ABSTRACT
Western education, introduced into India by the British after 1800, effected many changes in Indian society. These changes affected all aspects of Indian life, but perhaps the profcundest change was the accommodation to western science achieved by modern Hindus in their efforts to fight back against missionary inroads on their religion. Dayananda claimed to be a rationalist and to judge everything in Hinduism according to logic and morality and to eliminate what did not agree with these yardsticks. According to Dayananda, Aryavarta was the origin of all wisdom and science. Dayananda’s comprehensive work The Commentary on the Vedas indicates the way he interpreted the ancient Hindu scriptures in the light of what he knew about the new scientific discoveries of the West. While Darwinism had undermined Christian certainties for many people, it seemed to have vindicated many of the speculations of Hinduism.
