Bhagwan Swaminarayan

Swaminarayan - The Divine Mantra

On Magshar sud 13, Samvat 1858 (17 December 1801 ce) Ramanand Swami passed away at Faneni. All his disciples lamented the loss. Sahajanand Swami and Muktanand Swami made arrangements for a parayan of the Bhagvad Gita, in which Maharaj gave his learned comments daily. The recitation concluded after eleven days. The after-death rites of the twelfth day and Shravani Shraddh were performed according to tradition. Everyone was fed and the Brahmins were given gifts. On the thirteenth day, Sahajanand Swami explained the divine significance of the ‘Swaminarayan’ mantra and asked the devotees to chant the ‘Swaminarayan’ mantra. He revealed his divine form and the devotees sang bhajans in his praise. From then onwards, instead of singing the ‘Ramkrishna Govind’ dhun, devotees started singing ‘Swaminarayan’. Fourteen days after the passing away of Ramanand Swami, on Magshar vad 11, Samvat 1858 (31 December 1801 ce), the devotees requested Sahajanand Swami to sit on a separate sinhasan. Muktanand Swami and other sadhus sat by his side. All the devotees sat in front of the sadhus, and the women sat at a suitable distance. On the basis of the shastras, Sahajanand Swami spoke about dharma, “Ramanand Swami appointed me as his spiritual heir. So now I am your guru. Therefore, listen very carefully to what I say for your benefit and practice in life what I preach for your betterment. “The sadhus should cultivate the virtues of truth, compassion, austerities, purity, tolerance, non-violence, brahmacharya, regular study of scriptures, service, renunciation, and self-control and should behave as atmarup. Sadhus and householder devotees should worship God, abstain from drinking alcohol and should not eat meat. They should not harm any living being. They should not commit suicide, nor steal nor slander anyone. They should never criticize any deva, should not listen to the religious discourses by atheists and should never eat what is unsuitable. “Householders should observe all the sixteen samskars prescribed by the scriptures. They should always respect the Vedas, Brahmins, sadhus, scholars and pativrata wives. They should never cause grief to cows, Brahmins and devotees of God. They should practice charity, morality and dharma, compassion and ahimsa in life. They should always keep their thoughts, actions and speech pure and pious.” Many such sermons were delivered by Sahajanand Swami to his devotees. All were drawn towards him. They soon overcame their grief. They performed his pujan and placed many gifts at his feet. From that day, people started calling Sahajanand Swami by the beloved name of Shriji Maharaj.
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A Brahmin called Shitaldas was seated in the assembly. He was in search of God. Someone told him, “Go to Ramanand Swami. He is a great sadguru. He will help you to attain God.” He went to Faneni. But he was disappointed when he learnt that Ramanand Swami had returned to Dham. He started lamenting his fate. He decided to return home. But Maharaj said to him, “Stay here for today. I will arrange for the darshan of Ramanand Swami. If you wish you can leave tomorrow afternoon.” Shitaldas agreed to stay. That day Sahajanand Swami asked him to chant the Swaminarayan mantra. While chanting the mantra, Shitaldas entered samadhi. He had a vision of Akshardham. He saw Maharaj seated on a throne in Akshardham. He also saw Ramanand Swami standing with folded hands before Maharaj. Ramanand Swami said, “All the avatars are present in Sahajanand Swami. He is the avatari of all avatars and the cause of all.” When he woke up from the samadhi, Shitaldas narrated his experience of the divine vision and talked about the discussions that he had during the samadhi. He fell at the feet of Maharaj and prayed to him to accept him as a sadhu. Maharaj initiated him and named him Vyapkanand Swami.

Maharaj's Routine

Maharaj himself led a very rigorous and disciplined life and encouraged others to do so as well. After serving food to the sadhus and others, he would take his meals. Then he would clean the kitchen and discourse till two in the afternoon. In the evening, after ablutions, he would take a bath and then feed the people who had come to collect alms. Then he would discourse till twelve midnight before going to bed. Often, he would wake up at 2.00 a.m. and awaken others to sit in meditation. During these sessions he kept a stick in his hand and prodded those who were found dozing during the meditation. At 4.00 a.m. he would bathe and perform puja. Then he would go to collect alms. He would prepare rotla and feed the pilgrims. Then, as described before, he would make them all sit in worship. This was his daily routine. Those who sought his company knew neither sleep nor rest. This speaks of the great divine force and personality of Maharaj. It was no mean achievement for a young man of twenty- one to make elderly sadhus carry out his commands. All of them felt the divine spell of his personality and willingly did whatever he asked them to do.