u/juicybags23

Billions of human beings lived and died before BAPS even existed, completely shut out from reaching Akshardham. Was Akshardham just sitting totally empty until 120 years ago? And look at it today. It is packed almost entirely with Gujaratis, with virtually zero representation from other races or even other Indian backgrounds.

You can say the exact same thing about the entire Swaminarayan sect. Billions of people before the 1800s had zero shot at reaching Akshardham, so was heaven just a ghost town until two centuries ago? Even now, it is almost exclusively one single demographic.

For thousands of years, Supreme Swaminarayan witnessed massive human migrations, brutal holy wars between Abrahamic and Dharmic faiths, and religious movements spanning every continent on Earth. He watched the vast majority of the global population worship Jesus or Allah for centuries. Yet we are expected to believe he ignored the entire world just to manifest in rural, colonized Gujarat in the 1800s to finally drop the absolute truth?

Fast forward to today. The Pragat Aksharbrahm, Mahant Swami, supposedly walks the earth right now, yet 99.99999% of the planet does not know a single thing about him. Meanwhile, pure chaos and crazy disasters keep happening across the globe every single day with zero difference.

Do not dodge this with whataboutism about Christianity or Islam. This is a BAPS space for a reason

Shastri Yagnapurush was a Charotar Patidar who was influenced by the ideology of illiterate individuals like Gunatitanand Swami, Bhagatji, and Jaga Bhakt. The turning point in his life came when he met Bhagatji and began associating with him, listening to his teachings more and more. Yagnapurush was only 17 or 18 years old at the time, making him highly impressionable. Bhagatji, who was illiterate and from a lower caste, saw great potential in Yagnapurush, a literate young man from the higher Patidar caste, as a worthy disciple to carry forward his so-called “Gunatit Jnan.”

Yagnapurush was ambitious and enthusiastic but lacked deep scholarship and proper scriptural knowledge. As a result, he accepted whatever Bhagatji told him without question, firmly believing that “Gunatit Jnan” was the ultimate truth and that Shriji Maharaj was manifest (pragat) through Bhagatji in the satsang. “Gunatit Jnan” held that Gunatitanand was Mul-Akshar, the living Akshardham in human form. This belief later served as the foundation for the Akshar-Purushottam Upasana.

As Yagnapurush grew older, he became a favorite of both Pragaji and Jaga Bhakt. Since most of Bhagatji’s and Jaga Bhakt’s disciples were illiterate and simple-minded, Yagnapurush stood out as a scholarly figure among them. He recognized this as an opportunity to establish himself as a leader (Pragat Aksharbrahm) and to be worshiped, particularly by Bhagatji’s and Jaga Bhakt’s followers. According to Akshar-Purushottam Upasana, a Pragat Aksharbrahma is required for devotees to become Brahmarup, as Purushottam (Shriji Maharaj) is believed to be present on earth through this manifest Akshar in human form. During the time of Pragaji and Jaga Bhakt, there were not many Patidar Patel followers, but after Shastri Yagnapurush became the leader, many Patidar Patels began joining BAPS.

Gunatitanand, Pragaji, and Jaga Bhakt were all illiterate, meaning they could neither read nor write. The knowledge they possessed came solely from listening to spiritual discourses. None of them authored any significant scriptures during their lifetimes. Swami ni Vato (Gunatitanand Swami’s teachings) was compiled and published many years after his death, and many of the statements attributed to him were later additions. Gunatitanand claimed that he was Mul-Akshar and the living Akshardham of Swaminarayan, asserting that Swaminarayan (Sahajanand) resided in his Akshardham. After Gunatitanand’s death, it was claimed that Swaminarayan continued to dwell within him because he was Mul-Akshar, the living Akshardham in human form. This was merely a product of his own imagination.

Gunatitanand Swami’s Background

Gunatitanand Swami was born into a Brahmin family, but he was not a great scholar or learned man. He was an illiterate and ordinary sadhu, primarily valued for his ability to manage the daily affairs of the temple. Due to this administrative skill, he was appointed Mahant of the Junagadh Mandir. He was respected in Junagadh because of his position as Mahant and as a Paramhans sadhu of Shriji Maharaj. This authority and respect gave weight to his words, and his illiterate and naive disciples—Pragaji, Jaga Bhakt, and others—listened to him with deep reverence.

In his discourses, besides discussing general satsang topics, he would promote himself and make exaggerated claims about his divinity, asserting that he was Mul-Aksharbrahm or the living Akshardham in human form. He declared that Shriji Maharaj had given him true knowledge, that he was the greatest among all the Paramhansas and sadhus, and that Swaminarayan was manifested only through him.

Pragaji and Jaga Bhakt had blind faith in Gunatitanand. Being illiterate and uninformed, they accepted all his claims without question and began spreading the belief that “Gunatitanand is Mul-Akshar” among other satsangis. Bhagatji, in particular, was extremely vocal and aggressive in propagating this “Gunatit Jnan.”

The main source of Akshar-Purushottam Upasana is Swami ni Vato, not Vachanamrut. In BAPS, Swami ni Vato is considered a commentary (Bhashya) on Vachanamrut. However, Swami ni Vato is an interpolated text, with multiple versions containing additions made long after Gunatitanand’s time. The book is essentially a mixture (khichdi) of his original talks, later enhanced with additional “spices” by Bhagatji, Jaga Bhakt, and their disciples.

TL;DR

The Akshar-Purushottam Upasana originated with Gunatitanand’s “Gunatit Jnan.” He passed it on to his illiterate disciples Bhagatji (Pragaji) and Jaga Bhakt. Shastri Yagnapurush then received this “Gunatit Jnan” from Bhagatji and Jaga Bhakt. Eventually, Yagnapurush left Vadtal to promote this ideology, refining it with scriptural language and rebranding it as “Akshar-Purushottam Upasana.” He positioned himself as “Moksh nu Dwar” (the gateway to liberation), “Pragat Brahmaswarup” (the manifest Brahmaswarup), and “Pragat Satpurush” (the manifest true saint), claiming the ability to grant moksha or entry into Akshardham to those who followed him.

Shoutout to u/AlarmingPlatform9963 for this.

If Mahant is the ideal devotee then what about the next BAPS CEO who’s already alive and will be appointed next. What I’m trying to say is that isn’t there multiple ideal devotees roaming on earth rn. The next ceo who’s probably currently a senior swami in BAPS. Then a younger 40ish year old swami/maybe a normal person in society who will become the ceo thereafter. All the way up to potentially an infant who was just born today that can become the ideal devotee/ceo in 60 years.

Also funny, all of them r Indian and most likely Gujarati lol