Within the Arya Samaj vision, education became a sacred instrument for both inner refinement and social transformation. The most visible embodiment of this ideal is the Dayanand Anglo-Vedic (DAV) network, beginning with the first DAV school in Lahore in 1886. These institutions sought to harmonize Western-style modern education—science, English, and contemporary subjects—with Vedic values, Sanskrit, and moral instruction. Over time, they grew into one of the largest non-governmental educational networks in India, encompassing schools, colleges, and even universities, and extending their presence especially across North India. Their classrooms nurtured political leaders, professionals, and thinkers, while also cultivating a distinct Hindu–Vedic ethical orientation. In this way, DAV institutions offered not merely degrees, but a particular synthesis of tradition and modernity that shaped public life and nationalist consciousness.

Alongside the DAV stream, Arya Samaj fostered institutions modeled on the ancient gurukula ideal, most notably Gurukul Kangri at Haridwar, founded by Swami Shraddhanand. This residential institution emphasized Vedic studies, Sanskrit, Indian philosophy, physical training, and simple living, while selectively incorporating modern subjects. Over time it evolved into a recognized university-level center of learning, yet retained the ethos of disciplined, character-building education. Such gurukulas presented an indigenous alternative to mission schools and purely Westernized curricula, preserving Vedic scholarship in a structured, modern institutional form. They also inspired parallel efforts such as women’s campuses and other Vedic schools that carried the same spirit of spiritual rigor and cultural rootedness.

A third strand of Arya Samaj’s educational work focused explicitly on social uplift, especially for women and marginalized groups. Arya Kanya Pathshalas, Kanya Mahavidyalayas, and other girls’ schools and colleges opened spaces for women’s literacy and higher learning within communities that had often resisted female education. Many of these institutions, along with other Arya- or Dayanand-named schools and colleges, integrated daily practices such as havan and moral instruction into a modern timetable. By promoting education across caste lines and encouraging the use of Hindi and Sanskrit, they contributed to both social reform and cultural self-confidence. The enduring legacy of these varied institutions lies in their attempt to use education as a bridge: between Vedic revelation and modern reason, between inherited customs and ethical reform, and between personal spiritual growth and the collective uplift of society.