Swaminarayan Bhashyam

Vachanamrut Article Re-Write

Proposed Outline

1. Lead Paragraph
2. Etymology
3. Development of the scripture
4. Structure
5. Content
6. Role in the Swaminarayan Sampradaya
7. Further reading
8. See also
9. References
10. External Links

Etymology

The name given to the collection of Swaminarayan’s sermons is “Vachanamrut,” a compound word derived from two Gujarati words: vachan (વચન), meaning “words,” and amrut (અમૃત), meaning “nectar.” Thus, Vachanamrut translates to “immortalising ambrosia in the form of words.”

Development of the scripture

Authorship

The Vachanamrut is a chronological anthology of 273 religious discourses delivered by Swaminarayan towards the end of his life, between 1819 and 1829 CE. Four of his senior disciples, Gopalanand Swami, Muktanand Swami, Nityanand Swami, and Shukanand Swami, documented and compiled the discourses. Two of the other dioceses within the Swaminarayan Sampraday accept Brahmanand Swami as a fifth editor.

Despite their scholarly and distinguished status within the fellowship, the compilers did not exclude statements Swaminarayan made about themselves, which at times highlighted their shortcomings. One such example is in Gadhada 3.28:

પછી બ્રહ્માનંદ સ્વામી તથા શુકમુનિ [શુકાનંદ સ્વામી] તથા સુરો ખાચર એ ત્રણને શ્રીજીમહારાજે પૂછ્યું જે, “તમે જેણે કરીને પાછા પડી જાઓ એવો તમારામાં કયો અવગુણ છે?” ત્યારે એ ત્રણે કહ્યું જે, “હે મહારાજ! માનરૂપ દોષ છે; માટે કોઈક બરોબરિયા સંત અપમાન કરે તો કાંઈક મૂંઝવણ થાય.”

Thereafter, Shriji Mahārāj asked Brahmānand Swāmi, Shuk Muni [Shukanand Swami] and Surā Khāchar a question: “What flaw do you possess which would have you suffer a setback?” The three of them answered, “Mahārāj, we have the flaw of egotism. As a result, if a sādhu of equal status insults us, we become somewhat disturbed.”

When Gunatitanand Swami visited the Nawab of Gidad (Sardargadh), he read two Vachanamruts to the nawab, and he remarked:

“Bolanevālā to Khudā hai te mein jāntā hun. Pan likhnewālābhi Khudā hai, nahi to asi haraf kyun likhā jāy?”

“I just want to say that I knew that the original speaker is God, but the writers are like God as well; otherwise how could they write such divine speech?”

Language

The compilers wrote the text in Gujarati, the vernacular of the region in which Swaminarayan delivered his discourses. Although Swaminarayan was from a Hindi-speaking region of present day Uttar-Pradesh, he adopted the Gujarati language for his followers and pioneered the first Gujarati prose literature. In 1859, a front-ranking Gujarati monthly quoted specimens from the Vachamarut showing how Swaminarayan raised the standard of Gujarati prose. Brahmanand Swami translated the Vachanamrut to the Vraj language. The Shri Harivakyasudhasindhu (Śrī Harivākyasudhāsindhu) is the Sanskrit translation by Shatanand Muni (Śatānanda Muni).. Various dioceses of the Swaminarayan Sampradaya have published translations in English, Hindi and other languages.

History and creation

Originally about 2,000 sermons were compiled, but at the request of Swaminarayan, they were edited and reduced to the text available today. Two plausible reasons account for  the reduction: concern for an extensive collection and the removal of repetitive material. There are a total of 262 sermons, and an additional 11 accepted as canonical by the Ahmedabad diocese totaling 273.

The first discourse took place on November 21, 1819, in Gadhada and the last on July 25, 1829, also in Gadhada. Along with the date, each sermon contains additional historical information, like location, description of Swaminarayan’s attire, and attendees in the assembly. Regarding the details present in the Vachanamrut, Professor of Comparative Religion at Harvard, John Carmon has stated:

“In this book [The Vachanamrut], however, 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. It is a common Western misunderstanding of India that there is no sense of history in India. I think that in what you hold dear as a community and what is called the guruparampara, the succession of the gurus, one sees that special sense of history which is important for the religious people in India.”

In Loya 7, the 115th discourse which took place on December 8, 1820, Nityanand Swami presented Swaminarayan with the Vachanamrut manuscript to date to examine and review. In the Swaminarayan Sampradaya, it is one of the most recognized texts of his teachings and holds authoritative significance.

Structure

Geography

The discourses took place across various towns and villages of Gujarat, India,  specifically Gadhada, Sarangpur, Kariyani, Loya, Panchala, Vartal, Amdavad, Ashlali, and Jetalpur.

Title

The Vachanamrut is divided into sections based on the location in which the discourses were delivered. The sections are ordered chronologically and titled as follows:

• Gadhada 1
• Sarangpur
• Kariyani
• Loya
• Panchala
• Gadhada 2
• Vartal
• Amdavad
• Gadhada 3

An additional section, accepted by the Ahmedabad diocese, includes discourses from Amdavad, Ashlali, and Jetalpur. Within each section, every individual discourse, also referred to as a “Vachanamrut,” is arranged chronologically and numbered. The original manuscripts had no titles, and individual Vachanamruts were referred to only by their section and number. The titles for the individual discourses currently used in the BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha's editions of the Vachanamrut were composed by Gunatitanand Swami and the sadhus of the Junagadh mandir as a mnemonic. The version published by Swaminarayan Aksharpith of the BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha is a letter-to-letter printed version of the original manuscript published in 1928 under the auspices of Acharya Shripatiprasad of the Vartal diocese.

Map of Gujarat showing the cities where the Vachanamrut was recorded