: शिक्षापत्री) is a religious text consisting of two hundred and twelve verses, written in Sanskrit

Sanskrit

Sanskrit , is a historical Indo-Aryan language and the primary liturgical language of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism.Buddhism: besides Pali, see Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Today, it is listed as one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and is an official language of the state of Uttarakhand...

 by Bhagwan Swaminarayan

Bhagwan Swaminarayan

Swaminarayan , also known as Sahajanand Swami, is the central figure in a modern sect of Hinduism known as the Swaminarayan Faith, a form of Vaishnavism...

. The Shikshapatri is a key scripture to all followers of the Swaminarayan faith

Swaminarayan Faith

Swaminarayan Hinduism, also known as the Swaminarayan faith or the Swaminarayan sect, is a modern tradition in the Vaishnava denomination of Hinduism, in which followers offer devotion to and worship Swaminarayan as the final manifestation of God....

 and is considered the basis of the faith.

The Shikshapatri was written in Vadtal

Vadtal

Vadtal is a small village in the Kheda district of Gujarat, IndiaIt is a location of famous Swaminarayan's temple. "Gomti" is a lake in Vadtal....

 on February 11, 1826. It is a dharma

Dharma

Dharma means Law or Natural Law and is a concept of central importance in Indian philosophy and religion. In the context of Hinduism, it refers to one's personal obligations, calling and duties, and a Hindu's dharma is affected by the person's age, caste, class, occupation, and gender...

 text, providing detailed instructions on how to live.

Summary of teaching

The Gazeteer of the Bombay Presidency

Bombay Presidency

The Bombay Presidency was a province of British India. It was established in the 17th century as a trading post for the English East India Company, but later grew to encompass much of western and central India, as well as parts of post-partition Pakistan and the Arabian Peninsula.At its greatest...

 summarised the teachings of the Shiskshapatri as:

The book of precepts strictly prohibits the destruction of animal life; promiscuous intercourse with the other sex; use of animal food and intoxicant liquors and drugs on any occasion, suicide, theft and robbery; false accusation against a fellow man; blasphemy; company of atheists and heretics, and other practices which might counteract the effect of the founder's teaching.

Governor Sir John Malcolm

On February 26, 1830 an historic meeting took place between Swaminarayan and Sir John Malcolm

John Malcolm

Major-general Sir John Malcolm was a Scottish soldier, statesman, and historian-Early life:Born at Burnfoot, Dumfriesshire, Malcolm was the son of George Malcolm, a gentleman farmer of Eskdale and Burnfoot. Jock, as he was then known, was one of the four Malcolm brothers who attained knighthoods...

, the then Governor

Governor

A governor is a governing official, usually the executive of a non-sovereign level of government, ranking under the head of state...

 of Bombay

Bombay State

The Bombay State was a state of India, dissolved with the formation of Maharashtra and Gujarat states on May 1, 1960.-History:During British rule, portions of the western coast of India under direct British rule were part of the Bombay Presidency...

. At this meeting, Swaminarayan presented a Shikshapatri to Sir John Malcolm. This copy is now housed at the Bodleian Library

Bodleian Library

The Bodleian Library , the main research library of the University of Oxford, is one of the oldest libraries in Europe, and in Britain is second in size only to the British Library...

 of the University of Oxford

University of Oxford

The University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...

.

Languages

Swaminarayan instructed Nityanand Swami

Nityanand Swami (Swaminarayan)

Nityanand Swami born as Dinmani Sharma, was one of the senior Paramhansa’s initiated by Swaminarayan. He was given the name Nityanand as a reflection of his lasting joyful persona. Prior to his initiation, he had already established an impressive knowledge base through his association with great...

 to translate Shikshapatri from Sanskrit into Gujarati

Gujarati language

Gujarati is an Indo-Aryan language, and part of the greater Indo-European language family. It is derived from a language called Old Gujarati which is the ancestor language of the modern Gujarati and Rajasthani languages...

http://gopinathji.com/shikshapatri/00000.html. It has since been translated numerous times into other languages. It has been translated to Bengali, Gujaratihttp://gopinathji.com/shikshapatri/00000.html, Hindi, Marathi, Tamil, Telugu, Udiya, Urdu, Vraj, Afrikaans, Arabic, Chinese, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Italian, Modern Hebrew, North Sotho, Portuguese, Russian, South Sotho, Spanish, Swahili, Xhosa, and Zulu,

External links

• An English translation of the Shikshapatri with further analysis - Swaminarayan Sampraday
• English version of the Shikshapatri with images
• BAPS - Pictorial Shikshapatri for Children
• Digital Shikshapatri Provides a wide variety of online resources which set the Shikshapatri in its historical, cultural and religious context - The oldest copy of the Shikshapatri in the world today is shown, in digital form.
• http://gopinathji.com/shikshapatri/00000.html provides a shikshaparti in Gujarati by Gadhada Swaminarayan temple.
• http://www.bhujmandir.org/library/scriptures/