Editing Dayananda Saraswati (section)

== Teachings of Dayananda ==
Maharshi Dayanand advocated that all human beings are equally capable of achieving anything. He said all the creatures are the eternal Praja or citizens of the Supreme Lord. He said the four Vedas which are [[Rigveda]], [[Yajurveda]], [[Samaveda]], and [[Atharvaveda]] are the only true uncorrupted sources of Dharma, revealed by the Supreme Lord, at the beginning of every creation, also because they are the only perfectly preserved knowledge without alterations using [[Sanskrit prosody|Sanskrit prosody or Chhandas]] and different techniques of counting the number of verses with different [[Vedic chant]]ing techniques. He says, that confusion regarding the Vedas arose due to the misinterpretations of the Vedas, and Vedas promote Science and ask Humans to discover the Ultimate Truth, which he has emphasized throughout his Commentary on the Vedas.

He accepted the teachings of the first ten [[Principal Upanishads]] also with [[Shvetashvatara Upanishad]], which explains the Adhyatma part of the Vedas. He further said, that any source, including Upanishads, should be considered and accepted to only that extent as they are in conformity with the teachings of the Vedas.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last=Swami Dayanand Saraswati |title=Satyarth Prakash, English Translation |publisher=Virjanand Press |year=1908 |edition=2nd}}</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite web |last=Swami Dayanand Saraswati |year=1908 |title=Satyarth Prakash English Translation |url=https://archive.org/details/satyarthprakashl00dayauoft/page/n5/mode/2up |website=Internet Archive}}</ref><ref name=":3">{{Cite web |last=Swami Dayanand Saraswati |title=Satyarth Prakash, Hindi |url=https://archive.org/details/SatyarthPrakash_201803/mode/2up |website=Internet Archive}}</ref>

He accepted the 6 [[Vedanga]] texts which include grammar and the like required for the correct interpretation of the Vedas. Among Sanskrit grammatical texts, he says, [[Pāṇini]]'s [[Aṣṭādhyāyī]] and its commentary, [[Mahabhashya]] by Maharshi [[Patanjali]] are the current surviving valid texts and all other surviving modern-grammatical texts should not be accepted as they are confusing, dishonest and will not help people in learning the Vedas easily.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2" /><ref name=":3" />

He accepted the six Darshana Shastras which includes [[Samkhya]], [[Vaisheshika]], [[Nyaya]], [[Yoga Sutras of Patanjali]], [[Purva Mimamsa Sutras]], [[Brahma Sutras|Vedanta Sutras]]. Unlike other medieval Sanskrit scholars, Dayanand said all the six Darshanas are not opponents but each throws light on different aspects required by the Creation. Hence they are all independent in their own right and all of them conform with the teachings of the Vedas. He says Acharya Kapila of Sankhya Darshan was not an atheist but it is the scholars who misinterpreted his sutras.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2" /><ref name=":3" />

He said the books called Brahamana-Granthas such as [[Aitareya Brahmana]], [[Shatapatha Brahmana]], Sāma Brahamana, [[Gopatha Brahmana]], etc. which are authored by the seers to explain the meaning of the Vedas are also valid but again only to that extent as they agree with four Vedas because these texts are prone to interpolations by others. He said it is these books which are called by the names "Itihasa, Purana, Narashamsa, Kalpa, Gatha" since they contain information about the life of Seers and incidents, they inform about the creation of the World, etc...<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2" /><ref name=":3" />

He stated that the eighteen [[Puranas]] and the eighteen [[Upapurana]]s, are not the authentic Puranas and these are not authored by sage [[Vyasa]], and they violate the teachings of the Vedas and therefore should not be accepted. The eighteen Puranas and Upapuranas are filled with contradictions, idol worship, incarnations and personification of God, temples, rituals, and practices that are against the Vedas. In his book Satyarth Prakash, he says whatever 'good' is present in these eighteen Puranas and Upapuranas, are already present in the Vedas and since they contain too many false pieces of information that can mislead people, they should be rejected.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2" /><ref name=":3" />

