His Holiness Mahant Swami Maharaj wrote the ‘Satsang Diksha’ scripture in Gujarati and has expressed his wish to make it available for all so that everyone can benefit from its message and guidance.
The original Gujarati text was first rendered into Sanskrit. Thereafter it has been translated into Hindi, English, Marathi, Punjabi, Swahili and seven European languages: French, Portuguese, Spanish, Italian, German, Polish and Russian. Translations into other languages are in progress and will help devotees worldwide.
For the benefit of the visually challenged, two braille versions have been prepared.
One is by the respected CNIB Foundation (formerly known as Canadian National Institute for the Blind) in Toronto. The Foundation generously and enthusiastically undertook the task to transcribe the scripture into English Braille. The other is by Vision Australia.
The first copies of these historic publications were blessed and inaugurated by His Holiness Mahant Swami Maharaj in Nenpur, Gujarat, India, on Thursday, 3 December 2020.
The BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha sincerely appreciates the wholehearted efforts and support of the CNIB and Vision Australia in making the ‘Satsang Diksha’ scripture available to those with visual difficulties.
Executive Director of the CNIB, Suzanne Decary-van den Broek, said, “CNIB welcomed the opportunity to support BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha in creating an accessible braille version of one of their scriptures. As an organization dedicated to transforming our communities into beacons of accessibility and inclusion, braille remains an essential tool to independence for people who are blind or partially sighted. It opens the door to literacy, access to information, equality, education and employment. While technology can level the playing field for people with sight loss, it isn’t always an appropriate or available option. The scripture is a perfect example of something that should be available for people to access whenever and however they choose.”
The Satsang Diksha in braille printed by CNIB is available through the Centre for Equitable Library Access for registered members who would like to read the scripture. Individuals can also request copies through their local libraries within Canada.