Our Journey

Dada Lekhraj was the son of a schoolmaster. Although from a middle class family, with honesty and hard work he rose to become one of the richest men in India. He was an ordinary person with special qualities. As Dada was nearing sixty, something drastically changed his entire lifestyle. He had a series of divine visions that gave his life a 180 degree turn. He experienced himself as a point of light, a pure soul afloat in an ocean of bliss. He then had a few revelations – a vision of the four-armed deity Vishnu, Incorporeal God Shiva (the Supreme Soul as a Point of Light), a terrifying vision of destruction of the present world and then a glimpse of the new World (Heaven). These took him beyond all consciousness of his body.

Subsequent to the revelations and having heard the secret voice of God, Dada started sharing the knowledge with his friends and relatives. They began to lead pure lives; thus started a unique spiritual gathering, which was named Om Mandali. This community started chanting “Om” during their gatherings. Everyone immediately felt the charged vibrations of warmth, love, bliss and power. In October 1937, the institution Prajapita Brahma Kumaris Ishwariya Vishwa Vidyalaya was formally established.

A spiritual trust was constituted of a committee of eight young women with Om Radhe as the head. Om Radhe took charge of administering the institution and became the leading teacher. Dada, now called Prajapita Brahma, gave away the entirety of his wealth and property to the trust, and himself remained an advisor.

A group of the community was against the Om Mandali and at any cost wanted to cease its operations. This group, called the Anti Om-Mandali, picketed Om Mandali’s premises; prevented members from entering. This caused considerable upheaval in the community. The crowd went completely out of control, so much so that they set fire to the house from outside, hurling torches through windows from all sides. The picketing resulted in legal criminal proceedings. Om Mandali then decided to leave Hyderabad and relocated its activities to Karachi. Later, the government appointed a tribunal to inquire into the activities of Om Mandali. They were declared innocent by the tribunal but the legal and social difficulties they faced served to strengthen their resolve. The Anti-Om Mandali even attempted to assassinate the founding father- Brahma Baba, but the attempt was unsuccessful.

The members of the institution, in Karachi (now in Pakistan) were involved in intense meditation and deep spiritual study. They were around 300 in number; men, women and children, with their age spanning from 8 to 60+ years. The effort was to completely understand the self and the true nature of oneself. They intensely practiced soul-consciousness. There were very deep realizations about God and the relationship between soul and Supreme Soul. Through the practice of the Godly knowledge and meditation, they became a complete embodiment of purity, peace and bliss. Much after the partition, in 1950 on completion of 14 years in total isolation, the institution shifted to India. It selected Mount Abu suitable for deep meditation experiences and for imparting these teachings to others.

After having empowered themselves with deep self-realization and God-realization, the young, teenaged Brahma Kumari sisters in groups of one or two, with very little knowledge about the world and resourses in hand but full of the wealth of innocence, Godly experience and purity, set out to different parts of India to convey the divine Godly message. They first went to Delhi where a center was opened in 1952-53. They also went to Kanpur, Lucknow and, later to Meerut. A little later, centers were established at Saharanpur, Amritsar, Patiala, Ambala, Bangalore, Bombay, Delhi, etc.

In 1954, a delegation, consisting of a few Sisters and Brothers went to Japan to participate in the World Religious Conference. It also imparted knowledge to many in Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and other countries on their way back. Thus, the seed for the Godly service outside India was sown. By the end of 1959, there were nineteen centres that can rightly be called the budding saplings of this institution.

This period was witness to the ascension of two extraordinary great souls. One being Om Radhe, lovingly called ‘Mamma’, the first Administrative Head of the Brahma Kumaris. She left her mortal coil and attained ascension on June 24, 1965. Irrespective of her mortal young age, she served and sustained the organization with whole-hearted devotion and dedication and was rightly respected by everyone as the ‘World-Mother’ – Mateshwari Jagdamba Saraswati.

On 18 January 1969, Prajapita Brahma achieved the final stage of perfection. Becoming the first complete man – all virtuous and fully in the image of God and with the authority of God. Dadi Prakashmani was appointed the Chief Administrative Head of the Brahma Kumaris. Her boundless enthusiasm, generosity and a sharp vision into the future guided the organization to its global growth. By 1969, there were 125 centres across the globe that saw many adopting Raja Yoga as a way of living.

The Prajapita Brahma Kumaris Ishwariya Vishwa Vidyalaya is an institution that is guided and directly administered by the Supreme Soul Himself. There have been numerous spiritual organisations that have at some point of time declined once the founder has left for his heavenly abode. The Brahma Kumaris is unique in that it has only grown multifold and spread far and wide after its founder has left his mortal coil.

In April 1974, Dadi Janki through her intensive meditation drove deep spiritual roots into the United Kingdom. Today, London is the international Headquarters of this Spiritual University. Centres were started in all the continents of the world. The Brahma Kumaris institution became a member of the non-governmental organizations of the United Nations. In 1978, Scientists examined the brain wave pattern of Dadi Janki. She was declared, ‘the most stable mind in the world’.