Bhadreshdas Swami

Mahamahopadhyaya Bhadreshdas Swami is a Sanskrit scholar and an ordained monk of the Bochasanwasi Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha (BAPS). In 2007 he completed the Swaminarayan Bhashyam, a five-volume classical Sanskrit commentary on the Prasthanatrayi. This commentary on three of Hinduism's most notable texts: the Upanishads, Bhagavad Gita, and the Brahma sutras, forms the interpretive foundation of the philosophy of Akshar Purushottam darshana, also known as Swaminarayan darshana, illuminating the Vedic roots of the Akshar Purushottama philosophy, which was propagated by the 19th-century Hindu leader, Swaminarayan and later by Shastriji Maharaj.

The commentary discusses the basis of the five "eternal entities" - Jiva, Ishwar, Maya, Brahma and Parabrahman - as expounded by Swaminarayan. It also expands on the concept of Aksharbrahma and Parabrahman as well as the attainment of liberation (moksha) through devotion (bhakti) and worship (upasana). Following the tradition of the classical Sanskrit commentaries by Shankaracharya, Ramanujacharya, and Madhvacharya, the Swaminarayan Bhashyam is the second classical Sanskrit commentary on the entire Prasthanatrayi to have been completed by anyone in the last several centuries.

After receiving a Ph.D. in Sanskrit from Karnakata University in 2005, he was awarded a D. Litt. in 2010 and the Mahamahopadhyaya honorific by Kavikulaguru Kalidas Sanskrit University in Nagpur, India. The University of Mysore also awarded him the "Professor G.M. Memorial Award" and the "Darshankesari award" in 2013 for his work on Swaminarayan Vedanta. He currently serves as the head scholar ("Pradhānācārya") of the Yagnapurush Sanskrit Pathshala in Sarangpur, Gujarat, where the students are instructed by him in philosophy, nyaya darśana, vedas, the Paninian grammar of Sanskrit and Indian classical music.

Krishnamurti Shastri from the Maharshi Sandipani Rashtriya Veda Vidya Pratishthan of India says that the "poetic commentary presents new insights into the secrets of Vedanta in comparison to any previous views on the subject".

N. Radhakrishna Bhat, Sanskrit professor at the Karnataka State Open University, has stated, "By reading this commentary we will come to the conclusion that the Swaminarayan tradition is an independent one on Akshar Purushottama Siddhanta based on the Vedic tradition which is quite ancient. It is quite a different one and has its own specialty. It greatly differs from Ramanuja's Vishishtadvaita, Vallabhadeva's Suddhadvaita and the philosophy of Madhva, Nimbarka etc. It brings out greatly the special features and principles of the Siddhanta very effectively… in accordance to the eternal Vedic principles conveyed by Bhagwan Shri Swaminarayana and the enlightened Guruparampara." Throughout India, the Shri Kashi Vidvat Parisad is an authoritative council on all matters pertaining to Vedic dharma and philosophy.

The council's gathering was marked by four declarations:

First, that the Prasthanatrayi Swaminarayan Bhashyam and the Swaminarayan-Sidhhant-Sudha are sacred texts on Parabrahman Swaminarayan's revealed Akshar Purshottam Darshana; and that these sacred texts are in every manner the protectors of the eternal Vedic religious tradition.

Awards In recognition of his work on the commentary, the Kavikulguru Kalidas Sanskrit University in Nagpur, India, awarded Bhadreshdas Swami a D. Litt. in 2010, then in 2012, the title Mahamahopadhyaya