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Swaminarayan Sampradaya

Hindu sect founded in 1801 by Sahajanand Swami

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Swaminarayan, founder of the Swaminarayan Sampradaya
- Copyright held by BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha (web: www.baps.org, email: [email protected]); · CC BY-SA 4.0

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During his lifetime, Swaminarayan institutionalized his charisma and beliefs in various ways. He constructed six mandirs to facilitate followers' devotional worship of God, and encouraged the creation of a scriptural tradition. In 1826, in a legal document titled the Lekh, Swaminarayan created two dioceses, the Laxmi Narayan Dev Gadi (Vadtal Gadi) and Nar Narayan Dev Gadi (Ahmedabad Gadi), with a hereditary leadership of acharyas and their wives, who were authorized to install statues of deities in temples and to initiate ascetics.

In Swaminarayan's soteriology the ultimate goal of life is to become Brahmarūpa, attaining the form (rūpa) of Aksharbrahman, in which the jiva is liberated from maya and saṃsāra (the cycle of births and deaths), and enjoys eternal bliss, offering sādhya bhakti, continuous and pure devotion to God.

While rooted in Ramanuja's Vishishtadvaita, for which he stated his affinity, and incorporating devotional elements of Vallabha's Pushtimarg, Sahajanand Swaminarayan gave his own specific interpretations of the classical Hindu texts. As in Vishishtadvaita, God and jiva are forever distinct, but a distinction is also made between Parabrahman (Purushottama, Narayana, the highest Brahman) and Aksharbrahman ('lower Brahman', the first manifestation of Brahman in empirical reality) as two distinct eternal realities. This distinction is emphasized by BAPS-swamis as a defining characteristic, and referred to as Akshar-Purushottam Darshan to distinguish the Swaminarayan Darshana, Swaminarayan's views or teachings, from other Vedanta-traditions.

In the 20th century, due to "different interpretations of authentic successorship," various denominations split-off from the dioceses. All groups regard Swaminarayan as God, but differ in their theology and the religious leadership they accept. The BAPS, split-off in 1907 from Vadtal Gadi, venerates "a lineage of akṣaragurus, or living gurus, [which] has been retroactively traced back to Gunatitanand Swami."

Socially, Swaminarayan accepted caste-based discrimination within the religious community, but inspired followers to engage in humanitarian service activities, leading various denominations of the Swaminarayan Sampradaya to currently provide humanitarian service globally.

Early history

Origins

The Swaminarayan Sampradaya developed out of Ramanand Swami's Uddhav Sampraday, a Gujarat-based Sri Vaishnavism teacher rooted in Ramanuja's Vishishtadvaita. It takes its name from Ramanand's successor, Sahajanand Swami, who was a charismatic leader and gained fame as Swaminarayan. The various branches of the Swaminarayan-tradition relate their origin to Sahajanand Swami, but an exact "modern historical account" of his life cannot be reconstructed, given the hagiographic nature of the stories preserved among his followers.

Sahajanand Swami

Sahajanand Swami was born on 3 April 1781 in the village of Chhapaiya in present-day Uttar Pradesh, India, and given the name Ghansyam. After his parents' death, he renounced his home at the age of 11 and traveled for 7 years as a child yogi around India, taking the name Neelkanth, before settling in the hermitage of Ramanand Swami, a Vaishnava religious leader in present-day Gujarat. Ramanand Swami initiated him as a Vaishnavite ascetic on 28 October 1800, giving him the name Sahajanand Swami. According to the Swaminarayan-tradition, Ramanand appointed Sahajanand to be his successor and the leader of the sampradaya in 1801, shortly before his death.

