Lord Swaminarayan & The Swaminarayan Faith
(Reproduced from 'Upasana', published by Swaminarayan Aksharpith, Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India.)

He was a spiritual colossus who walked the length and breadth of India in seven short years. Hailed as an unremitting champion of peace and purity. He crusaded against the crippling evils in society. Thousands admired Him, obeyed Him and above all held Him in highest reverence.

His name was Lord Swaminarayan. Born on 3rd April 1781 in the village of Chhapaiya, near Ayodhya in North India, He was known as Ghanshyam during His childhood. His birth was a blessed light that had dawned on earth. At the age of eight, He was given the sacred thread. Extraordinarily brilliant and intelligent as He was,  He completed the study of Sanskrit Grammar, the Vedas and other Sanskrit scriptures within three years. He later went on to defeat learned scholars in a religious debate.

At the tender age of eleven, Ghanshyam left home renouncing the world on 29th June 1792. He was known as Nilkanth Varni during His travels. He went to the forests of the Himalayas and reached Pulhashram, where He engaged Himself in severe austerities and extreme forms of penance for six months. In the course of His Himalayan pilgrimage, He met Gopal Yogi from whom He studied and mastered Ashtang Yoga. For seven years, He travelled barefooted in the vast country of India visiting holy shrines.

In 1799, his travels came to an end when He arrived at Loj in Gujarat, where there was an ashram of Ramanand Swami. There Nilkanth met Muktanand Swami, the chief disciple of Ramanand Swami. After a few months, He met Ramanand Swami in Piplana and accepted Him as spiritual Guru.

In 1800, Ramanand Swami initiated Him and named Him Sahajanand Swami. Although there were many scholars and senior disciples, Ramanand Swami chose Sahajanand Swami, just twenty-one, as his spiritual successor in 1801. On that occasion, Sahajanand Swami prayed "O, Gurudev! If your devotee is to suffer even a single scorpion bite, then let me suffer the pain of millions of scorpion bites in every pore instead; and if your devotee is destined to have the begging bowl then let that begging bowl be my fate, but your devotee should not suffer from hunger or lack of clothing." Within a month, Ramanand Swami passed away leaving the following in the hands of young Swami Sahajanand.  In time his popularity increased and He came to be known as Swaminarayan.

Thousands witnessed His supernatural powers and miracles. By His divine splendour and spiritual powers, He graced many with samadhi - spiritual trance - enabling them to have a direct experience of the deities they worshipped. Many of them saw Swaminarayan in the highest abode during such experiences and came to recognise Him as God.

He organised and ran alms-houses for mendicants, the needy and the poverty-stricken during famines. He also inspired countless men and women to the path of morality and religion. Writes Peter Brent in 'Godmen of India' : "He created a band of five hundred paramhansas, the founding saints of his continuing order of monks. They gave themselves up to a life of total austerity, yet at the same time managed to go outward to the needy, building alms-houses, digging wells and doing charitable work.."

These paramhansas reflected a very high moral character through their unique life of celibacy. This indicates the dynamic personality and the stupendous moral and spiritual force possessed by Lord Swaminarayan. He and His disciple-saints started the missionary work of moral and spiritual elevation of society through their pristine character, comprehensive teachings and humble service. All of His saints strictly observed the five principle vows of nishkam - non-lust, nirlobh - non-covetousness, nirman - non-pride, nissneh - non-attachment, and nisswad - non-taste. All followers in general abstained from alcohol, meat-eating, adultery, stealing and adhered to faithfully  discharge the duties of one's own station in life. Truthfulness, non-violence and celibacy were a salient feature of His devotees.

Lord Swaminarayan uplifted the backward and scheduled castes. He changed the hearts of thieves and sinners, transforming them into true devotees free from vices. Pyrns Hopkins notes : "Yet his message had a revolutionary effect on the personal lives and character of thousands of people in a very lawless period...Members of martial and criminal tribes gave up meat and drink; they renounced the use of opium and tobacco, to both of which most were very much addicted."

He liberated the masses from illiteracy and ignorance, false beliefs and superstitions, addictions and bad habits. He kindled in them the flame of hope, love, faith and devotion. He lived with them in their low-roofed houses, mingled with them, became a part of them and uplifted them to the level of virtuous devotees leading a life of moral and spiritual purpose. Such a change aroused great respect and regard for Him in the minds of the people at large. Many came to realise and worship Him as Purushottam - the supreme God.

