Ebook: Arya Samaj: An Account Of Its Origin, Doctrine, And Activities, With a Biographical Sketch Of The Founder

Until recently the Arya Samajes were quite content to continue their work of reform among their own people, and had no desire to attract the notice of the outside world. They have been drawn into the world arena much against their will. Circumstances have forced their hands, and they have learnt in the school of adversity and by bitter experience that quiet, unassuming work is liable to serious misconstruction and misrepresentation. In these days of world-movements, no organization, however modest in its aims, can afford to be misrepresented and misunderstood—much less a movement which in its conception is not modest, nor in its aims and ideals, nor in its scope. So long as the Arya Samaj was attacked in India alone, it could afford to ignore those attacks. The people among and for whom it worked knew its worth, and no amount of interested criticism or ignorant misrepresentation could do it any harm. The Arya Samaj cared not for the foreigner, neither for his conversion nor for his
opinion. It was not seeking recognition, either by Government or by learned societies. But when, in 1907, it found that its exclusiveness and self-reliance were misunderstood and that it ran the risk of being condemned unheard, it raised its voice in protest, and invited Europeans to visit its institutions, stay in them, and see for themselves the truth.


For the work itself no claim to originality is made; in fact, it is more of the nature of a compilation. This explains the presence of so many lengthy quotations in the body of the book. The object of these is to state the position of the Samaj in the words of its leaders, who naturally are the best exponents of its doctrine and its views.