85-512: Bochasanwasi Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha ( BAPS ; IAST : Bocāsaṇvāsī Akṣara Puruṣottama Svāminārāyaṇa Saṇsthā ) is a Hindu denomination within the Swaminarayan Sampradaya . It was formed in 1905 by Shastri Yagnapurushdas ( Shastriji Maharaj ) following his conviction that Swaminarayan remained present on earth through a lineage of gurus starting with Gunatitanand Swami . As of August 2016, Mahant Swami Maharaj
170-561: A Hindu place of worship, serves as a hub for the spiritual, cultural, and humanitarian activities of BAPS. As of 2024, the organisation has 44 shikharbaddha mandirs and more than 1,300 other mandirs spanning five continents. In the tradition of the Bhakti Movement , Swaminarayan and his spiritual successors began erecting mandirs to provide a means to uphold proper devotion to God on the path towards moksha , or ultimate liberation. BAPS mandirs thus facilitate devotional commitment to
255-477: A Brahmic state. This entails practices such as biweekly fasting (on the eleventh day of each half of each lunar month) and avoiding worldly pleasures by strongly attaching themselves to God. The fourth pillar, devotion (bhakti) is at the heart of the faith community. Common practices of devotion include daily prayers, offering prepared dishes (thal) to the image of God, mental worship of God and his ideal devotee, and singing religious hymns. Spiritual service, or seva,
340-891: A charitable trust in 1947 under India's new legal code. After the death of Shastriji Maharaj on 10 May 1951, Yogiji Maharaj became the spiritual leader, or guru, of the organisation while Pramukh Swami continued to oversee administrative matters as president of the organisation. Yogiji Maharaj carried Shastriji Maharaj's mission of fostering the Akshar-Purushottam Upasana doctrine by building temples, touring villages, preaching overseas and initiating weekly local religious assemblies for children, youths and elders. In his 20 years as guru, from 1951 to 1971, he visited over 4,000 cities, towns and villages, consecrated over 60 mandirs and wrote over 5,45,000 letters to devotees. This period of BAPS history saw an important expansion in youth activities. Yogiji Maharaj believed that in
425-572: A context accessible to them. By the end of the era, owing to the success of these festivals and the cultural impact it had on the youths, the organisation saw a need to create a permanent exhibition in the Swaminarayan Akshardham (Gandhinagar) temple in 1991. In 1992, a month-long festival was held to both celebrate Yogiji Maharaj's centenary and to inaugurate a permanent exhibition and temple called Swaminarayan Akshardham (Gandhinagar). The festival also saw 125 youths initiated into
510-435: A disciple of Gunatitanand Swami , was visiting the mandir with a group of swamis. After observing Jina's dedication in volunteering at the mandir and his service to the community, he inquired about Jina's interest in being initiated as a swami. About a year later, Jina obtained his parents' permission to become a swami and on 1 November 1908 he left for Junagadh to meet Krishnacharandas Swami. On 8 November 1908, Jina
595-454: A dozen plaintiffs voluntarily withdrew their names from the lawsuit, citing that they were coerced and misled by an immigration advocate, Swati Sawant, into making false accusations against BAPS to stall the construction of the temple. The workers stated that Sawant lured them with a promise of citizenship in the US and gave false warnings of police action and imprisonment if they came forward and told
680-433: A font, etc. It can be enabled in the input menu in the menu bar under System Preferences → International → Input Menu (or System Preferences → Language and Text → Input Sources) or can be viewed under Edit → Emoji & Symbols in many programs. Equivalent tools – such as gucharmap ( GNOME ) or kcharselect ( KDE ) – exist on most Linux desktop environments. Users of SCIM on Linux based platforms can also have
765-521: A global BAPS community. The Gujarati migration patterns in the early 1970s, globalization factors and economic dynamics between India and the West saw the organisation transform into a transnational devotional movement. organisational needs spanned from transmitting cultural identity through spiritual discourses to the newer much alienated generation in the new lands, temple upkeep and traveling to regional and local centres to disseminate spiritual knowledge. As
850-707: A modifier key to type letters with diacritical marks. For example, alt + a = ā. How this is set up varies by operating system. Linux/Unix and BSD desktop environments allow one to set up custom keyboard layouts and switch them by clicking a flag icon in the menu bar. macOS One can use the pre-installed US International keyboard, or install Toshiya Unebe's Easy Unicode keyboard layout. Microsoft Windows Windows also allows one to change keyboard layouts and set up additional custom keyboard mappings for IAST. This Pali keyboard installer made by Microsoft Keyboard Layout Creator (MSKLC) supports IAST (works on Microsoft Windows up to at least version 10, can use Alt button on
