Jeevanpran Bapashree Pragatya

In the small village of Vrushpur, there lived a very devoted disciple, called Devuba. Seeing her true devotion, Lord Swaminarayan became very pleased with her. He gave her His divine darshan and told her to ask for a boon. Devuba was completely engrossed in the Lord’s beautiful lotus face, and to her nothing except the Lord existed. Therefore, she said to Lord Swaminarayan, ‘I want a son like You.’ The Lord smiled gently and replied, ‘Lady! There is no-one else who is the same as Me. However, My anadi muktas reside within My murti and have the same form as Me. And as you have asked upon My request, I will fulfil your wish. My sankalp-swaroop will manifest ‘Ab’ (shortly) at your home, therefore, you must name him Abji.’ After saying this, the Lord withdrew His darshan.

In Samvat 1901 Kartik Sud 11, Shreeji-sankalp-murti, Shree Abji Bapashree manifested at the home of Devuba and Panchapita.

Lord Swaminarayan first gave Devuba His divine darshan and she became engrossed by His divine murti. After a short while, Lord Swaminarayan withdrew His darshan and immediately, she had the divine darshan of Jeevanpran Bapashree lying next to her. Baby Bapashree’s forehead was adorned with sandalwood paste and he was garlanded with rose flowers. He lay there gazing lovingly at his mother.

As soon as Bapashree manifested, Muktas, incarnations and deities came invisibly, to perform adoration to him. Shreeji-sankalp-swaroop Bapashree was a miraculous, powerful, entrancing and independent divine murti.

Immediately after manifesting, he began his divine lila of assuming a trance (Samadhi) state. He would close his eyes and through his own will, enter into a trance. To fulfil his mother’s maternal desires he would awaken from the trance to suckle her. He would remain in a trance for four days, eight days, sometimes for fifteen days, and on occasions, for several months. He would lie motionless in his cradle with his eyes closed. Still, baby Bapashree’s murti remained healthy and strong. Those who came for his darshan were always attracted to him and experienced divine happiness. To them it would seem that Bapashree had only recently fallen asleep. What amazing lila!.