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The Vachanamrut or the nectarine discourses of Bhagwan Swaminarayan is the most sacred and foundational scripture of the Swaminarayan faith. Literature regarded as central to the Hindu literary tradition was predominantly composed in Sanskrit, Indeed much of the morphology and linguistic "Veda" redirects here For other uses see Veda (disambiguation. The Rigveda ( Sanskrit sa ऋग्वेद ṛgveda, a compound of ṛc "praise verse" and veda "knowledge" The Yajurveda ( Sanskrit यजुर्वेदः, a Tatpurusha compound of yajus "sacrificial formula' + veda The Samaveda ( Sanskrit: सामवेद sāmaveda, from sāman "melody" + veda "knowledge") is third (in the usual The Atharvaveda ( Sanskrit: अथर्ववेद atharvaveda, a Tatpurusha compound of {{IAST|atharvan}}, an ancient Rishi The oral tradition of the Vedas ( Śrauta) consists of several pathas, "recitations" or ways of chanting the Vedic Mantras Such traditions The Brāhmaṇa s ( Devanagari: sa ब्राह्मणं are part of the Hindu śruti literature The Aranyakas (Sanskrit आरण्यक āraṇyaka) are part of the Hindu śruti, the four Vedas these religious texts were composed in The Upanishads ( Devanagari: उपनिषद् IAST: upaniṣad also spelled "Upanisad" are Hindu scriptures that constitute the core teachings The Upanishads ( Devanagari: उपनिषद् IAST: upaniṣad also spelled "Upanisad" are Hindu scriptures that constitute the core teachings The Aitareya Upanishad is one of the older "primary" Upanishads commented upon by Shankara. The Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upanishad ( Sanskrit: बृहदारण्यक उपनिषद् is one of the older "primary" ( Mukhya The Isha Upanishad ( īśa upaniṣad, otherwise Ishopanishad īśopaniṣad or īśāvāsya upaniṣad) is one of the shortest of the Upanishads The Taittiriya Upanishad is one of the older " primary " Upanishads commented upon by Shankara. The Chandogya Upanishad is one of the "primary" ( Mukhya) Upanishads Together with the Jaiminiya Upanishad Brahmana and the Brihadaranyaka The Kena Upanishad (kenopaniṣad is one of the older "primary" Upanishads commented upon by Shankara. The Muṇḍaka Upanishad is one of the older "primary" ( Mukhya) Upanishads commented upon by Shankara. Māndūkya Upanishad is the shortest Upanishads - the scriptures of Hindu Vedanta. The Kaṭha Upanishad is one of the older Mukhya "primary" Upanishads commented upon by Shankara. Prashna Upanishad ( IAST praṣnopaniṣad is one of the older "primary" Upanishads commented upon by Shankara. The Shvetashvatara Upanishad (Sanskrit Śvetāśvatara) (400 - 200 BCE is one of the older "primary" Upanishads It is associated with the Black The Vedanga ( vedāṅga, "member of the Veda" are six auxiliary disciplines for the understanding and tradition of the Vedas. See Shiksha (NGO for the Indian non-governmental organization The main principle of Vedic meter is measurement by the number of syllables The Sanskrit grammatical tradition of vyākaraṇa is one of the six Vedanga disciplines Nirukta ("explanation etymological interpretation" is one of the six {{IAST|Vedānga}} disciplines of Hinduism, treating Etymology, particularly Jyotiṣa ( Sanskrit jyotiṣa, from jyótis- "light heavenly body" also spelled Jyotish and Jyotisha in English Kalpa is one of the six disciplines of Vedanga, treating Ritual. Indian epic poetry is the Epic poetry written in the Indian subcontinent. The Rāmāyaṇa ( Devanāgarī: sa रामायण is an ancient Sanskrit epic attributed to the Hindu sage ( Maharishi) Valmiki The following is a bibliography of Hindu scriptures and texts. Smriti (Sanskrit स्मृति " that which is remembered " refers to a specific body of Hindu religious Scripture If you are looking for the singer see Shruti Haasan. For other meanings see Śruti (disambiguation. For other meanings see Purana (disambiguation. The Puranas ( Sanskrit: sa पुराण purāṇa, "of ancient times" Darśana ( Darshan, दर्शन is a Sanskrit term meaning "sight" (in the sense of an instance of seeing or beholding from a root Pāñcarātra are Vaishnavite devotional texts dedicated to a single deity Sriman Narayana who manifests in different forms Tantras (" Looms " or " Weavings " refers to numerous and varied scriptures pertaining to any of several esoteric traditions In Hinduism a Stotra is a hymn of praise These hymns praise aspects of the divine such as Devi, Siva, or Vishnu. Dharmaśāstra is a genre of Sanskrit texts and refers to the śāstra, or Indic branch of learning pertaining to Hindu Dharma, religious The Nalayira Divya Prabandha (or Nalayira Divya Prabhandham) is a collection of 4000 verses (Naalayira in Tamil means 'four thousand' composed before 8th century The Tevaram ( Tamil: தேவாரம் Teva means "God" aram means "garland") denotes the first seven volumes of the Śrī Rāmacaritamānas ( Devanāgarī: hi श्री राम चरित मानस ( Hindi / Avadhi) is an Epic poem composed by the The Shikshapatri ( Devanagari: शिक्षापत्री is a text of two hundred and twelve verses written in Sanskrit by Bhagwan Swaminarayan Ananda Sutram is the basic scripture of modern Yoga composed in Sanskrit by Shrii Shrii Anandamurti (1921-1990 in the year 1961 It contains sections from the Vedas, Upanishads, Brahmasutras, Bhagvad Gita, Bhagvat Purana, Dharma shastras like Yagnavalkya Smruti, Vidurniti, and epics like the Ramayan and Mahabharat. The Brahma sūtras, also known as Vedānta Sūtras, constitute the Nyāya prasthāna, the logical starting point of the Vedānta philosophy (Nyāya