Ramanand Swami died on 17 December 1801, and Sahajanand Swami became the new leader of the remains of the Uddhav Sampraday, despite "considerable opposition." Several members left the group, or were expelled by Sahajanand Swami, and one group established a new group, together with one of the four temples of Ramanand. While the Krishna-iconography in the original temples, as well as the Vachanamritam and the Shikshapatri, reflect a belief in Krishna as Purushottam, as early as 1804, Sahajanand Swami himself was described as the manifestation of God, and over his life, he would be worshipped as God by thousands of followers. Nevertheless, according to Kim in the original sampradaya Sahajanand Swami is not "necessarily" regarded as Purushottam.

In time, both the leader and the group became known by the name "Swaminarayan." According to the "Swaminarayan origin narrative", shortly after his succession, Sahajanand Swami directed devotees to chant a new mantra, "Swaminarayan" (Svāmīnārāyaṇa), a compound of two Sanskrit words: Swami (Svāmī) and Narayan (Nārāyaṇa), that is, Vishnu c.q. Purushottam. According to the Swaminarayan-tradition, Narayana was also a second name given to Naharajand when he was initiated as an ascetic.

Growth and opposition

The sampradaya grew quickly over the 30 years under Swaminarayan's leadership, with British sources estimating at least 100,000 followers by the 1820s. He was a charismatic personality, and in the early period of the Swaminarayan movement, followers were often induced into a visionary trance state interpreted as samadhi, either by direct contact with Swaminarayan or by chanting the Swaminarayan mantra, in which they had visions of their "chosen deity" (istadevata). Swaminarayan was criticized for receiving large gifts from his followers after renouncing the world and assuming leadership of the fellowship. Swaminarayan responded that he accepts gifts because "it was appropriate for the person to give" and to satisfy the devotion of his followers but he does not seek it out of personal desire.

In the first fifteen years of his leadership, until the arrival of the British colonizers in Gujarat, Swaminarayan's ministry "faced great opposition," and a number of attempts at his life, "by both religious and secular powers," are reported. Swaminarayan accepted people from all castes, undermining caste-based discrimination, which lead to criticism and opposition from high-caste Hindus. While Sahajanand's ethical reforms have been regarded as a protest against immoral Pushtimarg practices, Sahajanand was in fact influenced by and positive towards Vallabha and other Vaisnava-traditions, and he incorporated elements of Vallabha's Pushtimarg, popular in Gujarat, to gain recognition. His reforms may have been primarily targeted against Tantrics, and against practices "associated with village and tribal deities."

According to David Hardiman, the lower classes were attracted to Swaminarayan's community because they aspired to the same success and mercantile ideology. It grew, states Hardiman, in an era of British colonial rule where land taxes were raised to unprecedented heights, lands were "snatched from village communities", and poverty spread. According to Hardiman, Sahajanand's pacifist approach to community re-organization and reaching out to the lowest classes of his day found support with the British rulers, but it also furthered their exploitation by the British, the local moneylenders and richer farmers.

Swaminarayan ordained 3,000 swamis over the span of his leadership, with 500 of them into the highest state of asceticism as paramhansas, thereby allowing them to suspend all distinguishing practices, like applying sacred marks. Swaminarayan encouraged his swamis to serve others. During the devastating famine of 1813–14 in Kathiawar, for example, the swamis collected alms in unaffected regions of Gujarat to distribute among the afflicted. As teachers and preachers, they were instrumental in spreading Swaminarayan's teachings throughout Guajarat, which aided to the rapid growth of the sampradaya, and they created the "sacred literature" of the sampradaya, authoring scriptural commentaries and composing bhakti poetry.

Temples

Toward the end of his life, Swaminarayan institutionalized his charisma in various ways: the building of temples to facilitate worship; the writing of sacred texts; and the creation of a religious organization for the initiation of ascetics. He instituted the mandir tradition of the sampradaya to provide followers a space for devotional worship (upasana, upāsanā) to God. He constructed six mandirs in the following locations, housing images of Krishna which are regarded as representations of Swaminarayan by his followers:

Swaminarayan installed murtis of various manifestations of Krishna in the temples. For example, idol of Vishnu was installed with his consort Lakshmi and idol of Krishna was installed with his consort Radha to highlight the representation of God and his ideal devotee in the central shrines of each of these temple. He also installed his own image in the form of Harikrishna in a sideshrine at the mandir at Vadtal. The BAPS initiated the tradition of installing murtis of God (Swaminarayan) and his ideal devotee to facilitate his followers' pursuit of moksha.

