Shastriji Maharaj, Indian spiritual leader, founded BAPS (d. 1951)
Shastriji Maharaj (31 January 1865 – 10 May 1951), born Dungar Patel: 3 and ordained Shastri Yagnapurushdas, was a swami of the Swaminarayan Sampradaya and founder of the Bochasanwasi Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha (BAPS).: 22 Several branches accept him as the third spiritual successor of Swaminarayan in the lineage of Aksharbrahma Gurus through whom Swaminarayan manifests, which began with Gunatitanand Swami.: 61–62 : 329–330 Born in a family of farmers in central Gujarat, India, he became a swami within the Vadtal diocese of the Swaminarayan Sampradaya at the age of 17 where he was given the name Yagnapurushdas Swami.: 35 The prefix Shastri was later added in recognition of his eminent scholarship in Sanskrit and the Hindu scriptures.: 40 : 22 He established BAPS after a doctrinal split from the Vadtal diocese of the Swaminarayan Sampradaya.: 54 Shastriji Maharaj is credited with establishing BAPS on 5 June 1907 CE in Bochasan, Gujarat to propagate the Akshar-Purushottam Upasana (worship of Akshar (guru) and Purushottam (Swaminarayan)), which according to him had been revealed by Swaminarayan and was passed on to him from his own guru, Bhagatji Maharaj. As staunch proponent of this mode of worship, he consecrated the sacred images of Swaminarayan (as a manifestation of Purushottam) and Gunatitanand Swami (as a manifestation of Akshar) in the central shrines of major mandirs in the towns of Bochasan, Sarangpur, Atladara (now an area of Vadodara), Gondal, and Gadhada in Gujarat, India.: 365 In the early 1950s, having successfully laid the foundations of BAPS, he appointed Pramukh Swami Maharaj as its administrative head to serve under Yogiji Maharaj, whom he appointed as his spiritual successor.: 60