As a young boy Brahmanand Swami exhibited his proficiency in writing poetry and he was taught the art of writing poetry (pingal) by the state. The poet slowly transformed into a saint.
Profile
Brahmanand Swami was born on 12th February 1772 to Gadhavi Shambhudanji and Lalba Devi in Khan, Rajasthan. The story goes that when his mother was in her advanced stage of pregnancy with Brahmanand Swami, there was a spiritual discourse by Ramanand Swami in their house and she fell asleep listening to it. Suddenly a voice was heard by everyone from her stomach asking for the stories of Lord Purushottam. Ramanand Swami immediately recognised that a mahatma was to be born and in a few days a boy was born who was named Ladudan. As a young boy he was brilliant and his schooling was completed before time. He began to write poetry and his talent was recognised by king of Udaipur. The king decided to arrange a teacher to teach pingal, the science of writing poetry, and Sanskrit at the state’s cost. Ladudan soon became a scholar in scriptures and was appointed as the court poet. He earned name, fame as he visited courts of Jodhpur, Jaipur and other princely states. On one occasion he had a chance to meet Sahajanand Swami(founder of the Swami Narayana movement) in Bhuj. Sahajanand Swami accompanied him to Gadhada, the place where Ladudan lived. Ladudan lived in opulence but Swami did not like it and he managed to transform Ladudan over time and persuaded him to become an ascetic. They both travelled and in a village named Gerita, Swami initiated Ladudan into sanyasa and gave him the name Shrirangdasji. Later Swami renamed him as Brahmanad Swami. On a Janmashtami day in 1832, chanting the name of Sahajanada Swami he left he mortal body.
Philosophy Propounded
The philosophy propounded by Brahmanand Swami was the philosophy of the Swaminarayana cult. They propagated the philosophy of Parabrahma, Aksharabrahma, Maya, Jivand Eshawara. Devotion to God with form was necessary for liberation.
Work Done to Spread the Philosophy
Brahmanand Swami wrote numerous poems and those carried the fragrance of Swaminarayana philosophy. His most famous work was Brahmanand Kavya. He had excellent skills in designing temples and he was assigned to build Swaminarayan temples in Muli, Junagadh and Vadtal.
