Satyarth Prakash (, – "The Light of Meaning of the Truth" or The Light of Truth) is an 1875 book written originally in Hindi by Dayanand Saraswati (Swami Dayanand), a religious and social reformer and the founder of Arya Samaj. The book was subsequently revised by Swami Dayanand Saraswati in 1882 and has been translated into more than 20 languages including Sanskrit and foreign languages, including English, French, German, Swahili, Arabic and Chinese. The major portion of the book is dedicated to laying down the reformist advocacy of Swami Dayanand with the last four chapters making a case for comparative study of different religious faiths. The book Overview During the Middle Ages of Indian history, many faiths and sects sprang up in religious and social spheres of Hindu society. Their practitioners slowly migrated away from the teachings of the Vedas attaching greater significance to their founders and their preachings. From then onwards polytheism commenced. Great differences developed among the different sects and divided and weakened Hindu society. The caste system based on birth became strong and gave rise to further fragmentation. Like with any aging society without reforms, the customs gave way to superstition and ignorance wherein practice superseded reason and the spread of blind faith threatened degradation of "Hindu" society. Saraswati argues that the word Hindu is an improper word or misnomer- the correct word is Vaidic Dharma or Sanathana Dharma, a religion based upon the Vedas. The word Hindu does not appear anywhere in the Vedic texts or even the Bhagavad Gita. The word Hindu is a Persian word, used by the Muslims and the renaming of the Vaidic religion to "Hindu" demonstrates the level of weakening to the Vaidic faith. "Hinduism" needs reforms. It was at this time that Swami Dayanand wrote Satyarth Prakash in order to spread the knowledge of the Vedas. The Satyarth Prakash contains exposition and clarifications of Vedic principles. The book advocates the three eternal entities based on the Vedas: 1. Prakṛti or Nature, which is the material cause for the Creation, is eternal and is characterised by Sattva (Pure existence), Rajas (Rajah means to shine, light or Atomic or that conveys information about existence) and Tamas (Existence unknowable in its form), which tend to be in equilibrium. In every cycle of creation, the Conscious Supreme Lord will disturb its equilibrium and makes it useful for the creation of the Worlds and its