Swaminarayan was an yogi and ascetic born in 17th century as Ghanshyam Pande. His life and teaching revived central Hindu practises of dharma, ahimsa and brahmacharya. He taught the Swaminarayan mantra and hence came to be known as Swaminarayan. He was initiated into the ‘Uddhav Sampradaya’ by Swami Ramanand. Later the ‘Uddhav Sampradaya’ came to be known as ‘Swaminarayan Sampradaya’.
