“The last word has not been spoken” is the maxim in this book’s Preface as the presupposition of all academic research. It is an appropriate affirmation toward the close of this stage of research. In spite of learning from the rhymes of history, the future is uncharted and unknown, albeit enticing and captivating. Much more remains to be learned from the past and from the ever-expanding future.
When my contacts with Swaminarayan Hindus and research began in Gujarat in 1976, resulting in several publications and this new edition, only three other university scholars were conducting research on Swaminarayan Hinduism: Françoise Mallison at the Sorbonne, Makrand Mehta at Gujarat University, and David Pocock at the University of Leicester. In August 2013 an international conference in New Delhi on “Sahajanand Swami and the Swaminarayan Sampraday” attracted more than seventy academic scholars from several disciplines and continents (see Williams and Trivedi Reference Trivedi, Williams and Trivedi2016 for new research presented at the conference). The evident growth in academic interest results from contemporary growth in the size and geographical extent of the Swaminarayan transnational network, the increased media and public attention to its activities, and its prominence as representative of modern Hinduism in many contexts. The complexity of Swaminarayan Hinduism and its influence require future research that is multivocal, by scholars from many national and cultural settings, representing multiple disciplines, being both insiders, religious professionals, and secular scholars; it is necessary research that will expand, cultivate, and share interesting results in future decades. Multivocality, rather than monovocality, is required in order the overcome the pernicious “silo effects” in the academy and society – insiders speaking only with insiders – and provide more complete interdisciplinary analyses of Swaminarayan Hinduism. A number of trajectories for research beckon, and it seems reasonable to suggest the following topics as ripe for research, reflection, and, perhaps, future publication.
The migration of Gujaratis and Swaminarayan Hindus across enlarging transnational networks into several diverse cultural, economic, political, and social contexts, along with their natural growth, creates new dynamics shaping the future. The various push/pull factors that are constantly evolving in different places and over time result in diverse Swaminarayan communities that have different generational, economic, educational, and cultural configurations. All of these shape religious activities, create diversity, and preserve some common elements. In short, these represent the tensions, challenges, and opportunities present as Swaminarayan Hinduism becomes a transnational religion and Hinduism becomes a world religion in ways not previously anticipated.
The stages of development of a new religious movement, now only two hundred years old, provide a case study of significant, new religious movements evolving, as it were, before our eyes in diverse contemporary contexts. Resources about the founder, ascetic and householder leadership, history, theology, ritual, and the arts are still available for research and study. Moreover, each subgroup has its unique history and an evolving contemporary expression, leadership, and characteristics that deserve comprehensive separate, diachronic, and comparative analyses.
Transmission of traditions across generations is essential for any religious group. Swaminarayan Hindus have been very successful in accomplishing that transmission. Scholars of migration often refer to the generations of immigrant groups – the first generation, the first and a half, the second, and the third. Those generations are currently part of the living present among Swaminarayan Hindus living outside of India. It is difficult to know what those generational differences are in Gujarat and India, where, it seems, such designations are imprecise or impossible. Moreover, other complex factors affect loyalty to and support for a religious tradition – for example, the promise and dream of upward economic and social mobility among migrants abroad and in Gujarat itself. Therefore, comparative analyses of the transmission of tradition in India and in other countries, especially of transmission that seems to this point to be very successful in maintaining loyalty across the generations, could contribute to understanding of continuities and discontinuities in religious traditions.
Language and its use in ritual, texts, and teaching are important elements in transmission of religious traditions, especially in transnational contexts. Swaminarayan Hinduism is on the cusp of changes in language use among its followers, even though the vast majority are Gujarati speakers, at the least in their homes. Nonetheless, Gujarati is the regional/ethnic language; Hindi is the national language; English is the international language; Sanskrit is the specialized sacred language used in conjunction with Gujarati in rituals. Increasing diversity of language use across generations and locations places great demands on Swaminarayan leadership and institutions. An aphorism from the study of language use of earlier immigrants to the United States is, “What the second generation forgets, the third generation remembers.” But that remembrance in the past was expressed by earlier immigrants generally in newly created symbolic ethnicity and symbolic language. The question is how language use develops among the recent migrants from India in diverse language areas and how that shapes the transmission of tradition and variations in expressions of the Swaminarayan tradition.
