marriage, widow immolation (sat ̄ı), and female infanticide,
all practices that had excited concern among the indigenous
intelligentsia and colonial administrators of the established
Bengal Presidency. Because of his reputation for being a so-
cial progressive, Sahajanand Swami attracted the interest of
and subsequently met Bishop Reginald Heber, the Lord
Bishop of Calcutta, and John Malcolm, governor of the
Bombay Presidency. By the time of his death at the age of
forty-nine on June 1, 1830, Sahajanand Swami was consid-
ered by his many satsan ̇g ̄ıs to be Bhagava ̄n (Lord) Swami-
narayan, the highest manifestation of reality.
THE ORIGINAL SWAMINARAYAN MOVEMENT. From its early
days, the Swaminarayan movement was noted for its organi-
zational capacities and rationalized methods for transmitting
its practices and prescriptions. Sa ̄dhus compiled Sahajanand
Swami’s discourses, maintained records of his activities, and
collected together commendatory letters written by colonial
administrators. Among his innovations, Sahajanand Swami
established an institutional structure that provided for the
perpetuation of the Swaminarayan satsan ̇g, the community
of followers-in-truth. Two administrative seats (ga ̄dd ̄ı), out-
lined in the Lekh, a text written by Sahajanand Swami, were
established by dividing India into northern and southern ju-
ridical territories. The Ahmedabad temple was designated
administrative head of the northern seat and the Vadtal tem-
ple, the center for the southern seat. Being celibate, Sahaja-
nand Swami installed two nephews as a ̄ca ̄ryas (preceptors) in
the administrative seats and specified that the sons of the
a ̄ca ̄ryas would preserve these hereditary positions. The two
hereditary lines and ga ̄dd ̄ıs still exist, although the migration
of devotees has necessitated their merger into one organiza-
tion (the International Swaminarayan Satsang Organization)
for the overseas communities. The a ̄ca ̄ryas oversee the tem-
ples, sa ̄dhus, and satsan ̇g ̄ıs in their respective ga ̄dis. Further
duties include the administration of the Swaminarayan man-
tra for new male initiates, installation of temple icons, and
management of the ga ̄dd ̄ı’s material wealth.
Another distinction of the Swaminarayan movement is
the clear separation of men and women (str ̄ı-purus:a marya ̄da ̄)
in all temple activities and to some extent in social life as well.
Swaminarayan temples have separate entrances for men and
women. Though women can take the vow of celibacy, there
is no comparable order of sa ̄dhv ̄ıs (female renunciates). The
wives of a ̄ca ̄ryas have substantial duties paralleling their hus-
bands: they are responsible for teaching and overseeing the
activities of women satsan ̇g ̄ıs and for administering the
Swaminarayan mantra (for women only).
Whereas the early satsan ̇g ̄ıs were from a wide variety of
castes and class backgrounds, later members came increasing-
ly from the emerging Patidar farmer caste, who were finding
commercial success in agriculture and entrepreneurial activi-
ties. In the years following Sahajanand Swami’s death, the
cooperative relationship between Swaminarayan a ̄ca ̄ryas,
sa ̄dhus, and householders and the British allowed for favor-
able reciprocation such as temple land grants and festival per-
mits. Scholars of modern Gujarat history are critical of this
cooperation, arguing that the Swaminarayan movement’s
alignment with the British reflected its bias toward promot-
ing its own caste and class interests at the expense of other
groups either unable or unwilling to yield to Anglo-colonial
hegemony. Indeed, Swaminarayan history does not show
much evidence of protest against the colonial presence.
NEW SWAMINARAYAN SECTS. As it happened, the greatest
schism in the Swaminarayan movement was prompted not
by outsiders but came from within. In 1906 a sa ̄dhu, Swami
Yagnapurushdas, left the Vadtal temple. In 1907 he estab-
lished the first new Swaminarayan sect, the Bochasanwasi
Shri Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha (BAPS).
Headquartered in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, BAPS claims over
one million followers worldwide including both laity and as-
cetics. With its religious leaders and membership drawn
from a wide caste background, caste distinctions in this new
sect are of less concern than in the original Swaminarayan
ga ̄dd ̄ıs. As part of its social reform activity, BAPS has estab-
lished temples and charitable projects in dalit (formerly re-
ferred to as Untouchables or harijan) and adivasi (autochtho-
nous groups or tribal communities) villages in Gujarat. More
so than the original sect, BAPS is a global movement and,
early on, it embraced new technologies to support its trans-
national growth. It runs a large publishing house and music
recording studio, and employs systematic methods for train-
ing sa ̄dhus and laity in Swaminarayan bhakti. Additionally,
BAPS upholds the movement’s connection to social reform
through a variety of programs and campaigns, such as anti-
addiction and anti-dowry events, disaster relief, temple
building, and the sponsorship of public festivals. BAPS activ-
ities are not always without controversy, as in its open sup-
port of the Sardar Sarovar dam project in Gujarat. For its
supporters, the Sardar Sarovar dam and the multi-dam Nar-
mada Valley Development Project of which it is a key com-
ponent are intended to increase power capacity and provide
irrigation, cleaner drinking water, and flood control; for its
opponents, the dam is environmentally and socially disas-
trous and is purchased at the cost of submerging a high per-
centage of dalit and adivasi villages. The wealthy BAPS orga-
nization is criticized by dam opponents for acting to protect
its class interests, including those of its land holding mem-
bers. In response, BAPS followers who are familiar with the
Narmada controversy point to the various village relocation
and community rehabilitation projects voluntarily instigated
and funded by BAPS.
In addition to BAPS’s break from the original Swami-
narayan satsan ̇g, other schisms have occurred. In 1966 a
handful of East African BAPS followers broke away and
founded the Yogi Divine Society. Additionally, sa ̄dhus from
the original movement have left to form their own institu-
tions that sometimes (e.g., Swaminarayan Gurukuls) but not
always (e.g., Swaminarayan Gadi) retain an affiliation with
their ga ̄dd ̄ı.
SWAMINARAYAN TEXTS AND THEIR INTERPRETATION. Two
core texts, the Vachanamritam (Vacana ̄mr:ta) and Shiksha-8890 SWAMINARAYAN MOVEMENT