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The ancient Hindu scripture, the
Brahmand-Puran, has forecasted:
"In the age of Sat-yug, Lord
Dattatreya will manifest. In Treta-yug, Lord Raghunandan,
alias Ramchandraji, will manifest. Vasudev, alias
Lord Shree Krishna, will manifest in Dwapar-yug, and in
the age of Kali-yug, the son of Dharmadev, Lord Shree
Swaminarayan will manifest."
In the Holy Scripture, the Padma-Puran, it is
said:
"When the principles of the
elite religion are being destroyed, Lord Swaminarayan will
manifest at the home of the Brahmin Hariprasad.
By the mere utterance of His name, sinners will be
purified." |

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Purna Purushottam Lord Swaminarayan, the
incarnator of all incarnations, in His divine lustrous abode,
Akshardham resolved to manifest on the earth together with His
Muktas |
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Samvat 1837 Chaitra Sud 9 (Monday 2nd April
1781), just after 10pm, the incarnator of all incarnations
(Sarvavtari), Purna Purushottam Lord Shree Swaminarayan gave
His divine lustrous darshan.
Dharmadev and Bhaktimata named the baby
Lord 'Ghanshyam'.
Samvat 1837 Ashadh Vad 7, Thursday 12th July
1781 - Markandeya Muni gave the Lord the names - Hari,
Krishna, Hari-Krishna & Nilkanth (possessing the five
virtues: renouncement, spiritual knowledge, austerity,
religious decree and yoga)
"In His palm, He has the mark of a lotus
flower (padma). Consequently, He will be the sovereign Lord of
multitudes of souls and will possess innumerable
characteristics that are capable of bestowing salvation."
Samvat 1842 Chaitra Sud 12, Monday 10th April
1786 - When He was five years old, the child Lord Ghanshyam
commenced His education.
Samvat 1845 Fagan Sud 10, Tuesday 5th
February 1789 - When He was eight years old, Lord Ghanshyam's
Yagnopavit Ceremony was performed. He then started studying the
Vedas and the other holy scriptures.
Samvat 1837 Maha Sud 8 (CE 1781) - Sadguru
Shree Gopalanand Swamibapa manifested upon this earth in the
same year as Lord Swaminarayan, in the village of Todla.
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Shree Dharmadev places a gold coin, a sword
and a holy scripture in front of Shree Ghanshyam Maharaj to
find out what He would be most interested in when He grew up.
The Lord immediately grabbed the scripture and was
totally disinterested in the coin and the sword
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Although Dharmadev taught Lord Shree
Ghanshyam, there were times when even he became confused. At
these times, Lord Shree Ghanshyam Himself would explain the
true meanings to His father. Sometimes, Lord Shree Ghanshyam
would study subjects and become conversant with them even
before His father had taught them. |

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During the Kashi convention, Lord Shree
Swaminarayan advocated the Vishishtadwait philosophy. Even
before such great scholars, and at a very young age, Lord
Shree Swaminarayan revealed this great prowess in
philosophy. |

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When He was 11 years old, Lord Shree
Ghanshyam, enlightened His parents with the knowledge of His
true identity. Their physical bodies died and He granted them
a divine status. Without the consent of His relatives, He
assumed the guise of a brahmachari and left home. He
embarked on a forest expedition (van-vicharan) to
bestow salvation upon innumerable souls.
Shree Nilkanth Varni left home for His forest
expedition at the age of eleven years, three months and one
day on Samvat 1849 Ashadh Sud 10 (Friday 29th June 1792).
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A map of the route taken by Shree Nilkanth
Varni during His forest expedition (van-vicharan). He
travelled over 12,000km on foot.
Samvat 1856 Shravan Vad 6 (Thursday 21st
August 1799). Shree Nilkanth Varni arrived in Loj and met
Muktanand Swami, marking the end of the forest expedition which
lasted seven years one month and eleven days. |

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Shree Ramanand Swami and Shree Nilkanth Varni
met for the first time in Samvat 1856 Jeth Vad 12 (Thursday
18th June 1800).
Lord Shree Swaminarayan, even though He is
the supreme almighty God, took Shree Ramanand Swami to be His
guru. By this, He explained the importance of a guru. Without
a guru, one cannot attain knowledge.
On the auspicious day of Samvat 1857 Kartik
Sud 11 (Wednesday 28th October 1800), Shree Ramanand Swami
gave initiation (diksha) to Shree Nilkanth Varni as a
sant. Shree Ramanand Swami gave Him two names -
Shree Sahajanand Swami and Shree Narayan Muni. |

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Coronation and initiation ceremony: Samvat
1858 Kartik Sud 11 (Monday 16th November 1801).
"Wherever I have travelled, I have always
proclaimed, 'I am merely the drumbeater, awakening and
alerting all to the imminent arrival of the God who is truly
worthy of worship'. This God is Shree Sahajanand Swami.
Finally He has arrived amongst us all." - Shree Ramanand
Swami.
Shree Ramanand Swami handed over the helm
of the Sampraday to Shree Sahajanand Swami. |

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Samvat 1858 Magshar Vad 11, 31st December
1801, Shree Sahajanand Swami called a vast assembly.
Shree Sahajanand Swami gently smiled and
said, "No one has managed to discover My eternal name. My
parents named Me Ghanshyam. Markandeya Rishi called Me Hari,
Krishna, Harikrishna and Nilkanth. Shree Ramanand Swami gave
Me the names Narayan Muni and Sahajanand Swami. However,
no one discovered My true and original name."
Shree Sahajanand Swami said, "There are many
names for deities, including Narayan, Surya-narayan,
Vairat-narayan, Laxmi-narayan, Nar-narayan, Vasudev-narayan,
etc. I am the master (swami) of all these deities
(narayans). Therefore, My name is 'Swaminarayan'.
Dear disciples! My name is
'Swaminarayan'. This is My supreme name. You must all
recite this name. Those who chant this name will experience
divine ecstasy."
As soon as the devotees chanted the supreme
name, Swaminarayan, they immediately fell into a
trance. |

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During the 49 years, 2 months and 1 day that
the Lord gave darshan on the earth, He made more than
1.2 million disciples and gave initiation into the ascetic
fraternity to over 2500 individuals.
Lord Shree Swaminarayan primarily travelled
on His mare, Manki, whom He had brought with Him from
Akshardham |
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