935-647: A number of projects around the world addressing healthcare, education, environmental causes, and community-building campaigns. BAPS is alleged to have strong ties with Indian prime minister Narendra Modi and his ruling Bharatiya Janata Party . The basis for the formation of BAPS was Shastriji Maharaj's conviction that Swaminarayan remained present on earth through a lineage of Gunatit Gurus (perfect devotee), starting with Gunatitanand Swami , one of Swaminarayan's most prominent disciples, and that Swaminarayan and his choicest devotee, Gunatitanand Swami, were ontologically, Purushottam and Akshar, respectively. According to
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#17327919085501020-593: A result, Yogiji Maharaj made a second visit to East Africa in 1960 and consecrated hari mandirs in Kampala, Jinja and Tororo in Uganda. Despite his failing health, Yogiji Maharaj at the age of 78 undertook a third overseas tour of London and East Africa in 1970. Prior to his visit, the devotees had purchased the premises of the Indian Christian Union at Ngara, Kenya in 1966 and remodeled it to resemble
1105-456: A result, this era saw a significant rise in the number of swamis initiated to maintain the organisational needs of the community – both in India and abroad. Furthermore, having access to a greater volunteer force and community enabled the organisation to celebrate festivals on a massive scale which marked the arrival of a number of milestone anniversaries in the history of the organisation, including
1190-551: A series of overseas tours beginning in 1974 as the guru. Subsequent tours were made in 1977, 1979, and 1980. Overall, he embarked on a total of 28 international spiritual tours between 1974 and 2014. His travels were motivated by his desire to reach out to devotees for their spiritual uplift and to spread the teachings of Swaminarayan . The personal outreach (vicharan) of the earlier era (1971–1981) by Pramukh Swami Maharaj through traveling to villages and towns, writing letters to devotees, and giving discourses contributed to sustaining
1275-900: A three-spired temple. Yogiji Maharaj inaugurated the temple in Ngara, a suburb of Nairobi in 1970. In 1950, disciples Mahendra Patel and Purushottam Patel held small personal services at their homes in England. Mahendra Patel, a barrister by vocation, writes, "I landed in London in 1950 for further studies. Purushottambhai Patel...was residing in the county of Kent. His address was given to me by Yogiji Maharaj". Beginning 1953, D. D. Meghani held assemblies in his office that brought together several followers in an organized setting. In 1958, leading devotees including Navin Swaminarayan, Praful Patel and Chatranjan Patel from India and East Africa began arriving to
1360-870: A time of profound and rapid social ferment, there was an imminent need to save the young from 'degeneration of moral, cultural and religious values'. To fill a void in spiritual activities for youths, Yogiji Maharaj started a regular Sunday gathering (Yuvak Mandal) of young men in Bombay in 1952. Brear notes, "His flair, dynamism and concern led within ten years to the establishment of many yuvak mandals of dedicated young men in Gujarat and East Africa". In addition to providing religious and spiritual guidance, Yogiji Maharaj encouraged youths to work hard and excel in their studies. Towards realizing such ideals, he would often remind them to stay away from worldly temptations. A number of youths decided to take monastic vows. On 11 May 1961 during
1445-650: A tour of East Africa and Britain, Yogiji Maharaj passed away and reverted to his eternal abode on 23 January 1971 at the BAPS temple in Mumbai Before his passing, he appointed Pramukh Swami Maharaj as his spiritual successor and the two "functions of temporal administration and spiritual oversight were reunited in him." A memorial shrine called the Yogi Smruti Mandir was constructed in Gondal, Gujarat at
1530-416: A wish to appoint him as the administrative president of the organisation. Initially, Shastri Narayanswarupdas was reluctant to accept the position, citing his young age and lack of experience and suggesting that an elderly, experienced swami should take the responsibility. However, Shastriji Maharaj insisted over several months, until, seeing the wish and insistence of his guru, Shastri Narayanswarupdas accepted
1615-504: Is a form of devotion where devotees serve selflessly "while keeping only the Lord in mind." Followers participate in various socio-spiritual activities with the objective to earn the grace of the guru and thus attain association with God through voluntary service. These numerous activities stem directly from the ideals taught by Swaminarayan, to find spiritual devotion in the service of others. By serving and volunteering in communities to please
1700-435: Is actually glottal , not velar . Some letters are modified with diacritics : Long vowels are marked with an overline (often called a macron ). Vocalic (syllabic) consonants, retroflexes and ṣ ( / ʂ ~ ɕ ~ʃ/ ) have an underdot . One letter has an overdot: ṅ ( /ŋ/ ). One has an acute accent : ś ( /ʃ/ ). One letter has a line below: ḻ ( / ɭ / ) (Vedic). Unlike ASCII -only romanisations such as ITRANS or Harvard-Kyoto ,
