AUM
AJMER ATTRACTS ARYAS
By Brigadier Chitranjan Sawant,VSM

One fine morning I boarded the Ajmer Shatabdi Express at New Delhi. It was on the insistence of Dharmvir Ji, Mahamantri of the Paropkarini Sabha that I was going there on the occasion of the 125th anniversary of the tragic demise of Maharishi Dayanand Saraswati to deliver a lecture on the Life and Times of the great religious and social reformer and also to compere a special session where bigwigs like Swami Ramdev Ji Maharaj and Shri Bhupinder Singh Hooda, Chief Minister of Haryana were scheduled to offer their Shraddhanjali to the seer and founder of the Arya Samaj. Indeed it was his untimely demise under tragic circumstances that moved and motivated millions to change the course of their lives for the better.

The 35 hours that I spent moving on the premises of the Rishi Udyan and the Bhinai Kothi were inspiring indeed. May I mention for the uninitiated men and women that former is the orchard where the burnt out residuals of the funeral pyre were scattered as per the wish of the Rishivar and the latter is the place where he had breathed his last. I shall give a graphic description of both the places a little later.
I gave the caption, Ajmer Attracts Aryas based on personal experience. I was at Ajmer this week again. In the normal course I would have avoided going there as in common parlance Ajmer is associated with Chishti Ji’s dargah where he lies buried and the weak willed men and women go there to ask for mundane things that they have been deprived of. In my lectures from the pulpit and elsewhere I counsel the new generation not to be superstitious as it dwarfs their personality. Making obeisance to a dead person and touching a grave to ask for a boon go against the tenets of the Vedic Dharm and are rank superstitions. So, I have made it a point not to be seen anywhere near a grave where a worship or boon session is in progress. By the way, worshipping the dead man’s grave is forbidden in Islam too as it amounts to human worship and detracts from a prayer to the Almighty. The Wahabi custodians of grave of Prophet Mohammad, sallallah wasale wasallam, peace be on him, ensure that no worship rituals are carried out there. It is an irony that our Hindu brethren and sisters promote grave worship which even orthodox Muslims shun.

A doubting Thomas asked me what about the Arya Samajis who go to Ajmer to bow before the Samadhi of Dayanand Saraswati? Well, there is no Samadhi of Swami Dayanand and no worship is organised for the departed Swami as it would be against the tenets of the Vedic Dharm. A far sighted seer that Dayanand Saraswati was , he had given specific instructions that no memorial or Samadhi would be built over his ashes. The ashes would be strewn into fields or orchards and not immersed into a river to abjure pollution. He paid particular attention to ecology and did nothing to damage the ecological balance.

Thus the question of promoting pooja of a dead man or performing a mritak shraddha are absolutely forbidden. Indeed the Paropkarini Sabha, founded by the Rishivar himself at Udaipur, ensures purity of principles and their observance. The yajna shala and the Rishi Udyan are located where the ashes were strewn or partly kept in a jar. This makes Ajmer attractive to all Aryas and I am no exception to it. It is particularly gratifying that the Paropkarini Sabha is carrying on the Vedic tradition as interpreted by Maharishi Dayanand Saraswati. I hope and pray that the Vedic tradition prevails and infringement, if any, is rectified sooner than later.
In another article published a year ago I had mentioned in detail the last day of Swami Dayanand in this world. It was indeed a tragic demise that motivated and moved millions and that Pt Guru Dutt, a young student from Lahore had turned a believer in Parmatma leaving his atheism aside. I visited the Bhinai Kothi again and was distressed to learn that there is a grand plan of building a memorial for Swami Dayanand Saraswati in place of the original structure. I submitted to Swami Premanand to leave the original structure alone for historical reasons. History should be preserved in its original shape and not be tinkered with. Moreover, the casual and indifferent attitude of people lazying there was unbefitting a memorial of great importance. I wish someone in authority visit the memorial unannounced to see for himself and rectify flaws.

I look forward to going to Ajmer again just to draw inspiration from the teachings, writings and style of living in a state of mortal sickness of Swami Dayanand Saraswati until his last breath.

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