dasnudas

hi das ka das,

jai swaminarayan,

i want to talk to you, you have very high knowledge of sampraday,

i appreciate that and would like to talk to you.

jai sawminarayan.

The Acharyas of the Sampraday are more than mere administrative heads. They are the spiritual leaders and the Guru through whom the path to atyantik kalyan (ultimate redemption) is opened.

Sahajanand Swami 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 Ayodhyaprasadji and the Southern- LakshmiNarayan Dev Desh to Raghuvirji 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 LakshmiNarayan Desh in Vadtal. Though known as NarNarayan Dev and Lakshminarayan 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.

These responsibilities have been prescribed in the Shikshapatri, Satsangijeevan and Desh Vibhag no Lekh, and according to these shastras no other individual other than the Dharmavanshi Acharyas are permitted to carry out the above duties. Therefore, the sole authority of the above lies with the two Acharyas.

“My Bhramin, Kshatriya and Vaishya followers who have received Shri Krshna Diksha (initiation) from the Dharmavanshi (descendants of Dharmadev) Acharyas, shall wear a double tulsi kanthi (rosary) around their neck and shall wear a U-shaped tilak on their forehead, chest, and both harms.” (Shikshapatri Shlok 41)

Therefore, a Swaminarayan follower is only a genuine Swaminarayan follower once he has received diksha from the respective Acharya. A Swaminarayan sadhu is only a genuine Swaminarayan sadhu once he has been given diksha by the Acharyas.

In the Shikshapatri (62), Swaminarayan Bhagwan clearly states

“And the form of Shri Krshna 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.

In the Shikshapatri, Swaminarayan Bhagwan has placed a lot of importance on the Acharyas.

Shlok 71:

“All my followers shall never enter into debate with their Acharyas and shall serve the Acharyas with food, clothing, money etc according to their capacity.”

Shlok 72:

“Upon hearing of their coming, my followers should immediately go to greet and welcome the arrival of their Acharyas, and when the Acharya returns from the town my followers shall see them off to the outskirts of the town.”

In the scripture Purushottam Prakash, the writer Nishkulanand Swami describes the instance when Swaminarayan Bhagwan established the Dharmavanshi Acharyas.

Sahajanand Swami felt that now that He had established the grand temples and splendid Sampraday, He wanted to keep His sadhus free from the affairs dealing with wealth, power etc. He therefore decided that He would create leaders for each and every sadhu and householder, who will subsequently be responsible for the Sampraday.

This was in accordance with one of His three resolves; i.e. to establish the leaders of the Sampraday from His own family - Dharmakul.

Before declaring His intention to select His own family, Lord Shree Swaminarayan first gathered the senior sadhus/saints and followers and revealed His intention to install successors to the leadership.

The gathering that included seniors such as S.G. Muktanand Swami, S.G. Gopalanand Swami, S.G. Brahmanand Swami etc. as well as householders such as Dada- Uttam Khachar, unanimously recommended to Lord Shree Swaminarayan that He retain the leadership in His own Dharmakul and select Ayodhyaprasadji or Raghuvirji.

Lord Shree Swaminarayan was very pleased with this suggestion, for this was His own thinking as well. Since there was no room for discussion or further consideration, it was concluded that Lord Shree Swaminaryan's successors will be from His own Dharmakul and will be householders.

Sahajanand Swami then adopted Ayodhyaprasadji and Raghuvirprasadji as His own sons and made them the Acharyas – the Gurus of the Swaminarayan Sampraday.

He then declared, “Those who serve these Acharyas with food, jewellery, vehicles, animals, flowers etc shall be worthy of Akshardham…………. I shall emancipate those who serve and respect these Acharyas. Through these Acharyas I shall give kalyaan (give Akshardham) to all souls………." (Purushottam Prakash Chapter 37, Verse 6-20)

“…After a lot of thought and consideration I have decided to give the Gadi to them…” (Chapter 39 Verse 8)

“Therefore all of you shall obey the Dharamkul and serve them. They are not ordinary beings; they are great Devtas (Gods). As well as being my Sons they are Brahmin and my Bhaktas and by serving them you shall earn immense happiness. All your wishes will be fulfilled, this is my command that is to remain permanently.”

“So both householders and sadhus obey their (Acharyas’) commands, and not the fancies of the mind. Do not take any actions without their consent…..do not enter into debates with them even if you are greater in knowledge or wisdom…you shall regard the Acharyas as faultless – you shall obey their commands. If you keep them pleased then I will be pleased with you because they are in place of Myself….. I am forever residing in them. I am in them, and they are in Me. I am never far from them and I give darshan (divine sightings) residing in them……….”

