21/08/2024
Swami Shradhanand Saraswati- An Alcoholic to Sanyasi.
Swami Shraddhanand, also known as Mahatma Munshi Ram, was another name in this famous list of greats. However, it is paradoxical that his early life exhibited no signs of future brilliance. He was an atheist and someone who developed addictions to gambling, alcohol, eating flesh and lust.
Swami Shraddhanand's early life had some resemblance to Rishi Swami Dayananda's. Munshi Ram Vij (his name before Sanyasi) was born in 1856 to a wealthy family in the Jalandhar area of Punjab. His father, Nanakchand, was a high-ranking police officer working for an East India company, therefore the family was always on the go due to his transferable job. Swami Sharaddhanand was the youngest in the family. His education began in Varanasi and completed in Lahore, where he passed the law test and became a lawyer. He was married to Shrimati Shiva Devi. He had two sons and two daughters.
His atheist opinions stemmed from painful personal experiences. He saw devotees being stopped at a temple, to allow a lady of a noble family to complete her puja. Disillusioned, he was attracted to Christianity, but then he saw the priest of the Church, in a compromising position, with a nun, and gave it up. He tried to go towards Islam, but in Varanasi, he witnessed a case where an influential Muslim lawyer accused of the r**e of a young girl, managed to get away thanks to his power. For a while, he spent time at Mathura and was disgusted with what he saw as the corruption and gluttony of the priests there, as well as the attempted r**e of a female devotee, by one of the priests. These experiences drove him to become an atheist. He lost interest in his studies and became addicted to alcohol and gambling. Fortunately, contact with Swami Dayananda Saraswati turned his life around and steered him away from destruction. His father was later assigned to Bareilly, where he oversaw the security arrangements for Dayananda's visit as well as the public discussion with Rev. Scott. Munshiram then went with some of his buddies to ruin the plans but was impressed by Swamiji's charisma. He admired Swamiji's courage in dismissing threats to his life and confronting the missionaries head-on. He had his discussion with Swamiji about God and informed him that, while he couldn't fault his reasons, he couldn't bring himself to believe in God.
“Look, you asked questions, I gave answers that were a matter of logic. When did I promise that I would make you believe in god? Your faith in god will only come when the lord himself makes you a believer.”
Swamiji's prophecy came true, in a way.
After speaking and hearing from the Rishi and having a leathy discussion with Rishi, all this left a deep impact on Swami Shraddhanandji’s mind but also on his soul. Deep inside he was very shock whatever he heard from Rishi. A person who was completely engrossed in all negative habits couldn't help but notice and understand the anguish his wife was undergoing. Shraddhanandji watched his wife Shivadevi pawning her valuables to pay for his drinking, as well as a friend attempting to r**e a female while under the influence of alcohol. Such as when he returned home after one of his drunken or**es, his wife carefully nursed him. However, his friend's attempt to r**e a female was the final straw, and he learned the dangers of alcohol and how it could turn a man into a beast. There and then he left alcohol, lust and meat eating. All this was possible as Rishi had enlighten his soul. The staunch atheist was on track to become a believer. He went to Jalandhar as a lawyer and joined the Arya Samaj in Jalandhar under Lala Devraj.
He became the greatest believer. He opened Arya Samaj’s, Schools, Gave lectures, and had many debates. Took sanyas. He was the tiger of India, walked alone to Jama Masjid and gave a talk about the unity of Hindus & Muslims.
During the heavy massacre of Molpah riots. Swamiji saw many Hindu’s converting to Islam due to the horrible political massacre done by the Muslims. That is when he started the Shuddhi movement to convert them back from being a forced Muslim to a Hindu which they originally were. His charitable work helped reorient thousands of lost Indians in their faith beliefs. Political thinkers and leaders of the period were rattled by his revolutionary Shuddhi Process and political ideas. His modern epistemology and didacticism were on display, even if his convictions would never be able to attain total clarity during his lifetime. His direct critique left Mr. Gandhi and many others perplexed. He used to be an attorney, but the current political climate in India has him very worried. He had a lot of thought put into things and was very religious. He wrote a book “ Hindu Sangthan”, a book which was a savior of Hindu dying race.
Unfortunately and sadly, it was Gandhi conspiracy. Swamiji was unhappy with Gandhi’s action on Khalifa and left Congress too. This made Gandhi upset and the rest of the corrupt party. They made a plan and killed him. He becomes a martyr and a forgotten hero.
In today’s world, no one knows him. Make this your aim to talk about him to your friends, families, neighbors and whoever you can!
