The ten guiding principles of the Arya Samaj are—

(i) God is the primary source of all true knowledge; (ii) God, as all-truth, all-knowledge, almighty, immortal, creator of Universe, is alone worthy of worship; (iii) the Vedas are the books of true knowledge; (iv) an Arya should always be ready to accept truth and abandon untruth; (v) dharma, that is, due consideration of right and wrong, should be the guiding principle of all actions; (vi) the principal aim of the Samaj is to promote world’s well-being in the material, spiritual and social sense; (vii) everybody should be treated with love and justice; (viii) ignorance is to be dispelled and knowledge increased; (ix) one’s own progress should depend on uplift of all others; (x) social well-being of mankind is to be placed above an individual’s well-being.

The Arya Samaj’s social ideals comprise, among others, the fatherhood of God and brotherhood of Man, equality of the sexes, absolute justice and fair play between man and man and nation and nation. Intercaste marriages and widow remarriages were also encouraged.

Dayananda also met other reformers of the time— Keshab Chandra Sen, Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar, Ranade, Deshmukh, etc.

The Arya Samaj came to be known for the social service it rendered in times of calamities such as earthquake, famine and floods. It also took initiative in promoting education. After the death of Dayananda in 1883, the work of the samaj was carried on by illustrious members. Education was an all-important field for the samaj. The Dayananda Anglo- Vedic (D.A.V.) College was established in 1886 at Lahore. But a difference of opinion between two groups in the samaj arose over the curriculum of the D.A.V. College. One group was known as the College Party (some sources say ‘Culture’ Party), among whose leaders were Lala Hansraj, Lala Lal Chand and Lala Lajpat Rai, and the other was the Mahatma (later Gurukul) Party led by Guru Datta Vidyarthi and Lala Munshi Ram (who later came to be known as Swami

Shraddhanand). While the College Party favoured the government curriculum and English education to meet economic and professional needs, the Mahatma Party was interested in introducing the study of Sanskrit and Vedic philosophy in the tradition of ancient gurukuls. Later, the issue of vegetarianism also became a point of contention: the College Party had nothing against non-vegetarianism, claiming that diet was a personal choice and it was not mentioned in the principles of the samaj; the Mahatma Party was in favour of all the Aryas being strict vegetarians. In the end the Arya Samaj split in 1893 over these issues.

The College Party retained control over the D.A.V. School and College, while the Arya Partinidhi Sabha, Punjab and a majority of the local Arya Samaj branches were taken over by the Mahatma Party. Swami Shraddhanand opened the Gurukul in 1900 at Gujaranwala (in West Punjab, now in Pakistan). In 1902, the Gurukul was moved to Kangri near Haridwar, hence the name, Gurukul Kangri. The gurukul aimed at providing an indigenous alternative to Lord Macaulay’s education policy by offering education in the areas of vedic literature, Indian philosophy, Indian culture as well as modern sciences and research. The Gurukul believed in radical social reform. It founded the Kanya Mahavidyalaya at Jalandhar in 1896, and sponsored education for widows. The Arya Samaj was able to give self-respect and self- confidence to the Hindus which helped to undermine the

myth of superiority of whites and the Western culture.

In its zeal to protect the Hindu society from the onslaught of Christianity and Islam, the Samaj started the shuddhi (purification) movement to reconvert to the Hindu fold the converts to Christianity and Islam. An aggressive campaign of shuddhi led to increasing communalisation of social life during the 1920s and later snowballed into communal political consciousness. The shuddhi movement also attempted to uplift those regarded as untouchables and outside the caste system of Hindus into pure caste Hindus.