Release of a commemorative postage stamp on Swami Dayanand Saraswati’s 200th Birth Anniversary.

 

  1. On 7th April 2023 the Hon’ble Vice President of India (HVPI), Shri Jagdeep Dhankhar, released a commemorative postage stamp on Swami Dayanand Saraswati’s 200th Birth Anniversary; in a grand function organized by Satya Foundation at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi on 7th April 2023.
  2. Shri Devusinh Chauhan, Hon’ble Union Minister of State for Communications (MoSC) was guest of honour. The function was presided over by Swami Ramdev, Patanjali Yogpeeth, Haridwar; in august presence of Dr Sudesh Dhankhar, wife of HVPI; Swami Chidanand Saraswati, Parmarth Niketan, Rishikesh; Swami Sumedhanand Saraswati, Hon’ble Member of Parliament (Lok Sabha Sikar, Rajasthan); and Shri Sunil Kumar Gupta IAS, Secretary to HVPI. The function was convened by Dr Satya Pal Singh, Hon’ble Member of Parliament (Lok Sabha Baghpat, Uttar Pradesh), and Chief Patron of Satya Foundation.
  3. The function was graced by Shri Alok Sharma, DG (Posts); CPG (Delhi Circle), DDG (Philately), ADG, Director and other senior officials from Department of Posts. Shri Sanjeev Sharma, DDG; ADG and other senior officials from the Ministry of Communications were also present. More than 1500 persons, including Arya Samaj representatives, Sanyasis and eminent scholars from all over the country, participated in the function.
  4. The main program was organized in Plenary Hall of Vigyan Bhawan and Hall No.4 was also booked and utilized where live telecast on a big screen was made available for the participants.
  5. The program started with the national anthem followed by a felicitation and welcome of HVPI by Dr Satya Pal Singh. Smt. Alka Singh, President, Satya Foundation; welcomed and felicitated Dr Sudesh Dhankhar, wife of HVPI. Swami Sampurnanand Saraswati welcomed and felicitated MoSC.
  6. In his welcome address, Dr Satya Pal Singh expressed gratitude towards HVPI for sparing his valuable time for the function. He also expressed gratitude towards HVPI for giving approval for release on 7th April which is the day of establishment of Arya Samaj in Mumbai by Maharishi Dayanand. Praising MoSC, Dr Satya Pal Singh said that the proposal sent by him on June 13, 2022, was approved by the minister in the next meeting held on July 25, 2022. He mentioned the sentiments of MoSC who had expressed that he is indeed grateful that his name is being associated with the name of such a great saint. While welcoming Swami Ramdev, Dr Satya Pal Singh mentioned that not only in the country but also throughout the world, the flow of Triveni Ganga of Vedas, Yoga and Ayurveda has been made possible by the efforts of modern day Bhagirath, Swami Ramdev. He also expressed gratitude towards Swami Ramdev for giving his consent to grace the function on his request, at such a short notice. Welcoming Swami Chidanand Saraswati, an ardent devotee of Maa Ganga and environment lover saint who actively participates in all cleanliness programs, Dr Satya Pal Singh expressed his gratitude for sparing time for the function.
    • 6.1       Dr Satya Pal Singh welcomed the senior officers from various Government Ministries / Departments and expressed satisfaction over their cooperation in organizing this grand function. He expressed gratitude towards Ministry of Culture for supporting this historical function under Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsava. He thanked all the security personnel, government and non-government employees involved in organizing the program for their cooperation. Welcoming the media brothers, Dr Satya Pal Singh ji expressed the hope that they would make necessary arrangements to give a necessary and appropriate place to this historic function in their publications. He also thanked the team of the Satya Foundation. Dr. Satya Pal Singh welcomed and congratulated all the participants who were present to witness the historic moment.
    • 6.2       Dr. Satya Pal Singh expressed his gratitude to the visionary Prime Minister of India, Shri Narendra Modi who paved the way for celebrating 200th birth anniversary year of Maharishi Swami Dayanand Saraswati in grand manner at the government level. He said that Hon’ble Prime Minister himself inaugurated the celebrations which will continue for a year. He added that Hon’ble Prime Minister observed it as an auspicious occasion that these celebrations are happening during Azadi Ka Amrit Kaal. Dr Satya Pal Singh expressed his gratitude to Maharishi Dayanand, who gave the mantra of Swaraj, Swadeshi and Swabhasha. He said that India is indebted to Maharishi Dayanand who raised his voice against caste and gender-based inequalities besides opposing Britishers and fearlessly communicated a new spirit in the society in adverse circumstances.
