The child was named as Ghanashyam. The divine nature of Ghanashyam was felt by everybody since His childhood. Even as a child, he was naturally attracted towards temples, saints and religious discourses. At the tender age of eight, Ghanshyam was initiated into the Brahmacharya ashrama with the sacred thread ceremony. Within a very short span of time He mastered all the Vedas and other religious scriptures under His father. Even great scholars were astonished on seeing His extraordinary brilliance and intelligence. Once at a conference of scholars held at Varanasi, as a young boy Ghanshyam advocating Vishishtadvaita philosophy, conquered all the Advita philosophers in arguments. When He was 11 years old His parents passed away. After enlightening them with His divine identity, He freed their souls from earthly bondage and blessed them, Akshardham.
Renunciation - To lead others towards divinity
Now becoming alone, He decieded to renounce His house and other materialistic possessions and started His journey wearing a loin cloth carrying the idol of Balamukund, a Salgram and the diary written in His own hand writing of the essence of all the Shastras He had studied. Young Ghanshyam now referred to as Neelkanth, first visited Haridwar, the most sacred place on the way to the great Himalayas. Taking bath in all the holy waters including the Manasarovar of the Himalayan region.
He traveled through the snow-clad mountain peaks and dense forests fall of the most endangered animals without any fear of death, and reached Nepal. He reached Pulahashram and did penance for six months on the banks of the river Gandaki and had the divine vision of Suryanarayan. In the forests of Nepal, He mastered Ashtangayoga within a short span under the guidance of Gopalayogi. From there He went to Jagannathpuri and then He started His journey towards South India. Visiting Kannyakumari, Rameshwaram, Totadri, Srirangam and Tirupati, He then reached Sriperumbudur, the sacred place of the Great Acahrya Sri Ramanuja. He then started His journey towards the North and reached Gujarat. The holy pilgrimage which took 7 years and 11 months enlightened Neelkanth about the trend of religion and spiritual heritage, which was slowly loosing its value. It reminded Him of the essential reformations to be made in the society to uphold dharma.
"He has come, for Whom I had been waiting"
After analyzing various spiritual systems, He got a clear picture of the future course of action. When He reached Loj, He met Muktanand Swami, the disciple of Sri Ramanand Swami, the incarnation of the Saint Uddhava, the great devotee of Lord Sri Krishna. He stayed with him for 10 months serving him and doing services in the ashram as per the instruction He got from Sri Ramanand Swami, who was in Bhuj. Sri Ramanand used to forecast to his devotees that he was mere a prelude to the incarnation of Sri Krishna who is going to manifest Himself as Bhagavan Swaminarayan. Finally when Neelkanth met His guru Sri Ramanand Swami, both of them became so happy and Sri Ramanand Swami told, "Ultimately He has come, for whom I had been waiting ." |
