He was born Mukund Das to Anandram and Radhabai in Amrapur village, Gujarat in 1758. When children of his age group were indulging in sports, and games Mukund sat quietly in seclusion with closed eyes. Mukund Das learned Vedas, scriptures and music from two teachers, Jaduram and Hathiram, who scholars in literature and fine arts. Muktanand Swami was also regarded as the incarnation of Naradji. Muktanand Swami was considered the principal disciple of Ramanand Swami. He mastered the eight folded yogic state.
In Loj, Shukhanand Swami a fellow swami and devotee residing at the hermitage found a young swami with divine aura bathing by a well near the village. Impressed by the sight of the divine by the young brahmachari to hermitage and introduced him to Muktanand Swami. Muktanand Swami found himself drawn towards the divine presence of the youthful saint and coming forward offered pranams. On a mutual introduction, Muktanand Swami gathered that the visitor was the son of DharmaDev and BhaktiDevi, and had spent seven years in the seclusion of the mountains and forests. His present name was Varniraj Nilkanth Varni. Nilkanth Varni stayed on in Loj to meet Ramanand Swami who was in Bhuj at that time. Satsang gives great importance to Muktanand Swami, because the foundation of this great sect was laid by him by closing interactive window between hermitage and neighbour, and separated women from the gents in Satsang Sabha on instance from Nilkanth Varni. He, though in age was senior to Nilkanth Varni, but in succession to Ramanand Swami he proposed Sahajanand Swami as the successive preceptor and head of the sect. Thus Muktanand Swami lived under the auspices of Sahajanand Swami who always respected him like a Guru. Currently, Muktanand Swami's lineage continues with the great saint, HDH Sadguru Shastri Shri Ghanshyamprakashdasji Swami - Shree Swaminarayan Mandir Loyadham. The lineage is as follows: 1) Swaminarayan 2) Sadguru Muktanand Swami 3) Sadguru Adharanand Swami 4) Sadguru Haripriyadasji Swami 5) Sadguru Vaikunthcharandasji Swami 6) Sadguru Narayanswarupdasji Swami 7) Sadguru Nandkishordasji Swami and today this illustrious spiritual tradition of one of Swaminarayan's elite saints is being edified by HDH Sadguru Shastri Shri Ghanshyamprakashdasji Swami.
Works
Muktanand Swami was instrumentalist and vocalist besides being a saint. He was equally at ease in dancing. Swaminarayan called him 'the mother of Satsang' because of his motherly love, tolerance and smooth interaction. He chose Muktanand Swami to represent the Swaminarayan Sampradaya at the Gathering of Vadodara, where the latter was victorious. Muktanand Swami has written a lot of poetry. He composed poems spontaneously. Mukund Bavani is a collection of his devotional poetry. Muktanand Kavya is the collection of his works. The Aarti that is sung in all Shri Swaminarayan Temple's, Jay Sadguru Swami was written by Muktanand Swami in praise of Shri Hari or Swaminarayan. He has also written books on several subjects. List of Muktanand Kavya
