Shikshapatri
Encyclopedia
The Shikshapatri also called Nagari , is an abugida alphabet of India and Nepal...

: शिक्षापत्री) is a religious text consisting of two hundred and twelve verses, written in Sanskrit
Sanskrit
Sanskrit , is a historical Indo-Aryan language and the primary liturgical language of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism.Buddhism: besides Pali, see Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Today, it is listed as one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and is an official language of the state of Uttarakhand...

 by Bhagwan Swaminarayan
Bhagwan Swaminarayan
Swaminarayan , also known as Sahajanand Swami, is the central figure in a modern sect of Hinduism known as the Swaminarayan Faith, a form of Vaishnavism...

. The Shikshapatri is a key scripture to all followers of the Swaminarayan faith
Swaminarayan Faith
Swaminarayan Hinduism, also known as the Swaminarayan faith or the Swaminarayan sect, is a modern tradition in the Vaishnava denomination of Hinduism, in which followers offer devotion to and worship Swaminarayan as the final manifestation of God....

 and is considered the basis of the faith.

The Shikshapatri was written in Vadtal
Vadtal
Vadtal is a small village in the Kheda district of Gujarat, IndiaIt is a location of famous Swaminarayan's temple. "Gomti" is a lake in Vadtal....

 on February 11, 1826. It is a dharma
Dharma
Dharma means Law or Natural Law and is a concept of central importance in Indian philosophy and religion. In the context of Hinduism, it refers to one's personal obligations, calling and duties, and a Hindu's dharma is affected by the person's age, caste, class, occupation, and gender...

 text, providing detailed instructions on how to live.

Summary of teaching

The Gazeteer of the Bombay Presidency
Bombay Presidency
The Bombay Presidency was a province of British India. It was established in the 17th century as a trading post for the English East India Company, but later grew to encompass much of western and central India, as well as parts of post-partition Pakistan and the Arabian Peninsula.At its greatest...

 summarised the teachings of the Shiskshapatri as:


The book of precepts strictly prohibits the destruction of animal life; promiscuous intercourse with the other sex; use of animal food and intoxicant liquors and drugs on any occasion, suicide, theft and robbery; false accusation against a fellow man; blasphemy; company of atheists and heretics, and other practices which might counteract the effect of the founder's teaching.

Governor Sir John Malcolm

On February 26, 1830 an historic meeting took place between Swaminarayan and Sir John Malcolm
John Malcolm
Major-general Sir John Malcolm was a Scottish soldier, statesman, and historian-Early life:Born at Burnfoot, Dumfriesshire, Malcolm was the son of George Malcolm, a gentleman farmer of Eskdale and Burnfoot. Jock, as he was then known, was one of the four Malcolm brothers who attained knighthoods...

, the then Governor
Governor
A governor is a governing official, usually the executive of a non-sovereign level of government, ranking under the head of state...

 of Bombay
Bombay State
The Bombay State was a state of India, dissolved with the formation of Maharashtra and Gujarat states on May 1, 1960.-History:During British rule, portions of the western coast of India under direct British rule were part of the Bombay Presidency...

. At this meeting, Swaminarayan presented a Shikshapatri to Sir John Malcolm. This copy is now housed at the Bodleian Library
Bodleian Library
The Bodleian Library , the main research library of the University of Oxford, is one of the oldest libraries in Europe, and in Britain is second in size only to the British Library...

 of the University of Oxford
University of Oxford
The University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...

.

Languages

Swaminarayan instructed Nityanand Swami
Nityanand Swami (Swaminarayan)
Nityanand Swami born as Dinmani Sharma, was one of the senior Paramhansa’s initiated by Swaminarayan. He was given the name Nityanand as a reflection of his lasting joyful persona. Prior to his initiation, he had already established an impressive knowledge base through his association with great...

 to translate Shikshapatri from Sanskrit into Gujarati
Gujarati language
Gujarati is an Indo-Aryan language, and part of the greater Indo-European language family. It is derived from a language called Old Gujarati which is the ancestor language of the modern Gujarati and Rajasthani languages...

http://gopinathji.com/shikshapatri/00000.html. It has since been translated numerous times into other languages. It has been translated to Bengali, Gujaratihttp://gopinathji.com/shikshapatri/00000.html, Hindi, Marathi, Tamil, Telugu, Udiya, Urdu, Vraj, Afrikaans, Arabic, Chinese, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Italian, Modern Hebrew, North Sotho, Portuguese, Russian, South Sotho, Spanish, Swahili, Xhosa, and Zulu,

External links

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