Satyarth Prakash

Satyarth Prakash (Hindi: सत्यार्थ प्रकाश, Satyārth′ prakāś′ – "The Light of Meaning of the Truth" or The Light of Truth) is a 1875 book written originally in Hindi by Maharishi Dayanand Saraswati, a renowned religious and social reformer and the founder of Arya Samaj. It is considered one of his major scholarly works. The book was subsequently revised by Swami Dayanand Saraswathy in 1882 and has now been translated into more than 20 languages including Sanskrit and several foreign languages like English, French, German, Swahili, Arabic and Chinese. The major portion of the book is dedicated to laying down the reformist advocacy of Swami Dayanand with the last three chapters making a case for comparative study of different religious faiths.

During the Middle Ages of Indian history, many faiths and sects sprang up in religious and social spheres of Hindu society. Their practitioners slowly migrated away from the teachings of the Vedas attaching greater significance to their founders and their preachings. From then onwards polytheism commenced. Great differences developed among the different sects and divided and weakened Hindu society. The caste system based on birth became strong and gave rise to further fragmentation. Like with any aging society without reforms, the customs gave way to superstition and ignorance wherein practice superseded reason and the spread of blind faith threatened degradation of "Hindu" society. The word Hindu is an improper word or misnomer- the correct word is Vedantic or Sanathana Dharma, a religion based upon the Vedas. The word Hindu does not appear any where in the Vedic texts or even the Bhagavad Gita. The word Hindu is a Persian word, used by Islamic invaders and the renaming of the Vedantic religion to "Hindu" demonstrates the level of weakening to the Vedantic faith. "Hinduism" needs reforms.

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