| Dr. Meghna Sharma Associate Professor and Head Department of History Maharaja Ganga Singh University Bikaner (Rajasthan) |
Abstract
Swami Dayanand Saraswati (1824–1883), the founder of Arya Samaj and a prominent 19th-century social reformer, was a staunch opponent of child marriage. His views were deeply rooted in a desire to reform Hindu society by returning to what he believed were the true, rational, and scientific Vedic ideals. Dayanand viewed child marriage as a major social evil, responsible for the physical, intellectual, and moral degeneration of the Indian nation.
Dayanand was deeply distressed by the practice of early marriage, which was rampant in his time. He often lamented that because of this, the Hindu race had become “children of children”. He argued that when children marry and bear children, it leads to a weak and unhealthy generation, directly causing a decline in the vitality of the society. He strongly believed that early marriages stunted the physical growth of both boys and girls. He argued that it prevented them from achieving full physical maturity, which in turn weakened the nation, making it vulnerable to foreign dominion.
Dayanand insisted on the strict observation of Brahmacharya (celibacy) for both boys and girls during their student life to acquire knowledge and physical strength. He believed that individuals should not marry until they were intellectually, physically, and emotionally prepared. In his seminal work, Satyarth Prakash, he proposed specific, mature ages for marriage to ensure a strong, healthy, and educated society. He recommended a minimum marriageable age of 25–30 years for boys and 16–24 years for girls.
Dayanand challenged the notion that child marriage had any scriptural sanctity. By interpreting the Vedas, he argued that early marriage was non-Vedic, or un-Vedic, and was a later corrupt addition to Hindu custom. He believed that stopping child marriage was essential for the liberation of women. He believed that girls deserved the right to education, which was impossible if they were married off at a young age.
Through the Arya Samaj, Dayanand advocated for education and maturity, aiming to replace early, arranged marriages with unions between mature individuals. His, and consequently the Arya Samaj’s, efforts significantly contributed to the movement that led to the Child Marriage Restraint Act. This paper examines the ideological foundations of Arya Samaj’s opposition to child marriage, its role in shaping public discourse, its contribution to legislative reform such as the Age of Consent Act (1891) and the Child Marriage Restraint Act (1929) with the efforts of Harbilas Sarda and its continuing relevance. By combining scriptural reinterpretation with social activism, Arya Samaj contributed meaningfully to the broader reformist climate that sought to curb child marriage in India.