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manner and reply to the half hearted questionings of the skeptics in a
courteous and sympathetic spirit but vindicate its superiority over all
other forms of faith. And such a man Providence had vouchsafed to
the Samaj in the person of Pandit Guru Datta. He did an excellent
work. His fearless and undaunted expression of truth extorted
admiration' even from his opponents.
The lecture which he delivered at the anniversary of the
Lahore Arya Samaj in December 1888 is worth preserving in a
permanent form. He said "that modern science, whatever its merits,
did not throw the least light on the problem of life. It did not afford
the slightest clue towards the solution of the grandest and the most
difficult question which can agitate the human mind — the origin
and the ultimate destiny of mankind. The modem scientist might
dissect every nerve and bone, subject every drop to a most searching
examination under the most powerful microscope he could possibly
have, but he was as hopelessly lost over his question as ever. He
could not undo the mystery of life. He might go on for ages
dissecting and experimenting, but he would be none the wiser for
it on the question of life. That question could not be solved but by
the aid of the Vedas. They alone could unravel that grand mystery,
and to them the scientist must ultimately turn. Already there were
indications of such a tendency. The Vedas were, and, rightly too,
regarded as the source, the fountain head of all sciences by the
ancient Rishis. They entirely gave themselves upto their study,
reflected and pondered over the truths inculcated therein and Arya
Varta enjoyed a state of prosperity and an amount of happiness, of
which we might in vain seek for a parallel in these days. Happiness
in this world as well as in the next was the fruit of the study of the
Vedas. It was most deplorable that Arya Varta had fallen off from
the Vedic faith. It could not but descend to the depths of
degradation to which it had descended. It had itself courted its
ruin and richly deserved it. But, though, gloomy the retrospect,
the prospect was all cheering. The same eternal luminary of truth,
the Vedas, had reappeared. It had shattered and dispersed the
clouds of superstition entirely. The darkness, which so ominously
hung over the globe, had been dispelled and the luminary was
shinning with greater effulgence than ever. The most happy state
of things had been brought about by the efforts of Swami
Dayananda. It was he who had led us to the light in which the