"What I saw of their whole system convinced me that the Swaminarayans are an energetic body, and their sect an advancing one. Without doubt the tendency of their doctrine is towards purity of life, which is supposed to be effected by suppression of the passion and complete devotion to the Supreme Being. In an honest desire to purify the Vaishnava faith, this sect has done and is doing much good."
Sir Monier Williams
Boden Professor of Sanskrit, Oxford
"What did Swaminarayan do? The answer to this historic question in one line is: Shriji Maharaj cleansed Gujarat with the waters of the Saryu and soaked it with divinity. Bhagwan Swaminarayan was the dawning sun of a new era. "
Kavishwar Nanalal
19th century poet of Gujarat
"The work accomplished by Bhagwan Swaminarayan in Gujarat could not and would never have been achieved by the law. "
Mahatma Gandhi
"If Sahajanand Swami had not existed, then we would not have seen the pride of Gujarat that we speak of today. Instead of the morality that is in Gujarat, there would have been dirt. Instead of our hearts rejoicing on hearing the name of Gujarat, we would have been ashamed and would have had to hang our heads in shame if Sahajanad Swami had not been there. The contributions of Sahajanand to morality, nonviolence and virtuousness in Gujarat cannot be said to be of the ordinary. "
Chandravadan Mehta
Gujarati Scholar
"Yet His message had a revolutionary effect on the personal lives and character of thousands of people in a very lawless period. Members of martial and criminal tribes gave up meat and drink; they renounced the use of opium and tobacco, to both of which most of them were very much addicted. "
Pryns Hopkins
British Author
"In spite of his considerable indebtedness to western thought and method, Mahatma Gandhi is perhaps most influenced in his inner-most being by the teachings and activities of the Swaminarayan Sampraday. Most of his thought, activities and even methods of most of the institutions which he has been building up and serving, have the flavor of Swaminarayanism, more than that of any other sect of Hindu Dharma. "
N.A. Thoothi
Gujarati Author
"Sahajanand Swami arrested the irregularities of caste and Dharma from society and propagated the precepts of knowledge and morality. He stopped sinful behavior and suffering. His efforts uplifted the lower classes of Gujarat. Being a Brahmin, a versatile pundit, a staunch Vaishnav, and an ideal Sanyasin, by His life and work He consolidated the salient features of Gujarat’s culture. "
K.M. Munshi
Renowened Legislator, Historian, Thinker, and Writer
"But the genius of Sahajanand Swami was not confined simply to the rigid re-establishment of Hindu worship in virgin integrity – it was also directed against the irregularities off the age and o the recovery of thousands of those unfortunate men to be found throughout Gujarat, whose means of subsistence hitherto were equally lawless and precarious: of His success in this latter respect there is abundant testimony, from the vast hordes who have been reclaimed to honest and industrious pursuits – while the present undisturbed state of the country compared to its condition previously, will speak volumes for Him… "
Henry George Briggs
British Observer
“At a time when Gujarat-Kathiawad was steeped in darkness, with His power, Sahajanand Swami: enlightened infinite hearts, inspired thousands to sacrifice themselves on His commands, subjugated the looting instincts of scores of Kathis and Kolis, reestablished the extinct Brahmacharya ashram, enlightened the ascetic order which had become uncontrolled and wanton, laid down the ideals of self-control for the gurus and acharyas who had lapsed, gave women a well defined status in society and the Sampraday, thus uplifting them…. If incarnations do occur on earth, then He can indubitably be given the title of Avatar.”
Kishorelal Mashruwala
Eminent Gandhian thinker
"In the 19th (sic) century India into which He was born, traditional and moral standards in many cases had been abandoned; crime and violence were common. His teaching was directed to the reversal of these trends. Today we live in a world where violence is all too prevalent and in which many are concerned by the prevailing modern standards. May we not have something to learn from the record of Shree Swaminarayan’s life and faith?"
Sir Charles Cunningham
British Historian