THE ARYA SAMA.J. 



95 



Swami Dayanand from all accounts was a man of splendid 

 physique, impressive personality and great strength of will. 

 In a word, he was a born leader of men. His manner was 

 commanding and imperious, but he could also be gracious and 

 suave on occasion. In debate his stvle is described as of the 

 "sledge-hammer" sort. The epithet mahdmurkh (great fool), 

 was often applied by him to the defenders of other faiths. In 

 his criticism of other faiths, he was exceedingly unsympathetic, 

 not to say unfair. There is a general impression that this 

 characteristic of the master has descended to his followers — in 

 other words, that the members of the Arya Samaj are not 

 remarkable for courtesy and fairness in religious discussion. 

 Happily, however, there has been some improvement in this 

 matter. As regards moral character, the Swami in his 

 autobiography is very frank and open in telling the world how 

 he dissembled to his father after his first flight from home, and 

 how he was accustomed to the use of hhang, an intoxicant, 

 during his ascetic life. I do not mention these things by way of 

 reproach. It is far healthier and more ethical to confess these 

 things, than, like some other teachers in India, to claim virtual 

 sinlessness.* 



At the same time, it must be admitted, I think, that Swami 

 Dayanand's naive way of referring to the duplicity which he 

 showed to his father argues a defective sense of the " ugliness 

 of falsehood."t The actual account of his meeting with his 

 father after his first flight from home is as follows : — " No 

 sooner had I met his glance, though then knowing well that 

 there would be no use in trying to resist him, I suddenly made 

 up my mind how to act. Falling at his feet with joined hands 

 and supplicating tones, I entreated him to appease his anger ; 

 I had left home through bad advice, I said ; I felt miserable, 

 and was just on the point of returning home when he had 

 providentially arrived ; and now I was willing to follow him 

 home again" (Autobiography). Swami Dayanand has been 

 charged with pursuing a path of expediency, that is, of holding 

 the Jesuitical theory that a good end justifies questionable 

 means. The episode referred to above tends to support this 

 charge. 



* For example, Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian, who claims to be the 

 " Promised Messiah." 



t Cf. J. C. Oman, Indian Life, Religious and Social, p. 106. 