Swaminarayan Hinduism grew over the two centuries in Gujarat and India during significant political changes. Now it is on the move in many countries with many more political forces involved, which is true not only for Hinduism but for all religions in the twenty-first century. Contrary to some theories of modernization, religion is becoming more important, not less, on the international scene and in many national contexts. Hence, knowledge of the relation of religion and politics – more precisely, of faith and patriotism – is essential for understanding aspects of the development and prospects of Swaminarayan Hinduism. Hindu nationalism is one expression of that relationship in India. Swaminarayan Hindu leaders and institutions have to negotiate relationships with political leaders in contemporary affairs in which the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Vishwa Hindu Parishad advocate Hindu pride and a dominant position for Hinduism in Indian cultural and religious affairs. Swaminarayan leaders in the past generally avoided explicit advocacy of a political party. As Pramukh Swami once noted in private conversation, he welcomed politicians from many parties and countries who came for his blessing and noted that he certainly could not refuse any Hindu. However, he developed a special relationship with A. P. J. Abdul Kalam, the Muslim president of India (Kalam Reference Kalam and Tiwari2015) and took other actions to advance inter-communal harmony (Brahmaviharidas Reference Brahmaviharidas, Williams and Trivedi2016). BAPS created an Office of Public Affairs in the United States and sponsored the first Advocacy Day on November 7, 2017, when members met with senators and representatives in the United States Congress and staff members in Washington, D. C. (https://www.baps.org/News/2017/BAPS-Celebrates-Diwali-at-the-US-Capitol-12471.aspx). Prior to state elections in 2017, Ghanshyamprasadas, kothari of the Vadtal temple, urged support for the Bharatiya Janata Party (http://indianexpress.com/elections/gujarat-assembly-elections-2017/swaminarayan-temple-in-vadtal-openly-backs-bjp-appeals-to-devotees-to-vote-for-narendra-modi-4922827/). The levels of contributions and activity of various Swaminarayan leaders, centers, and individuals in support of Hindu nationalism in India and political action in various countries deserve detailed study.
Beyond India, Swaminarayan leaders continue to negotiate changing political forces through periods of colonial control, independence, postcolonial developments, and modernization at different levels in several countries. Recent increases in migration from many countries and cultures, especially into western industrialized countries, creates new networks of migration, develops new communities, precipitates complex and varied political responses to immigration, and results in new multicultural and multireligious diversity. The resulting turmoil threatens to shake the foundations of political and religious relations and requires adaptation by political and religious communities. That process is underway around the world and calls into question what citizenship, nationality, ethnicity, and religion will mean in the next decades. Swaminarayan Hindus are involved in the negotiations in a variety of ways that provide case studies of relationships between religion and politics, between faith and patriotism in several cultural and political contexts.
Gods have always been carried on the shoulders of migrants, so that their presence can be charted along the movements of travelers and migrants. A recurring theme in this revised edition is the rapid expansion of the Swaminarayan transnational network at the beginning of the twenty-first century. Other networks – e.g., economic, national, ethnic, political, and professional – add related strands to transnational negotiations. Because of the power religion possesses to shape individual and group identities, Swaminarayan identity and associations form important and powerful ties that strengthen and enhance contemporary transnational networks. Understanding Swaminarayan Hinduism and its evolution in the future will require additional information and analyses of the content and flow of material and cultural traffic across the network.
The most obvious traffic involves people who move from one node on the network to another influenced by push/pull factors that are constantly changing. Families and groups increase their options and enrich their ecological strength by establishing outposts along the network. Marriage negotiations and affiliation – for example, those encouraged by Swaminarayan internet marriage sites in Britain and the United States – facilitate movement and communication. Swaminarayan outposts were first established and led by householders, but sadhus and other religious specialists soon established contacts, tours, and other means of communication that maintain relationships, strengthen allegiance, recruit followers, and inspire new leaders. Now Swaminarayan sadhus reside in several countries, and young men from these countries go to India for training and service as sadhus. The recruitment, training, and movement of Swaminarayan leadership across the network are challenging aspects of future developments.
Intellectual, artistic, ritual, and communicative aspects of culture move along the network and evolve in the process. Swaminarayan institutions are strengthened by donations of financial resources that move within countries and transnationally. It is difficult to track those funds or accurately assess their impacts, but the overall results in the elaborate constructions of temples, schools, hospitals, and other activities seem evident. They also support transmission of ideas that shape Swaminarayan beliefs and practices. Studies of the movement of financial resources in support of Swaminarayan and other Hindu programs and institutions will be significant in assessing the lasting impacts of transnational movements.
Traffic across the transnational networks is multidirectional. The impact of new religious groups and institutions in locations across the world are obvious. Religions formerly remote and obscure, studied from afar, are now close neighbors and highly visible in local neighborhoods. Art and architecture, language, religious leaders, gods, and much more are added to the cultural milieu and transformed by new contexts. For example, traditional Hindu architecture is shaped to create a modern “eco-friendly” monument in London; a traditional Swaminarayan marble temple is placed inside a building in New Jersey to make it more accessible during harsh winters; more religious activities are conducted in English or other local languages along with Gujarati. Less obvious and relatively unresearched is the reverse impact of on Swaminarayan beliefs, practices, ethos, and expectations in India. Young men educated in major Western universities in Britain and the United States join peers educated in Indian institutions for initiation and training as sadhus and careers as Swaminarayan leaders, thereby create a rich resource for shaping the Swaminarayan traditions and transmitting them in the future. Tracing the traffic and impact moving at increasing speed in several directions via media and migration offer new opportunities for study and insights.
One might wish for an additional academic career to follow developments in Swaminarayan Hinduism and to learn from new research by a new generation of younger scholars. It is more reasonable and feasible to hope that this revised edition will continue to provide an accessible introductory foundation that might attract and assist those who will engage in future Swaminarayan studies.