1785-684: Is based on a scheme that emerged during the 19th century from suggestions by Charles Trevelyan , William Jones , Monier Monier-Williams and other scholars, and formalised by the Transliteration Committee of the Geneva Oriental Congress , in September 1894. IAST makes it possible for the reader to read the Indic text unambiguously, exactly as if it were in the original Indic script. It is this faithfulness to
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#17327919085501870-568: Is only through the performance of devotion to Brahman that Parabrahman can be both realized and attained. Devotees aim to follow the spiritual guidance of the manifest form of Akshar embedding the principles of righteousness (dharma), knowledge (gnan), detachment from material pleasures (vairagya) and devotion unto God (bhakti) in to their lives. Followers receive gnan through regularly listening to spiritual discourses and reading scriptures in an effort to gain knowledge of God and one's true self. Dharma encompasses righteous conduct as prescribed by
1955-421: Is the 6th guru and president of BAPS. The philosophy of BAPS is centred on the doctrine of Akshar-Purushottam Upasana , in which followers worship Swaminarayan as God, or Purushottam, and his choicest devotee, Gunatitanand Swami , as Akshar. As of 2024, BAPS has 44 shikharbaddha mandirs and more than 1,300 mandirs worldwide that facilitate practice of this doctrine by allowing followers to offer devotion to
2040-592: The Akshar-Purushottam Darshan , in which followers strive to reach the spiritually perfect state of Aksharbrahman, or the ideal devotee, thereby gaining the ability to properly worship Purushottam, the Supreme Godhead. IAST The International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration ( IAST ) is a transliteration scheme that allows the lossless romanisation of Indic scripts as employed by Sanskrit and related Indic languages. It
2125-532: The Akshar-Purushottam philosophy in parts of East Africa and London. He interacted with devotees around the world via letters that offered encouragement and guidance in maintaining spiritual enthusiasm. His travels outside of India followed a surge of migration by Gujaratis to these locales At the behest of the devotees that migrated outside of India, Yogiji Maharaj went on several spiritual tours, initially to East Africa, and later to England. As
2210-763: The ISO 15919 standard for transliterating Indic scripts emerged in 2001 from the standards and library worlds. For the most part, ISO 15919 follows the IAST scheme, departing from it only in minor ways (e.g., ṃ/ṁ and ṛ/r̥)—see comparison below. The Indian National Library at Kolkata romanization , intended for the romanisation of all Indic scripts , is an extension of IAST. The IAST letters are listed with their Devanagari equivalents and phonetic values in IPA , valid for Sanskrit , Hindi and other modern languages that use Devanagari script, but some phonological changes have occurred: * H
2295-452: The murtis of Swaminarayan, Gunatitanand Swami, and their successors. BAPS mandirs also feature activities to foster culture and youth development. Many devotees view the mandir as a place for transmission of Hindu values and their incorporation into daily routines, family life, and careers. BAPS also engages in a host of humanitarian and charitable endeavors through BAPS Charities , a separate non-profit aid organisation which has spearheaded
2380-587: The Akshar-Purushottam Upasana. Through this lineage of the personal form of Akshar, Swaminarayan is forever present on the earth. These gurus are essential in illuminating the path that needs to be taken by the jivas that earnestly desire to be liberated from the cycle of rebirth. According to BAPS, Swaminarayan refers to Akshar in the Vachanamrut, with numerous appellations such as Sant, Satpurush, Bhakta and Swami, as having an august status that makes it an entity worth worshipping alongside God. In all BAPS mandirs
2465-663: The BAPS-tradition, Shastriji Maharaj had understood this from his guru, Bhagatji Maharaj , who had Gunatitanand Swami as his guru. Followers of BAPS believe that the Ekantik dharma that Swaminarayan desired to establish is embodied and propagated by the Ekantik Satpurush ( lit. ' a most sublime saint ' ), the Gunatit Guru. According to Shastriji Maharaj, Swaminarayan had "expressly designated"
2550-685: The Gadhada Kalash Mahotsav, he initiated 51 college-educated youths into the monastic order as swamis. Mahant Swami Maharaj , initiated as Keshavjivandas Swami, was one of the initiates. Satsang in Africa had started during Shastriji Maharaj's lifetime, as many devotees had migrated to Africa for economic reasons. One of Shastriji Maharaj's senior swamis, Nirgundas Swami, engaged in lengthy correspondence with these devotees, answering their questions and inspiring them to start satsang assemblies in Africa. Eventually, in 1928, Harman Patel took
2635-468: The Gunatit Guru to spiritually guide the satsang (spiritual fellowship) while instructing his nephews to help manage the administration of the fellowship within their respective dioceses. As Kim notes, "For BAPS devotees, the dual murtis in the original Swaminarayan temples imply that Swaminarayan did install a murti of himself alongside the murti of his ideal bhakta or Guru". Shastriji Maharaj sought to publicly reveal his ideas, and to worship Gunatitanand as