  7. Swami Chidanand Saraswati, Parmarth Niketan, Rishikesh; in his address to the gathering said that, today the world needs the vaccine of Vedic thoughts and our cultured government with the thought of “sabka samman and sab hai samaan” (respect for all and all are equal) is working under the leadership of Hon’ble Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, who is taking forward the ideas of Swami Dayanand. He said the sound of conch shell that was observed during the Mahabharata period, is being observed today regarding Vedas, Yoga and Ayurveda, which is to make India a great India.
  8. MoSC said in his address that the land of India is the land of contemplation, the land of sages and ascetics. He said that Maharishi Swami Dayanand Saraswati was an inspiration for Mahatma Gandhi and he played a leading role in all the cultural, educational, social and political movements of those difficult times. The Hon’ble Minister said that this commemorative postage stamp approved by his Ministry and issued by the Department of Posts is a small tribute to such a great personality and he is extremely fortunate to have got the opportunity to witness this occasion.
  9. Revered Swami Ramdev said in his presidential speech that although there have been many great social reformers even before Maharishi Swami Dayanand Saraswati but if qualities of all the social reformers are mixed together, then the personality so created would be Maharishi Dayanand because he did not leave any area in which he did not initiate a revolution. He said that Maharishi Dayanand declared that all are children of one God and no discrimination can be done on the basis of caste, gender, etc. Swami Ramdev told how Maharishi Dayanand courageously raised his voice against all the wrong interpretations prevalent not only in Hindu religion but also in Muslim and Christian religions and unjust sects. He said that if there can be an ideal of truth, then it is Maharishi Dayanand only and a compilation of such ideals are brought out in his most valuable work, Satyarth Prakash which has enlighten millions. Swami Ramdev said that he himself is a product of Satyarth Prakash. He said that the Prime Minister of India, Shri Narendra Modi is a true follower of Maharishi Dayanand. He said that all of us were born to follow the footsteps of Maharishi Dayanand, who was, “na jaativaadi the, naa palayanvaadi the, naa pramadi the; varan vedvaadi aur rashtravadi the” (non believer of castes, or escapism, or neglegence, but always believed in Vedas and Nationalism).
  10. HVPI in his concise address, said that the celebration of the 200th birth anniversary of Swami Dayanand Saraswati truly depicts the changing India because there was a time when it seemed that we did not have great men, the naming of institutions became very limited. Now openness is coming, our history is being shown completely, this is a very pleasant change. He said that today is an important day in the history of India, on 7th April, 148 years ago, Swami Dayanand ji established Arya Samaj in Mumbai. HVPI said that India has been a country of sages since ancient times; many great spiritual teachers, saints and social reformers were born in our country, but Swami Dayanand Saraswati’s name is prominent among all. He said that the motto of Arya Samaj is ‘Krinvanto Vishwamaryam’: Let’s make the world Arya. He told that his own marriage was done according to the Arya Samaj system.
    • 10.1    HVPI quoted the words of Swami Dayanand Saraswati as, “Independence is my soul and the voice of India, it is dear to me. I can never pray for a foreign empire.” He mentioned that it hurts when some of our own people try to tarnish the image of rising India during their visits to foreign lands. He regretted that some foreign institutions are working which give us knowledge about how our India is, their real aim is to curb the speed of rising India, there are students and teachers from many countries in those institutions, but they are trying to tarnish our country.
    • 10.2    HVPI said that some people do discuss Vedas, but they have not actually seen Vedas, and never read them. So, he urged one and all to study Vedas, as it will affect life positively. He said that the Sanskrit language is unique in the world in terms of literature and grammar; it is the mother of many languages ​​and we cannot let the mother die, we have to promote Sanskrit more.
    • 10.3    HVPI said that it was Swami Dayanand Saraswati who first gave the slogan of ‘Swaraj’ in 1876, which was later taken forward by Lokmanya Tilak. Through his creations and sermons, Swami Dayanand tried his best to free the Indian public from mental slavery. He said that some words of Swami Dayanand Saraswati always inspire him like, “The tongue should speak only what is in the heart”, “The highest form of service is to help a person who is unable to give thanks in return”.

On this occasion, Swami Ramdev and Swami Chidanand presented Rudraksha sapling to the HVPI. A copy of the book “Ved Vigyan Alok” authored by Acharya Agnivrat Naishtik was also presented to HVPI by author himself.

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