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Scriptures:
Lord Swaminarayan's principal objective in
incarnating was to establish Ekantik Dharma, which opened an eternal path
to moksha for Jivas. Yet historians and writers have ascribed the phrase
'Social Reformer' to Him. Not having an indepth knowledge of the Sampradaya
and won over by the revolutionary and thus socially visible work, these
writers could not help laud Him as such, albeit myopically. One scholar
after some detailed study came close, by describing His social reforms
as off-shoots of religion. In truth, it has to be elucidated that establishing
Ekantik Dharma automatically encompassed His social services, which merely
played a miniscule role.
One of the means of setting about His principal objective was through
the compilation and writing of His teachings, in several important scriptures
during His life. These were: the Shikshapatri, the Vachanamritam, the
Satsangijivanam and Haricharitramrut Sagar. The teachings drew authority
from the Vedic scriptures, and elaborated the realisation of Ekantik Dharma.
This is the perfect observance of Dharma - righteousness and duty, Jnan
- knowledge, Vairagya - detachment and Bhakti - devotion with a fully
fledged realisation of the glory and grandeur of God.
Shikshapatri - The Code of Precepts
Lord Swaminarayan Himself wrote this quintessence of the scriptures,
a code of conduct for the devotees, in Vadtal, in 1826.1
It contains 212 Sanskrit verses in couplets. Five verses are read everyday
by disciples; each word venerated as His personified form. The illiterate
worship it as the Lord's divine form.
In such a short treatise, Lord Swaminarayan has covered an amazing range
of subjects, prescribing practical injunctions for the followers. To
those who implicitly obey them, He grants happiness and peace, both
in their mundane existence and in the life hereafter.
Some of the subjects and injunctions are classified below :
Ahimsa
- not to kill animals for yagnas or food,
- homicide, suicide forbidden.
Bhakti
- observance of rituals outlined by Vitthalnathji,
e.g., celebrating Ramnavmi, Janmashtami, Ekadashi,
- daily performance of puja, offering
prasadam,
- visiting a mandir everyday,
- singing kirtans extolling the glory
of God.
Company
- to avoid the company of: thieves, addicts,
heretics, alchemists, sinful and lustful people.
Diplomacy
- to respect people in power and those
who are armed.
Ecological Awareness
- not to spit, urinate or defaecate in
gardens, rivers, lakes or public places.
Education
Finance management
- to keep a daily record of one's expenses
in one's own handwriting,
- personal expenditure should not exceed
income,
- to pay employees the agreed sum of
wages,
- to make transactions in writing even
with friend and relations.
Health & Hygiene
- to bathe everyday, to drink filtered
water,
- avoid alcohol, tobacco and other intoxicants,
- follow a vegetarian diet.
Morality
- not to commit adultery,
- avoid wearing indecent clothing.
Self-Control
Special observances for
- married women, widows, householders,
Acharyas and sadhus.
Veneration to :
- The Five Deities - Vishnu, Shiva, Ganpati,
Parvati and Aditya.
- Scriptures, especially the eight authoritative
scriptures, namely: Four Vedas, Vedanta Sutras of Vyas, Shrimad Bhagvatam,
Vishnu Sahasranam, Bhagvad Gita, Vidurniti, Vasudev Mahatmya and Yagnavalkya
Smruti.
- Elders.
- Sadhus.
- Holy places - tirthas.
Vachanamritam
From 1819 to 1829, Lord Swaminarayan's sermons to the Paramhansas and
devotees were systematically recorded in prose form. The compilers comprised
of four senior and learned Paramhansas: Gopalanand, Muktanand, Nityanand
and Shukanand.
From a collection of over two thousand dialogues, they selected two
hundred and sixty two and compiled these as the Vachanamritam - the
nectar of His words. Each dialogue includes a reference to the place,
date, time, a vivid description of Lord Swaminarayan's attire and the
names of the participants.
A scholar, P.B. Vidyarthi, has observed: 'In fact, it is reckoned as
one of the most edifying sacred texts, every word of which is packed
with profound wisdom enshrined in the traditional Indian literature,
like the Upanishads, the Gita, the Mahabharat, the Ramayan and the Pancharatra.'2
The compiled text, read and approved by Lord Swaminarayan, renders it
a unique authenticity among Hinduism's many sacred texts.
Satsangijivanam
Satsang signifies the Fellowship of Lord Swaminarayan, and jivan means
life. This scripture contains details of the life to be lived by a disciple
in Satsang. It was written in Sanskrit, under the guidance of Lord Swaminarayan,
by Swami Shatanand3. Comprising of five volumes and 17,627
verses, it incorporates: the constitution of the Sampradaya, the details
of festivals, rituals, vows of the disciples, and elaborates philosophical
principles and the life of Lord Swaminarayan. Also included, are vows
and penances for sadhus, known as the Dharmamrut and Nishkam Shuddhi.
Haricharitramrut Sagar
'The ocean of the nectarine episodes of Hari - Lord Swaminarayan.'
The dazzling name echoes the sublime nature of this scripture. Considered
as the authoritative biography of Lord Swaminarayan, an eye-witness
account, its staggering length of eighty thousand sakhis (a system of
poetic versification), renders this an epic in its own right, over three
times the length of the Ramayan.
On several occasions Lord Swaminaryan had related to Muktanand Swami
His life, from birth till arrival in Loj.
In Samvat 1881 (C.E.1825)4, Lord Swaminarayan commanded Muktanand
Swami to offer bhakti by writing His life episodes, till his last breath.
Muktanand Swami performed this task diligently, writing details in the
form of Kharda - a rough format to be systematically restructured later.
He continued writing and dictating the Khardas prolifically till Maharaj
passed away in 1830. Grief-stricken by His departure, Swami's poor health
deteriorated rapidly. One and a half months later, he joined the Lord.
In Samvat 1914 (C.E.1858), Adharanand Swami, himself an artist and sculptor,
but not a poet by any means, commenced the mammoth versification of
the Haricharitramrut Sagar from Muktanand Swami's Khardas. Divinely
inspired, he composed the sakhis, akin to that of the Ramayan, in Vraj
Hindi. The work comprises of twenty-eight chapters, beautifully named
as purs - waves, each divided into tarangs - ripples, in consonance
with the sagar's (ocean's) imagery.
A few details of Neelkanth's travels, in chapter two of this present
work, have been selected from this scripture.
Lord Swaminarayan's teachings, immortalised during His own life in these
scriptures, reinforced the principles of Ekantik Dharma. Nishkulanand
Swami prominently extols this fact, at the end of every chapter of his
Bhaktachintamani. To Lord Swaminarayan's name he attaches the prefix,
Shrimad Ekantik Dharma Pravartak - Propounder of Ekantik Dharma.
1 Dave, op.cit., Vol. V., Writing
of Shikshapatri, p.212.
2 Vidyarthi, P.B. Vachanamritam, A Philosophical Text, in New
Dimensions in Vedanta
Philosophy. Vol. I, Amdavad: B.A.P.S. 1981, p.35.
3 Dave, op.cit., Vol. V., Writing of Satsangijivanam, p.346.
4 Vachanamritam, op.cit., Gadhada II-58
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