Bochasanwasi Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha - Misplaced Pages Continue
2720-561: The Shree Swaminarayan Mission as a formal organisation. Yogiji Maharaj was unable to travel to the United States during his consecutive foreign tours. Nonetheless, he asked Dr. K.C. Patel to begin satsang assemblies in the United States. He gave Patel the names of 28 satsangi students to help conduct Satsang assemblies. In 1970, Yogiji Maharaj accepted the request of these students and sent four swami to visit
2805-428: The U.S. The tour motivated followers to start satsang sabhas in their own homes every Sunday around the country. Soon, K.C. Patel established a non-profit organisation known as BSS under US law. Thus, a fledgling satsang mandal formed in the United States before the death of Yogiji Maharaj in 1971. After Yogiji Maharaj 's death, Pramukh Swami Maharaj became both the spiritual and administrative head of BAPS in 1971. He
2890-511: The UK. They started weekly assemblies at Seymour Place every Saturday evening at a devotee's house. In 1959, a formal constitution was drafted and the group registered as the "Swaminarayan Hindu Mission, London Fellowship Centre". D.D. Megani served as chairman, Mahendra Patel as vice-chairman and Praful Patel the secretary. On Sunday, 14 June 1970, the first BAPS temple in England was opened at Islington by Yogiji Maharaj. In this same year he established
2975-480: The abode of Purushottam, c.q. Swaminarayan. However, his views were rejected by the sadhus of the Vadtal and Ahmedabad dioceses. For the sadhus of the Vadtal diocese, the idea that Swaminarayan had appointed Gunatitanand as his spiritual successor, instead of the two acharyas, was a heretical teaching, and they "refused to worship what they considered to be a human being." Shastriji Maharaj left Vadtal with five swamis and
3060-440: The administrative head of BAPS, he was instrumental in nurturing the growth of BAPS "through new programs, expansion into new areas, and the construction of temples". As a guru, he consecrated over 60 temples and visited over 4000 towns and villages. He was effective in attracting the devotion of youths and initiated a large number of them as ascetics. Furthermore, his multiple tours to Britain and East Africa were integral in
3145-606: The area of Sanskrit studies make use of free OpenType fonts such as FreeSerif or Gentium , both of which have complete support for the full repertoire of conjoined diacritics in the IAST character set. Released under the GNU FreeFont or SIL Open Font License , respectively, such fonts may be freely shared and do not require the person reading or editing a document to purchase proprietary software to make use of its associated fonts. Sadhu Gn%C3%A3njivandas Yogiji Maharaj (23 May 1892 – 23 January 1971), born Jina Vasani,
3230-400: The bicentenary of Swaminarayan , bicentenary of Gunatitanand Swami , and the centenary of Yogiji Maharaj . Some effects of the celebration included a maturation of organisational capacity, increased commitment and skill of volunteers, and tangentially, an increased interest in the monastic path. The Swaminarayan bicentenary celebration, a once in a life-time event for Swaminarayan followers,
3315-616: The central shrine of the shikharbaddha mandir he was constructing in the village of Bochasan in the Kheda District of Gujarat. This event was later seen to mark the formal establishment of the Bochasanwasi Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha, which was later abbreviated as BAPS. The Gujarati word Bochasanwasi implies hailing from Bochasan, since the organisation's first mandir was built in this village. Shastriji Maharaj spent
3400-424: The claims were without merit. In November 2021, the workers amended the suit to include BAPS temples across the United States and alleged that the temple authorities had misrepresented unskilled workers as specialists in stone carving and painting so that they qualified for R-1 visas . The lawsuit claims that the workers are recruited from Dalits and Adivasis , both marginalized communities in India. In July 2023,
3485-525: The construction of schools, hostels and "gurukuls" (spiritual academies). During Yogiji Maharaj's spiritual tours, young aspirants decided to join him during their school vacations. These teenagers gave up the comforts of home and householder life to perform service, in line with the lifestyle of the swamis they traveled with. One such youth, Vinu Patel, was inspired to join the monastic order, and Yogiji Maharaj ordained him Keshavjivandas Swami in 1961. Popularly known as Mahant Swami Maharaj , in 2016, he became
Bochasanwasi Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha - Misplaced Pages Continue
3570-536: The consumer edition since XP. This is limited to characters in the Basic Multilingual Plane (BMP). Characters are searchable by Unicode character name, and the table can be limited to a particular code block. More advanced third-party tools of the same type are also available (a notable freeware example is BabelMap ). macOS provides a "character palette" with much the same functionality, along with searching by related characters, glyph tables in
