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Yaska. His greatest contribution lies in bringing out the lost
tradition of interpreting the Vedas based on the etymology of
the words appearing in the Vedas. The etymology is greatly
helpful in ascribing the correct meaning to the words with due
regard to the root the word is derived from. This
arsa
tradition
was lost in the last few thousand years and was singularly
revived by Svami Dayananda. For this singular and gigantic
contribution he will be remembered forever as Maharsi
Dayananda Sarasvati. In the medieval period most of the
scholars interpreted Vedas more as if it's in Sanskrit language
though the truth is that the language is derived from Vedas.
Sayana and all the later scholars, Indian and foreign, made this
gross error and thus, limited the meaning of the Vedic hymns
to the rituals and other superficial jargon. Maharsi Daydnanda
was a pioneer that he declared that the Vedas are the books of
all true knowledge and he could show that the Vedas could guide
every one of us in every occasion of life. His commentaries on
the Vedas demonstrated the same in true earnest.
His lofty intentions and actions were overtly and covertly
opposed by a number of selfish elements who wanted to exploit
and subjugate the innocent God-fearing people in the name of
superstitious rituals and dogmatic beliefs. This led to a number
of attempts on his life, which he was able to survive because
of his sterling
brahmacarya
and Yoga practices. However, the
last such attempt, probably the 16th one in the form of a deadly
poison in the glass of milk that he drank in the night before
retiring to bed, took its toll. About two months after the poison
entered into his body, he breathed his last in the evening of
Deepavali of 1883. When the artificial lights were about to
illuminate the dark night of the new moon of Deepavali, he
departed in a most remarkable manner showing the light of the
Vedas to the entire world that would illuminate the earth
forever. So great has been his contribution that the human
history will have to be rewritten several times to document his
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