Principles of Arya Samaj
God is the efficient cause of all true (Satya) knowledge and all that is known through knowledge.
God is existent, intelligent and blissful. He is formless, omniscient, just, merciful, unborn, endless, unchangeable, beginning-less, unequalled, the support of all, the master of all, omnipresent, immanent, un-aging, immortal, fearless, eternal, and holy, and the maker of all. He alone is worthy of being worshipped.
The Vedas are the scriptures of all true (Satya) knowledge. It is the paramount duty of all Aryas to read them, teach them, recite them and to hear them being read.
One should always be ready to accept truth (Satya) and renounce untruth.
All acts should be performed in accordance with Dharm that is, after deliberating what is right and wrong.
The prime object of the Arya Samaj is to do good to the world, that is, to promote physical, spiritual and social good of everyone.
Our conduct towards all should be guided by love, righteousness and justice.
We should dispel ignorance and promote knowledge.
No one should be content with promoting his/her good only: on the contrary, one should look for his/her good in promoting good of all.
One should regard oneself under restriction to follow the rules of society calculated to promote the well being of all, while in following the rules of individual welfare all should be free.
Etymological Exposition of the Principles of Arya Samaj
Before
we proceed to deliberate on the meaning of the Arya Samaj Principles, let us
elaborate on Arya Samaj. A knowledgeable person (Prof. Rattan Singh) has said:
"Satya par adhaarit ek Sarvabhom Arya Sanghtan ka naam Arya Samaj hai"
In simple, Arya Samaj is a group of Arya people working for the betterment of humanity on the basis of Truth (Satya).
Q: Who are the Aryas?
A: People with good and righteous conduct along with benevolent and noble qualities are termed as Aryas.
Q: What does Sarvabhom represents in the above statement?
A: What is represented by the above word (Sarvabhom) is that Arya Samaj is not limited to a particular religion, race, colour of the skin, country etc. In fact, anyone who is willing to work towards improving his/her conduct, thinking, character, inline with the Arya Samaj's principles and is ready to accept the teachings of the Rishis with reasoning can become Arya Samaji.
Q: What does the "basis of truth (Satya)" means in the above statement?
A: The definition of Satya (by means of five tests as explained by Maharishi Dayanand) has been explained in the Karma section of the website. It is imperative for an Arya Samaji to base his/her life on Satya. An Arya Samaj operating by compromising Satya is only a social club with the name of Arya Samaj.
The first principle of Arya Samaj States that:
"Sab Satya Vidya or jo padarth Vidya se jaane jate hai un sabka adi mool Parmeshwar hai".
God is the efficient cause of all Satya knowledge and all that is known through knowledge.
Q: What is the meaning of efficient cause?
A: Efficient cause is one by whose making something comes into effect and nothing comes into effect without its making. A simple example is that by the making of God the formless and ever present Prakriti takes form or is made into worlds (e.g. cosmos world, atmosphere world etc).
Q: What is Vidya?
A: Vidya is termed as the knowledge by which the yatharth (the true way of it) knowledge of a padarth (product, element etc.) is known or by which a product or element etc. are known in their true form along with its properties. Few quotes from Maharishi Dayanand's granths are as follows:
"Jisse padarth ko yathawat jankaar nyaya yukta karm kiye javen vah Vidya or jisse kisi padarth ka yathawat jnana na hokar anyaya roop karm kiye jayen vah Avidya kahati hai" ---Vyavahar Bhanu
"Jisse padarthon ka yatharth swaroop bodh howey vah Vidya kahati hai"---Satyarth Prakash, Samullas 9.
Q: What can be termed as Satya Vidya?
A: Satya Vidya is the Vidya which is unchangable i.e. the knowledge provided by the almighty to the humans which is for the entire humanity irrespective of language, location, faith, religion etc.
The second principle of Arya Samaj States that:
"Ishwar sachidanand swaroop, nirakaar, sarvashaktimaan, nyayakari, dayalu, ajanma, anant, nirvikaar, anadi, anupam, sarvadhaar, sarveshwar, sarvayapak, sarvantaryami, ajar, amar, abhay, nitya, pavitra aur srishtikarta hai. Usi ki upasana karni yogya hai".
God is (Sachidanand) existent, intelligent and blissful. He is (Nirakaar) formless, (Sarvashaktimaan) all powerful, (Sarvajya) omniscient, (Nyayakari) just, (Dayalu) merciful, (Ajanma) unborn, (Anant) endless, (Nirvikaar) unchangeable & faultless, (Anadi) beginning-less, (Anupam) unequalled, (Sarvadhar) the support of all, (Sarveshwar) the master of all, (Sarvayapak) omnipresent, (Sarvantaryami) immanent, (Ajar) un-aging, (Amar) immortal, (Abhay) fearless, (Nitya) eternal, and (Pavitra) holy, and (Srishtikarta) the maker of all. He alone is worthy of being worshipped.
Q: Since God is all powerful and merciful, He should be able to forgive our wrong doings thus preventing us from suffering.
