Prasthanatrayi Swaminarayan Bhashyam (Study)
by Sadhu Gyanananddas | 2021 | 123,778 words
This page relates āSavior of Gujaratā� of the study on the Prasthanatrayi Swaminarayan Bhashyam in Light of Swaminarayan Vachanamrut (Vacanamrita). His 18th-century teachings belong to Vedanta philosophy and were compiled as the Vacanamrita, revolving around the five ontological entities of Jiva, Ishvara, Maya, Aksharabrahman, and Parabrahman. Roughly 200 years later, Bhadreshdas composed a commentary (Bhasya) correlating the principles of Vachanamrut.
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4.7. Savior of Gujarat
[Full title: µž³ó²¹²µ²¹±¹Äå²Ō SvÄminÄrÄyaį¹a and His Tradition (7): Savior of Gujarat]
While µž³ó²¹²µ²¹±¹Äå²Ō SvÄminÄrÄyaį¹a was successfully reviving Dharma by His divinity, missionaries vied with each other in India, āhoping to bring Christian salvation to millions of āheathenā� ā�souls.ā�[1] AbbeĢ Dubois, a French missionary, managed to convert a mere 200 to 300 beggars between 1792 and 1823. He then left for Paris disillusioned. In the early 17th century, American missionaries targeted India as the first foreign destination. In 1801, a museum in Salem jubilantly displayed a shikha shaved off a Brahmin on being converted. In 1812, American missionaries in Bombe read the scripture in Gujarati to native children. āBut they never have yet made a convert,ā�[2] observed William Rogers, a trader from Boston. Hence conversion in India was regarded as a great challenge. In 1822, Bishop Middleton of Calcutta died. This put the Church of England in a dilemma. However, C. W. Williams Wynn, the chairman of the Board of Commissioners for the Affairs of India, had his eyes on a long acquaintanceāa promising young priest named Reginald Heber. Heber, too had dreamt of working in India. Therefore, Wynn sent him a letter of appointment. Meanwhile, he has conferred Lord Bishop of Calcutta on 1st June 1823 at Lambeth Palace Church. On 16th June 1823, he left England for India.
In Baroda, Heber heard much about SvÄminÄrÄyaį¹aās success from the Companyās officers.
This induced in him an eagerness to meet Him, with the intention of :
āInducing him to go with me to Bombe, where I hoped that by conciliatory treatment, and the conversations to which I might introduce him with the Church Missionary Societyā� I might do him better than I could otherwise hope to do.ā�[3]
However, after meeting Him on 26th March 1825, his high aspirations crumbled;
āI thought from all which I saw that it would be to no advantage to ask him to accompany me to Bombe.ā�
Though unable to influence SvÄminÄrÄyaį¹a, he was nonetheless highly impressed by His success; a success which he could not hope to match:
āā�. But it was also apparent that he had obtained a great power over a wild people, which he used at present to a good purpose.ā�[4]
Heber then left Gujarat for good. Thus, µž³ó²¹²µ²¹±¹Äå²Ō SvÄminÄrÄyaį¹aās presence saved Gujarat from the seeds of proselytization. His divine fragrance embellished SanÄtana Dharma and solidified its foundation. For this purpose, He remains manifest eternally earth through such ³§²¹³Ł±č³Ü°ł³Üį¹£aāsāH¾±²õ ³Ņ³Üį¹ÄtÄ«³Ł²¹ ³§Äå»å³ó³Ü²õ. The first was Akį¹£arabrahman Guį¹ÄtÄ«tÄnanda ³§±¹Ä峾ī and the sixth today is HDH Mahanta ³§±¹Ä峾ī ²Ń²¹³óÄå°łÄåĀį²¹.
Footnotes and references:
[1]:
Bean, S.S. Yanki India-American Commercial and Cultural Encounters With India in The Age of Sail 1754-1860, Salema Mepina, 2001, p. 130.
[2]:
Ibid., p. 133
[3]:
Heber Reginald, Narrative of a Journey Through the Upper Provinces of India -3, John Murray Albemarle Street, London, 1846, p.37.
[4]:
Ibid., p.42.