Gunatitanand Swami

Gunatitanand Swami (17 October 1785 – 11 October 1867; born Mulji Sharma) was a prominent paramhansa of theSwaminarayan Sampraday who was ordained by Swaminarayan and is accepted as the first spiritual successor of Swaminarayanby the Bochasanwasi Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha (BAPS) sect.Born into a religious family in Bhadra, a small farming community in the state of Gujarat, India,

          For BAPS Devotees, he embodies an essential element of the doctrine of Akshar and Purushottam.They believe based on interpretation from the Vachanamrut (scripture containing discourses by Swaminarayan) that “Akshar is an eternally-existing spiritual reality having two forms, the impersonal and the personal.”Furthermore BAPS claims that Gunatitanand Swami was believed to be the first personal manifestation of Akshar in the Guru Parampara, an unbroken line of “perfect devotees” who provide “authentication of office through Gunatitanand Swami and back to Swaminarayan himself.”The Vadtal and Ahmedabad dioceses of theSwaminarayan Sampraday do not subscribe to this theory

Early life

Gunatitanand Swami was born on 17 October 1785 (Aso Sud Punam, Vikram Samvat 1841) to Bholanath and Sakarba Jani in the village of Bhadra, situated near the river Und in what is now Gujarat, India. His father’s guru, Ramanand Swami, named him Mulji.[18] Even from a young age, it was evident that Mulji had a “disinclination towards material objects” and would exhibit a perspicacity that was rare for a child of his age, often claiming while playing with his younger brother Sundarji that he would become a sadhu and inspire Sundarji to become one. Various accounts indicate a close association between Mulji and Swaminarayan, who was born four years before Mulji. One such incident details how a thin line of milk appeared on the lips of a murti of “Thakorji,” a small metal idol of Swaminarayan, while Mulji was himself drinking a glass of milk. In response to his mother’s surprise at this, Mulji had explained, “Mother! Thakorji is always present in my heart. When I eat, Thakorji eats with me

Gunatitanand Swami as Akshar

         Considerable dissent exists among various Swaminarayan groups regarding Gunatitanand Swami’s status as Akshar, with BAPS being one of the foremost, though not only, groups propagating this principle as a foundation of their Akshar Purushottam philosophy, or Upasana.The Akshar Purushottam Upasana is the central theological tenet upon which the BAPS denomination of Swaminarayan Hinduism is based. Proponents of this philosophy believe that of the five eternal entities (Jiva, Ishwar, Maya, Brahman and Parabrahman), Akshar (Brahman) and Purushottam (Parabrahman) eternally transcend the illusion of maya.While both BAPS and certain sections of the dioceses of Ahmedabad and Vadtal accept Purushottam as God and the cause of all the avatars, the concept of Akshar has led to much debate and is one of the primary causes of the schism between the denominations.Yājñavalkya Smṛti was authorized as a sacred text by Swaminarayan and it contains the following proof-text of Akshar, explaining that, “If one does not know Akshar, then one’s oblations, sacrifices and austerities for many thousands of years in this world will come to an end; and when one departs from this world without knowing Akshar, one is miserable

Swamini Vato

“Spoil ten million tasks but improve your moksha. But if ten million tasks are improved and moksha is spoilt, what has been achieved?”

“Whatever happiness there is in maya is not without misery. This, too, should be kept in mind.”

“If a true Sadhu is attained and one does as he says, then the faults that would have taken tens of millions of births to overcome are overcome today (in this very birth).”

“We know that we have love for Bhagwan. But Bhagwan and His Sadhu have greater love for us.”

“That Bhagwan and Sadhu we wanted to attain through endless tapas, tens of millions of japa, vrat, donations and yagnas, we have attained today.”

“There are many things to understand in Satsang. Of these, the main is upãsanã. Otherwise, observe dharma and study Vachanamrut and other shastras.”

“One, upãsanã; two, ãgnã; three, company; and four, addiction to the shastras – these four should be consolidated firmly”

Death

 On 16 September 1867, Gunatitanand Swami paid homage to the murti of Swaminarayan in Junagadh mandir for the last time and departed for a tour of neighboring towns and villages having served as the mahant for 40 years 4 months and 4 days.As he was leaving, he declared, “I will now reside in Mahuva,” assumed by BAPS followers to means as his passing of the spiritual torch to Bhagatji Maharaj who lived in Mahuva and not a reference to his physical destination. He travelled through the villages of Ganod, Upleta, Bhayavadar and Vanthali before finally arriving at Gondal to celebrate a religious festival at the behest of Madhavji Dave, the town administrator.[61] Gunatitanand Swami visited Navlakha Palace where the Maharaja of Gondal donated a piece of land to the Swaminarayan mandir. Gunatitanand Swami returned to Swaminarayan Mandir in Gondal at 9pm and died at 12:45am on 11 October 1867.His obsequies were performed the next day on the banks of the River Gondali Abhaysinh Darbar of Ganod, a disciple of Gunatitanand Swami, later built a shrine at the spot of his final rites that is known as Akshar Deri