ABSTRACT
Starting with an introductory section about Hinduism, this chapter provides an overview of the lives and thoughts of two late 19th/early 20th century Hindu reformers. Dayananda Sarasvati (1824–1883), the founder of the existing Arya Samaj organization, reinterpreted Hinduism along monotheist lines and understood the caste system as a meritocratic rather than ascriptive kind of social stratification. While he originally disposed of many entrenched traditions, he later pragmatically accepted them in order to reach out to mainstream Hinduism. Swami Shraddhananda (1857–1926) was one of the leaders of Arya Samaj who faithfully continued Dayananda’s reform work. Much of Shraddhananda’s public activities were devoted to education. During the last decade of his life, he participated in the Indian independence movement and worked for the uplift of the so-called Untouchables. He also adopted a stance that considered the Muslims as the main threat to Hinduism. These two thinkers were among those who inspired the Hindutva approach, which emphasizes India’s Hindu rather than secular character and is often considered to be fundamentalist. Hindutva’s present main representative, the governing BJP, has taken over the reformer’s anti-Islamic discourse but largely dropped their more innovative ideas.
