The Desh Vibhag Lekh is a document written by

Swaminarayan Swaminarayan (IAST: '; 3 April 1781 – 1 June 1830), also known as Sahajanand Swami, was a yogi and Asceticism, ascetic believed by followers to be a manifestation of Krishna or the highest Theophany, manifestation of Purushottama, around wh ...

in 1827 establishing the division of the

Swaminarayan Sampradaya The Swaminarayan Sampradaya, also known as Swaminarayan Hinduism and Swaminarayan movement, is a Hindu Vaishnava sampradaya rooted in Ramanuja's Vishishtadvaita, characterized by the worship of its charismatic founder Sahajanand Swami, be ...

into two dioceses by territory of Ahmedabad and Vadtal. This document is highly regarded by the two diocese as it establishes Acharyas as the successors to Swaminarayan. Groups that prioritize sadhus over acharyas view the Lekh primarily as an administrative document and place less emphasis on its importance. It was dictated by

and written by Shukmuni in the courtyard of Khachar Dada at

Gadhada Gadhada is a town and a municipality in Botad District in the state of Gujarat, India. Gadhada is situated at bank of River Ghela. Swaminarayan lived here for more than 25 years. Geography Gadhada is located at . It has an average elevatio ...

in the year 1826. It was translated into English by Geo. P Taylor in 1903. It has been accepted as such by the

Bombay High Court The High Court of Bombay is the High courts of India, high court of the States and union territories of India, states of Maharashtra and Goa in India, and the union territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu. It is seated primarily ...

as valid document.

Purpose

The Lekh has 30 articles, which give the following directions: * Demarcation of the jurisdiction and responsibilities of the two Gadis ( NarNarayan Dev Gadi and LaxmiNarayan Dev Gadi). The Narnarayan Dev gadi controls the Uttar Desh and Laxminarayan Dev gadi the Dakshin Desh. The demarcation is that the Uttar Desh territory runs from

Bhuj Bhuj () is a city and the headquarters of Kutch district in the Indian state of Gujarat. Etymology According to legend, Kutch (Kachchh) was ruled by the Nāga chieftains in the past. Sagai, a queen of Sheshapattana, who was married to King B ...

Calcutta Kolkata, also known as Calcutta (List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern ba ...

and above and the Dakshin Desh territory runs below this line as per this Lekh. * Duties and responsibilities of Acharyas and means of appointing future Acharyas. * Directions of what to do with the incomes of the

temples A temple (from the Latin ) is a place of worship, a building used for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. By convention, the specially built places of worship of some religions are commonly called "temples" in Engli ...

* Appointment of

Sadhus ''Sadhu'' (, IAST: ' (male), ''sādhvī'' or ''sādhvīne'' (female), also spelled ''saddhu'') is a religious ascetic, mendicant or any holy person in Hinduism and Jainism who has renounced the worldly life. They are sometimes alternativel ...

and how they should remain under the commands of the Acharyas faithfully. * Instruction for Satsangi's *The Lekh outlines that only the acting Acharya can appoint the next Acharya for the Gadi. * The Acharya can give guru-mantra or diksha and initiate new satsangi's or priests/santos.

Use

This document has been produced in the Indian courts of justice, where the position of the acharaya as the spiritual and administrative heads of their respective diocese of the

and its assets has been repeatedly affirmed. The Indian courts have appointed the acharyas as trustees and successors of their respective dioceses. The

BAPS Bochasanwasi Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha (BAPS; ) is a Hindu denomination within the Swaminarayan Sampradaya. It was formed in 1905 by Shastri Yagnapurushdas ( Shastriji Maharaj) following his conviction that Swaminarayan remained ...

sect, founded in 1905 after separating from the Vadtal diocese, does not accept this document in literal interpretation yet does not rejects its validity. The BAPS founders too at one point served the original diocese according to Lekh. BAPS does acknowledge that

"for administrative purpose, He divided His mandirs into two regions and appointed his two adopted sons, the Acharyas, Raghuvirji Maharaj and Ayodhyaprasadji Maharaj to guide the progress." But BAPS maintains that

Gunatitanand Swami Gunatitanand Swami (28 September 1784 – 11 October 1867), born Mulji Jani, was a paramhansa of the Hindu Swaminarayan Sampradaya who was ordained by Swaminarayan and is accepted as the first spiritual successor of Swaminarayan by the Bochas ...

was the sole successor.

Notes

References

* Appeal no.165 of 1940 in the court of the district judge, Kaira, at

Nadiad Nadiad is a city in the state of Gujarat, India and the administrative centre of the Kheda district. It is known for the Santram Mandir, the Mai Mandir,

from decree in reg. civil suit no. 519 of 1936 of the court of the sub-judge Mr. P. B. Patel of Borsad. {{Swaminarayan Sampraday Swaminarayan Sampradaya