He points that the sage Vyasa was called so by the name "Vyasa" not because he divided the Vedas but indicates the "diameter or breadth" which means sage Veda Vyasa had studied the Vedas in great depth.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2" /><ref name=":3" />

He lists out various texts that should not be treated as honest texts to develop one's understanding of the World and the Lord. He rejected "all" of the Tantric texts including [[Pancharatra]]. He said that these texts are not valid as they teach different customs, rituals, and practices which are against the Vedas.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2" /><ref name=":3" />

Dayanand based his teachings on the Vedas which can be summarised as follows:<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2" /><ref name=":3" />
# There are three entities that are eternal: 1. The Supreme Lord or Paramatma, 2. The Individual Souls or Jivatmas, which are vast in number but not infinite, 3. Prakriti or Nature.
# [[Prakṛti]] or Nature, which is the material cause of the Creation, is eternal and is characterized by Sattva, Rajas, and Tamas, which tend to be in equilibrium. In every cycle of creation, the conscious Supreme Lord will disturb its equilibrium and make it useful for the creation of the World and its forces and to manufacture the bodies required by the individual souls. After a specific time called the day of the Brahma (Brahma means great, lengthy, etc.), the creation would be dissolved and nature would be restored to its equilibrium. After a period called the Night of Brahma, which is equal to the length of the day of the Brahma, the Creation would set forth again. This cycle of creation and dissolution is eternal.
# [[Jiva]] or Jivatma or Individual Eternal Soul or Self, are many who are different from one another yet have similar characteristics and can reach the 'same level' of Happiness in the state of Moksha or Liberation. They are not made out of Natural particles and are bodiless, beyond all genders and all other characteristics as seen in the World, but they acquire a body made out of Nature and it is known as taking 'birth'. These souls are subtler than Nature itself but take birth through the body as per the creative principles set by the Supreme Lord based on their past Karma, and they put effort into improving themselves. By realizing oneself, Nature, and the Supreme Lord, Individual Souls are Liberated. But this realization depends on their efforts and knowledge. They keep coming to the World, use Nature, obtain the fruits of their actions, and appear taking myriads of lives of different animals (Those who have attained higher intellectual bodies can also go back to lower forms based on their Karma or actions), they redo their actions, and are free to choose their actions, learn and relearn, attain Liberation. After the long duration of Moksha or Liberation, would come back again into the world. Since this period of Moksha or Liberation is  long, it appears as though they never return or they never take birth again, by the other beings who are still in the World. Since they are eternal and capable of working, these characteristics cannot be destroyed. They are timeless, eternal but are not omniscients and hence cannot be the pervaders of entire Space.
# The Supreme Lord who is One without second like him, whose name is [[Om]], is the efficient cause of the Universe. Lord's Chief characteristics are - Sat, Chit, and Ananda i.e., "Exists", has "Supreme Consciousness" and is "Eternally Blissful". The Lord and his characteristics are the same. The Supreme Lord is ever present everywhere, whose characteristics are beyond Nature or Prakriti, and pervades all the individual souls and the Nature. It is not characteristic of the Supreme Lord to take birth or incarnate. He is ever pure i.e., unmixed by the characteristics of Nature and the individual souls. The Supreme Lord is bodiless, infinite, hence has no form and hence cannot be worshipped through idols but can only be reached by any being through Yogic [[Samadhi]] as advocated in the Vedas which is summarised in the [[Yoga Sutras of Patanjali]]. Since the Lord is bodiless and hence beyond all genders, the Vedas address him as Father, Mother, Friend, Cause of the Worlds, Maker, etc... He is the subtlest entity which is subtler than Nature, Pervading and Filling the entire existence and Space. It is due to his subtlety that he could take hold of  Nature to create the Worlds and he proposes no difficulty for the motion of the Worlds in Space. Hence he is called [[Paramatman]], which means 'Ultimate Pervader". There exists neither who is equal to him nor completely opposed to him. The ideas of Satans, Ghosts, etc. are foreign to the Vedas.
