Swami Dayanand Saraswati Jayanti 2026: Every year on 12 February the whole country is celebrating the birth anniversary of Maharishi Dayanand Saraswati. In that period of the 19th century, when India was trapped in the chains of social evils and slavery, Swamiji awakened a new consciousness by giving the slogan of return to the Vedas. His life journey teaches the lessons of logic and courage to today’s youth.
In the history of Indian Renaissance, Maharishi Dayanand Saraswati is such a pillar of light who took religion out of rituals and tested it on the test of logic. The journey of Moolshankar (childhood name), born in 1824 in Tankara, Gujarat, to becoming Maharishi Dayanand is no less than an exciting film.
The biggest turning point in the life of Dayanand Saraswati was one night of Shivratri. In the temple he saw that a rat was eating the prasad offered to the idol of Lord Shiva. A question arose in the mind of the child Moolshankar, how will the God who cannot remove the rat that has attacked himself protect the entire creation? This one question forced him to turn away from idol worship and superstition and leave home in search of truth.
Swami Dayanand was not only a religious reformer but he was also a great nationalist. Even before the revolution of 1857, he had toured the entire country and awakened the spirit of patriotism among the people. It is a historical fact that the word Swarajya was first used by Swami Dayanand Saraswati which was later taken forward by Lokmanya Tilak. He had clearly said that no matter how good the foreign state may be, it can never be as pleasant as the indigenous state.
Swamiji founded Arya Samaj in 1875. He strongly attacked evils like untouchability, child marriage and Sati at a time when society considered these practices a part of religion. He opened the doors of Vedas for the education of women and Dalits and wrote a timeless book like Satyarth Prakash, which even today shows the way to live a rational life.
In today’s digital age where fake news and misleading information are prevalent, Swami Dayanand’s reasoning power is extremely relevant. He taught us not to accept anything just because it is tradition but to test it on the basis of knowledge and logic. His life message is that society can be changed not through fear but through wisdom.
Maharishi Dayanand Saraswati was a monk who freed religion from fanaticism and linked it with science and morality. Remembering him on his birth anniversary is actually remembering the rational India that he dreamed of 150 years ago.
