“From Ayodhya to Abu Dhabi: The Global Radiance of Hindu Spirituality and the Harmony of Cultural Dialogue” by Brahmvihari Swami

Some may dismiss religion for being divisive. I, however, have experienced the Hindu tradition as a unifier. On the morning of 22 January 2024, I chanted Siya-Rama and Swaminarayan intermittently while watching the Honourable Prime Minister Narendra Modi perform the inauguration of the Rama Janmabhoomi Temple in Ayodhya. I observed around me not only the diversity of the flock, but its solidarity.

Shaivas, Shaktas, Vaishnavas, Swaminarayans, Jains, Sikhs, Christians and Muslims all experienced themselves as Bharatiya. This focus on similarities is the way of Bharat —a land of diverse religions, sects, manifestations of the Divine (deities), languages, foods, and people. As Hindus around the world prepare to celebrate Ramanavami and Swaminarayan Jayanti on Chaitra Shukla Navami, I find that morning in Ayodhya at the forefront of my consciousness even as I sit here in Abu Dhabi. It heartens me to briefly reflect on the plurality of deities in India through the lives of Shri Rama and Shri Swaminarayan.

The plurality of lineages or sampradays have been an asset to the Hindu Sanatan tradition for nearly two millennia. These sampradays typically worship different manifestations of the Divine and believe in distinct theological principles or darśans. Despite these differences and diversities, Hinduism has flourished as one identity. This variability reiterated the universal lessons of Hinduism for different regional communities in disparate languages and eras. Shri Rama is celebrated for his discipline, dignity (maryādā), and respect for individuals irrespective of their social class and gender. These stories are well known and well told. I first encountered them before my initiation as a youth while reading the Amar Chitra Katha series. I later retold them several times in sermons across India, Europe, and the Middle East.

Not too far from Ayodhya, just across the Saryu River, is Chhapaiya, a small village in the Gonda District of Uttar Pradesh, which is celebrated as Shri Swaminarayan’s birthplace. Millions flock annually to this small town to honor the teachings of Shri Swaminarayan. Swaminarayan left home at the age of eleven, travelled across the Indian subcontinent from the Himalayas to Kanyakumari, and later settled in Gujarat. Swaminarayan’s sabhā in Gujarat became a place for open conversation among devotees, theologians, and political emissaries, but also the performance of music and literature representing various cultural streams from across India. These conversations were compiled in a text of 273 teachings called the Vachanamrut.

The proliferation of these lessons amplified the earlier teachings of Maryada Purushottam Shri Rama and Lila Purushottam Shri Krishna, both of whom Shri Swaminarayan revered. The relevance of Swaminarayan’s teachings is why the Hindu concept of manifestation (avtaraṇ) is important—not to alienate and separate Hindu believers through reverence for different manifestations of Divinity, but rather to unite them by sharing these same lessons in various tones and registers for diverse communities after a few thousand years.

Shri Swaminarayan’s social reform work embodies these same Hindu values and promotes spiritual excellence. His emphasis on empowering women’s status in the home as well as in society has been appreciated by notable scholars and historians such as Kanaiyalal M. Munshi. His subtle yet impressive reform of class-oppressive practices and superstitious ritualistic behavior has been lauded by his contemporaries and subsequent Hindu leaders. It can be argued that his teachings paved the way for an articulation of Hinduism that spoke to a changing Colonial India and later a grand global Hindu identity. Most importantly, Shri Swaminarayan’s community resonated the Vedic Hindu Sanatan teachings outside of India in an impactful manner. BAPS Swaminarayan Akshardham in New Jersey, USA, BAPS Hindu Mandir in Abu Dhabi, and the most recently inaugurated BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir and Cultural Complex in Johannesburg, South Africa, make accessible the universal teachings of Hinduism to tens of millions outside of India. Again, I reflect on Shri Swaminarayan’s work and teachings as a celebration of the collectiveness and commonality found in all of Hinduism—as a continuation or reverberation and not an amendment or restructuring of the work of those who preceded him.

I write this final thought while sitting under the central dome of the BAPS Hindu Mandir in Abu Dhabi, UAE. In such mandirs and cultural complexes, Shri Rama and Shri Swaminarayan, along with several other deities, grace all. Here, the benedictions are not limited to those who identify as Swaminarayan, or even more broadly Hindu. There are no conversations of superiority or hierarchy—only blessings for all those who come with curiosity, spiritual thirst, or a quest for personal betterment or cultural belonging. These are the lessons of love, peace and harmony, which are the need of the hour for all countries, communities, cultures and religions. No wonder, the universal ideal of ‘VasudhaivaKutumbakam’ – the whole world is one family – which is one of the core values of the Hindu Sanatan Dharma is felt here, on the Day of RamNavmi.

Sadhu Brahmaviharidas is a Hindu monk initiated into the Swaminarayan Sampraday by His Holiness Pramukh Swami Maharaj in 1981. He currently serves as the head monk responsible for the design, creation, and management of the BAPS Hindu Mandir in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.