Vadtal Gadi and Ahmedabad Gadi

In the early years of the sampradaya, Swaminarayan personally directed control of the spiritual and administrative duties. Swaminarayan later delegated responsibilities amongst swamis, householders, and the members of his family. Before his death, Swaminarayan established two dioceses, the Laxmi Narayan Dev Gadi (Vadtal Gadi) and Nar Narayan Dev Gadi (Ahmedabad Gadi) as recorded in the Lekh, based on the Vadtal and Ahmedabad mandirs, respectively.

Acharyas

On 21 November 1825, he appointed two of his nephews as acharyas to administer the two gadis, or dioceses, adopting them as his own sons and establishing a hereditary line of succession. These acharyas came from his immediate family after sending representatives to search them out in Uttar Pradesh. They were authorized to "administer his temple properties" which are distributed among them. Ayodhyaprasadji, son of his elder brother Rampratap, became acharya of the Nar Narayan Dev Gadi (Ahmedabad diocese), and Raghuvirji, son of his younger brother Ichcharam, became acharya of the Laxmi Narayan Dev Gadi (Vadtal diocese). Siddhant paksh believes Ajendraprasad is the current acharya of the Vadtal Gadi. Due to Swaminarayan's initiation into the Uddhav sampradaya, the Vadtal and Ahmedabad-branches trace the authority of their acharyas to Ramanuja's guru parampara.

Death of Swaminarayan

Swaminarayan died on 1 June 1830, but the sampradaya continued to grow, with British officials counting 287,687 followers by 1872. By 2001, the number of members had grown to an estimated 5 million followers.

Schisms

Currently the following branches exist:

- International Swaminarayan Satsang Mandal (ISSM)(daughter-branch, USA)
- Laxminarayan Dev Yuvak Mandal (LNDYM)(youth-wing)
- Shree Swaminarayan Agyna Upasana Satsang Mandal (SSAUSM)(daughter-branch, USA)
  • Bochasanwasi Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha (BAPS)(split-off from Vadtal Gadi in 1907, established by Shastriji Maharaj)
  • Gunatit Samaj (Yogi Divine Society (YDS), split-off from BAPS in 1966. Several wings:YDS, The Anoopam Mission, and The Gunatit Jyot
  • Swaminarayan Gurukul (educational institution established in 1947, by Dharmajivandasji Swami in order to spread sadvidya in students around the world)
- International Swaminarayan Satsang Organisation (ISSO)(daughter-branch, USA)
- ISSO Seva (2001, charity organisation)
- Narnarayan Dev Yuvak Mandal (NNDYM)(youth organisation)
  • Swaminarayan Gadi (Maninagar)(split-off from Ahmedabad Gadi in the 1940s)

Different interpretations of succession

In the 20th century, due to "different interpretations of authentic successorship," various branches split-off from the diocese, the largest being the BAPS. All groups regard Swaminarayan as the manifestation of God but differ in their theology and the religious leadership they accept.

The Vadtal Gadi and Ahmedabad Gadi are the original institutions, with a hereditary leadership in the form of acharyas. The succession was established in the Lekh, a legal document authored by Swaminarayan. It is followed by the Nar-Narayan (Ahmedabad) and Laxmi-Narayan (Vadtal) branches, but "downplay[ed] or ignored" by other branches that "emphasis the authority of the sadhus over the acharya."

