Dada Lekhraj
Lekhraj Khubchand Kirpalani (Brahma Baba) | |
---|---|
Personal | |
Born | 15 December 1876 |
Died | 18 January 1969 | (aged 92)
Religion | Hindu spiritualist, Brahma Kumaris |
Nationality | Indian |
Other names | Prajapita Brahma, Brahma Baba |
Lekhraj Khubchand Kirpalani (15 December 1876 – 18 January 1969), also known as Dada Lekhraj, was an Indian
Life
Lekhraj Kirpalani was born in a
Om Mandali
In 1936, Lekhraj established a spiritual organisation called Om Mandali. Originally a follower of the
In 1937, Lekhraj named some of the members of his satsang as a managing committee, and transferred his fortune to the committee. This committee, known as Om Mandali, was the nucleus of the Brahma Kumaris.[2] Several women joined Om Mandali, and contributed their wealth to the association.[8]
The
Some organisations accused
To avoid persecution, legal actions and opposition from family members of his followers, Lekhraj moved the group from Hyderabad to
Several Hindus continued their protests against Om Mandali. Some Hindu members of the Sindh Assembly threatened to resign unless the Om Mandali was finally outlawed. Finally, the Sindh Government used the Criminal Law Amendment Act of 1908 to declare the Om Mandali as an unlawful association.[8] Under further pressure from the Hindu leaders in the Assembly, the Government also ordered the Om Mandali to close and vacate its premises.[14]
After the partition of India, the Brahma Kumaris moved to Mount Abu, Rajasthan in India on 5 May 1950.[15]
Lekhraj died on 18 January 1969, and the Brahma Kumaris subsequently expanded to other countries.[16]
References
- ^ 'Custodians of Purity, An Ethnography of the Brahma Kumaris', Tamasin Ramsay, PhD (2009), Monash University
- ^ ISBN 0-7188-3006-7.
- ISBN 0-7546-0951-0
- ^ The Sindh Story, by K. R. Malkani. Karachi, Allied Publishers Private Limited, 1984.
- ^ Adi Dev, by Jagdish Chander Hassija, Third Edition, Brahma Kumaris Information Services, 2003.
- .
- ^ Peace & Purity: the Story of the Brahma Kumaris, Liz Hodgkinson. Page 58
- ^ ISBN 0-7069-2563-7.
- ^ ISBN 1-55874-962-4.
- ^ Chryssides, George D. (2001). Historical Dictionary of New Religious Movements. Scarecrow Press. pp. 35–36.
- ISBN 978-0-304-35592-1.
'sex is an extreme expression of 'body-consciousness' and also leads to the other vices', probably stems in part from the origins of the movement in the social conditions of the 1930s India when women had to submit to their husbands.
- ^ Radhe, Brahma-Kumari (1939). Is this justice?: Being an account of the founding of the Om Mandli & the Om Nivas and their suppression, by application of the Criminal Law Amendment Act of 1908. Pharmacy Printing Press. pp. 35–36.
- ISBN 978-0-415-26707-6.
The call for women brahmins (i.e. kumaris or 'daughters') to remain celibate or chaste in marriage inverted prevailing social expectations that such renunciation was proper only for men and that the disposal of women's sexuality should remain with their fathers and husbands. The 'Anti-Om Mandali Committee' formed by outraged male family members violently persecuted Brahma Baba's group, prompting their flight to Karachi and withdrawal from society. Intense world rejection gradually eased after partition in 1947, when the BKs moved from Pakistan to Mt. Abu.
- ^ Coupland, Reginald (1944). The Indian Problem: Report on the Constitutional Problem in India. Oxford University Press.
- ^ Chander, B. K. Jagdish (1981). Adi Dev: The first man. B.K. Raja Yoga Center for the Brahma Kumaris World Spiritual University.
- ISBN 0-7546-3410-8.
Further reading
- Chander, B. K. Jagdish (1984). A Brief Biography of Brahma Baba. Brahma Kumaris World Spiritual University.
- Radhe, Om (1937). Is this Justice?. Pharmacy Press, ltd.