The Himalayan Vision

Pondering over this, he went on a pilgrimage to Himalayas, where one day he saw a guru teaching his disciples, the Raghuvamsha of Kalidasa, one of the greatest poets of Sanskrit literature. This immediately struck his intellect and made him come to a realization that a value-based education system was the missing element in the society. The idea of rejuvenating the younger generation with modern education, complemented with spiritual principles of life, started taking shape and led to the creation of first Shree Swaminarayan Gurukul in the year 1948 at Rajkot.

Growth of Seeds

The foundation stone was laid on an auspicious day, the vasant panchami, the 11th of May, 1948. On the 15th of August, 1960, the first school was started. Slowly the Gurukul tree started growing and two more Gurukuls at Junagadh and Ahmedabad were established before he attained the feet of the Almighty, on the 5th of February, 1988. Even after his departure to Akshardham, the power of his vision continued as establishment of more Gurukul-branches at Surat, Hyderabad, Chharodi near by Ahmedabad,Taravada, Navsari, Mumbai and so on. Till date, thousands of students have completed their high school studies from Gurukul and its branches.

Simple and pious life

Shree Dharmajivandasji Swami led a very simple life of devotion, compassion, spiritual inquiry and strong righteous principles.  This lifestyle had a major influence on his disciples as well. He led a very pious life of penance. He was able to sing more than 750 Kirtans, recite 3000 slokas, and memorised all the 18 chapters of Bhagavad Gita in 18 days. He always emphasised the path of Bhakti and Dharma. Social welfare activities and betterment of the society were the pillars of his mission. He practiced a vow called Ayachak Vrat i.e., never to ask anyone for any money as donation. He had firm faith in God and believed that all the benevolent activities of the Gurukul should run only with the voluntary donations of the people inspired by the Almighty. This principle is still practiced as a vow by this Gurukul in all its activities. But his indomitable will power and staunch belief in the power of Lord Shree Swaminarayan, brought him success in all his endeavors. Success for him was nothing other than the betterment of the society. Success for him was not a destination, but journey. In fact, his life became the source of inspiration to so many saints of other sects, that they too started creating huge institutions for education and social welfare activities.

His Himalayan vision, which transformed the lives of thousands of people, still continues and will continue forever through his disciples, who with the same missionary spirit and zeal, are striving hard for the betterment of the whole world.

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