Williams notes that "this important function of the acharya as religious specialist is emphasized in all the Swaminarayan scriptures including the Desh Vibhag Lekh. In the Shikshapatri Verse 62: 'My followers should worship only those images of the lord that are given by the acharya or installed by him. In Vachanamrut Vadtal I-18.4 and in other scriptures, Swaminarayan signifies the importance of Dharmakul (family of Dharmadev, Swaminarayan's father), and states that those who know him to be their deity and desire moksha shall follow only the Swaminarayan Sampraday under the leadership of the acharyas which he has established and their successors.

According to the Vadtal branch, "Gopalanand Swami was the chief ascetic disciple of Sajahanand," and "the acharyas have the sole authority to initiate sadhus and to install images in the temples." According to the BAPS, the largest Swaminarayan offshoot, Gunatitanand Swami was appointed successor of Sajahanand, and "the chief ascetics had been given the authority to perform the primary rituals of the group, including the initiation of sadhus," and "this authority had not been revoked when the acharyas were appointed." They furthermore argue that those who life a strictly virtuous life are the ones worthy of inheritance. According to Williams, "[t]he emphasis is on the spiritual lineage rather than the hereditary lineage, and the claim is that the one who observes the rules should be the acharya."

According to the BAPS, Swaminarayan established two modes of succession: a hereditary administrative mode through the Lekh; and a spiritual mode established in the Vachanamrut, in which Swaminarayan conveyed his theological doctrines. According to the BAPS, Swaminarayan described a spiritual mode of succession whose purpose is purely soteriological, reflecting his principle that a form of God who lives "before one's eyes" is necessary for aspirants to attain moksha (liberation). They venerate "a lineage of akṣaragurus, or living gurus, [which] has been retroactively traced back to Gunatitanand Swami." According to the BAPS, Swaminarayan identified Gunatitanand Swami as the first successor in this lineage. For the sadhus of the Vadtal diocese, the idea that Swaminarayan had appointed Gunatitanand as his spiritual successor was a heretical teaching, and they "refused to worship what they considered to be a human being."

Bochasanwasi Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha

The Bochasanwasi Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha (BAPS) was formed in 1907, by Shastriji Maharaj (Shastri Yagnapurushdas). He broke away from the Vadtal diocese and created BAPS according to his own interpretation of Akshar (Aksharbrahma) and Purushottam. As articulated in the BAPS-theology of Akṣara-Puruṣottama Upāsanā, BAPS adherents, following Shastriji Maharaj, believe that Swaminarayan introduced Gunatitanand Swami as his ideal devotee, from which a spiritual lineage of gurus began, reflecting Shastriji Maharaj's idea that a form of God who lives "before one's eyes" who is to be worshipped is necessary for aspirants to attain moksha (liberation).

Gunatit Samaj

The Yogi Divine Society (YDS) was established in 1966, by Dadubhai Patel and his brother, Babubhai after they were excommunicated from BAPS by Yogiji Maharaj. The brothers were expelled after it was discovered that Dadubhai illicitly collected and misappropriated funds and, falsely claiming that he was acting on the organization's behalf, led a number of young women to renounce their families and join his ashram under his leadership. After Dadubhai's death in 1986, an ascetic named Hariprasad Swami became the leader of the Yogi Divine Society. Yogi Divine Society became known as the Gunatit Samaj and consists of several wings: namely, YDS, The Anoopam Mission, and The Gunatit Jyot.

Swaminarayan Gadi (Maninagar)

The Swaminarayan Gadi (Maninagar) was founded in the 1940s by Muktajivandas Swami after he left the Ahmedabad diocese with the belief that Gopalanand Swami, a paramhansa from Swaminarayan's time, was the spiritual successor to Swaminarayan. The current spiritual leader is Jitendrapriyadasji Swami. In addition, the Swaminarayan Gadi reveres Nirgundasji Swami, Ishwarcharandasji Swami, and Purushottampriya Swami.

Followers of the Swaminarayan Gadi accept the Rahasyarth Pradeepika Tika, a five-volume work written by Abji Bapa, as an authentic exegesis of the Vachanamrut.

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