A: God is all powerful as he alone is capable of creating the world/s from the material cause or Prakriti and is the only one to give Souls the fruit of their deeds. Even though God is all powerful, he cannot go against the Godly qualities e.g. God can not die or can not become ignorant as he is omniscient. Similarly, to forgive us for our misdeeds just because we have prayed and asked for forgiveness will be unjust e.g. forgiving a thief every time he/she prays without giving the fruit of his/her deeds will encourage him/her to commit the same sin or crime since the previous ones are forgiven. This will be unjust as the thief is inflicting suffering on the people whom he/she robs. This will also make God prejudiced if he stops giving the fruits of misdeeds by accepting the bribe of worship or prayer.
Q: If God does not forgive our sins then what is the use of Upasana or worship?
A: The answer to this has been given in the Upasana section of this website. Please read it there.
The third principle of Arya Samaj States that:
"Ved sab satya vidhyon ka pustak hai, Ved ka padna - padana aur sunna - sunana sab Aryon ka param Dharm hai".
The Vedas are the scriptures of all true (Satya) knowledge. It is the paramount duty of all Aryas to read them, teach them, recite them and to hear them being read.
Q: How can Vedas be the scriptures of true (Satya) knowledge as the knowledge of the humans can not be termed as complete (i.e. it has the potential of errors)?
A: Maharishi Dayanand has explained in his Rig Ved Adi Bhashya Bhumika and Satyarth Prakash that Vedas have been given to Adi Srishti of humans. It is a fact that humans do not learn without being taught either by means of sound, sight, or sense and unless there is knowledge given to them they will not learn anything. Thus Vedas has been given by the almighty to the humans. Manu Smriti also state that the first Guru Brahma read and learnt the Vedas from Agni, Aditya, Vayu and Angira.
The fourth principle of Arya Samaj States that:
"Satya ke grahan karne or asatya ke chodne me sarvada uddath rahana chaiyae".
One should always be ready to accept truth (Satya) and renounce untruth.
Q: Can we decide on what to accept by voting democratically?
A: Some Vivek Heen (without wisdom) people advice that we should accept as Satya whatever has been decided democratically by the committee. Democracy can only be applied to opinion which is changable. Satya is not an opinion and is unchangeable. Please read the five tests of truth (Satya) as per Maharishi Dayanand under the Karma section of this website.
The fifth principle of Arya Samaj States that:
"Sab kaam dharmanusar, arthath satya aur asatya ko vichaar karke karne chaiyae"
All acts should be performed in accordance with Dharm that is, after deliberating what is right and wrong.
Q: Dosen’t the fifth principle contradicts the fourth principle by inculcating to decide democratically?
A: Not at all, the fifth principle advises to work according to Dharm by accepting Satya (of course by means of the five tests as explained in the Karma section of this website). Satya is the quality of Dharm and not Asatya, hence it is imperative that Satya be followed. What is meant here is to put all the Satya thoughts (e.g by the committee doing a project) and adopt the ones that are beneficial for the project. However, it is imperative that all Satya thoughts are taken and if need be some satya ideas and thoughts can be ignored i.e. only those Satya beneficial to project are implemented.
The sixth principle of Arya Samaj States that:
"Sansaar ka upkaar karna is samaj ka mukhya uddeshya hai, arthath sharirik, atmik aur samajik unnati karna".
The prime object of the Arya Samaj is to do good to the world, that is, to promote physical, spiritual and social good of everyone.
The seventh principle of Arya Samaj States that:
"Sabse pritipurvak, dharmanusaar, yathayogya vartna chaiyae".
Our conduct towards all should be guided by love, righteousness and justice.
The eight principle of Arya Samaj States that:
"Avidya ka naash or vidya ki vriddhi karni chaiyae".
We should dispel ignorance and promote knowledge.
The ninth principle of Arya Samaj States that:
"Pratyek ko apni hi unnati se santusth na rahana chaiyae, kintu sabki unnati me apni unnati samaghna chaiyae".
No one should be content with promoting his/her good only: on the contrary, one should look for his/her good in promoting good of all.
The tenth principle of Arya Samaj States that:
"Sab manushyon ko samajik, sarvahitkari niyam palne me partantra rahna chaiyae aur pratyek hitkari niyam me sab swatantra rahen".
One should regard oneself under restriction to follow the rules of society calculated to promote the well being of all, while in following the rules of individual welfare all should be free.
The above principles will be elaborated more depending on the feedback provided by the readers. To summarize the principles, we can simply say that the first principle explains the origin of true (Satya) Knowledge. The second principle gives a brief description of the God. The third principle explains the Satya knowledge to know God and how to lead life. It also highlights the paramount duty of the Aryas. The fourth principle says that as the Soul (Atma) has the knowledge of Satya and Asatya so should the mind be determined to reject untruth or Asatya and accept truth (Satya). The fifth principle teaches the conduct of humans (i.e. accepting the dharmanusar karam or noble conduct after deliberating what is right and what is wrong as per the Dharm). The first five principles are the process of becoming an Arya. The sixth principle explains the purpose of the life as an Arya i.e. to develop the self, community, society, country and the world by promoting, physical, spiritual and social good of everyone. The seventh principle teaches the Vyavahar (how to behave and relate to others). The eight principle states the duty of the Samaj. The ninth principle encourages the Aryas to promote the good of all rather than limiting oneself in promoting his/her good only. The tenth principle states that all the Samaj members should work towards the development of the Samaj by following its rules which has been put in place after deliberating right and wrong according to the Dharm and an individual is free to follow the rules for his/her development according to Dharm.