Bhagwan Swaminarayan (April 2, 1781 - 1830) was born Ghanshyam Maharaj to a brahmin family in the village of Chhapaiya, Uttar Pradesh, India. His father's name was Hariprasad Pande (also known as Dharmadev) and his mother's name was Premvati (also known as Bhaktimata). He had two brothers, Rampratapji Pande, the older brother, and Icharamji Pande, the younger brother. Before he left home, his name was Neelkant (Nilakanta in Sanskrit). After serving his parents, he left home at the age of 11 to travel the whole of India on a holy pilgrimage, eventually settling in Gujarat. At age 21, he was given the headship of a religious sect known as Uddhav Sampradaay (later known as Swaminarayan Sampradaay), with the blessings of his Guru Sadguru Ramanand Swami. He later became known as Bhagwan Swaminarayan after the mantra he taught. Bhagwan Swaminarayan was known by many names such as Shreeji Maharaj, Shri Hari and Sahajanand Swami.

He established temples at: Ahmedabad, Bhuj, Muli, Vadtal, Junagadh, Dholera, Dholka, Gadhpur & Jetalpur – installing images of various manifestations of God, such as Nar Narayan Dev, Laxmi Narayan Dev, Radha Krishna, Radha Raman, Revti Baldevji, etc. Shreeji Maharaj made Gadhpur his home, in recognition of the exceptional devoted love from Dada Khachar, one of his most devoted disciples.

Philosophy and claims of Godhood

The Swaminarayan Sampradaya is a Bhakti Sampradaya which advocates for God within the disciplines of Dharma. Lord Swaminarayan has propagated a philosophy which holds that God is Supreme, has a divine form, is the all doer and always present on earth. He simply states that jivas, or individual souls, never merge or dissolve into God, but they are not part of God. Yet all jivas are always subservient to God. The Jiva, through absolute surrender and attachment toward the Guru, attains the realized state and becomes eligible to offer pure worship to God.

Sahajanand Swami (Bhagwan Swaminarayan) was a Narayana and Krishna bhakta considered by his followers to be Narayana Himself, Rama, Krishna, etc. being his avataras. Swaminarayan sampradaya stems from the Ramanuja sampradaya, which holds Lord Narayana to be supreme and Krishna to be an avatar.

In his main work called Shikshapatri (108) he writes:

That ishvara is Shi Krishna who is PraBrahma Bhagwan Purushottam and our most cherished deity (istadeva). He is worthy of being worshipped by us all (upasya). He is the cause of all manifestations and incarnations.

Commenting on this verse, Shatanand Muni writes in Arthdipika (Shikshapatri Bhashya): "That

This verse is used to prove his Godhood:43

Dharmadeva tada murtau, narnarayanatmana

Pravrte-pi kalau Brahman! Bhutvaham samago dvijaha

44

Munishapannrutam praptam, sarshim janakaatmanaha

Tato-vita gurubhyoham saddharmam sthapayannaja

with this translation: When the asuras who were killed by Myself and Arjuna begin to spread wickedness on earth, I will be born in a Brahmin family to Dharmadev and Murti from Nar Narayana. I, with many other rishis, will receive a shaap (curse) from a Muni to come on the earth to a Samved Brahmin family to protect the religion from evil gurus and rulers.” (Vasudeva Mahatmya 18.43-44 of Skanda Purana, Vishnu Khanda)

43

dharma-devaat tadaa bhaktaad

aham naaraayano munih

janisye kosale dese

bhuumau hi saamago dvijah

44

muni-saapaan nrtaam praaptaan

rsiims taata tathoddhavam

tato 'vitaasurebhyo 'ham

sad-dharmam sthaapayann aja

The complete reference in the Venkatesvara edition of Skanda Purana is 2.9.18.43-44 (2.9 is Vasudeva Mahatmya).

It is mentioned that he will establish sad-dharma; but there is no name of a mother (if her name was "Bhakti", then the word bhaktaad cannot refer to her, because this is the ablative singular ending of a masculine noun; for bhakti it would have to be bhaktyaah or bhakteh). Kali_Yuga is not mentioned.

43 "From Dharma-deva, then, from the devotee, I, Naaraayana-muni, shall take birth on this earth, in the land of Kosala, indeed, as a braahmana, a singer of the Sama Veda."

44 "O Brahma, when cursed by a muni, some rsis take birth as human beings, I will protect them from the demons and I will establish the principles of religion."

Present-day followers

Currently, there are three significant Hindu sects claiming the spiritual successorship of Shree Swaminarayan. All hold substantially similar beliefs, and are united in their faith and devotion towards Swaminarayan, however they are all philisophically and institutionaly different from each other with regard to spiritual successorship.

|| Shree Swaminarayan Sampraday ||

Prior to Bhagwan Swaminarayan departing for Akshardham, Shriji Hari divided his mandirs into two regions and in Vadtal, he established the dual Acharyaship, in direct succession to Himself. He did so by means of a legal document which is a scripture that was dictated to Shuk Swami on Maghshar Sud 15, Vikram Samvat 1883 and witnessed by elder saints and satsangis of the Sampraday.The Lekh serves two primary purposes:

-Demarcation of the jurisdiction and responsibilities of the respective Gadis

-Means of appointing future Acharyas.

