Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed the inaugural function of Pramukh Swami Maharaj Shatabdi Mahotsav in Ahmedabad which is being held from December 15, 2022, to January 15, 2023, is the culmination of a year-long international festival hosted by the BAPS Swaminarayan Mandir.
The Prime Minister welcomed everyone and praised Pramukh Swami Maharaj before addressing the audience. He expressed his sense of the divine presence, the grandeur of his resolutions, and his pride in his lineage. "One can see every colour of India on the premises," he remarked. Additionally, he noted that the UN had also observed the centennial, demonstrating the spiritual tradition and philosophy of India's relevance both within India and beyond the world.
Throughout his 30-minute speech, the PM referred to Pramukh Swami as pita tulya (father-figure) who looked after him, and said that he still misses him. “I have had the good fortune of knowing him when I was just a social worker. It was his greatness that I am reminded of. He treated everyone equally. I first met him in 1981. The discussion we had was not about God or spirituality, it was about service to humanity,” recounted the PM, adding that he had met the Swami or called him before every big event in his life.
“The tiranga yatra (of 1992) at Lal Chowk in Srinagar where I had gone to unfurl tricolour was tumultuous… There were attacks on the procession, and it was a cause of concern for some. As I had received his blessings before the start of the yatra, he knew about my participation. The first call I received when I got down at Jammu was Pramukh Swami’s,” said the PM, adding that Swami inquired about his health and blessed him.
“The pen with which I signed my first nomination papers for fighting my first Assembly elections from Rajkot was sent to me by Pramukh Swami Maharaj. After that he used to send pens to me every time to sign nomination papers and he had even sent pens with colours of the BJP flag of green and orange when I went to fight (Lok Sabha) election from Varanasi in 2014," said the PM.
After the 2002 Akshardham terror attack in Gandhinagar, Modi, then CM of Gujarat, connected with Bapa was fondly called. “I could have only imagined what had happened to the sadhus in the temple. When I spoke to him, his first concern was my well-being. He asked me to believe in God, to not worry and said that everything was going to be fine. He told me that God is always with the truth,” said the PM.
The Prime Minister further added that Swami ensured that a saint, apart from renunciation, should also be capable and well-versed. As Swami established an institutional mechanism for holistic spiritual training, the Prime Minister said that this will benefit the nation for many generations to come.
In conclusion, PM said “In a vindictive and vengeful world like that of today, I have been fortunate enough to be around saints like Pramukh Swami Maharaj and Mahant Swami Maharaj who create a virtuous environment. It was like a tired person sitting in the shadow of a great banyan tree. Not ‘Rajasi’ or ‘Tamsik’, one has to continue moving while staying ‘Satvik’.”
Among those present on the event were His Holiness Mahant Swami Maharaj, Gujarat's Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel, Governor Acharya Devvrat, and Pujya Ishwarcharan Swami.
As its fifth spiritual guru, Pramukh Swami Maharaj headed the BAPS, the most popular of the 16 branches of the Swaminarayan community, between 1950 and 2016.
During this period, the sect set up temples in places like Atlanta, Los Angeles, London, Toronto, Auckland and Sydney. There are Akshardham temples in New Delhi and Gandhinagar and another will open soon in New Jersey.