Swaminarayan

Bhagwan Swaminarayan ( April 2 , 1781 - 1830 ) was born '''Ganshyam Pande''' 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. After serving his parents, he left home at the age of 11 to travel over 8,000 miles throughout India on a holy Pilgrimage for 7 years, 1 month, and 11 days. During his travles, Ghanshyam was given the name Neelkant for his fearless acts against nature's most ferocious animals. He eventually settled 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 Avatara s. 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 live (saakshat) God (bhagvan) Krishna who is above kshar and akshar, appeared from Bhakti through Dharma as Swaminarayan; assumed a human body on the earth like a dramatist (natta). That Krishna whilst observing the (human) dharmas of an Acharya speaks in third person (parokshavann) but that Krishna is none other than Himself." This verse is used to prove his Godhood: {Link without Title} 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.
		"http://wwwswaminarayaninfo" class="copylinks" target="_blank"> Shree Swaminarayan Sampraday

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Swaminarayan