Lord Swaminarayan was the son of Dharamdev and Bhakti Mata, born in the village of Chappaya near Ayodhya (North India district) on April 2, 1781.
He left his home and went to the forest at the age of 11 for a better humanity. She started the journey with only dhoti (loincloth) and kamandal in hand. His journey of 7 years, 1 month and 11 days spanned the whole of India. He traveled to Himalayas in the north, Rameshwar temple in the south, Goddess Kamakshi Temple on the banks of river ganga in the east and finally ended up in Loj (village near somnath temple) after visiting Lord Shiva’s Somnath temple in West. He traveled almost 8,000 miles barefoot.
During his journey he enriched the society with purity in thoughts, food, habits, eliminating tobacco and alcohol addiction, blind faith, immortality, inertia, corruption, theft and dacoit etc.
He was given control and administration of the entire religious discipline of Udhava by Ramanand Swami, his preceptor (Guru) when Lord Swaminarayan was only 21 years old.
What does Lord Swaminarayan do?
Just like in his previous incarnation as Lord Krishna, he destroyed demons while Lord Swaminarayan destroyed demonic inclinations and made them divine.
He raised the barrier between the upper class (Brahmin) and the backward class (Shudra).
He stopped killing animals, especially as an offering to deities or gods.
Lots of welfare activities like creating free food centers, tanks, wells and temples.
rules to follow
Follow the spiritual law and stay devoted to God
The main thing is that this has to be done by all of us for the sake of beautiful humanity.
- DO NOT drink wine, liquor or any intoxicating drug of any kind in any form and under no circumstances, NOT even as medicine.
- DO NOT eat meat in any form under any circumstances. NOT even as offerings to evil deities or sacrifice or as medicine to save one’s life.
- Refrain from adultery. DO NOT maintain close contact with ladies except with the closest relatives.
- DO NOT steal anything. Even worthless flowers should NOT be taken as offerings to deities without the permission of the owner.
- DO NOT take food and drink from the wrong people and from the wrong sources.
11 Daily Rules Followers of Lord Swaminarayan Must Follow:
- Be nonviolent by any means.
- Do not have any kind of relationship with other women other than your wife.
- Do not eat meat, that is, including seafood, poultry products, eggs.
- Do not drink alcohol-containing products, ie wine, beer, alcohol-containing medicines.
- Never touch a widow woman you don’t know.
- Never commit suicide under any circumstances.
- Do not steal things that belong to others.
- Never blame others for something you may not know about.
- Never speak ill of God, Goddesses or any religion.
- Never eat the food of someone who does not follow these eleven rules laid down by Lord Shree Swaminarayan in Shikshapatri.
- Never listen to holy stories from a person who does not believe in the existence of God, that is, an atheist person.
Looking forward to follow the rules and be honest in life. You will find that God is watching you every time and it will definitely help you fulfill all your desires from a better perspective.