West Slavic four-headed military gods were variously
named, but in fact they probably represent one multifaceted
god, the archetypal Indo-European god of heavenly light.
The gods Svarozhich, Iarovit, Porovit, and Sventovit, wor-
shiped in West Slavic temples of the eleventh and twelfth
centuries, seem to represent the seasonal aspects of the sun:
the winter or “young” sun (Svarozhich), the spring sun
(Iarovit), the summer sun (Porovit), and the harvest sun
(Sventovit). The Roman Janus Quadrifons (“four-faced”) is
a parallel, as is the Iranian four-faced warrior god Vere-
thraghna.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Berlekamp, Hansdieter. “Die Ausgrabungen auf Kap Arkona,
1969–1970.” In Berichte über den II. Internationalen Kongress
für slawische Archäologie, vol. 3, pp. 285–289. Berlin, 1970.
Dyggve, Ejnar. “Der Holztempel Svantevits und der schuch-
hardtsche Baubefund zu Arkona.” In Berichte über den V. in-
ternationalen Kongress für Vor- und Frühgeschichte. Berlin,
1961.
Máchal, Jan. “Slavic Mythology.” In The Mythology of All Races,
vol. 3, edited by Louis H. Gray and George Foot Moore,
pp. 217–330. Boston, 1918.
Palm, Thede. Wendische Kultstätten: Quellenkritische Untersuchun-
gen zu den letzten Jahrhunderten slavischen Heidentums. Lund,
1937.
Rosen-Przeworska, J. “La tradition du dieu celtique à quatre vis-
ages chez les Protoslaves et les Slaves occidentaux.” Antiquités
nationales et internationales 4, no. 14–16 (April–December
1963): 65–69.
Schuchhardt, Carl. Arkona, Rethra, Vineta. Berlin, 1926.
Zakharov, Alexis A. “The Statue of Zbrucz.” Eurasia Septentrion-
alis Antiqua 9 (1936): 336–348.
New Sources
Kapica, F. S. Slavyanskije tradicionnije verovanija, prazdniki i ritu-
ali (Slavic traditional beliefs, festivities and rituals). Moscow,
2001.
Shaparova, N. S. Kratkaya enciklopedija slavyanskoj mifologii (A
short dictionary of Slavic mythology). Moscow, 2001.
Tokarev, S. A. “Mifi narodov mira (World myths).” Bolshaya Ros-
sijskaya Enciklopedija, vol.1–2. Moscow, 1998.
MARIJA GIMBUTAS (1987)
Revised Bibliography
SWAMINARAYAN MOVEMENT. Chronologi-
cally located between the “bhakti renaissance” of the medi-
eval period and the early to mid-nineteenth-century Hindu
revivalism of colonial India, the Swaminarayan movement is
a devotional tradition rooted in Vais:n:avism and arising out
of Gujarat in western India. The spread and transnational
growth of specific Swaminarayan sects demonstrate how a re-
gional expression of Hindu devotionalism, in accommodat-
ing to larger political and social changes, has succeeded in
providing meaningful ways of being Hindu in the diasporic
context.
SWAMINARAYAN ORIGIN NARRATIVE. All Swaminarayan
sects connect their devotional tradition to the historical per-
son of Sahajanand Swami (1781–1830 CE), who was born
near Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh, in northern India. His biogra-
phy is the basis for the Swaminarayan origin narrative, one
that combines hagiography with historically confirmed per-
sons, events, and places.
According to Swaminarayan tradition, the young Saha-
janand Swami was known as Ghanshyama. Following the
death of his parents when he was eleven years old, he em-
barked on a phase of wandering. He attracted attention for
his textual knowledge (evidenced by his winning debates
with older religious scholars), asceticism (adoption of brah-
macarya vows of celibacy), and performance of austerities
(tapas), an example of which involved standing on one leg
for four months while clad only in a loincloth. At the age
of nineteen, Ghanshyama, now known as Nilkantha, arrived
in Saurashtra, the peninsular area of southern Gujarat. Here
he encountered Mukhtananda Swami, the senior ascetic of
a group whose head preceptor (guru), Ramananda Swami,
was temporarily away. He asked Mukhtananda the questions
he had asked during his encounters with ascetics throughout
India; receiving satisfactory answers, Nilkantha ended his pe-
riod of wandering. On October 28, 1800, he was initiated
by Ramananda Swami and given two names, “Sahajanand”
and “Narayan Muni.” Not long thereafter Ramananda
Swami, in spite of opposition from his followers, designated
the young Sahajanand Swami as his successor.
The beginning of the Swaminarayan movement dates
to 1801 when Sahajanand Swami became the leader of Ra-
mananda’s group. Swaminarayan literature records that
“Swami Narayan” quickly became known for his teachings,
which emphasized moral, personal, and social betterment.
He traveled throughout the Gujarat region, outlining his be-
havioral expectations along gender lines and according to so-
cial groups, from laity to ascetics and political leaders.
Though his followers record that he was against caste, Saha-
janand Swami’s teachings did not openly advocate the disso-
lution of caste or the abandonment of commensal rules. For
both laity and ascetics, he supported varn:a ̄ ́sramadharma, or
the fulfillment of duties according to caste, social class, and
gender. He prescribed nonviolence, abstinence from intoxi-
cants, strict vegetarianism (including no onion or garlic), sex-
ual continence, and frugal living. Sahajanand Swami’s social
reform centered on the “uplift” of all peoples and ranged
from the promotion of literacy for men and women to pro-
viding assistance to famine sufferers. By age twenty-five, he
had an order of five hundred male sa ̄dhus (ascetics) who, not-
withstanding the special rules requiring ascetics to avoid all
contact with women, were responsible for spreading his mes-
sage and consolidating the growing numbers of Swaminaray-
an satsan ̇g ̄ıs (devotees).
During Sahajanand Swami’s lifetime Gujarat came
under British control. The Swaminarayan movement be-
came further known for its campaigns against early childSWAMINARAYAN MOVEMENT 8889