Gunatitanand Swami

Gunatitanand Swami (Devnagari: गुनातीतान्द स्वामी) (October 17, 1785- October 11, 1867) was a saint of the Swaminarayan Sampraday. Known as Aksharbrahm, Gunatitanand Swami was a prominent saint who gave valuable contribution for spreading of the Swaminarayan Sampraday.

Biography

Named "Mulji" as a child, Gunatitanand Swami was born in Bhadra, Gujarat. It is said that from his childhood days he had such a vision that he could see with his inner eyes, what "Ghanshyam Pande" (Bhagwan Swaminarayan) was doing in his childhood at Chhapaiya, far away in Uttar Pradesh. Further, it is also said that he could see the thread ceremony of Ghanshyam Pande on the very day and he described the same to his family.

In Dabhan, during the great sacrificial charity Gunatitanand Swami was given diksha by lord Swaminarayan. Later on, he was appointed the head of the Junagadh Temple where he spent about 40 years propagating satsang in that region. Even at that stature, he used to render services for all temple activities, including cleaning and assisting construction work of the temple. Though he was uneducated he used to give preaching for hours on high philosophy in a very simple, practical and impressive way, spellbound the masses.

In Vikram Samvat 1923 he desired to leave this world, in Gondal. It was there that he left his corporeal body, independently, sitting in Padmasan pose ,after announcing in advance.

Gunatitanand Swami was also one of Bhagwan Swaminarayan's 500 paramahansas.

Members of BAPS believe that Gunatitanand Swami was the spiritual heir of Bhagwan Swaminarayan.

Works

The Swamini Vato is a set of quotes and sayings written by Gunatitanand Swami. It is regarded as a highly important scripture in the Swaminarayan denomination of the Hindu religion. It was documented in the mid 19th century, while Gunatitanand Swami was respectively known as the Mahant of Junagadh Mandir. [citebook|title=An Introduction to Swaminarayan Hinduism|author=Raymond Brady Williams|publisher= Cambridge University Press|year= 2001|pages=190|id=ISBN 052165422X]

ee also

* Akshar Purushottam Upasana

References

External links

* [http://www.vadtal.com/our-saints-10.html Gunatitanand Swami]
* [http://www.swaminarayangurukul.org/grd_trd/gunatitananadsw.html Sadguru Shree Gunatitanand Swami]