The Vachanamrut is the essence of ancient Indian wisdom as told by Bhagwan Swaminarayan and compiled by his five contemporary scholarly-sadhus who were known for their asceticism and scholarship in Sanskrit, besides their devotion to him. In fact every statement of the Master is packed with and based on His in-depth religious knowledge, spiritual insights and practical experience. It contains practical and philosophical answers to the sincere enquiries of all types of aspirants regarding life in this world and the life hereafter.

The Vachanamrut is not only a sacred shastra in the Swaminarayan faith, but a shastra of every day study. All the literate followers read it daily and the illiterate listen to at least a page everyday. It is read and elaborated upon daily in the Swaminarayan mandirs the world over. It is a landmark shastra, philosophically and in all other aspects. It is the first modern Gujarati prose work which the noted Gujarati critic and poet, Shri Uma Shankar Joshi, acclaimed as the very pinnacle of Gujarati prose. The Vachanamrut, a compilation of 273 spiritual discourses, is divided into 10 sections. The discourses were delivered by Bhagwan Swaminarayan in the last decade of his life, between 1819 and 1829 CE in Gujarati. They were mostly delivered in ashram-like ambience in secluded places like Gadhada, Sarangpur, Kariyani, Loya, Panchala, Vadtal, Aslali, and Jetalpur. WikipediaWikiProject Indian cities for details --> Gadhada is a city and a Municipality in Bhavnagar district in the state of Gujarat WikipediaWikiProject Indian cities for details --> Sarangpur is a city and a Municipality in Rajgarh district in the Indian state Lóya is a common Surname in the Spanish language. It is a name associated with a great number of different people Mariana Loya For the Genus of Gossamer-winged butterflies, see Panchala (butterfly. Vadtal is a small village in the Kheda district of Gujarat, India It is a location of famous Bhagwan Swaminarayan 's temple Jetalpur is a town in the Ahmedabad district of the Indian state of Gujarat.

The book records the dialogues and conversation between the master and his disciples, answering philosophical and religious questions, explaining doctrines, and formulating terminology concerning both theoretical and practical points of view in daily life and spiritual sadhna.

Contents

Editors

The discourses were transcribed not by a single editor but by five contemporary scholarly-sadhus while they were being delivered. These editors were:

In one of the Vachanamruts, one of the editors, namely, Nityanand Swami, presents 114 edited discourses to Bhagwan Swaminarayan for his approval. He was pleased with the efforts of the editors and authenticated their compilation.

