Swami Agnivesh Biography:

Swami Agnivesh was born as Vepa Shyam Rao into an orthodox Hindu Family In Srikakulam, Andhra Pradesh on 21 September 1939. His life witnessed an eternal void when he was just four when he lost his father. But, his maternal grandfather took charge and played a major role in his upbringing. Agnivesh had set his mind’s domain free to expand from a very early age and in the process had developed an inclination for the ideals of arya samaj.

Swami Agnivesh was meritorious as a student and after getting degrees in Law and Commerce, worked as a lecturer at the st.Xavier’s college in Kolkata. He even practised law under Sabyasachi Mukharjee who eventually became the chief justice of India. 

Swami Agnivesh was gradually getting tired of the social and political mishappenings. Around this time he was immensely inspired by a Haryanvi scholar-activist, Swami Indravesh. So he left his fulfilling career as an academician and lawyer and moved to Haryana to answer his inner calling.

In 1968, he started serving in Arya Samaj fully and after two years embarked on the journey of sainthood, becoming Swami Agnivesh. Though he renounced his relationships and possessions, his thirst to make the world a better place by alleviating social and political situations was not yet quenched. He co-founded a political party with Swami Indravesh to bring about political order. In the following years he audaciously took part in several movements to set things right though that brought a fair share of criticism for him.

Swami Agnivesh Journey:

Swami Agnivesh fought for the fair share of Haryana while it was getting ripped off Punjab to become a separate state. His efforts paid off and in 1977 he was elected to the legislative assembly of Haryana and was made the education minister after two years. However, he was disappointed when the police openly fired on the workers protesting against bonded labour and the government did nothing in response. His morality nudged him and he resigned. But his struggles continued. He bravely took initiatives to establish interfaith harmony in Jammu and Kashmir. Till 2014 he served as the president of World Council of Arya Samaj.

In 1974, in his book Vaidik Samajwad, he had introduced the concept of social spirituality and was headed to work for that. He even joined Anna Hazare in his anti-corruption movement but was later forced to leave it due to certain misunderstandings. Agnivesh also contributed towards upliftment of women in the society by creating a new task for liberation of womanhood. He was also seen to be a part of a campaign against female foeticide in 2005.

Swamiji left no stone unturned to establish morality and order in the society. But he was a visionary maverick and some of his views were not much welcomed by the people, pushing him into condemnation. When 17 out of 19 Pratinidhi sabhas expressed opposition against him, he was expelled from arya samaj in 2005.

Swami Agnivesh Books:

Swami Agnivesh has written so many books but among all of them these are the best ones

1. Harvest of Hate
2. Religion, Spirituality and Social Action
3. Maharshi Dayanand ka Vaidic Samajwad

Swami Agnivesh Bigboss Journey:

Swami Agnivesh joined the reality show Bigg Boss 5. According to the press release by Swami Agnivesh he said that he joined the reality show only because to use this medium to create awareness on social issues.

Swami Agnivesh Awards and Achievements:

Swami Agnivesh got the Rajiv Gandhi National Sadbhavana Award in the year 2014

Swami Agnivesh Death:

Swami Agnivesh’s last days were painful. Battling against liver cirrhosis, the revolutionary leader breathed his last on 11 September 2020.