Shree Swaminarayan Gurukul Rajkot Sansthan, commonly known as Rajkot Gurukul or Swaminarayan Gurukul, is a

Hindu Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...

religious and educational organization with headquarters in Rajkot, Gujarat. The organization is within the Laxmi Narayan Dev Gadi of the Swaminarayan Sampraday. The goal of the organization is to spread the ''Sadvidya'' (true education) that was championed by Bhagwan Swaminarayan. The organization also aims to teach

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cultural heritage Cultural heritage is the heritage of tangible and intangible heritage assets of a group or society that is inherited from past generations. Not all heritages of past generations are "heritage"; rather, heritage is a product of selection by socie ...

through branches around the world. Its major branches in

include Rajkot, Junagadh, Surat, Poicha (Nilkanthdham), Hyderabad, Taravada, Bangalore, Gulbarga, Ahmedabad, Bidar, Jadcherla, Mysore, Nagpur, NTPC Lara, Navi Mumbai, Secunderabad, Raipur, Solapur, Suryapet, Vidyanagar, Vijayawada. Its international branches include

Dallas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

, Paramus (New Jersey) and

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, all in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

History

Shastriji Maharaj Shri Dharmajivandasji Swami was inspired to found an educational institution after a pilgrimage to Badrinath (an abode of Badrinarayan on Himalaya) in 1946. The organization was established in 1947 in Rajkot by Shastriji Maharaj with support from Pujya Purani Swami, Shree Premprakashdasji Swami, Pujya Mugat Swami, Shree Nitrannamuktadasji Swami, and Tribhuvan Gaurishankar Vyas. The organization started teaching on June 16, 1948, with seven students in a rented house in Rajkot. The foundation stone of Shree Swaminarayan Gurukul at Rajkot was laid on November 5, 1948. In 1974, Shastriji Maharaj gave the administrative duties of the organization to its current leader, Guruvarya Shri Devkrushnadasji Swami. In 2022 then Indian

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Narendra Modi Narendra Damodardas Modi (born 17 September 1950) is an Indian politician who has served as the Prime Minister of India, prime minister of India since 2014. Modi was the chief minister of Gujarat from 2001 to 2014 and is the Member of Par ...

gave a virtual address at the Rajkot branch.

Academics

The word Gurukul is combination of two

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...

words: "

Guru Guru ( ; International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration, IAST: ''guru'') is a Sanskrit term for a "mentor, guide, expert, or master" of certain knowledge or field. In pan-Indian religions, Indian traditions, a guru is more than a teacher: tr ...

", meaning teacher or master, and "Kula" meaning 'abode'. Swaminarayan Gurukul provides three types of education: Vidya (Modern Science), Sadvidya (Traditional Education), and Brahmvidya (Spiritual Education).

Vidya – modern education

Modern education (including science and technology) includes the aspects of knowledge,

curiosity Curiosity (from Latin , from "careful, diligent, curious", akin to "care") is a quality related to inquisitive thinking, such as exploration, investigation, and learning, evident in humans and other animals. Curiosity helps Developmental psyc ...

creativity Creativity is the ability to form novel and valuable Idea, ideas or works using one's imagination. Products of creativity may be intangible (e.g. an idea, scientific theory, Literature, literary work, musical composition, or joke), or a physica ...

, leadership, and dynamism (adapting to the changes on the move).

Sadvidya – traditional education

Traditional education includes the values and ethics found in Indian culture and history. These values include: *

Integrity Integrity is the quality of being honest and having a consistent and uncompromising adherence to strong moral and ethical principles and values. In ethics, integrity is regarded as the honesty and Honesty, truthfulness or of one's actions. Integr ...

Empathy Empathy is generally described as the ability to take on another person's perspective, to understand, feel, and possibly share and respond to their experience. There are more (sometimes conflicting) definitions of empathy that include but are ...

* Non-violence: Valuing the life of every living organism. * Gratefulness: Having an appreciation and being conscious towards God, saints, guardians, seniors, and

natural resource Natural resources are resources that are drawn from nature and used with few modifications. This includes the sources of valued characteristics such as commercial and industrial use, aesthetic value, scientific interest, and cultural value. ...

s. * Freedom from awful propensities: refraining from

insult An insult is an expression, statement, or behavior that is often deliberately disrespectful, offensive, scornful, or derogatory towards an individual or a group. Insults can be intentional or unintentional, and they often aim to belittle, of ...

smoking Smoking is a practice in which a substance is combusted, and the resulting smoke is typically inhaled to be tasted and absorbed into the bloodstream of a person. Most commonly, the substance used is the dried leaves of the tobacco plant, whi ...

alcohol Alcohol may refer to: Common uses * Alcohol (chemistry), a class of compounds * Ethanol, one of several alcohols, commonly known as alcohol in everyday life ** Alcohol (drug), intoxicant found in alcoholic beverages ** Alcoholic beverage, an alco ...

drug A drug is any chemical substance other than a nutrient or an essential dietary ingredient, which, when administered to a living organism, produces a biological effect. Consumption of drugs can be via insufflation (medicine), inhalation, drug i ...

enslavement Slavery is the ownership of a person as property, especially in regards to their labour. Slavery typically involves compulsory work, with the slave's location of work and residence dictated by the party that holds them in bondage. Enslavemen ...

infidelity Infidelity (synonyms include non-consensual non-monogamy, cheating, straying, adultery, being unfaithful, two-timing, or having an affair) is a violation of a couple's emotional or sexual exclusivity that commonly results in feelings of anger, se ...

gambling Gambling (also known as betting or gaming) is the wagering of something of Value (economics), value ("the stakes") on a Event (probability theory), random event with the intent of winning something else of value, where instances of strategy (ga ...

, etc.

Brahmavidya – spiritual education

Aspects of spiritual education include: *

Faith Faith is confidence or trust in a person, thing, or concept. In the context of religion, faith is " belief in God or in the doctrines or teachings of religion". According to the Merriam-Webster's Dictionary, faith has multiple definitions, inc ...

: including faith in the scriptures and obedience to divine rules and laws * Devotion: includes reverential practices like chanting

mantra A mantra ( ; Pali: ''mantra'') or mantram (Devanagari: मन्त्रम्) is a sacred utterance, a numinous sound, a syllable, word or phonemes, or group of words (most often in an Indo-Iranian language like Sanskrit or Avestan) belie ...

s, singing kirtans, prayer, and service (Seva) to God. * Atmanistha: Realizing oneself as a simple Soul, confined from the body, as a humble Sevak of God * Non-attachment: detaching oneself from materialistic objects and interests (wealth, popularity) to better focus on God. * Realisation of God: Encountering God in reality. * Affection with saintly persons: Having positive relationships with

saint In Christianity, Christian belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of sanctification in Christianity, holiness, imitation of God, likeness, or closeness to God in Christianity, God. However, the use of the ...

s and devotees.

Foundation

Aims & Objectives

To propagate and promote Bhagwan Shree Swaminarayan's Message # Building the best character of pupils through credible education. # Establish comprehensive development in every zone. # Prepare students to be the best patriots. # Creating secular harmony for all types of religions. # Equalize between modernity and spirituality.

References

{{reflist

External links

Rajkot Gurukul Website
1948 establishments in India Education International Educational institutions established in 1948 Rajkot Spiritual organizations Swaminarayan Sampradaya