Not only the rejection by the master is truthfully recorded but even the criticism of their answers and their utter ignorance pointed by him are put down in writing by them. For example in describing the company and qualities of worthy and unworthy sadhus, the master states, "A sadhu who strictly observes religious vows with firm faith in God but does not sharply rebuke those who don't observe the rules and regulations and pampers them, then even if he is a greatly honoured sadhu like Muktanand Swami, his company must be given up. Muktanand Swami ( Devnagari: मुक्त्तान्द स्वामी was a sant and Paramahansa of the Swaminarayan Sampraday. " 6. Similarly in another discourse Bhagwan Swaminarayan says that Gopalanand Swami and others have at present profound love for God but if they were to encounter adverse circumstances, their mind would be slightly affected. Gopalanand Swami ( Devnagari: गोपालान्द स्वामी ( Vikram Samvat 1837-1908 was a saint of the Swaminarayan Sampraday and It means their foundation appears to be weak and if they were to face an extremely adverse situation, their love for God would not remain stable at all. 7 But the most trenchant criticism of all the five editors comes in a discourse where the Teacher after praising the five editors, Muktanand Swami, Gopalanand Swami, Nityanand Swami, Shuk Muni, Brahmanand Swami and other disciples, states, "All of you presently behave very well. Muktanand Swami ( Devnagari: मुक्त्तान्द स्वामी was a sant and Paramahansa of the Swaminarayan Sampraday. Gopalanand Swami ( Devnagari: गोपालान्द स्वामी ( Vikram Samvat 1837-1908 was a saint of the Swaminarayan Sampraday and Brahmananad Swami ( Devnagari: ब्रह्मान्द स्वामी was a saint of the Swaminarayan Sampraday. However, if factors like desh, kal, sang and kriya were to become unfavourable, then there is no doubt at all that your enthusiasm would not remain as it is now. " And then he adds, "It is precisely for the purpose of somehow instilling this gnan in your minds that I continuously deliver discourses. "8 An equally important quality of the editors of the Vachanamrut is the keen sense of history and documentation. Disproving the common Western complaint that Indian religious history lacks firm and definite dates in all respect, every discourse of the Vachanamrut in the very beginning mentions the year, the month, the day, the time, the village, the location, the direction of the assembly and the speaker, the dress and the seat of the master and the names of important persons in the assembly. Even the village of the questioner and his caste is described. Thus, John Carman, former Prof. of School of Divinity, Harvard University, said, "In this book, every discourse is precisely dated. This is a chapter of religious history which one might say is in the full light of day as far as our knowledge of history is concerned. "9 Simultaneously it is clear that the purpose of writing down such minute details, especially about the Master was much more than merely recording them for history. It was to create almost a three-dimensional perspective of the whole situation with the object to facilitate the perception and meditation upon him.

Authenticity

As already mentioned these discourses were approved by the master in his own life time. Not only the main work in Gujarati belongs to the time of Bhagwan Swaminarayan, even the Sanskrit translation of the Vachanamrut named Harivakyasudhasindhu by his disciple Shatanand Muni, which appeared during that time has almost the same subject matter, the same number of discourses and the same chronological order. Sanskrit (sa संस्कृता वाक् saṃskṛtā vāk, for short sa संस्कृतम् saṃskṛtam) is a historical There is also a translation of the Vachanamrut in Vraj-Bhasha by Brahmanand Swami, a favourite saint-poet of Bhagwan Swaminarayan. Brahmananad Swami ( Devnagari: ब्रह्मान्द स्वामी was a saint of the Swaminarayan Sampraday. Thus we have the Vachanamrut in Gujarati, Sanskrit and Vraj languages and the chances of interpolation are almost none.

Method

The Vachanamrut
The Vachanamrut

Adi Shankaracharya made a statement while commenting upon the first mantra of the Kenopanishad: "The exposition of a subtle theme becomes easy to understand by means of dialogues in the form of questions and answers between the teacher and the disciples. Adi Shankara ( Malayalam: ആദി ശങ്കരന്‍ Devanāgarī: आदि शङ्कर Ādi Śaṅkara, aːd̪i ɕaŋkərə (see below " This method was used in the Upanishads but in the Vachanamrut it is employed extensively and in a truly participatory manner. The Upanishads ( Devanagari: उपनिषद् IAST: upaniṣad also spelled "Upanisad" are Hindu scriptures that constitute the core teachings

In the entire Vachanamrut there are 456 questions out of which the Master Himself has asked only 138 questions. Simply speaking 70% of the questions are from the audience and only 30% are from the Master.

