Hari Jayanti marks the advent of Shri Swaminarayan Bhagwan on this earth. Lord Swaminarayan is Purna Purushottam Narayan, the avatari of the avatars. He was born in a small village called Chhapaiya near Ayodhya 240 years ago on 2nd April 1781. This date is ‘chaitra sud nom‘ in the Hindu calendar. This date also coincides with Ramnavmi (the birth of Lord Ram).
He exhibted the leela of Ram Bhagwan when at the age of 11 years he undertook an 8 year penance sanctifying the soil of India barefoot and wearing just a simple loin cloth. He also gave his saints divine pleasure with ras leela in the same way Krishna Bhagwan gave joy to the gopi’s in Vrandavan. In Lord Swaminarayan bhakto had the darshan of whichever deity or avatar that they followed.
There was one such haribhakta called Shitaldas who in person wanted to do the pujan of all the avatars simultaneously. So that Shitladas could take numerous forms to do the pujan, Swaminarayan Bhagwan told Shitaldas to call out the name of each avatar in turn and that if any of the avatars were themselves the supreme God then Shitaldas’s wish would be fulfilled; but nothing happened. Finally Swaminarayan Bhagwan said that if Swaminarayan is himself is the supreme God (avatari) then Shitaldas’s wish would be fulfilled, instantly Shitaldas multiplied into numerous forms and offered his puja to the all avatars, Shitladas became convinced about Lord Swaminarayan’s supremacy, thereafter he took diksha and became a sadhu.
Swaminarayan Bhagwan himself had proclaimed that when he had appeared in the form Shri Ram he had killed Ravan and when he appeared in form of Shri Krishna he had killed Kansa, but this time he had appeared not to rid the world of demons but to destroy the demons of the mind. To this end, Swaminarayan Bhagwan set-up the Swaminarayan Sampradaya giving haribhakto spiritual instruction through the Shikshapatri and the Vachanamrut, but his greatest legacy is that he promised that he would remain manifest on the earth through his Gunatit saints of the calibre of Vach I 27.
Today such Gunatit satpurush are carrying on Lord Swmainarayan’s mission to ensure atyantik kalyan of haribhakto; this legacy is continuing through Param Pujya Pappaji Maharaj and his sakshat Gunatit swarupo.