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'''Muktanand Swami''' (1758–1830), born Mukunddas, was a swami and [[paramahansa]] of the [[Swaminarayan Sampraday]]a.<ref>{{Harvnb|Williams|2001|pp=189}}</ref><br />
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== Biography ==<br />
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He was born Mukunddas to Anandram and Radhabai in Amrapur village (Dist-Amreli), [[Gujarat]] in 1758.<ref name="MS">{{Citation | url=http://www.vadtal.com/our-saints-2.html | title=Muktanand Swami, the mother of comunion | access-date=2008-01-19 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071007204431/http://vadtal.com/our-saints-2.html | archive-date=2007-10-07 | url-status=dead }}</ref><br />
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While children of his age group were indulging in sports and games, Mukunddas sat quietly in seclusion with closed eyes. Mukunddas learned [[Vedas]], scriptures and music from two teachers, Jaduram and Hathiram, who were scholars in literature and fine arts.<ref name=MS /><br />
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Muktanand Swami was also regarded as the incarnation of [[Narada|Naradji]].<br />
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Muktanand Swami was considered the principal disciple of [[Ramanand Swami]]. He mastered the eight folded [[yoga|yogic]] state.<ref name="Williams75">{{Harvnb|Williams|2001|pp=75–77}}</ref><br />
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== Swaminarayan and Muktanand Swami ==<br />
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In Loj, Shukhanand Swami a fellow swami and devotee residing at the hermitage found a young swami with divine aura bathing by a well near the village. Impressed by the sight of the divine by the young brahmachari to hermitage and introduced him to Muktanand Swami. Muktanand Swami found himself drawn towards the divine presence of the youthful saint and coming forward offered pranams. On a mutual introduction, Muktanand Swami gathered that the visitor was the son of DharmaDev and BhaktiDevi, and had spent seven years in the seclusion of the mountains and forests. His present name was Varniraj (forestdweller) ''Nilkanth Varni'' ([[Swaminarayan]]). Muktanand Swami asked Nilkanth Varni to stay in Loj until Ramanand Swami returned the following year.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|last=Williams|first=Raymond Brady|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ODdqDwAAQBAJ|title=Introduction to Swaminarayan Hinduism|date=2018-11-08|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-1-108-42114-0|language=en}}</ref><br />
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Satsang gives great importance to Muktanand Swami, because the foundation of this great sect was laid by him by closing interactive window between hermitage and neighbour, and separated women from the gents in Satsang Sabha on instance from Nilkanth Varni.<ref name="Williams15">{{Harvnb|Williams|2001|pp=15}}</ref><br />
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He, though in age was senior to Nilkanth Varni (renamed Sahajanand Swami by Ramanand Swami), but in succession to Ramanand Swami he proposed Sahajanand Swami as the successive preceptor and head of the sect. In 1801, Muktanand Swami accepted Ramanand Swami's appointment of Nilkanth Varni as leader of the spiritual tradition.<ref name=":0" /><sup>:18, 83</sup> Thus Muktanand Swami lived under the auspices of Sahajanand Swami who always respected him like a [[Guru]].<ref name="Williams17">{{Harvnb|Williams|2001|pp=17}}</ref><br />
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In the Swaminarayan Sampradaya, he is known as "the mother of Satsang," a title given by Swaminarayan,<ref name="MS" /> due to his affection and care for swamis.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Harismruti|url=https://www.harismruti.com/briflifeinfo/view/23|access-date=2021-07-08|website=www.harismruti.com}}</ref> He chose Muktanand Swami to represent the Swaminarayan Sampradaya at the Gathering of Vadodara, where the latter was victorious.<br />
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Currently, Muktanand Swami's lineage continues with the great saint, HDH Sadguru Shastri Shri Ghanshyamprakashdasji Swami - Shree Swaminarayan Mandir Loyadham. The lineage is as follows: 1) Swaminarayan 2) Sadguru Muktanand Swami 3) Sadguru Adharanand Swami 4) Sadguru Haripriyadasji Swami 5) Sadguru Vaikunthcharandasji Swami 6) Sadguru Narayanswarupdasji Swami 7) Sadguru Nandkishordasji Swami and today this illustrious spiritual tradition of one of Swaminarayan's elite saints is being edified by HDH Sadguru Shastri Shri Ghanshyamprakashdasji Swami.<br />
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<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.theswaminarayan.org/inspirer/|title = His Divine Holiness Sadguru Shastri Shri Ghanshyamprakashdasji Swami}}</ref><br />
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== Works ==<br />
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Muktanand Swami is known for his lyrical compositions which conveyed messages about spiritual teachings and morality.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Kalani|first=K.L.|date=1976|title=Saint Literature in Gujarati|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/24157339|journal=Indian Literature|volume=19|issue=5|pages=36–48|jstor=24157339|issn=0019-5804}}</ref> Muktanand Swami was also an instrumentalist and vocalist. He was equally at ease in dancing.<br />
