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Gunatitanand Swami is the divine abode of God, Akshardham. He is the divine power, known as brahm that transcends and sustains all of creation. Gunatitanand Swami is the Swami in Swaminarayan and the Akshar in Aksharpurushottam. Hence he is the perfect devotee worshiped along with the Almighty God in the form of Akshar Purushottam Maharaj. He was the first spiritual successor to Shreeji Maharaj.
Childhood
Swami Atmanand, who was a great saint of the time, prophesied in a dream to Sakarba Sharma the advent of Maharaj and that God's abode will be born to her as her son. Gunatitanand Swami was born to Sakarba and Bholanath in 1785, some 4 years after Shreeji Maharaj and was named Mulji by Ramanand Swami (Ramanand Swami played the role of being Shreeji Maharaj's guru before making Maharaj his successor). Ramanand Swami had also confirmed Swami Atmanand's prophecy.
Even as a young child, Mulji showed that he was beyond this world and had no interest in daily mundane life. His attachment to God was evident from His earliest years. Once He demanded to drink milk that was to be offered to the murti of Thakorji. His mother refused, but Mulji insisted saying that He was one with God and the offering would please God if He were to drink the milk; He promptly drank the milk. To the astonishment of His mother, a thin white line appeared on the lips of thakorji's murti!
Another example of Mulji's elevated spiritual state was when His father scolded him for being too interested in God and for not playing with other children; there was plenty of time to devote time to God when He was much older. Later, Mulji informed His father that He had gone to the village square where the elders gather, to see whether they were remembering God but only found them gossiping about the world. As such there was no point in waiting till He was older to devote himself to God. His father was surprised by His son's wisdom.
Swamiji's Glory
Maharaj had proclaimed on a number of occasions the true identity of Gunatitanand Swami. Many of Shreeji Maharaj's words describing the true identity of Mulji are recorded in ‘Shri Purushottam Charitra', written by Lodhika Highness Abhaysinhji.
- At their first meeting, when Mulji was 15 years old, Maharaj had stated, “This Bhakta Mulji is in constant union with Me and, in the future, he will spread My Glory”.
- Maharaj had further explained to Sakarba at a later date that, “Mulji himself is brahm...You had the darshan of brahm and parbrahm...You will realise Our true glory only when you've realised the glory of Bhakta Mulji...” This is a message that is also true now as we can only realise the glory of God when we take refuge in the God-like saint who is brahmroop and is in constant communion with God.
- Mulji left His home to become a sadhu in 1816, after Maharaj appeared before Him in the form of a vision and had beckoned Him. Maharaj held a special religious ceremony in order to initiate His divine abode as a sadhu. At this ceremony Maharaj gave Mulji his sadhu name, which could be no other than the name of Gunatitanand Swami. Acharya Raghuvirji Maharaj (who became the leader of the Vartal Laxminarayan Swaminarayan Sect) was present at the ceremony and recorded this event: Shri Hari Krishna said, “I am extremely delighted to initiate today this Mulji Sharma who is my Akshardham incarnate, in whom I dwell along with numerous liberated souls, and is limitless and is My Akshar Brahm”.
The rapport between Gunatitanand Swami and Maharaj was one of a sublime God-bhakta relationship. Even before He had met Maharaj, He used to describe to His parents the actual movements and exploits of Maharaj in the form of Neelkanth Varni as they were unfolding. Although Swamiji had the constant darshan of God, He still longed to see Maharaj. When Maharaj would go visiting His devotees, Gunatitanand Swami would wait long into the night for Maharaj's return and would even wait outside in the rain so that He would at least have a glimpse of His God. When accompanying Maharaj on His travels, Swamiji would run backwards so that He could keep His gaze fixed on Maharaj. His devotion set an example for everyone as to how to dedicate oneself to God.
Maharaj Himself was bound by Swamiji. On one occasion Maharaj was in an assembly and He started to sweat profusely. When devotees enquired why He was sweating so much, He said that He was carrying a great burden on his shoulders. Devotees were puzzled because Maharaj was not carrying anything. When they enquired further He said that His Akhsardham was carrying a heavy load of mattresses and that they should go and help Him. On another occasion Maharaj was returning from a visit when He happened upon Swamiji. Both stopped and were transfixed gazing at each other. After some minutes Maharaj sought permission from Swamiji, “Sadhuram, will you give me leave now?”
