ROBBINSVILLE, NEW JERSEY, October 16, 2017 (India West): Amidst a large gathering of devotees, BAPS leader HH Mahant Swami Maharaj inaugurated the Svaminarayana-siddhanta-sudha, a traditionally composed Sanskrit text, at the Swaminarayan Akshardham temple Sept. 17 here. The assembly was a celebration of three events: inauguration of the Svaminarayana-siddhanta-sudha; the Sri Kasi Vidvat Parisad recognizing Sri Svaminarayana’s Vedanta as Aksara-Purusottama Darsana as Vedic and distinct from the other Vedanta darsanas; and the official announcement of Svaminarayana’s teachings as the Aksara-Purusottama Darsana. Several dignitaries and renowned academics present at the event expressed their thoughts and praise for the text, including Paramacharya Sadasivanathaswami, chief editor at Hinduism Today.
Authored by Pujya Bhadreshdas Swami, the text is traditionally categorized as a vadagrantha – a formal exposition, justification, and defense of the philosophical and theological positions of a darSana. It is composed on the Aksara-Purusottama Darsana as it was revealed by Parabrahman Purusottama Svaminarayana. Swami Maharaj read aloud a proclamation letter that he had composed. Within this proclamation he illuminated the Vedic roots of Parabrahman Swaminarayan’s revealed teachings, and announced that Parabrahman Svaminarayana’s teachings would henceforth be recognized as the Aksara-Purusottama Siddhanta and that the darsanic title would be identified as the Aksara-Purusottama Darsana.