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Birth Place: Dantiya
Father: Vishnusharma
Mother: Virjadevi
Name: Dinmani Sharma
Birth: VS 1812, Kartik Sud 5, Thursday
Caste: Yajurvedi Brahmin
Dinmani Sharma's family were very rich. He went Kashi to
learn and acquire knowledge from Jagjit Pandit. He
wanted darshan of Lord Swaminarayan and to acquire this,
he proceeded towards Badrinath. On the way, he joined
other pilgrims and found no joy there. He then went to
Jugnathpuri and done his pilgrimage but still could not
find any happiness. He then proceeded to Dwarika and
came near Vishuajar. He heard about Lord Swaminarayan
and that He is Purshottam Narayan currently in
Saurashtra.
He started searching for Lord Swaminarayan. He came to
Faneni, met Prabhutanand Swami and learnt that Lord
Swaminarayan will be arriving in a town called Uza. Lord
Swaminarayan arrived there after a few days. He was at
the bank of a lake where a sabha was being held. Dinmani
went to meet Lord Swaminarayan with some other devotees.
He saw a divine light emanating from Lord Swaminarayan.
Dinmani felt that this person was Purshottam Narayan
himself. Dinmani did darshan and felt fulfilled. He
expressed his wish to stay as a servant of Lord
Swaminarayan. Lord Swaminarayan accepted and Dinmani
stayed there for few days. After some time, Lord
Swaminarayan gave 'Bhagwadi Diksha' and named him
Nityanand Swami. Lord Swaminarayan requested him to
learn and obtain detailed knowledge of Sanskrit and
other religious knowledge.
Lord Swaminarayan always kept Nityanand Swami with other
Swamis. When Lord Swaminarayan met Sir Malcolm
(representative of the British Empire) in Ahmdabad,
Nityanand Swami was among the 4 sadhus with Him.
Nityanand Swami and Brahamand Swami would usually debate
each other on religious topics. Sometimes Nityanand
Swami would win and sometimes Brahamand Swami would win.
Nityanand Swami would always be consulted by Lord
Swaminarayan when letters to government officials
(British Empire) were written. Lord Swaminarayan also
consulted Nityanand Swami when the Desh Vibhag Lekh was
written.
Nityanand Swami would attend the discourses arranged by
other sampraday. He debated with other saints and was
always the winner. No one could put a constructive
argument against him. He was one of the saints to write
Vachanmrut and he translated the Shikshapatri in
Gujurati which was authenticated by Lord Swaminarayan.
During the last days of Lord Swaminarayan, Nityanand
Swami was with Him. Lord Swaminarayan gave the prints of
His lotus feet to Nityanand Swami and told him to
install them at Laxmivadi where a Temple would be
erected on the ground where He would be cremated.
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