The Supremacy of Bhagwan Swaminarayan (Sahajanand Swami Maharaj).
There are many people in the world who have a belief in a god. Especially in Hinduism there are so many gods and many Hindus claim to believe in, and respect all the gods. However, Shreeji Maharaj makes it very clear in Vachanamrut G III 39 that there is only one supreme Almighty God.
This is exemplified by Param Pujya Ben’s experience when she prayed with great intensity to Shankar Bhagwan who then appeared to her from a murti. He said to P. P. Ben, “We are only a deity (demigod) but it is Bhagwan Swaminarayan who is the supreme Almighty God”.
Maharaj also explains that even though the avatars of God such as Rama and Krishna Bhagwan were manifestations of God, even they cannot be considered to be the same as the supreme God (avatari) because they only possessed attributes of God to the extent that was required for their particular spiritual mission. When Shreeji Maharaj was made head of a spiritual movement by His guru Ramanand Swami, before leaving his corporeal body Ramanand Swami explained that Sahajanand Swami (Shreeji Maharaj) was the supreme God incarnate, but unfortunately not everyone was able to accept or grasp this.
Shreeji Maharaj slowly revealed His true identity through various leela. Maharaj would ask haribhakto to meditate on the deity that they followed, and as they went into a trance they would have the darshan of their deity, but they would be bowing down to Shreeji Maharaj. In particular there is the story of a bhakta called Shitaldas who did not have any conviction in Bhagwan Swaminarayan as God, but in a trance he saw all the manifestations of God including Krishna and Rama bowing down to Him! Through a series of visions and experiences Shiltaldas became convinced about Maharaj’s supremacy, he then took vows and became a sadhu.
Not even Muktanand Swami who was the most senior sadhu in the holy fellowship had a true conviction in Shreeji Maharaj, and once scolded Maharaj for playing tricks on haribhakto by sending them into trance. Thereafter, Ramanand Swami appeared to Muktanand Swami asking why he did not believe Maharaj to be God incarnate, after all hadn’t he told him that He was so? Muktanand Swami realised his mistake and felt great remorse for maligning God. He in turn wrote the aarti that all satsangi sing even today and he himself sang the first ever Swaminarayan aarti in front of Shreeji Maharaj thereby showing his now complete dedication at Shreeji Maharaj’s divine feet.
Despite this, there were still some who believed Bhagwan Swaminarayan to be the manifest form of Lord Krishna. Gunatitanand Swami’s mission was to enlighten souls with the knowledge of the greatness of Shreeji Maharaj as the origin of all the avatars of God, that is, He is avatari from whom all the manifestations of God had emanated. Swamiji explained in many different ways the difference between the key manifestations of God throughout the ages (yug): First there was Dattatreya, then there was Rama Bhagwan, followed by Krishna Bhagwan, and lastly in the current age the avatari of the avatars, Bhagwan Swaminarayan. Gunatitanand Swami explained the difference between these manifestations by comparing them to snake catchers.
· Dattatreya would capture non-poisonous snakes and leave the poisonous ones alone. That is, He would impart spiritual knowledge to those who were keen to receive it, but did not bother with those who were sinful and had no regard for God.
· Ram Bhagwan and Krishna Bhagwan would attempt to capture poisonous snakes but if they were unable to do so, they would kill them. They would try to convert those who were sinful on to a godly path, but if that was not possible then they would destroy them, for example Ravana and Kansa.
· Bhagwan Swaminarayan however would not only capture poisonous snakes but He would remove the venom out of them!
This is where the biggest difference lies. Shreeji Maharaj had said, “When I appeared as Rama and Krishna I came to destroy demons, but this time I have come to destroy the demons of the mind”. Often Guruhari Pappaji woud say that He would turn Ravana into Rama, that is, He would transform a sinful person into a God realised soul. This is the true greatness of Bhagwan Swaminarayan. Only Bhagwan Swaminarayan is able to purify our souls to the highest spiritual level, which is not possible elsewhere, and He will seat us in the incomparable, supremely blissful eternal abode called Akshardham.
One may then question that if such redemption is only possible through Bhagwan Swaminarayan then how can devotees be redeemed now that Maharaj is longer with us? Maharaj instructs us in Vachanamrut Vartal III that when God (that is, Swaminarayan Bhagwan) is present on Earth Himself, then one should surrender to Him, but when God is not present in person then they should surrender to the satpurush, who is His Gunatit sadhu. This is where the significance of Maharaj promising to stay on this Earth through His Gunatit saints is very important. Through such saints, Shreeji Maharaj is continuing His mission even today to redeem everyone step by step so that we attain the highest level of purification that is in itself Akshardham.
Author: Sunil Gandhi