The Desh Vibhag Lekh is a document written by Swaminarayan in 1827 establishing the division of the Swaminarayan Sampradaya into two dioceses by territory of Ahmedabad and Vadtal.[1] This document is highly regarded by the two diocese as it establishes Acharyas as the successors to Swaminarayan. Groups that regard sadhus over acharyas downplay the importance of the Lekh as an administrative document. [2]
It was dictated by Sahajanand Swami himself and written by Sadhu Shukmuni in the Darbar of Khachar Dada Ebhal at Gadhada in the year 1826. It was translated into English by Geo. P Taylor in 1903.[3] It has been accepted as such by the Bombay High Court as valid document.[1]
The Lekh has 30 articles, which give the following directions:
This document has been produced in the Indian Courts of Justice, time and again when individuals have challenged the Acharyas’ rightful place as Spiritual Leaders and Trustees of Swaminarayan’s Sampraday and all its assets. Some organisations have been instructed by the Indian judiciary to remove the word Swaminarayan from their name, because they cannot justify their philosophies to be the same as Sahajanand Swami’s.
To further protect Swaminarayan’s Sampraday, the Indian courts of justice have devised management schemes, appointing the Acharyas as Trustees of their respective Gadi, further recognising the position of the Acharyas, as bona fide successors to Sahajanand Swami.[7]
The BAPS sect, founded in 1905 after separating from the Vadtal diocese, does not accept this document in literal interpretation yet does not rejects its validity. The BAPS founders too at one point served the original diocese according to Lekh. BAPS does acknowledge that Swaminarayan "for administrative purpose, He divided His mandirs into two regions and appointed his two adopted sons, the Acharyas, Raghuvirji Maharaj and Ayodhyaprasadji Maharaj to guide the progress." But BAPS maintains that Gunatitanand Swami was the sole successor.[8]