“I am forever residing in the Dharmavanshi Acharyas. After seeing such followers I have decided to remain here (in the satsang), therefore those who worship the Acharyas have worshipped Me.”

(Purushottam Prakash Chapter 40)

The establishment of the Dharmavanshi Acharyas was therefore immensely important for both administrative and spiritual purposes.

The constitution of the Sampraday is laid out in Desh Vibhag no Lekh, which describes in detail the functions of the Acharyas.

“….it is my command to all sadhus, bhramcharis and all satsangi's, that for the purpose of your kalyaan (emancipation) you must obey and follow the two Acharyas of Dharmavansh, and obey their commands by thought, action and speech. If this is compromised and whoever turns elsewhere (rejecting the Acharyas) will find that they will never find sukh (happiness) in this world or the worlds beyond and will experience immense distress…” (Desh Vibhag no Lekh)

Furthermore, in one of the most authoritative scriptures the Vachamanamrut, Swaminarayan Bhagwan clearly states one of the prerequisites for attaining Akshardham

“…The devotee who is aashrit of Dharmakul (i.e. he who has received initiation from Dharmavanshi Acharya and remains loyal to the Acharya) gets a divine Brahm-state body by God’s wish…” (Vachanamrut, Gadhada Pratham Chapter 1)

So it is imperative to be a humble loyal follower of the Dharmavanshi Acharya once receiving the diksha (guru mantra) in order to be qualified to achieve a Brahm form.

Even Gunatitanand Swami, one of the main sadhus of Swaminarayan Bhagwan states “He who insults the temples, Acharyas, sadhus and satsangi’s will find his roots being destroyed and will inevitably fall from the satsang.” (Swami ni Vato Prakran 5, Vat 104)

Sahajanand Swami has decided to remain on this earth in His Acharyas. They are a version of Him. Being Purushottam Narayan Bhagwan, Sahajanand Swami kept an eternal method of attaining Akshardham by first requiring followers to obtain gurumantra or diksha and obey and respect the Dharmavanshi Acharyas. This is a system, which He has established for each and every follower. It was not a system that was to be changed or altered in the future in any way.

In S.G. Nityanand Swami's Shree Hari-Digvijay (endorsed by Lord Shree Swaminarayan) a debate between many great Vedic pundit- scholars and Lord Shree Swaminarayan is well documented.

The pundits challenge Lord Shree Swaminarayan's establishment of the Dharmavanshi Acharyas. It was argued that a householder being a leader of renunciates (sadhus etc.) was anti-Vedic and had no firm basis in the scriptures of the Sanatan Dharma.

Lord Shree Swaminarayan explained in detail how it is in fact preferable to have householders leading a fellowship that consists of male and female renunciates and grihastha - householders.

He provided scriptural evidence for this and stated examples such Vyasji, the founder of the 4 Vedas and 18 Purans and considered the 'Universal Guru' in whose memory we have 'Guru-Poornima'.

Rishi Vyas was in fact a householder. Similarly, Rishis Vasishta and Yagyavalkya were also householders as was Brahmarshi Vishwamitra. A more distinct example is of Shukadevji, who recited the Srimad Bhagwat to King Parikshit, was a shishya (disciple) of King Janaka.

Therefore, the gathering of pandits and scholars agreed that the setup of Dharmavanshi Acharyas was more than coherent with the Vedic Dharmas and was worthy of honour and admiration.

Today there exist many sects that claim they are following the philosophies of Shree Swaminarayan Bhagwan, where in fact nothing could be further from the truth. As Swaminarayan Bhagwan has emphasised, there is no Akshardham for those who do not honour, obey, respect and serve the Dharmavanshi Acharyas, no matter how great a devotee they are.

It has now become necessary to question ‘Swaminarayan Temples’ whether they are in fact Swaminarayan Temples since the deities appear not to have been installed by the Dharmavanshi Acharyas, which is an outright breach of Swaminarayan Bhagwan’s likings (refer Shikshapatri Shlok 10 and then Shlok 62).

It has also become necessary to question the authenticity of ‘Swaminarayan’ sadhus. According to the scriptures mentioned, a Swaminarayan Sadhu is he who has received the initiation (maha-bhagwati diksha) from Dharmavanshi Acharya- no one else.

Once this has been appreciated, one can realise the true grandeur of the Dharmavanshi Acharyas. They are another form of Swaminarayan Bhagwan and though they appear as humans, they are at a status even higher than Akshar-Muktas. Therefore all Swaminarayan Satsangis should obtain initiation from one of the two Dharmavanshi Acharyas and remain under their instructions and always honour and respect them as they would Swaminarayan Bhagwan Himself.

idiot first you look into your inner self then ask question

jai swaminarayan,

great work by u celina.

thanks