Bhadreshdas Swami

Bhadreshdas Swami
Bornc. 1966
India
EducationPh.D., D. Litt.
Alma materKarnataka University; Sampurnanand Sanskrit University (Benaras); Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan (Mumbai)
Notable workSwaminarayan Bhashyam, Swaminarayan Siddhanta Sudha
AwardsDarshankesari, Vedant Martand (Silpakorn University), Abhinav Bhashyakar (Somnath Sanskrit University), Mahamahopadhyaya, Vedant Prakash (Kavikulaguru Kalidas Sanskrit University)
SchoolSwaminarayan Hinduism
InstitutionsBAPS Swaminarayan Research Institute, New Delhi. BAPS Swaminarayan Sanskrit Mahavidyalaya and Yagnapurush Sanskrit Pathshala, Sarangpur, Gujarat
Websitewww.baps.org

Bhadreshdas Swami is a Sanskrit scholar and an ordained monk of the Bochasanwasi Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha (BAPS).[1][2] In 2007 he completed the Swaminarayan Bhashyam, a five-volume classical Sanskrit commentary on the Prasthanatrayi. This commentary on three of Hinduism's most notable texts: the Upanishads, Bhagavad Gita, and the Brahma sutras, forms the interpretive foundation of the philosophy of Akshar Purushottam darshana, also known as Swaminarayan darshana, illuminating the Vedic roots of the Akshar Purushottama philosophy, which was propagated by the 19th-century Hindu leader, Swaminarayan and later by Shastriji Maharaj.

The commentary discusses the basis of the five "eternal entities" - Jiva, Ishwar, Maya, Brahma and Parabrahman - as expounded by Swaminarayan. It also expands on the concept of Aksharbrahma and Parabrahman as well as the attainment of liberation (moksha) through devotion (bhakti) and worship (upasana).[3] Following the tradition of the classical Sanskrit commentaries by Shankaracharya, Ramanujacharya, and Madhvacharya, the Swaminarayan Bhashyam is the second classical Sanskrit commentary on the entire Prasthanatrayi to have been completed by anyone in the last several centuries.[4]

After receiving a Ph.D. in Sanskrit from Karnakata University in 2005, he was awarded a D. Litt. in 2010 and the Mahamahopadhyaya[5] honorific by Kavikulaguru Kalidas Sanskrit University in Nagpur, India. The University of Mysore also awarded him the "Professor G.M. Memorial Award" and the "Darshankesari award" in 2013 for his work on Swaminarayan Vedanta.[6] He currently serves as the head scholar ("Pradhānācārya") of the Yagnapurush Sanskrit Pathshala in Sarangpur, Gujarat, where the students are instructed by him in philosophy, nyaya darśana, vedas, the Paninian grammar of Sanskrit and Indian classical music.[6]

  1. ^ "Enlightening lecture on Vedas by Bhadreshdas Swami". India Post News Service. Retrieved 15 November 2015.
  2. ^ Shastri, Parch. "Manuscripts shed light on Yoga history in the region". The Times of India. Retrieved 27 December 2015.
  3. ^ "Swaminarayan Bhashyam - a unique scriptural commentary on the Prasthantrayi". BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha. Retrieved 4 November 2015.[self-published source?]
  4. ^ "Scripture: Guru's grace empowers philosophical treatise". Hinduism Today Magazine (Magazine Web ed.). April–June 2014. Retrieved 4 November 2015.
  5. ^ "DIP: Das 2011-2012 (2012)". www.univie.ac.at. 2012. Archived from the original on 5 January 2016. Retrieved 27 December 2015.
  6. ^ a b "International Vedic Conference". www.internationalvedicconference.com. Archived from the original on 23 June 2015. Retrieved 4 November 2015.