vows of a SANNYASI in the Saraswati Dandi Order
of Yogis. As Dayananda Saraswati, his name given
at initiation, he wandered all of India for 12 years,
finally taking residence in Mathura to study the
VEDAS under the scholar Varajananda. Dayananda
understood the Vedas to teach gender equal-
ity and rejection of caste, a message that clearly
opposed the orthodoxy of the day. The movement
grew among liberal, educated Indians and became
strong in the state of Punjab, where it remains
important.
The Arya Samaj seeks to restore the central-
ity of the Vedas to Hinduism and to reject much
of Hinduism’s SANATANA DHARMA (eternal way),
including worship of images and PUJA (traditional
rituals). The society teaches 10 basic principles:
(1) The source of all that is true is God. (2) God
is a single, eternal, fully conscious being. (3) All
true knowledge is contained in the Vedas. (4) All
people should be prepared to accept truth. (5) All
acts should be performed with righteousness and
duty. (6) The movement should promote physical,
spiritual, and social progress for all humans. (7)
All relations among humans should be guided by
love and justice. (8) Knowledge and realization
should be provided for all people. (9) The move-
ment should work for the uplift of all, not only
personal development. (10) All members should
be devoted to the social good.
The Arya Samaj sponsors the Purohit Acad-
emy to train students in philosophy and in the
repetition of Sanskrit MANTRAS. After training,
practitioners are certified by the academy to per-
form traditional rituals and marriages.
With its message of social reform and the
universalization of spiritual truth, the Arya
Samaj has proselytized since its inception and
has become an important element of the Indian
DIASPORA around the world, including North
America, South America, Europe, Africa, Aus-
tralia, and Oceania. Prominent countries in the
Indian diaspora all have multiple worship cen-
ters, although membership numbers are difficult
to estimate.
Further reading: Shiv Kumar Gupta, Arya Samaj and
the Raj, 1875–1920 (New Delhi: Gitanjali, 1991); Lala
Lajpat Rai, The Arya Samaj: An Account of Its Origin,
Doctrines, and Activities (New Delhi: Reliance, 1991); S.
S. Yoginder, “The Fitna of Irtidad: Muslim Missionary
Response to the Shuddhi of Arya Samaj in Early Twen-
tieth Century India,” Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs
17, no. 1 (1997): 65–83.asana
Asana is the term for a stance or posture in HATHA
YOGA. It is from the root as (to sit). Some say that
there were originally 8,400,000 asanas to rep-
resent the 8,400,000 births that each individual
must pass through before he or she becomes
liberated. There are said to be only a few hundred
in practice today; 84 is the number most often
presented to students.
An asana is a means to focus the mind so
that it becomes steady, calm, and quiet. It is not
intended as any sort of physical exercise per se,
despite being commonly understood that way in
the West. The various asanas are intended to open
up different subtle energy channels in the body
and the psychic centers (CHAKRAS) that run along
the spine. It is understood that the total command
of the body at both gross and subtle levels is a path
to the total command of the mind. Total command
of the mind can lead to the steady, calm, and quiet
poise of being, where the highest reality of self and
universe can be directly perceived. Breath control,
or pranayama, is always a part of asana practice.Further reading: Nicolai Bachman, The Language of
Yoga: Complete A–Y Guide to Asana Names, Sanskrit
Terms and Chants (Boulder, Colo.: Sounds True, 2005);
B. K. S. Iyengar, Light on Yoga, rev. ed. (New York:
Schocken Books, 1979); Ajit Mookerjee, Tantra Asana:
A Way to Self-Realization (Basel: Ravi Kumar, 1971);
Swami Satyananda Saraswati, Asana Pranayama Mudra
Bandha (Bihar: Bihar School of Yoga, 1999); Jayadeva
Yogendra, Cyclopedia Yoga with Special Information on
Asana (Bombay: Yoga Institute, 1988).K 48 asana