3655-546: The core of the Yogi Gita was written over a period of three days, from 28 March to 1 April 1941. In 1940, Yogiji Maharaj came down with a severe case of dysentery in Rajkot. His guru Shastriji Maharaj, on hearing of his plight, sent an attendant named Jagjivan Ruda Poriya to nurse him back to health. Upon his recovery, Jagjivan asked to be sent off with Yogiji Maharaj's spiritual wisdom as a "reward" for his efforts. In response to
3740-516: The daily worship and service of the murtis in the mandir at Dhari. Due to his failing health, Mohanbhai, the caretaker of the temple, asked Jina to take over the responsibility of running the temple. Jina agreed and despite his young age was happy with the new duties. He prepared offerings for the deities installed within the mandir, tended its grounds, taught meditation techniques and made sure everyone received sanctified food. Just after Jina had taken his seventh standard exams, Krishnacharandas Swami,
3825-528: The diacritics used for IAST allow capitalisation of proper names. The capital variants of letters never occurring word-initially ( Ṇ Ṅ Ñ Ṝ Ḹ ) are useful only when writing in all-caps and in Pāṇini contexts for which the convention is to typeset the IT sounds as capital letters. For the most part, IAST is a subset of ISO 15919 that merges the retroflex (underdotted) liquids with the vocalic ones ( ringed below ) and
3910-625: The doctrinal foundation of BAPS philosophy. The Yogi Gita begins with Yogiji Maharaj's letter to a devout follower and also includes Yogiji Maharaj's prayer (Prarthana) offered to his guru Shastriji Maharaj in Mahelav, Gujarat . The Yogi Gita continues with the Jivan Bhavna, a collection of Yogiji Maharaj's saying summarizing life philosophy and guidance, and the Hrudayni Vato, a collection of his words of wisdom. The letter which forms
3995-522: The first BAPS guru to travel outside of India, he added to the cultural migration that further augmented the physical migration of Indians outside of India. The first mandir that he consecrated was in Mombasa, Kenya during his tour of East Africa in 1955. Despite his age, he went on a third overseas tour in 1970 during which he installed the image of Akshar-Purushottam in hari mandirs in Nairobi, Kenya. On
4080-698: The fledgling BAPS organization in India and beyond. Yogiji Maharaj led the construction of numerous temples in India and abroad during his guruship. He consecrated two shikharbaddha mandirs and 41 smaller hari mandirs in India. In addition, he built 7 mandirs in Africa and the United Kingdom. Concurrently, he arranged for the organization of large festival celebrations in India and abroad and arranged for devotees to go on pilgrimages around India. Throughout his time as guru, he visited over 150,000 homes and maintained correspondence with devotees through letter writing among other activities. He propagated
4165-682: The ground-breaking ceremony for shikharbaddha mandirs in Johannesburg, South Africa , and Sydney, Australia , and in April 2019, he performed the ground-breaking ceremony for a traditional stone temple in Abu Dhabi . In May 2021, six workers involved in the construction of the Akshardham temple filed suit against the temple administrators resulting in a government investigation of potential labor law violations. Spokespersons for BAPS said that
4250-432: The guru, devotees are considered to be serving the guru. This relationship is the driving force for the spiritual actions of devotees. The guru is Mahant Swami Maharaj , who is held to be the embodiment of selfless devotion. Under the guidance of Mahant Swami Maharaj, followers observe the tenets of Swaminarayan through the above-mentioned practices, striving to please the guru and become close to God. The mandir , known as
4335-718: The house of Jadavji in Bochasan. Yogiji Maharaj was a resident swami at Junagadh Mandir (Saurashtra), where Gunatitanand Swami had served as mahant. Yogiji Maharaj regarded Gunatitanand Swami as Akshar and also served the murti of Harikrishna Maharaj which had previously been worshiped by Gunatitanand Swami. As he already believed in the doctrine being preached by Shastriji Maharaj, Yogiji Maharaj left Junagadh on 9 July 1911 with six swamis to join Shastriji Maharaj's mission. On 7 November 1939, 17-year-old Shantilal Patel (who would become Pramukh Swami Maharaj ) left his home and
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#17327919085504420-482: The image of Akshar is placed in the central shrine and worshipped alongside the image of Purushottam. Furthermore, BAPS believes that by understanding the greatness of God's choicest devotee, coupled with devotion and service to him and God, followers are able to grow spiritually. According to BAPS doctrines, followers aim to attain a spiritual state similar to Brahman which is ultimate liberation. To become an ideal Hindu, followers must identify with Brahman, separate from
4505-432: The life of a householder and lived according to the rules prescribed by Swaminarayan for ascetics: “absolute celibacy and the avoidance of women, separation from family relationships, detachment from sense objects, non-avarice and restraint of the pride of ego.” Typically, Gnanjivandas Swami would rise early in the morning and work throughout the day to fulfill the commitment of service to both God and society. He would sweep
