated people were rallying around Swamiji.
Kashi King also sent an invitation to Swamiji to witness the famed Ramleela of ‘Ramnagar’. Swamiji accordingly reached Kashi. But he told the King Ishwari Narain Singh that he was against Ramleelas as they only parodied the deeds of the great ones.
In Kashi he stayed in the garden of Raja Modho Singh. The news of his arrival had spread like wild fire in Kashi. The crowds began to converge on the garden to see and hear the great Swami Dayananda Saraswati. In every address Swami Dayananda used to castigate the practice of the idol worship.
It disconcerted the orthodox pandits.
They were losing ground to Swamiji fast. King Iswari Narain Singh was also not happy. He was a supporter of the orthodox clergy. He hatched a plot with his pandits and challenged Swamiji to a debate in the palace. Swami Dayananda accepted the challenge as he always did.
The debate began. The king had a library of religious books in his palace.
Swamiji asked, “Does your library contain the Vedas?”
“There is no need of that. Our pandits know Vedas by heart,” the king claimed arrogantly.
The city police chief Raghunath Singh was also present. He had the information that the king’s pandits had a plan to bombard Swamiji with questions from all around and confuse him into defeat. The chief didn’t like it. So, in the very beginning he stipulated that only one pandit will debate with Swami Dayananda at a time.
So, first Pandit Taracharan came forward for the debate. Swamiji asked, “According to you, are the Vedas authentic shastra or not?”
“Vedas are authentic,” Taracharan confirmed.
“So, show me where the Vedas prescribe the idol worship?” Swami Dayananda challenged.
“This question can be answered by one who considers Vedas as proof in itself”, Taracharan tried to change track.”
“We shall discuss the authenticity of Vedas latter. First let us take up the idol worship. Give me the proof that the idols are the images of God,” Swami Dayananda pressed his point.
Taracharan gave an apologetic argument. Another pandit came forward and Swami Dayananda blasted him away in not time. One by one the king’s pandits were biting dust. The king felt very humiliated.
In a brazen attempt the king clapped his hands and declared that his pandits had defeated Swami Dayananda.
The faithful courtiers hailed the king and the royal pandits. Some goons wanted to physically assault Swamiji but the police chief thwarted their attempts.
The injustice pained Swamiji. But he was not surprised. After all Hindu society itself had become a cesspool of injustices of every kind due to the fraudulant clergy and the corrupt rulers.
He went straight to the river and meditated to get back his equanimity.
From there Swamiji moved on the Prayag where he continued his tirade against the idol worship.
One day he sat at the river bank watching the nature’s play. He saw a woman come there with her dead child wrapped in a piece of cloth. She consigned the dead into the waters and washed the cloth weeping all the time. Swamiji watched in pity.
After her departure Swamiji mulled—‘What a pity! How poor and helpless my India is! Here a mother disposes off her dead child but takes back his clothes because she can not afford to spare them. What tragedy!’
Swamiji decided to do something about it. He thought that modern education was the key to fight poverty and ignorance.
His wish resulted in the start of D.A.V. (Dayananda Anglo Vedic) chain of schools and colleges. It triggered off an education revolution in India. Swamiji’s initiative was a big contributing factor into the building of the modern India we see today.
Swamiji reached Patna via Mirzapur. From there he wanted to go to Mungher. He got down at Jamalpur from where the train to Mungher left. He had one hour on his hands to pass.
So he began strolling on the platform.
An English engineer and his wife happened to be at the station. They saw Swamiji. The engineer complained to the station master against Swamiji’s semi-nakedness.
The station master walked up to Swamiji and said, “Holy sir, could you go to the other platform and wait for the train there? The Egnlishman here complains against your half nakedness.”
Swamiji said, “Tell that Englishman that I come from the age of Adam and Eve.”
When the English engineer learnt that the semi-naked monk was Swami Dayananda Saraswati he was very surprised. He had heard and read about Swamiji’s crusade and his teachings.
He infact was an admirer.
The engineer went to Swamiji and apologized for his complaining. The two talked till the train arrived that was to leave for Mungher.
The Englishman personally saw him off on the train very respectfully.
The onward move took Swamiji to Calcutta. There a famous scholar and social activist named Keshab Chandra Sen became his disciple and started propagating Swamiji’s true knowledge.
