કીર્તન મુક્તાવલી
History
(1) Prāṇ sanehī ghar āvo ab
Bhagwan Swaminarayan, the cause of all and the supporter of all, came on this earth, stayed for 49 years, accomplished everything he wished, and decided to revert back to Akshardham, leaving behind his eternal Akshardham, Aksharbrahma Gunatitanand Swami, to leave the gateway of liberation open to all.
He constructed six majestic mandirs, inspired scriptures to be written, he himself wrote the Shikshapatri and gave the Vachanamrut, initiated sadhus perfect in renunciation of women and wealth. Moreover, his main goal was to establish the pillars of ekāntik dharma, comprised of dharma, gnān, vairāgya, and bhakti. To ensure ekāntik dharma does not disappear, he left a legacy of the Ekāntik Satpurush who would uphold it, the first being Gunatitanand Swami.
Maharaj knew many will not be able to bear the separation of him leaving, especially Brahmanand Swami. Maharaj called Brahmanand Swami from Junagadh and gave him immense bliss during his last days. After receiving so much bliss, he commanded Brahmanand Swami to return to Junagadh and have Gunatitanand Swami come to Gadhada. Brahmanand Swami had realized by now that Maharaj was planning to revert back to Akshardham. However, he could not go against his āgnā and departed for Junagadh. On the way, Brahma Muni encounted deer crossing their path, an unfortunate omen. His heart cried out in agony knowing that some unfortunate event will occur:
Haran eha je sukhnā haran,
Haran eha je buddhi-bal haran,
Haran eha je himmat haran,
Haran eha je prān tanā haran.
(“Deer (haran) are those that takes away happiness. Deer are those that diminished one’s intellect. Deer are those that decreases one’s courage. And deer are those that take away one’s life.” Swami is using a pun with the word haran which also means one who takes away or destroys.)
Once in Junagadh, Brahmanand Swami started to feel uncomfortable. He immediately told the mason, “Ratna, O Ratna, don’t place that stone, we will have to stop the work for now. I have a feeling we have been tricked by Maharaj.” He then fell down unconscious. Just then, Bhaguji came from Gadhada and sprinkled water on Swami. Once Swami regained consciousness, Bhaguji told Brahma Muni that Gopalanand Swami had called for him to go to Gadhada as soon as possible. Without delay, Brahma Muni saddled a camel and raced towards Gadhada. Once they reached there, the sadhus and devotees had already performed the final cremation rituals to the divine body of Maharaj. Brahma Muni was devastated. He cried out so loudly that even the walls of Dada’s court and the leaves of the neem tree started to shake in consolation. Brahma Muni could barely speak but gained strength and said, “O sadhus, you have already done the funeral rites and did not even wait for me. If the final rites had not been done then I would have brought Maharaj back from Akshardham to earth. Now I cannot do anything!”
Muktanand Swami, Gopalanand Swami, Gunatitanand Swami and several other sadhus tried to console him, saying that they only did what they were told by Maharaj. Brahma Muni started longing for Maharaj’s darshan again. He stood in front of Gopinathji’s murti in the mandir and cried, “All this time you gave us happiness and now you left us with sadness. How will I stay alive without you?” Brahma Muni started crying with greater intensity. People thought that Brahma Muni would not keep his body in such grief. He became unconscious again. All the other sadhus came beside him and started praying and saying, “Swami, come back to us. It is Maharaj’s order that no one should die after him.”
Muktanand Swami put water in Brahma Muni’s mouth and after a while Brahma Muni regained consciousness and went in front of Gopinathji Maharaj’s murti and started to sing this kirtan.