4590-532: The local devotees to begin temple construction projects. Due to the visit, in a span of five years, the devotees in Uganda completed the construction of temples in Tororo, Jinja and Kampala and asked Yogiji Maharaj to revisit Uganda to install the murtis of Akshar-Purushottam Maharaj. The rapid temple constructions in Africa were helped by the presence of early immigrants, mainly Leva Patels, who came to work as masons, and were particularly skilled in temple building. As
4675-440: The majority of 1908–15 discoursing throughout Gujarat, while continuing construction work of mandirs in Bochasan and Sarangpur, gaining a group of devotees, admirers, and supporters. Over the next four decades, Shastriji Maharaj completed four more shikharbaddha mandirs in Gujarat (Sarangpur – 1916, Gondal – 1934, Atladra – 1945, and Gadhada – 1951). On 12 August 1910 Shastriji Maharaj met his eventual successor, Yogiji Maharaj , at
4760-751: The mandir in Mumbai, he became known as Mahant Swami. He continues the legacy of the Aksharbrahma Gurus by visiting BAPS mandirs worldwide, guiding spiritual aspirants, initiating devotees, ordaining swamis, creating and sustaining mandirs, and encouraging the development of scriptures. In his discourses, he mainly speaks on how one can attain God and peace through ridding one's ego (nirmani), seeing divinity in all (divyabhav), not seeing, talking, or adapting any negative nature or behavior of others (no abhav-avgun), and keeping unity (samp). In 2017, he performed
4845-502: The material body, and offer devotion to god. As per the Akshar-Purushottam Upasana, each jiva attains liberation and true realization through association with the manifest form of Akshar, in the form of the God-realized guru, who offer spiritual guidance. Jivas who perform devotion to this personal form of Brahman can, despite remaining ontologically different, attain a similar spiritual standing as Brahman and then go to Akshardham. It
4930-799: The monastic order bringing the total number of swamis initiated to more than 700 in fulfillment to a prophecy made by Yogiji Maharaj . In the third leg of the era, the organisation saw an unprecedented level of mandir construction activities taking place in order to accommodate the rapid rise of adherents across the global Indian diaspora. Initially, beginning with the inauguration of Swaminarayan Akshardham (Gandhinagar) in 1992. A number of shikharbaddha mandirs (large traditional stone mandirs) were inaugurated in major cities; London (1995), Nairobi (1999), New Delhi (2004), Houston (2004), Chicago (2004), Swaminarayan Akshardham (New Delhi) (2005), Toronto (2007), Atlanta (2007), Los Angeles (2012), and Robbinsville (New Jersey) (2014). On 20 July 2012, in
5015-627: The murtis of Akshar-Purushottam Maharaj to East Africa and started a small centre. Soon, the East Africa Satsang Mandal was established under the leadership of Harman Patel and Magan Patel. In 1955, Yogiji Maharaj embarked on his first foreign tour to East Africa. The prime reason for the visit was to consecrate Africa's first Akshar-Purushottam temple in Mombasa. The temple was inaugurated on 25 April 1955. He also travelled to Nairobi , Nakuru , Kisumu , Tororo , Jinja , Kampala , Mwanza and Dar es salaam . His travels inspired
5100-749: The opportunity to install and use the sa-itrans-iast input handler which provides complete support for the ISO 15919 standard for the romanization of Indic languages as part of the m17n library. Or user can use some Unicode characters in Latin-1 Supplement, Latin Extended-A, Latin Extended Additional and Combining Diarcritical Marks block to write IAST. Only certain fonts support all the Latin Unicode characters essential for
5185-512: The original scripts that accounts for its continuing popularity amongst scholars. Scholars commonly use IAST in publications that cite textual material in Sanskrit, Pāḷi and other classical Indian languages. IAST is also used for major e-text repositories such as SARIT, Muktabodha, GRETIL, and sanskritdocuments.org. The IAST scheme represents more than a century of scholarly usage in books and journals on classical Indian studies. By contrast,
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#17327919085505270-436: The overseas expansion of BAPS. He died on 23 January 1971 after appointing Pramukh Swami Maharaj as his successor. He was born as Jina Vasani on 23 May 1892 in the small town of Dhari , Gujarat , India to father Devchandbhai and mother Puribai. Jina was a diligent student and his work-ethic made him popular among his childhood contemporaries. He took interest in spirituality, engaging in devotional service by performing
5355-526: The personal form of Akshar led to a doctrinal split with the Vadtal diocese, he formed a separate entity, BAPS, as a result. This meeting in Rajkot, where Shastriji Maharaj expounded the principles of the Akshar-Purshottam Darshan , ultimately resulted in several swamis from the Vadtal diocese, including Yogiji Maharaj, leaving to join Shastriji Maharaj. Under Shastriji Maharaj's guidance, Yogiji Maharaj played an integral part in growing
