patri (S ́iks:a ̄patr ̄ı), provide the foundation for Swaminarayan
bhakti. Other important texts include hagiographies cum his-
tories such as the Satsangijivanam, which elaborate on Saha-
janand Swami’s life story and teachings. The Vachanamritam
is the first Gujarati vernacular text and consists of 262 dis-
courses given by Sahajanand Swami between 1819 and 1829
and recorded by senior sa ̄dhus. The Shikshapatri, authored
by Sahajanand Swami in 1826 and originally written in San-
skrit, is a listing of 212 precepts, a code of behavior for
Swaminarayan followers. As the most accessible of Swami-
narayan texts, the Shikshapatri is also the most controversial:
its precepts range from the practical to the political, from
matters of bodily hygiene and money management, to advice
on coping with unjust rulers. This small manual is account-
able in part for the “puritanical” image of the Swaminarayan
movement.
The philosophical foundation for Swaminarayan devo-
tionalism is the vi ́sis:t:a ̄dvaita, or qualified non-dualism, of
Ra ̄ma ̄nuja (1017–1137 CE). Sahajanand Swami expanded
Ra ̄ma ̄nuja’s delineation of three separate and eternal existen-
tial entities into five, namely parabrahman, brahman, ma ̄ya ̄,
̄ı ́svara, and j ̄ıva, but was most focused on the relationship
between parabrahman, brahman, and j ̄ıva. As explained in
the Vachanamritam, parabrahman (synonymous with
purus:ottama) is the highest existential entity and is never
formless: it possesses the power of immanence and action
(antarya ̄m ̄ı ́sakti) and manifests itself in a distinctly human
form. Brahman (synonymous with aks:ara and aks:ara-
brahman) is the second-highest reality and, in its formless
state, is known as aks:aradha ̄ma, the all-prevading and un-
fathomable abode of parabrahman and all released j ̄ıva. J ̄ıva
(also a ̄tman) stands for the eternal, indivisible, and genderless
entity, often translated as soul. Swaminarayan devotionalism
offers release (moks:a) attainable not through textual knowl-
edge or correct ritual practices but through the recognition
that Sahajanand Swami is himself purus:ottama, that is the
highest existential reality, who appears in human form, and
who resides in aks:aradha ̄ma. As the highest reality, Sahaja-
nand Swami is thus not an avata ̄ra or descended form of a
higher entity but the ultimate creator of all entities.
The most significant differences between the various
sects in the Swaminarayan movement rest in the interpreta-
tion of who is purus:ottama and how to understand the rela-
tionship between this eternal entity with human-like form
and satsan ̇g ̄ıs whose devotional activities are motivated by the
possibility that each individual j ̄ıva can potentially achieve
eternal existence in aks:aradham, alongside purus:ottama. The
Vachanamritam, Shikshapatri, and iconic representations in
the six original Swaminarayan temples point to Kr:s:n:a
(Krishna) as purus:ottama, the foremost entity to whom devo-
tion must be directed. For original sect members, this does
not necessarily disrupt the conviction that Sahajanand
Swami is also purus:ottama, that is, Lord Swaminarayan, rath-
er than an avata ̄ra of Krishna. Satsan ̇g ̄ıs explain this inconsis-
tency by noting that Sahajanand Swami was careful to make
his divinity known only to those who were ready for this rev-
elation. For the BAPS community, there is no ambiguity re-
garding the identities and relationship of purus:ottama to
aks:ara, the resolution of this distinction being the basis for
the sect’s founding.
In contrast to the textual interpretations of the original
Swaminarayan ga ̄dd ̄ı, BAPS founder Swami Yagnapurushdas
expounded a return to the “correct” understanding of Lord
Swaminarayan’s teachings, specifically that Sahajanand
Swami is purus:ottama and his immanence is always present
on Earth in the form of aks:ara or aks:arabrahman, the “living
guru.” Aks:ara is thus conceptualized as having two states, one
with and one without form. In BAPS, the importance given
to aks:ara as form distinguishes its textual interpretation from
the original ga ̄dd ̄ıs. Aks:ara with form is visible and tangible
as the contemporaneous living guru, the one who embodies
purus:ottama’s immanence. Referred to variously as
aks:araguru and aks:arabrahman and commonly translated as
“god-realized saint,” the living guru and form of aks:ara is al-
ways male.
For BAPS satsan ̇g ̄ıs, it is contact with the personal and
living form of aks:ara and the constant maintenance of devo-
tional attitudes to this form that allows for moks:a. By recog-
nizing aks:ara in its manifest form, j ̄ıva, clothed in human
form and impaired by bodily emotions and senses, can ac-
quire the knowledge necessary for escaping the conditioning
of ma ̄ya ̄. In Swaminarayan devotionalism, ma ̄ya ̄ is under-
stood, at the most general level, to be primordial matter
(prakr:ti) or that which conceals the knowledge required for
j ̄ıva to attain moks:a, the liberation from sam ̇sa ̄ra, the cycle
of rebirth. Often translated as illusion, ma ̄ya ̄ is also associated
with causing egoism, bodily desires, and wordly attachments,
all barriers to achieving release. The satsan ̇g ̄ı’s hope is to
achieve this release in the current lifetime and thereafter to
exist as brahmaru ̄pa, in identification with brahman, in
aks:aradhama, alongside purus:ottama and aks:ara. In Swami-
narayan vi ́sis:t:a ̄dvaita, the ultimate reality, purus:ottama, never
merges with aks:ara or with lower existential entities.
BAPS followers do not follow the a ̄ca ̄ryas and temples
of the original ga ̄dd ̄ıs but have constructed temples to reflect
their interpretation of Swaminarayan vi ́sis:t:a ̄dvaita. Also, a
lineage of aks:aragurus, or living gurus, has been retroactively
traced back to Gunatitanand Swami, a sa ̄dhu who lived dur-
ing Sahajanand Swami’s lifetime. The guru provides the tem-
plate for ideal devotional behavior and through him devotees
can achieve awareness of their eternal j ̄ıva. The most recent
living guru is Pramukh Swami who, in 1971, became the “re-
ligious and spiritual” head of BAPS.
ON DEVOTIONAL PRACTICES. Membership in the Swami-
narayan movement begins with a brief verbal initiation fol-
lowed by the devotee’s acceptance of the Swaminarayan
mantra. The devotee then agrees to live a life according to
specifications outlined in the core Swaminarayan texts.
The Swaminarayan ritual calendar as well as its ritual
practices, vocabulary, and gestures are similar to those foundSWAMINARAYAN MOVEMENT 8891