Swaminarayan Sampraday

Swaminarayan Sampraday (Devnagari: स्वामिनारायण सम्प्रदाय, Gujarati: સ્વામિનારાયણ સંપ્રદાય, IAST: Svāmīnārāyaṇa sampradāya), known previously as the Uddhav Sampraday, is a Hindu sect propagated by Swaminarayan (or Sahajanand Swami) (2 April 1781 – 1 June 1830). Swaminarayan was handed the leadership of the Uddhav Sampraday by his guru Ramanand Swami to continue to propagate the teachings and philosophy of Vishishtadvaita, which originates from the Sri Sampradaya.

Under the leadership of Swaminarayan, the movement gained strength, and at the time of his death it had 1.8 million followers. The organisation is based on vedic and puritic Hinduism. Apart from traditional Hindu scriptures, the sect has more than three thousand works written by its members. The most important are the Shikshapatri and the Vachanamrut. The Shikshapatri, which the Bombay Gazetteer described as a book of social principles, was written by Swaminarayan in 1826. Before Swaminarayan died, he split the administration of the Swaminarayan Sampraday into two seats for his two adopted sons: the Nar Narayan Dev Gadi (gadi means seat) is headquartered in Ahmedabad and the Laxmi Narayan Dev Gadi is headquartered in Vadtal. This was done by means of a legal document, called the Desh Vibhag Lekh.

Swaminarayan

Swaminarayan (IAST: Svāmīnārāyaṇa, 3 April 1781 – 1 June 1830), also known as Sahajanand Swami, is the central figure in a modern sect of Hinduism known as the Swaminarayan Hinduism.

Swaminarayan was born Ghanshyam Pande in Chhapaiya, Uttar Pradesh, India in 1781. In 1792, he began a seven-year pilgrimage across India, adopting the name Nilkanth Varni. He settled in the state of Gujarat around 1799. In 1800, he was initiated into the Uddhav sampradaya by his guru, Swami Ramanand, and was given the name Sahajanand Swami. In 1802, his guru handed over the leadership of the Uddhav Sampraday to him before his death. Sahajanand Swami held a gathering and taught the Swaminarayan Mantra. From this point onwards, he was known as Swaminarayan. The Uddhav Sampraday became known as the Swaminarayan Sampraday.

Swaminarayan developed a good relationship with the British Raj. He had followers not only from Hindu denominations but also from Islam and Zoroastrianism. He built six temples in his lifetime and appointed 500 paramahamsas to spread his philosophy. In 1826, Swaminarayan wrote the Shikshapatri, a book of social principles. He died on 1 June 1830 and was cremated according to Hindu rites in Gadhada, Gujarat. Before his death, Swaminarayan appointed his adopted nephews as acharyas to head the two dioceses of Swaminarayan Sampraday.

Swaminarayan (disambiguation)

The word Swaminarayan or Svaminarayan may refer to:

Swaminarayan (spiritual tradition)

Swaminarayan Hinduism, also known as the Swaminarayan faith or the Swaminarayan sect, is a modern spiritual tradition, as a subsect of Vaishnava Hinduism, originating in the state of Gujarat, in which followers offer devotion to and worship Swaminarayan as a form of Vishnu. The Swaminarayan faith has a large percentage of Gujarati Hindus who are followers of Swaminarayan.

Beliefs

Considered a Vaishnava Bhakti sect following philosophical teachings of Uddhav as per Ramanujacharya. Since its origin, Swaminarayan Hinduism has been noted by its preservation of Gujarati cultural and linguistic traditions, devotion to the personality of Swaminarayan as supreme deity and the reason of all avtārs, dedication to social service and a strict ethical code including uncompromising segregation of the genders.Monier Williams, on at least one of his visits, had long discussions with Swaminarayan and his followers and did his best to ascertain the way Swaminarayan's principles were preached. He visited the temple in Vadtal in the company of the Collector of Karira during a popular Kartik Purnima festival that took place there and recorded the basics. Those who are initiated into proper worship of Krishna deity are instructed to wear a Tulasi kanti or rosary beads in two rows around their necks, one for Krishna and one for Radha. Followers are also instructed to chant the mantra of śrī-kṛṣṇa smaraṇaṁ mama (great Krishna is my soul's refuge) and wear Urdhva Pundra Tilak markings on their forehead. Daily worship of Krishna in the temple was instructed and the Krishna mantra was central to the Swaminarayan's initiation (diksa). Supreme Being is believed to be referred by various names: Para Brahman, Bhagavan and Purushottama. While no detailed statistical information is available, most of the followers of Swaminarayan share a belief that Swaminarayan is the complete manifestation of Narayana or the supreme person and more superior to other avatars.