Subject matter

He explains the purpose of his discourses, "O paramhansas, the seniors and the wise ones please come to the front and listen attentively. What I am about to say is not said out of any pretence, self conceit or to spread My greatness. It is because I feel that amongst all of you, sadhus and householder devotees, if someone can understand my message it will benefit him tremendously. " He explains concepts like jiva, ishwar, maya, Brahma, Parabrahma, dharma, gnan, vairagya, bhakti, ekantik dharma, importance of God, God-realised Satpurush, shastras and satsang. In Hinduism and Jainism, a jiva (जीव jīva alternate spelling jiwa) is a living being or more specifically the immortal essence of a living being Ishvara ( Sanskrit: Īśvara sa ईश्वर Malay: Iswara, Thai: Phra Isuan) is a philosophical concept in Hinduism Maya ( Sanskrit sa माया māyā) in Indian religions, has multiple meanings Brahma is the Hindu god ( deva) of creation and one of the Trimurti, the others being Vishnu and Shiva. Para Brahman ( IAST para-brahmaṇ (the Highest Brahman - is a term often used by Vedantic philosophers as to the "attainment of the ultimate goal" The Sanskrit term ( Devanāgarī: धर्म Pali transliteration dhamma) is an Indian spiritual and religious Vairāgya ( Devanagari:वैराग्य also spelt as Vairagya) is a Sanskrit term used in Hindu philosophy that roughly translates as dispassion Bhakti ( Devanāgarī: भक्ति) is a word of Sanskrit origin meaning devotion.

Maya : In the very first discourse he states, "For a devotee of God anything that obstructs his attention while meditating on God is maya. " Moha : He explains, "Moha or infatuation is feeling of delusion wherein a person loses all sense of discrimination, of what should be done and what should not be done. " 15

"One who always thinks of God but not about the worldly objects of pleasure is the great devotee in our Satsang. "16 And, "one who gives up ego and worships God is great. "

"A true renunciant is one who treats garbage and gold equally and has genuine affection for God only. "18

"In our Uddhav Sampraday one who possesses dharma, gnan, vairagya and bhakti is ekantik bhakta. " 19 Highest Aim: "To keep the focus on God continually is the highest aim of human life but it is the most difficult. "20

Explanations to complex concepts were given through day-to-day examples, through well known stories, famous examples from the epics and Puranas, similes, metaphors and analogies, making the teaching accessible to all.

Bhagwan Swaminarayan describes in one of his many analogies about how to keep one's mind engaged in God. He states, "Consider, for example, a pot that is filled with water and emptied somewhere. If another pot of water is subsequently emptied at the same place on the following day or the day after that, a pool of water will not collect there. Why? Because the water poured on the first day dries up on that very day, and the water poured on the second day also dries up on that same day. On the other hand, if a trickle of water were to flow continuously, a large pool of water would soon be formed. Therefore, while eating, drinking, walking, engaging in any activity whatsoever - whether it be pure or impure - in fact, at all times, one should constantly keep one's vrutti on God. While maintaining one's vrutti constantly on God in this manner, one attains that abiding elevated spiritual state. " In another analogy Bhagwan Swaminarayan describes about how to introspect. He says, "From the time a satsangi enters the Satsang fellowship, he should examine his mind by thinking, 'In the first year, my mind was like this; then it was like this. Satsang ( Sanskrit sat = true sanga = company describes in Indian philosophy (1 the company of the "highest truth" (2 the company of a Guru, and (3 Previously, I had this much desire for God and this much desire for the world. ' In this manner, he should repeatedly reflect on this yearly total of desires and always strive to gradually, yet constantly eradicate all worldly desires that remain in his mind. If, however, he does not introspect in this manner and allows those desires to accumulate, then they will never be overcome. Consider, for example, the analogy of opening an account with a merchant. If one settles one's debts to him regularly on a monthly basis, then it would not be difficult to repay the debt. But if one waits to pay until the end of the year, it would be extremely difficult to settle the account. Likewise, one should introspect constantly. "

See also



External links

The Janmangal Namavali is the name given in Hinduism to the 108 names of God as composed by the Swaminarayan saint Shatanand Muni The Shikshapatri ( Devanagari: शिक्षापत्री is a text of two hundred and twelve verses written in Sanskrit by Bhagwan Swaminarayan
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