- Title Pages
- Tables
- Figures
- Acknowledgements
- Note on Transliteration and Pronunciation
- Introduction
- Introduction to History
- 1 Situating the Swaminarayan Tradition in the Historiography of Modern Hindu Reform
- 2 Sahajanand Swami’s Language and Communication
- 3 Gujarati Socio-religious Context of Swaminarayan Devotion and Doctrine
- 4 Swaminarayan and British Contacts in Gujarat in the 1820s
- 5 The Swaminarayan Ideology and Kolis in Gujarat
- 6 Sahajanand Swami’s Approach to Caste
- Introduction to Theology and Literature
- 7 The Swaminarayan Commentarial Tradition
- 8 Akshara and Its Four Forms in Swaminarayan’s Doctrine
- 9 Swaminarayan’s <i>Brahmajnana</i> as Aksarabrahma-Parabrahma-Darsanam
- 10 Multivalent Krishna-Bhakti in Premanand’s Poetry
- 11 Brahmanand and His Innovations in the Barahmasa Genre
- Introduction to the Arts and Architecture
- 12 Early Swaminarayan Iconography and Its Relationship to Vaishnavism
- 13 Swaminarayan Temple Building
- 14 The Nagara Tradition of Temple Architecture and ‘Truth to Shastra’
- Introduction to Transnational Networks
- 15 Development of Swaminarayan Hinduism in Uganda and the Kampala Temple
- 16 Transnational Growth of BAPS in East Africa
- 17 Terrorism and Interfaith Relations at Swaminarayan Akshardham in Gandhinagar
- 18 Construction of the BAPS Swaminarayan Temple in Chino Hills, California
- 19 Thinking Through Akshardham and the Making of the Swaminarayan Self
- 20 Swaminarayan (BAPS) Identity Formation in Virtual Transnationalism
- About the Editors and Contributors
- Index
Gujarati Socio-religious Context of Swaminarayan Devotion and Doctrine
Gujarati Socio-religious Context of Swaminarayan Devotion and Doctrine
- Chapter:
- (p.49) 3 Gujarati Socio-religious Context of Swaminarayan Devotion and Doctrine
- Source:
- Swaminarayan Hinduism
- Author(s):
Françoise Mallison
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
This chapter is a study of the predominant religious currents and religious literature that influenced the thought and practice of Sahajanand Swami when he arrived in Gujarat at the beginning of the nineteenth century. Pushtimarg and other established Krishna traditions were influential, as were other devotional groups, for instance, the Mahapanthis, Nathpantis, Satpanthis, and the Kabir movement. In spite of rather unsettled political conditions, Gujarat witnessed economic improvements leading to a relative social progress of mainly peasant lower castes and of women. Religious monuments were built or rebuilt; manuscripts became numerous as aide memoires for the use of the ordinary person. Education and religious culture spread in the vernacular, no longer exclusively in Sanskrit, and became more accessible to the humble. Swaminarayan found in Gujarat among the peasants and craftsmen an audience ready to participate actively in his philosophical sermons. We know about this through the collection of the Vachanamrut.
Keywords: Pushtimarg, Satpanthis, Gujarat, Vachanamrut, social reform, lower castes, Mahapanthis, Nathpanthis, Kabir, education
Oxford Scholarship Online requires a subscription or purchase to access the full text of books within the service. Public users can however freely search the site and view the abstracts and keywords for each book and chapter.
Please, subscribe or login to access full text content.
If you think you should have access to this title, please contact your librarian.
To troubleshoot, please check our FAQs , and if you can't find the answer there, please contact us .
- Title Pages
- Tables
- Figures
- Acknowledgements
- Note on Transliteration and Pronunciation
- Introduction
- Introduction to History
- 1 Situating the Swaminarayan Tradition in the Historiography of Modern Hindu Reform
- 2 Sahajanand Swami’s Language and Communication
- 3 Gujarati Socio-religious Context of Swaminarayan Devotion and Doctrine
- 4 Swaminarayan and British Contacts in Gujarat in the 1820s
- 5 The Swaminarayan Ideology and Kolis in Gujarat
- 6 Sahajanand Swami’s Approach to Caste
- Introduction to Theology and Literature
- 7 The Swaminarayan Commentarial Tradition
- 8 Akshara and Its Four Forms in Swaminarayan’s Doctrine
- 9 Swaminarayan’s <i>Brahmajnana</i> as Aksarabrahma-Parabrahma-Darsanam
- 10 Multivalent Krishna-Bhakti in Premanand’s Poetry
- 11 Brahmanand and His Innovations in the Barahmasa Genre
- Introduction to the Arts and Architecture
- 12 Early Swaminarayan Iconography and Its Relationship to Vaishnavism
- 13 Swaminarayan Temple Building
- 14 The Nagara Tradition of Temple Architecture and ‘Truth to Shastra’
- Introduction to Transnational Networks
- 15 Development of Swaminarayan Hinduism in Uganda and the Kampala Temple
- 16 Transnational Growth of BAPS in East Africa
- 17 Terrorism and Interfaith Relations at Swaminarayan Akshardham in Gandhinagar
- 18 Construction of the BAPS Swaminarayan Temple in Chino Hills, California
- 19 Thinking Through Akshardham and the Making of the Swaminarayan Self
- 20 Swaminarayan (BAPS) Identity Formation in Virtual Transnationalism
- About the Editors and Contributors
- Index
