The spiritual head of BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha, Pramukh Swami Maharaj, passed away at the age of 94 at the pilgrimage place of Sarangpur, Gujarat Aug. 14
Swami Maharaj was the fifth spiritual successor in the guru parampara tradition of Bhagwan Swaminarayan and has served as the spiritual head for the BAPS movement for more than 7 decades, traveling and visiting 17,000 towns and villages in India and abroad and spreading his message across the world.
He suffered from a chest infection from which he had gradually recovered, but he had longstanding heart problems, and suffered frail health for the last two years. He passed away peacefully at the BAPS Swaminarayan Mandir in Sarangpur.
From a humble family of farmers from a small village of Chansad, near Vadodara in Gujarat, Swami Maharaj renounced the worldly path at the age of 18 and was initiated into the sadhu-fold from by guru, Brahmaswarup Shastri Maharaj.
After completion of Sanskrit studies, he was appointed as the kothari of the BAPS Swaminarayan Mandir in Sarangpur in 1946 and shortly after at the age of 28, Shastri Maharaj selected him as the President or pramukh of BAPS in his place. Since then, he had been fondly known as ‘Pramukh Swami’.
After the departure of his guru in 1971, Pramukh Swami Maharaj succeeded him as the 5th spiritual guru of BAPS. Over the next 45 years, his unremitting satsang travels, selfless services to society, saintly virtues and profound devotion to God earned him the respect and reverence of millions of devotees worldwide.
His untiring efforts to uplift the lives of many by means of liberating thousands from vices and addictions, providing relief and rehabilitation to innumerable people in times of calamity and catastrophe, and inspiring character and faith in hundreds of thousands of children and youths have earned him great reverence as one of the most powerful spiritual head in Hinduism.
During his lifetime, he created and consecrated over 1,100 temples worldwide and the grand cultural complex Swaminarayan Akshardham in New Delhi to portray the cultural and spiritual heritage of India.
Many spiritual masters and heads of state have been profoundly touched by his humanitarian work and teachings, including His Holiness the Dalai Lama, India’s late president Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Prince Charles, former U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan, and the late Sheikh Isa bin Salman al Khalifa of Bahrain.
“The news of his earthly departure has created a pall of deep sadness among countless devotees and well-wishers.
Devotees and well-wishers are in Sarangpur for his last darshan and to pay their final respects to him.”
The post Pramukh Swami Maharaj Of BAPS Passes Away appeared first on News India Times.