Swami Satyanand was the founder of the Ram Sharan sect. He was born in 1861 CE at Jaggu Ka Mora (now in Pakistan) in a Mohyal Brahmin family. At the age of sixteen he received initiation as a Jaina monk and propagated Jainism throughout Punjab with his impressive lectures.
In 1891, he joined the Arya Samaj and started studying Vedas, Upanishads, and other Hindu knowledge texts.
Swami Satyanand proved a good speaker and for twenty five years delivered spiritual talks based on Arya Samaj views. He also wrote books such as Dayanand Prakasha, Omkar Upasana and Arya Samajic Dharma in order to propagate the Arya Samaj faith.I
In spite of these activities, he did not experience complete inner peace. So, in 1925 CE, he went to Dalhousie (in the Himalayas) to meditate, and on July 7, 1925 CE, he experienced an inner vision and spiritual oneness with God.
He encouraged his followers to chant “Ram nama” (name of Bhagavan). Thus in 1928, the Ram Sharnam sect was founded.
Of the many books he wrote, Amritvani is universally popular and is widely recited because of its power to engender devotion to Rama. There are millions of disciples of this sect in Punjab, Haryana, Delhi and Uttar Pradesh. The main center of the sect is in New Delhi.