The Transformative Journey of Satyanand Stokes

On August 16, 1882, nearly 142 years ago, a baby boy was born into an affluent business family in Philadelphia of the USA. His name was Samuel Evans Stokes. Being from a rich family, as a child, Samuel went to one of the fine schools. But Samuel started showing his spiritual bent in his childhood, and his parents sent him to a convent school. There, a priest started teaching him the Bible and works of the Christian missionaries.

At the age of around 20 or 21 years, Samuel was deputed to India by the order of the Church. His mission was to spread and promote Christianity. In 1903, at the age of 21, Samuel arrived in Bombay (now Mumbai). At that time, Mr. and Mrs. Carlton were conducting research on leprosy and providing care to leprosy patients in India. Samuel joined them and began serving leprosy patients. Behind this humanitarian work, there was also the agenda of religious conversion. Just as Christian missionaries today convert marginalized communities in exchange for donations and aid, the conversion rate was significantly higher in British India.

After working there for some time, Samuel moved to Himachal Pradesh due to the hot climate. In Himachal, he started living in a church and began spreading Christian teachings and converting the simple and straightforward locals.

By 1912, at the age of 30, Samuel married a converted Indian Christian woman named Agnes in a Christian ceremony and decided to settle permanently in Himachal. Initially, his family did not approve of this marriage, as Samuel was the sole heir to the family business. However, yielding to Samuel’s determination, his family eventually accepted his decision and, in 1912, bought a 200-acre tea estate in Barobagh, near Simla (now Shimla), from the East India Company as a wedding gift for him. Samuel later transformed this tea estate into an apple orchard.

In 1916, he imported high-quality, high-yielding apple seeds from America and started cultivating them in his orchard in Himachal. He is credited with introducing apple cultivation to Himachal Pradesh. Today, Himachal is known as the "Apple Bowl" of India, and the credit goes entirely to Samuel Evans Stokes, later known as Satyanand Stokes.

But the story does not end here; as a fact, it is just the beginning of a miraculous journey. At that time, the plague epidemic was creating havoc in the country. The disease was so fatal that quite often families abandoned their infected members. In some villages, when the number of patients grew beyond the tolerance of healthy villagers, they would burn the entire village—patients and all—and migrate elsewhere. It was in this gloom that the Arya Samaj came forward with active work among the plague victims. One of the sannyasins particularly, Pandit Rulia Ram, was very busy in the nursing of the sick people. His selfless service created a sort of uneasiness in the mind of the Christian missionaries.

It is during this period that he comes in contact with Pandit Rulia Ram. Through years, Samuel witnesses his tirelessness, his all-consuming zeal of service and realizes an honest truth, "that man does not convert to people out of superstition nor for any selfish motive: but work genuinely for human welfare.

Through frequent dealings with Pandit Rulia Ram he produced in him a keen interest in Sanatan Dharma:. Gradually, he came into contact with the Arya Samaj and, through them, with the revolutionary Indian freedom fighters of the time. Indeed, Samuel was the only American who joined the Indian independence movement against British rule. His involvement in the struggle irritated the British authorities immensely. In response, the British government arrested him and sentenced him to imprisonment. But his prison stint proved to be a turning point in his life.

In the prison, Samuel came in contact with the great Arya Samaj leader Lala Lajpat Rai. Lala Lajpat Rai introduced him to Maharishi Dayanand Saraswati’s book, Satyarth Prakash (The Light of Truth). This book profoundly impacted Samuel’s religious outlook, leading him to recognize the greatness of Sanatan Dharma and the shortcomings of Christianity. His life underwent a radical transformation as a result. He started studying the Vedas, Upanishads, and Manusmriti. He also learned Sanskrit then. It was a complete spiritual turn for Samuel following which he plunged head-first into the Indian freedom movement.

In 1932, Samuel Evans Stokes gave a public declaration of abandoning Church, Christianity, and missionary works embracing Sanatan Dharma. He adopted the name Satyanand Stokes, while his wife Agnes became Priya Devi. Their six children were given Indian names: Preetam Stokes, Lalchand Stokes, Prem Stokes, Satyavati Stokes, Tara Stokes, and Sabitri Stokes.

Satyanand Stokes established an Arya Samaj temple on his own estate. Various verses and mantras from Vedas, Upanishads, and the Srimad Bhagavad Gita carved on the wooden pillars of this temple. The inscriptions are still found on the pillars of the temple in Himachal Pradesh. Renowned businessman Jugal Kishore Birla donated ₹25,000 for building this temple, which was a big amount during those days. It was called the Paramjyoti Mandir, which means the Temple of Eternal Light.

Satyanand Stokes died on May 14, 1946. His invaluable services are remembered with the highest respect in the annals of the history of Himachal Pradesh and India.