The Swamini Vato is a set of quotations and sayings written by Gunatitanand Swami. It is a 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 for 40 years.[1]
Contents |
Gunatitanand Swami was born in Bhadra, Gujarat, India, on October 17, 1785 (on the occasion of Sharad Poonam). Originally named Mulji Sharma, as a child, he was engaged in the devotion of god at an early age. He was initiated as Gunatitanand Swami by Swaminarayan as a paramhansa of the Swaminarayan Sampraday.[2]
Through his book, Swamini Vato, Gunatitanand Swami gave advice for every aspect of life and beyond. His talks ranged from the glory of God, and how to gain spiritual knowledge, to even how to attain peace and happiness and is believed to have encompassed the value of human life itself.[2]
When Gunatitanand Swami gave lectures, devotees took notes on his talks. The notes were later studied by Achintyanand Brahmachari, after being asked by Gunatitanand Swami to continue giving discourses on these topics. At this point, the Swamini Vato was officially dubbed a scripture.
The Original set of Vatos were written by Balmukund Dasji who was the disciple of Gunatitanand Swami. This was in total 5 Prakrans (chapters). Two more chapters were later added in the years by Krishnaji Ada.Then another five Prakrans were added by the BAPS sect in the coming years giving the talks twelve chapters in total. The Swaminarayan Sampraday consisting of Vadtal Gadi and Ahmedabad Gadi only accept the first five chapters as original as the later works are considered questionable and open to being biased to its creators.[3]
|
|||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||