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Who wrote the book 'Satyarth Prakash'?
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Answer: Option A — Swami Dayananda Saraswati
Detailed Solution
Swami Dayananda Saraswati (1824-1883), originally named Mool Shankar, was born at Tankara, in the Morbi district of Gujarat. He was a great social and religious reformer. He founded the Arya Samaj in Bombay on 10 April 1875; its headquarters later moved to Lahore.
"Satyarth Prakash" ("The Light of Truth"), published in 1875 (revised edition 1884), is his most important book. It was written in Hindi to reach ordinary people. In it, he explained his religious and social ideas and criticised superstitions and practices he considered wrong in various religions.
Dayananda's main teachings:
He gave the slogan "Go back to the Vedas". He believed that the Vedas were the source of all true knowledge and were infallible.
He rejected idol worship, polytheism, ritualism, priestly domination and the belief in incarnations.
He opposed the caste system based on birth, untouchability, child marriage and the ban on widow remarriage.
He supported the education of women and the use of Hindi.
He started the Shuddhi movement to bring back into Hinduism those who had converted to other religions.
He was among the first to use the word "Swaraj" and to say "India for Indians".
The Arya Samaj set up many educational institutions. After Dayananda's death, his followers founded the Dayanand Anglo-Vedic (DAV) schools and colleges, starting with the DAV School in Lahore in 1886, led by Lala Hansraj and Lala Lajpat Rai, which combined Western and Vedic education. Another group, led by Swami Shraddhanand, founded the Gurukul Kangri at Haridwar in 1902, based on the ancient gurukul system.
Dayananda died in 1883 at Ajmer, reportedly after being poisoned.
Why not the other options?
- ✗Raja Ram Mohan Roy wrote "Tuhfat-ul-Muwahhidin" and founded the Brahmo Samaj (1828).
- ✗Swami Vivekananda wrote "Raja Yoga", "Karma Yoga" and other works.
- ✗Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar wrote "Barna Parichay", a Bengali primer.
Quick tip
Remember: Dayananda Saraswati (Mool Shankar) = Arya Samaj (1875), "Satyarth Prakash", "Go back to the Vedas", Shuddhi movement; DAV (1886) and Gurukul Kangri (1902).
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Socio-Religious Reform Movements — Preparation
This question tests your understanding of Socio-Religious Reform Movements, a key topic in the General Knowledge section. The detailed solution above uses a step-by-step approach to show the reasoning, and where available, a shortcut that helps you solve similar questions in under 90 seconds during the actual exam.
In the 19th century, reformers worked to remove social evils and revive Indian society. This topic covers organisations such as the Brahmo Samaj, Arya Samaj, Prarthana Samaj, Ramakrishna Mission, Theosophical Society, Satyashodhak Samaj and the Aligarh Movement, along with their founders and the social reforms they achieved. Questions usually ask who founded an organisation and when, or which reformer is linked to a reform. For example, Raja Ram Mohan Roy founded the Brahmo Samaj and campaigned against sati, Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar championed widow remarriage, and Jyotiba Phule founded the Satyashodhak Samaj. A table of organisation, founder, year and place covers most questions. Practise the socio-religious reform movements questions below, written in the style of the general awareness sections of exams such as SSC, banking, railways, CUET GAT, MAH CET and CLAT. Each question comes with a detailed explanation that adds related facts, so every question helps you revise more than one point.