5440-458: The presence of senior swamis in Ahmedabad, Pramukh Swami Maharaj revealed Keshavjivandas Swami (Mahant Swami) as his spiritual successor. Following the death of Pramukh Swami Maharaj on 13 August 2016, Mahant Swami Maharaj became the 6th guru and president of BAPS. In 1961, he was ordained as a swami by Yogiji Maharaj and named Keshavjivandas Swami. Due to his appointment as the head (mahant) of
5525-595: The president and guru of the BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha. Under his guidance, the fledgling BAPS organization gained formation throughout India and abroad. He established systems such as weekly assemblies, publications and recurring festivals that encouraged greater focus on spiritual endeavors. His efforts in co-ordination of these increased activities provided an infrastructure for the organization's continued expansion and growth under his spiritual successor, Pramukh Swami Maharaj . Shortly after
5610-702: The request, Yogiji Maharaj wrote the letter that would later become a part of the Yogi Gita. In his letter to Jagjivan, the " satsangi ," Yogiji Maharaj reinforced the importance of three spiritual virtues: samp or co-operation, suhradhabhav or friendship, and ekta or unity. He indicated that all devotees should strive to live by these principles. He also described the following principles that he believed would lead to peace and happiness: The second section contains Yogiji Maharaj's earnest prayer to Shastriji Maharaj in Mehelav, Gujarat. Yogiji Maharaj used various spiritual qualities of Shastriji Maharaj as examples to illustrate
5695-501: The responsibility. On 21 May 1950 at Ambli-Vali Pol in Amdavad, Shastriji Maharaj appointed Shastri Narayanswarupdas as the administrative president (Pramukh) of BAPS. He instructed Shastri Narayanswarupdas, who now began to be referred to as Pramukh Swami, to ennoble Satsang under the guidance of Yogiji Maharaj. In the last few years of his life, Shastriji Maharaj took steps to preserve the growth and future of BAPS by registering BAPS as
5780-471: The right side of the keyboard instead of Ctrl+Alt combination). Many systems provide a way to select Unicode characters visually. ISO/IEC 14755 refers to this as a screen-selection entry method . Microsoft Windows has provided a Unicode version of the Character Map program (find it by hitting ⊞ Win + R then type charmap then hit ↵ Enter ) since version NT 4.0 – appearing in
5865-544: The same tour, he also established the first Swaminarayan mandir in London, England. In his speeches and correspondences, he emphasized engaging youth to develop a spiritual inclination. He organized the first meetings for youth during weekly assemblies and initiated the weekly Swaminarayan Satsang Patrika featuring news of Satsang events and an agenda for weekly assemblies. This provided a forum for youth to grow spiritually, academically and personally by creating specialized activities suited to their needs. Before these efforts,
5950-574: The scriptures. The ideals of dharma range from devotees following the principle of ahimsa (non-violence), practicing lacto-vegetarianism , avoiding onions, garlic, and other items in their diet. Swaminarayan outlined the dharma of his devotees in the scripture the Shikshapatri. He included practical aspects of living life such as not committing adultery and respecting elders, gurus, and those of authority. Devotees develop detachment ( vairagya ) in order to spiritually elevate their soul ( jiva ) to
6035-400: The short close-mid vowels with the long ones. The following seven exceptions are from the ISO standard accommodating an extended repertoire of symbols to allow transliteration of Devanāgarī and other Indic scripts , as used for languages other than Sanskrit. The most convenient method of inputting romanized Sanskrit is by setting up an alternative keyboard layout . This allows one to hold
6120-422: The site of his cremation. Literally meaning "yogi's song" (from the Sanskrit root geet ), it refers to a collection of Yogiji Maharaj's spiritual teachings and prayers. The Yogi Gita encapsulates the necessary attributes one must imbibe to progress spiritually and become brahmarup or attain high levels of spiritual enlightenment. The Yogi Gita also provides an expansive view of the Akshar-Purushottam Darshan ,
6205-429: The spiritual attributes that are necessary for one to attain liberation. Yogiji Maharaj reinforced the fact that devotees would never suffer from misery if they had a firm refuge in God. To devotees of the BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha, the Yogi Gita is an inspirational text that aims to increase the spiritual purity of believers. Yogiji Maharaj's own virtuous life and esteem in the eyes of BAPS followers give added weight to
6290-400: The support of about 150 devotees. Paralleling Sahajand Swami's building of temples to propagate his teachings, Shastriji Maharaj then set out to build his own mandir to "house the devotional representations of Bhagwan and Guru " and propagate his understanding of Swaminarayan's teachings. On 5 June 1907, Shastriji Maharaj consecrated the murtis of Swaminarayan and Gunatitanand Swami in