Swamiji's Mission
Maharaj made Gunatitanand Swami the head of the Junagadh Swaminarayan temple. This was partly due to the fact that the people of this area were difficult to manage; only Swamiji had enough faith in Maharaj that there would be no trouble and only Swamiji had the spiritual power to bring peace and harmony to the devotees of that region. But Maharaj also had an ulterior motive in placing Swamiji in Junagadh, as He wanted to keep Swamiji aloof until it was time to commence the main mission of spreading the glory of Shreeji Maharaj as the supreme God and instigating the line of God-like saints as per the Aksharpurushottam principle.
Shreeji Maharaj had instructed His saints to go to Junagadh to commune with Gunatitanand Swami for one whole month every year, and if they could not go one year then they should spend two months with Swamiji the following year. Swamiji's exploits brought spiritual bliss to all and respect from fellow devotees and saints, but nevertheless only a few fully appreciated Swamiji's true glory.
When Shreeji Maharaj had finally decided to leave His mortal frame at the age of 49 years, He called for Gunatitanand Swami from Junagadh for a private meeting. He instructed Swamiji to teach the people of Maharaj's own supremacy, that He is the supreme God from whom all the incarnations of God had originated (as people generally believed Maharaj to be an incarnation of Shree Krishna Bhagwan).
Maharaj also addressed Swamiji by saying, “O, my dear sweet, how can I forget you? I am bound by you, I pine for you just as a thirsty man yearns for water and a hungry man for food...” Gopalanand Swami, who was a great saint of Swaminarayan Bhagwan and knew the supremacy of Maharaj and Gunatitanand Swami as His abode, witnessed these events. Maharaj made Gopalanand Swami a leader saint of the main regions of North Gujarat but instructed him to pay special attention Gunatitanand Swami.
Both Gunatitanand Swami and Gopalanand Swami consoled the devotees after Maharaj's departure. But after Maharaj's funeral, Gunatitanand Himself lost His composure; whilst walking in a field He thought to Himself, “Oh! Water is the life of this grass... Similarly, Maharaj was our life. He is gone!” and He became unconscious. But then Maharaj appeared in a divine form and consoled Swamiji saying, “Swami, I have not gone away! I dwell in you eternally”.
Thereafter Gunatitanand Swami engaged in spreading Maharaj's message. Many of His teachings are represented in the book ‘Swami ni Vato', which is read along with the Vachanamrut. Herein He describes Maharaj's greatness but also the glory of the Gunatit saint explaining that in the absence of Maharaj, the true saint is the only path to salvation.
After Maharaj had gone, some devotees had started to drift away from the Swaminarayan faith. One such devotee (Karunashankar) searched for the peace of God in the sect, but he could not find it any such place. Someone told him that Gunatitanand Swami at Junagadh is a great Swaminarayan saint, so he went there. He spent some weeks there and one day asked Swamiji, “Swami, I have been everywhere throughout the Sampraday (sect) to observe the state of Satsang. Everywhere it seems that Satsang has become old and stale! But, here, why does Satsang seem so fresh, lively and youthful?” Instinctively, Swamiji replied, “
Karunashankar, Shreeji Maharaj Himself is manifest here ” . And so Swamiji revealed that Maharaj Himself was still manifest through Him.
Succession
Unfortunately after Maharaj's demise, the Vartal Swaminarayan Sect who neither understood Maharaj to be the Supreme God nor understood Swamiji as being the abode incarnate of Shreeji Maharaj, did not treat Swamiji appropriately. However, Gopalanand Swami was different and always had a special love for Swamiji. Gopalanand Swami had a number of devotees to whom he promised that he would give to them Akshardham, the divine abode of God. Gopalanand Swami would introduce his followers to Swamiji, he would explain Swamiji's glory and would say that he had fulfilled his promise by giving them Akshardham.
Two such devotees of Gopalanand Swami were Pragji Bhakta and Jaga Bhakta. Before Gopalanand Swami left his mortal body, he told them to go to Gunatitanand Swami and become His devotees. Pragji Bhakta, later known as Bhagatji Maharaj, became Gunatitanand Swami's spiritual successor. This became the start of the line of spiritual successors in whom Maharaj remained manifest that included Bhagatji Maharaj, Shastriji Maharaj, Yogiji Maharaj and now the current day pratyaksh (manifest) Aksharpurushottam Swaroopo Param Pujya Pappaji.
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