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''Mukund Bavani'' is a collection of his devotional poetry. The [[Aarti]] that is sung in all [[Shri Swaminarayan Temple's|Shri Swaminarayan Temples]], [[Jay Sadguru Swami]] was written by Muktanand Swami in praise of Shri Hari or Swaminarayan.<ref name="Williams76">{{Harvnb|Williams|2001|pp=76, 189}}</ref><br />
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=== Vachanamrut ===<br />
Muktanand Swami, along with [[Gopalanand Swami]], [[Nityanand Swami (Paramhansa)|Nityanand Swami]], and Shukanand Swami, was a compiler of the [[Vachanamrut]], a scripture comprising Swaminarayan's discourses.<ref name=":0" /><sup>:202</sup><br />
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=== Muktanand Kavya ===<br />
Many of Muktanand Swami's works have been published in Muktanand Kavya (''Muktānand'' ''Kāvya''), a collection of 21 texts:<ref>{{Cite book|last=Swami|first=Muktanand|url=https://www.scribd.com/document/388147233/Muktanand-Kavya-1|title=Muktanand Kavyam (Vol. 1)|publisher=Shri Swaminarayan Gurukul Bhaktinagar-Kandari|editor-last=Swami|editor-first=Santvallabhdas|location=Karajan, Gujarat}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Swami|first=Muktanand|url=https://www.scribd.com/document/388147235/Muktanand-Kavya-2|title=Muktanand Kavyam (Vol. 2)|publisher=Shri Swaminarayan Gurukul Bhaktinagar-Kandari|editor-last=Swami|editor-first=Santvallabhdas|location=Karajan, Gujarat}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Famous Holybooks|url=https://www.swaminarayan.nu/sampraday/granths.shtml|access-date=2021-07-08|website=www.swaminarayan.nu}}</ref><br />
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* Dharmakhyan ''(Dharmākhyan)''<br />
* Pancharatna ''(Pancharatna)''<br />
* Vivek Chintamani ''(Vivek Chintāmaṇi)''<br />
* Uddhava Gita ''(Uddhava Gītā)''<br />
* Satsang Shiromani ''(Satsang Śiromaṇi)''<br />
* Sati Gita ''(Satī Gītā)''<br />
* Shikshapatri Bhasha ''(Śikṣāpatrī Bhāṣā)''<br />
* Shri Vasudev Avatar Chintamani ''(Śrī Vāsudeva Avatāra Chintāmaṇi)''<br />
* Mukund Bavani ''(Mukund Bāvanī)''<br />
* Dhamvarnachaturi ''(Dhāmavarṇachāturi)''<br />
* Avdhut Gitam ''(Avdhutgītām)''<br />
* Guru Chovisi ''(Guru Chovisi)''<br />
* Krishnaprasad ''(Kriṣṇaprasād)''<br />
* Narayan Charitra ''(Nārāyaṇ Charitra)''<br />
* Narayan Kavach ''(Nārāyaṇ Kavach)''<br />
* Vaikunth Dham Darshan ''(Vaikuntha Dhām Darśan)''<br />
* Shri Bhagavad Gita Bhasha Tika ''(Śrimadbhagavadgītābhāṣāṭīkā)''<br />
* Kapil Gita ''(Kapil Gītā)''<br />
* Gunvibhag ''(Gunvibhāg)''<br />
* Shri Narayan Gita ''(Śrī Nārāyaṇ Gītā)''<br />
* Rukmini Vivah ''(Rukmiṇī Vivāh)''<br />
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=== Reception ===<br />
Muktanand Swami's devotional composition, ''Dhira Dhurandhara'', which was routinely sung by [[Mahatma Gandhi]], was published alongside the works of [[Nishkulanand Swami]] and other poets in Gandhi's Ashram Bhajanavali, a compilation of prayers.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://www.gandhiashramsevagram.org/gandhi-literature/mahatma-gandhi-collected-works-volume-50.pdf|title=THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI|year=|volume=50}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Clooney|first=Francis X.|url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/1235963033|title=Hindu Wisdom for All God's Children|publisher=Wipf and Stock|year=2005|isbn=978-1-72521-321-0|location=Eugene, Oregon|pages=51|oclc=1235963033}}</ref> Some of Muktanand Swami's works have been translated by [[Harindra Dave]], a [[List of Gujarati-language writers|Gujarati writer]].<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=baIhAAAAMAAJ|title=The Cup of Love: Fifty-four Poems of Swaminarayan Saint-poets|date=1981|publisher=Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan|language=en}}</ref><br />
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The [[Bhagavadgomandal]], a 20th-century [[Gujarati language|Gujarati-language]] reference text, states that the [[Hindu wedding|vivah]] (wedding) compositions found in Muktanand Swami's Rukmini Vivah ''(Rukmiṇī Vivāh)'' are sung at most wedding celebrations.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Muktānand|url=http://www.bhagavadgomandal.com/index.php?action=dictionary&sitem=%E0%AA%AE%E0%AB%81%E0%AA%95%E0%AB%8D%E0%AA%A4%E0%AA%BE%E0%AA%A8%E0%AA%82%E0%AA%A6&type=1&page=0|url-status=live|access-date=2021-07-08|website=www.bhagavadgomandal.com}}</ref><br />
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== Notes ==<br />
{{reflist}}<br />
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== References ==<br />
* {{citation<br />
|last=Williams<br />
|first=Raymond<br />
|year=2001<br />
|title=Introduction to Swaminarayan Hinduism<br />
|publisher=Cambridge University Press<br />
|isbn=978-0-521-65422-7<br />
}}<br />
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== External links ==<br />
* [http://swaminarayan.info/ Shri Swaminarayan Sampraday]<br />
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{{Swaminarayan}}<br />
{{Swaminarayan Sampraday}}<br />
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[[Category:Swaminarayan Sampradaya]]<br />
[[Category:Indian Hindu saints]]</div>Ajay Kumar