I t was in 1969 that I wrote a detailed biography of Pandit Guru Datta Vidyarthi in Hindi. After it was reprinted twice, a revision and documentation of this book was undertaken in 1996. With this objective in view, a hunt for old magazines, journals and also books on and by Panditji was made. By God's grace, I succeeded in laying my hand on several booklets by Guru Datta Vidyarthi, all the three editions of the compilation of his works by Lala Jivan Das, Papers for the Thoughtful, in addition to certain issues of The Arya (March 1882-February 1883), The Regenerator of Aryavarta (January 1883-December 1884), Arya Patrika (June 1885-June 1888) and three issues of Panditji's Vedic Magazine (July-September, 1889) in which most of his works were originally published during his lifetime. I was tempted to compare the available texts of his writings with the original documents and to preserve the valuable treasure of Panditji's wisdom through republication of his collected works. This led to the present compilation.
The first edition of the Works of Late Pandit Guru Datta Vidyarthi edited by Lala Jivan Das 101 years back in 1897 contained a few such articles which were never published after that. The third edition of 1912 is just a reprint of second edition of 1902. These three editions did not include some of his essays which were published in The Papers for the Thoughtful, and The Works of Late Pandit Guru Datta Vidyarthi M.A. Part II in 1902. In the present compilation, all these essays, a few of his letters to Lala Lajpat Rai and Lala Jivan Das and certain extracts from his diaries have been included, and arranged subject-wise. The text has been edited with a view to restoring it to original beauty. Additional comas and punctuation marks figuring in the collected works but not in the original writings have been done away with. Small capitals, itallics and footnotes on the respective pages have been retained as such. However, the page numbers of the books quoted in these writings have been changed, as far as possible, to those of their editions now available. A large number of the cited references have been verified and corrected. Similarly Panditji quoted from the third edition of the Satyartha Prakasha which has undergone several reprints since then. So the page numbers have been substituted by the respective chapter number of Satyartha Prakasha. Additional notes, if any, by me are given at the end of each chapter and are marked numerically. I have to put my name with such notes to distinguish them from Panditji's foot-notes. Due to its historical importance, the biography of Panditji published in the second edition of Lala Jivan Das' compilation has been retained, though in an abridged form. The author of this biographical sketch is not known. However, it is not Lala Jivan Das himself as is clear by the statement on page xxviii. The material presented in the present compilation has never been published in one volume so far.
The compilation and editing of the works of this genius is a very difficult task. I know my limitations. I am not even a patch on him. I had to consult dictionary and other sources several times to understand the meaning, sense, relevance and suitability of the words used by the youngman who was even less than half of my age at the time of writing these essays. Deep understanding of Vedic scriptures is required. It is all alien to me. Still I ventured to undertake this project lest his writings are lost with passage of time and history calls us ungrateful. I will rejoice even on my incompetence should it provoke the championship of abler intelligence and defter pens on behalf of the Aryan fraternity.
Dr. T.S.Bindra of VVBIS&IS Hoshiarpur, Mrs.Sneh Mahajan, Principal, M.C.M.D.A.V.College for Women, Chandigarh and Dr.R.K.Chauhan, Principal, D.A.V.College (Lahore) Ambala City have searched and made available certain rare magazines and documents to me. Prof. S.S.Kumar, Prof. S.K.Rehani, Dr. S.K.Mehta (all of Panjab University) and dear Jitendra have assisted me through their valuable suggestions. I gratefully acknowledge the help received from all sources. That saint scholar Swami Deekshananda Saraswati has under taken the publication of this compilation, is a tribute to the genius and scholarship of Pandit Guru Datta Vidyarthi. This volume is being presented to the readers with the hope that it will lead us from false-hood to truth, from darkness to light and from death to immortality.
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