6375-507: The temple, clean the kitchens, and serve the devotees that visited. His adoption of a spartan lifestyle and adherence to the principles laid down by Swaminarayan earned Jina the by name, Yogiji. The term "yogi," used to denote a person who practices asceticism and attains yoga, or communion with God, is followed by the suffix "ji" which is used as a sign of respect. It was during this time that he met his guru, Shastriji Maharaj . When Shastriji Maharaj's identification of Gunatitanand Swami as
6460-421: The tenets that devotees should instill in themselves. In essence, Yogiji Maharaj prayed that all devotees could become as virtuous and devout as Shastriji Maharaj. The editors of the text compiled various proverbs of Yogiji Maharaj that encapsulated his insights and philosophy of life. Literally meaning "the sayings of the heart," this section explores numerous sayings and his empirical teachings. It focuses on
6545-487: The transliteration of Indic scripts according to the IAST and ISO 15919 standards. For example, the Arial , Tahoma and Times New Roman font packages that come with Microsoft Office 2007 and later versions also support precomposed Unicode characters like ī . Many other text fonts commonly used for book production may be lacking in support for one or more characters from this block. Accordingly, many academics working in
6630-546: The truth about the false allegations. The philosophy of BAPS is centred on the doctrine of Akshar-Purushottam Upasana , in which followers worship Swaminarayan as God, or Purshottam, and his choicest devotee, Gunatitanand Swami , as Akshar. The BAPS concurs that Akshar is the divine abode of Purushottam and "an eternally existing spiritual reality having two forms, the impersonal and the personal." Followers of BAPS identify various scriptures and documented statements of Swaminarayan as supporting this understanding of Akshar within
6715-528: The youths in BAPS normally sat with adults during weekly congregations. In 1952, he founded the youth wing (yuvak mandal) to foster activities specific for youth, so that they could understand the spiritual messages catered to their own needs. He is remembered for treating youths with respect and affection and was well known for giving a dhabo , (a hearty pat on the back) while giving his blessings. He also advocated for camps and seminars promoting academic and personal spiritual growth for youth and arranged for
6800-659: Was a Hindu swami and the fourth spiritual successor of Swaminarayan in the Bochasanwasi Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha (BAPS) , a major branch of the Swaminarayan Sampradaya . According to the metaphysics of BAPS , Yogiji Maharaj is considered to be the next iteration of Akshar after Shastriji Maharaj in the guru parampara, an unbroken line of "perfect devotees" who provide "authentication of office through Gunatitanand Swami and back to Swaminarayan himself." Together with Pramukh Swami Maharaj , who acted as
6885-505: Was held in Ahmedabad in April 1981. On 7 March 1981, 207 youths were initiated into the monastic order. In 1985 the bicentenary birth of Gunatitanand Swami was celebrated. During this festival, 200 youths were initiated into the monastic order. The organisation held Cultural Festivals of India in London in 1985 and New Jersey in 1991. The month-long Cultural Festival of India was held at Alexandra Palace in London in 1985. The same festival
6970-536: Was initiated by Shastriji Maharaj into the parshad order, as Shanti Bhagat, on 22 November 1939, and into the swami order, as Narayanswarupdas Swami, on 10 January 1940. Initially, he studied Sanskrit and Hindu scriptures and served as Shastriji Maharaj's personal secretary. In 1946, he was appointed administrative head ( Kothari ) of the Sarangpur mandir. In the early part of 1950, Shastriji Maharaj wrote several letters to 28-year-old Shastri Narayanswarupdas expressing
7055-411: Was initiated into the parshad fold (a probationary period before full initiation). During this time, not only was Jina entrusted with the care of the cattle and oxen owned by the mandir but also the general upkeep of the mandir itself and related buildings. He was initiated into the swami fold on 11 April 1911 as Gnanjivandas Swami by Acharya Shripatiprasadji Maharaj. As a swami, he completely renounced
7140-451: Was shipped to US as a month-long Cultural Festival of India at Middlesex County College in Edison, New Jersey . Migrational patterns in the 70s led to a disproportionate number of Hindus in the diaspora. Culturally, a need arose to celebrate special festivals (Cultural Festival of India) to reach out to youths in the diaspora to foster understanding and appreciation of their mother culture in
7225-697: Was the fifth spiritual guru of the BAPS organisation. Under his leadership, BAPS has grown into a global Hindu organisation and has witnessed expansion in several areas. His work has been built on the foundations laid by his gurus – Shastriji Maharaj and Yogiji Maharaj. Immediately upon taking helm, Pramukh Swami Maharaj ventured on a hectic spiritual tour in the first decade of his role as the new Spiritual Guru. Despite health conditions— cataract operation in 1980—he continued to make extensive tours to more than 4000 villages and towns, visiting over 67,000 homes and performing Murti Pratishtha (image installation) ceremonies in 77 temples in this first decade. He also embarked on
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