He was the very embodiment of love and compassion. He looked upon all with an equal eye - brahmins and out-castes, rich and poor, princes and pauper, the pious and the downtrodden. Henry George Briggs observes in 'Cities of Gurjarastra' : "Sahajanand was loved beyond belief by his disciples - comprising men of talent, of station, and or wealth, the poor, the ignorant, the rude who would have sacrificed life itself for their preceptor."

He brought about a great awakening in the path of morality and devotion. He elevated society by encouraging education even for the womenfolk - considered a revolutionary practice in those days. He fought against the malpractices of female infanticide and sati - where the widow was forced to join her husband on the funeral pyre. He preached non-violence, stopping the practice of sacrificing animals in yagnas. An advocate of moral and religious respect, He eradicated evil by non-violent means, such as love, goodness, service and sacrifice. Henry George Briggs noted: "Swaminarayan welcomed and accepted everyone for discipleship, with the same rights and privileges, be they Muslims, Parsees, Christians, or of other faiths."

To keep His religious institution free from corruption and to maintain moral purity, He made special arrangements for women to worship and receive religious education exclusively through female preachers. Separate temples were built for them. He remedied the misery and loneliness of widows by diverting their minds to the Lord as their real solace and saviour, through the promotion of single-minded devotion.

He taught people to live simple, pious, and virtuous lives. He Himself lived an ascetic life of detachment, renunciation, dedication, and sacrifice. He preached the gospel of devotion to the masses, seeing nothing but God in all. To love, to lift and to liberate was His life motto.

His religious discourses were recorded and compiled by four senior paramhansas and form the Vachanamritam - the most sacred scripture of the Sampradaya, containing His teachings and philosophy. He wrote the Shikshapatri - a small text containing the essence of the codes of ethics in 212 verses.

He promoted devotion and constructed six grand temples in the short span of ten years. After working incessantly for 30 years, Lord Swaminarayan left this mortal world and returned to His abode on 1st June 1830. A contemporary writer notes : "And as the announcement of his death was winged, one wail, loud and piercing and bitter, rang throughout Gujarat upon the signal calamity which was believed to have befallen the country."

Although often called one of the last great saints of traditional Hinduism, Lord Swaminarayan showed many characteristics of what is considered Neo-Hinduism. By the time he passed away at the age of 49 he had earned a reputation as a great socio-religious reformer. In His own lifetime, He was worshipped as God by some two million devotees.

The essence of His teachings was to continue His work on this earth through a God-realised Saint. Through His spiritual presence, Lord Swaminarayan continues to provide energy and experience through a succession of God-realised spiritual masters.

The first Guru in the spiritual hierarchy was Gunatitanand Swami (1785-1867) who furthered the mission by his incessant talks. He changed the lives of countless people and strengthened their faith in the supremacy of Lord Swaminarayan. In his very lifetime, Gunatitanand Swami came to be recognised as the manifestation of Aksharbrahman - the nearest and dearest devotee of the Lord.

He was succeededby Bhagatji Maharaj (1829-1897) who made a valuable contribution to the Sampradaya by explaining the glory of Lord Swaminarayan and Gunatitanand Swami.

After him Shastri Maharaj (1865-1951) furthered the cause by establishing the philosophy of Akshar and Purushottam. In consonance with the teachings of Lord Swaminarayan, Shastriji Maharaj propagated the worship of Lord Swaminarayan as Purushottam and Gunatitanand Swami as Aksharbrahman. Against overwhelming odds and fierce opposition, he built five glorious temples and established the dual worship of God along with His choicest devotee. He founded the Bochasanwasi Shri Akshar Purushottam Sanstha (BAPS) - a socio-spiritual organisation - in 1907.

The fourth spiritual master was Yogiji Maharaj (1892-1971), whose work carried the message of Lord Swaminarayan across the oceans to East Africa and England. His crystal pure innocence, towering saintliness and selfless love inspired the saintly order, established youth centers and children's centres where weekly assemblies played the role of enlightenment and character building. He passed away after placing the oars of Faith in the hands of Pramukh Swami Maharaj in 1971.

(Reproduced from 'Upasana', published by Swaminarayan Aksharpith, Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India.)