Gopalanand Swami was a great saint of the Swaminarayana Sampradaya and he was initiated by Lord Swaminarayana himself.
Profile
Gopalanand Swami was born to Motiram Sharma and Kushladevi, a Brahmin couple, in 1781 at Todla, a village in Gujarat. He was named Kushal Bhatt. Kushal Bhatt showed great interest in studies. He learnt Vedanta, Nyaya, grammar and other Indian philosophies. He married Adityabai and had two children, Anupamba and Harishankar. However he lived his life of a householder with total detachment. He moved to Dabhoi and started a school where he taught young Brahmins. Kushal Bhatt started hearing about Lord Swaminarayana from different people including Sharveshrananda Swami. The more he heard about Lord Swaminarayana the more evolved he became and he reached such heights that the students he was teaching had glimpses of the Samadhi state. This brought him a lot of respect. On the fateful day Lord Swaminarayana disguised himself and presented himself in front of Kushal Bhatt.Lord Swaminarayana asked Kushal Bhatt to follow him, which he did. At the outskirts of Jetalpur the Brahmin disappeared and Kushal Bhatt realised that it was indeed Lord Swaminarayana and then continued his search in Jetalpur village and found him there. With this meeting Kushal Bhatt surrendered to Lord Swaminarayana and decided to serve him. Soon Lord Swaminarayana initiated him into sanyasa and named him Gopalanand Swami. Lord Swaminarayanamerged with the Lord in 1850 and for the next two years Gopalanand Swami took the responsibility of the Swaminarayana Sampradaya and the Aksahrdham, their iconic temple. Two years later on October 11th 1852 Gopalananda Swami attained the feet of the Lord.
Philosophy Propounded
Vedanta, Mimamsa were the thoughts preached by Gopalanand Swami.
Work Done to Spread the Philosophy
Gopalanand Swami spread the work and ideas of guru and Vedanta through many books. He wrote commentaries on Shreemad Bhagavatham, Bhagavad Geeta, books on Pooja rituals, on devotion and more. Most of his books were in Sanskrit and around six books were in vernacular. Gopalanand Swami is also known for the many miracles he had performed. He was master of all siddhis (special powers) cured people of dreaded diseases, taught people lessons on humility, converted people into devotees.
