Bhagavān Swāminārāyaṇa
1781–1830 · Chhapaiyā (UP) to Gujarat · Swāminārāyaṇa Sampradāya
Ghanaśyām Pāṇḍe, born at Chhapaiyā near Ayodhyā, left home at eleven and walked across India for seven years as the young ascetic Nīlakaṇṭh Varṇī. In Gujarat he was initiated by Rāmānanda Swāmī and succeeded him as head of the community, becoming known as Sahajānanda Swāmī and Swāminārāyaṇa.
He taught devotion to God, moral discipline and service, opposed animal sacrifice and other harmful customs, and supported education and help for the poor. His teachings are in the Vacanāmṛta and the Śikṣāpatrī. His followers worship him as a manifestation of God, and the Swāminārāyaṇa tradition has built temples in India and across the world.
1781–1830 · Nīlakaṇṭh Varṇī · Vacanāmṛta, Śikṣāpatrī · Gujarat