# He said the names Agni, Shiva, Vishnu, Brahma, Prajapati, Paramatma, Vishva, Vayu, etc. are the different characteristics of the Supreme Lord, and the meaning of each of the names should be obtained by [[Dhatupatha]] or [[Root (linguistics)|Root]]. And these names do not refer to any Puranic Deities. Also, certain names may also refer to the worldly elements which should be distinguished from their contexts.
# Regarding the notion of Saguna and Nirguna in explaining the nature of the Lord. Saguna, he says, refers to characteristics of the Lord such as Pervasiveness, Omnipotency, Bliss, Ultimate Consciousness, etc. and, Nirguna, he says, refers to those characteristics which do not characterize the Lord, for example: of Nature and the Individual Souls such as different states of existence, taking birth, etc.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2" /><ref name=":3" />
# [[Moksha]] or State of Liberation does not refer to any characteristic place but it is the state of Individual Souls who have achieved Liberation. The Jivas or Individual Souls are characterized by four different states of existence which are: 1. Jagrat (Wakefulness), 2. Swapna (Dreaming), 3. Sushupti (Deep Sleep) and 4. [[Turiya]]. It is in the fourth Turiya state, that the Individual Souls exist without contact with Nature but are conscious of their own selves, other Individual Souls, and the Supreme Lord (or Eternal Truth). This state of Moksha or Turiya is not seen in the World hence incomparable but can only be realized. In this state they are free of every tinge of Nature and possess their own minds and experience bliss, the pleasure of their freedom, and the like, which are incomparable with any form of pleasure in the world. They are bodiless in that state and can attain any form of pleasure by their own will without requiring any external agent such as, for example, they can perform the function of ears on their ownself without requiring material ears, etc. In that state they are capable fulfilling of all their wishes, can go anywhere they want right then and there, witness the creation, maintenance, and dissolution of the worlds, they also come in contact with other individuals who are liberated. But in that state, the creative powers remain with the Supreme Lord because the powers of the Lord and the Lord himself are not different things. In Moksha, the individual souls remain distinct from one another and from the Supreme Lord. And, by means of their own capability and with the Supreme Lord as their means, they enjoy the bliss. After the period of Moksha, they pass on to this World again, in support of which, he quotes Veda Mantras and Mundaka Upanishad, in his book [[Satyarth Prakash]] and [[Rigvedadi Bhashya Bhumika]].<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2" /><ref name=":3" />
# Again, it is the mark of Maharshi Dayanand's wit that he reconciles the notion of unending or Eternal Moksha. He says, "the 'Eternal Moksha' or 'Ananta Moksha', refers to the 'permanency of pleasures of Moksha' unlike the momentary pleasures of the World, and does not necessarily mean the individual souls will remain in Moksha permanently." He clarifies it by saying that the individual souls are permanent and hence their characteristics also, and it is 'illogical' to consider that an individual soul would get trapped in one of the moments of the beginningless time, and escape the World for eternity by using the finite time period of his lives in different creature forms. Even if the illogical is accepted then also it means that even before he got trapped in Creation, he was in Moksha, and hence his Moksha period may fail at times is the conclusion that is contradictory to the assumption that Moksha is an infinite period of time. Hence, the Vedic teaching that the individual souls should come back after liberation should be considered valid. In a different point of view, he clarifies the same idea by saying that all actions whatever, are done for a finite time period cannot yield infinite results or fruit-of-actions, and after the period of Moksha, the jivas or individual should not have the capability to enjoy the bliss of Moksha further.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":3" /><ref name=":2" />

He opposed [[Caste|caste system]], [[Sati (practice)|Sati practice]], [[Murti|Murti worship]], [[Child marriage in India|child marriage]], etc. which are against the spirit of the Vedas and advocated that all evils of society should be thoroughly investigated and should be removed. The Varnashrama is based on education and profession and in his book Satyarth Prakash, he quotes passages from Manusmriti, Grihya Sutras, and Vedas which support his claims. He advocated the notion of ''One Government Throughout the World'', also known as ''Chakradhipatya''.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2" /><ref name=":3" />