Akshar Purushottam Darshan
[4][1][web 2] The Ahmedabad and Vadtal dioceses, the original Swaminarayan Sampraday, regard Akshar to be the transcendental abode of Purushottam where he is always manifest.
"[7] Adherents believe that they can achieve moksha, or freedom from the cycle of birth and death, by becoming aksharrup (or brahmarup), that is, by attaining qualities similar to Akshar (or Aksharbrahman) and worshipping Purushottam (or Parabrahman; the supreme living entity; God).
[8] The primary sources of Akshar-Purushottam Darshan are the Vachanamrut, which is a compilation of 273 oral discourses delivered by Swaminarayan that were documented by his senior followers during his lifetime; the Vedaras, a comprehensive letter written to his monastic followers explicating his doctrine and providing moral instructions; and the Swamini Vato, a collection of oral commentaries delivered by Gunatitanand Swami, who was Swaminarayan's senior disciple and regarded as his successor as guru in the lineage of the Bochasanwasi Akshar Purushottam Sanstha (BAPS).
"[13]"From all the Vedas, Purāṇas, Itihāsa and Smṛti scriptures, I have gleaned the principle that jīva, māyā, īśvara, Brahman and Parameśvara are all eternal.
The syllable Aum refers to the higher and lower Brahman.Another clear indication of Akshar and Purushottam forming the crux of the highest spiritual truth, i.e. brahmavidya, can be found in the Mundaka Upanishad at 1.2.13: येनाऽक्षरं पुरुषं वेद सत्यं प्रोवाच तां तत्त्वतो ब्रह्मविद्याम् । Brahmavidyā is that by which Akshar and Purush[ottam] are thoroughly known.Akshar and Purushottam are also distinctly elucidated in the Bhagavad Gita.
It is the base substance from which the material world is formed and is characterized by the three qualities (gunas) – sattvaguna, rajoguna, and tamoguna.
It also forms the ignorance of the jivas and ishwars – seen as ego, i.e. 'I-ness', and attachments, i.e. 'my-ness' – causing them to be bound in the continuous cycle of birth and death.
[3] Ishwar refers not to God, but a finite sentient entity shrouded by maya, like a jiva, but endowed with special powers and knowledge for fulfilling various functions within a particular universe.
Virat Purush, Brahmā (not to be confused with Brahman), Vishnu, and Shiva are examples of ishwars within Akshar-Purushottam Darshan.
[25][26] The latter interpretation recalls an earlier Vaishnava tradition of the divine companionship between the perfect devotee and God (for example, Radha and Krishna or Shri and Vishnu).
[27] According to Paramtattvadas, Pramukh Swami Maharaj summarises and clarifies Akshar-Purushottam Darshan as "not the worship of two entities – Akṣara and Puruṣottama.
'Swaminarayan' is thus synonymous with 'Akshar-Purushottam', instructing devotees to "become like 'Swami', i.e. akṣararūpa, and subserviently offer devotion and upāsanā to 'Narayan', i.e. Parabrahman Puruṣottama Nārāyaṇa.
"[28] The Shri Kashi Vidvat Parishad, a scholarly council for Vedic studies and tradition in India, stated in a meeting in Varanasi on 31 July 2017 that it is "appropriate to identify Sri Svāminārāyaṇa's Vedānta by the title: Akṣarapuruṣottama Darśana," and that this siddhanta (view) is "distinct from Advaita, Viśiṣṭādvaita, and all other doctrines."