Followers of Shree Swaminarayan Sampraday believe these acharyas to be Bhagwan Swaminarayan's immediate spiritual successors. The current acharyas, by hereditary succession, are HH Acharya Maharajshri Shri Rakeshprasadji Maharaj adorns the illustrious seat of LaxmiNarayan Dev Gadi at Vadtal, whilst HH Acharya Maharajshri Shri Koshalendraprasadji Maharaj adorns

The Acharyas of the Sampraday are mere administrative heads. They are the spiritual leaders and the Guru through whom the path to atyantik kalyan (ultimate redemption) is opened. Swaminarayan Bhagwan adopted Ayodhyaprasadji from His elder brother Rampratapji and adopted Raghuvirji from His younger brother Ichcharamji. He accepted the two as His own sons and handed the Northern - NarNarayan Dev Desh (diocese) to Acharya Shri Ayodhyaprasadji Maharaj and the Southern- LaxmiNarayan Dev Desh to Acharya Shri Raghuvirji Maharaj in Vadtal on VS 1882 (1826 AD) Kartik Sud 11 - Prabodhini Ekadashi (ironically on the very same day He was given the Acharya-pad by Ramanand Swami).

The NarNarayan Desh is based in Amdavad (Ahmedabad) and LaxmiNarayan Desh in Vadtal. Though known as NarNarayan Dev and LaxmiNarayan Dev Gadi, both are the Swaminarayan Gadis as they are the only authentic gadis established by Lord Swaminarayan Himself.

The Acharyas are householders and their respective wives (Gadiwala) stand as the females’ Guru. The Gadi is passed on to the most capable of the Sons from their family.

The Acharya’s role is to:

• initiate followers into the Sampraday with a Samanya Diksha by giving the special guru-mantra
• initiate sadhus (monks, ascetics) by giving them the Maha-Bhagwadi Diksha
• perform murti-pratishtha, install deities in the temples
• authenticate scriptures of the Sampraday
• act as the Guru and leader of the entire Sampraday

The concept of having a householder (non-monk) as guru and that of hereditary succession are unique to the Shree Swaminarayan Sampraday. It is the uniqueness of the Swaminarayan Sampraday, that the closest a tyagi (saint) comes to leadership is being appointed the Mahant Swami (head-saint) of a Shikharbandh Temple. At all times, the true saints of the Sampraday take their instructions from the Acharya, their ultimate guru and leader.

In the Shikshapatri (62), Swaminarayan Bhagwan clearly states “And the form of Shri Krishna that has been given by your Acharya for the purpose of your worship and the forms that the Acharya has installed (i.e. in the mandirs) are the only forms of God worthy of worship. The rest are worthy of respect but not worthy of worship” Therefore, the only murtis (deities) worthy of worship are those installed by the Acharyas.

The original Shree Swaminarayan Sampraday controls and maintains the first nine authantic Swaminarayan temples built by the instuctions of Lord Swaminarayan as well as 35 other temples in India and 45 centers worldwide.

BAPS

BAPS (Bochasanwasi Shri Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha) is a socio-spiritual organization with its roots in the Vedas, and was revealed by Bhagwan Swaminarayan in the late 18th century and established in 1907 CE by Swami Yagnapurushdas.

The Sanstha strives to better the world by consolidating character in societies, families and individuals. This is done not just by mottos and slogans but by mass motivation and individual attention, through elevating projects for all, irrespective of class, creed, color and country. The Sanstha's universal work has received many national welfare awards and the affiliation to the United Nations. Its international network has flourished into 9,090 Youth, Children and Women centers, over 700 sadhus, 55,000 volunteers and the dedication of over one million followers. The hallmark of the Swaminarayan devotee is that he or she devoutly begins the day with puja and meditation, works or studies honestly and donates regular hours in serving others. He/she observes the five principal vows: No Stealing, No Adultery, No Alcohol, No Meat, No Impurity of body and mind. Such moral purity and spiritual surety add a deeper brilliance to all the hundreds of social services performed for a better life.

BAPS split from the Vadtal temple in 1906, rejecting the householder line of succession. In the words of its critics, BAPS is a split from the original Swaminarayan Sampraday which is under Ahmdavad and Vadtal Gadi, which Swaminarayan Bhagwan established himself. BAPS are neither confirmed nor stated in anyway, in the Swaminarayan Scriptures. Followers of BAPS regard Gunatitanand Swami, a sadhu whom Swaminarayan referred to as "My divine abode" and "My ideal devotee", as his immediate spiritual successor. He is succeeded in turn by Bhagatji Maharaj, Shastriji Maharaj, Yogiji Maharaj and Pramukh Swami Maharaj.