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{{Short description|Indian guru}}
{{Infobox Person
{{EngvarB|date=October 2013}}
| name = Dada Lekhraj
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2024}}
| image =
{{Infobox religious biography
| image_size =
| name = Lekhraj Khubchand Kirpalani (Brahma Baba)
| caption =
| birth_name = Lekhraj Khubchand Kripalani | image = File:Lekhraj Kripalani.jpg
| religion = Hindu ], ]
| birth_date = ]
| alias = Prajapita Brahma, Brahma Baba
| birth_place =
| birth_date = 15 December 1876
| death_date = ], ]
| birth_place = ], ]
| death_place = {{flagicon|India}} ]
| nationality = Indian
| other_names = Brahma Baba and Dada Lekhraj
| death_date = {{Death date and age|df=yes|1969|01|18|1876|12|15}}
| known_for = Founder of ]
| death_place = ], ], India
| occupation = Businessman, Spiritual leader
}} }}
'''Lekhraj Khubchand Kripalani''' (also transliterated as Kirpilani), (]-], ])<ref name="Stephen_Hunt_Alternative">{{cite book
| last = Hunt
| first = Stephen J.
| title = Alternative Religions: A Sociological Introduction
| year = 2003
| publisher = Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.
| isbn = 0754634108
| pages = 120
}}</ref>, also known as Bhai or '''Dada Lekhraj''', was the founder of the ] movement. He is also revered as '''] Baba''' among his followers.


'''Lekhraj Khubchand Kirpalani''' (15 December 1876 – 18 January 1969), also known as '''Dada Lekhraj''', was an Indian ] who was the founder of the ].
==Biography==
Originally from ], Kripalani became a rich man through dealing in ]s.<ref name="Stephen_Hunt_Alternative"/> His business was based in Calcutta, and centered around supplying diamonds and jewels to royal families.<ref name="Liz_Hodgkinson_Peace">{{cite book
| last = Hodgkinson
| first = Liz
| title = Peace and Purity: The Story of the Brahma Kumaris a Spiritual Revolution
| year = 2002
| publisher = HCI
| isbn = 1558749624
| pages = 2-29
}}</ref>


== Life ==
In his late sixties, Kripalani reportedly had ], which he interpreted as instructions from a ].<ref name="Elizabeth_Abbott_Celibacy">{{cite book
| last = Abbott
| first = Elizabeth
| title = A History of Celibacy
| year = 2001
| publisher = James Clarke & Co.
| isbn = 0718830067
| pages = 172-174
}}</ref> In 1932, Kripalani retired from his business in ], returned to Hyderabad in Sindh and turned to spirituality. A follower of the ] ] sect<ref>The Brahma Kumaris as a 'reflexive Tradition': Responding to late modernity by Dr John Walliss, 2002, ISBN 0754609510</ref> and member of the exogamous Bhaiband community,<ref>The Sindh Story, by K. R. Malkani. Karachi, Allied Publishers Private Limited, 1984.</ref> He is said to have had 12 ]<ref>Adi Dev, by Jagdish Chander Hassij, Third Edition, Brahma Kumaris Information Services, 2003.</ref> and started preaching or conducted '']s'' of his own, which attracted 100s people, most of them wealthy women from his community. Some of his followers later came to believe that a ] (]) entered in his body and spoke through him at some point after 1949.<ref>{{cite journal
| last = Walliss
| first = John
| month = October
| year = 1999
| title = From World Rejection to Ambivalence: the Development of Millenarianism in the Brahma Kumaris
| journal = Journal of Contemporary Religion
| volume = 14
| issue = 3
| pages = 375-85
}}</ref><ref>{{cite web
|url=http://www.brahmakumaris.com/aboutus/descentofgod.htm
|title=The Divine Descent of God
|publisher=Prajapita rahma Kumaris Ishawariya Vishwa Vidyalaya
|accessdate=2007-07-18
}}</ref>


Lekhraj Kirpalani was born in a ] in 1876.<ref>'Custodians of Purity, An Ethnography of the Brahma Kumaris', Tamasin Ramsay, PhD (2009), Monash University</ref> In his fifties, Kirpalani reported having ] and retired, returning to Hyderabad and turning to spirituality.<ref name="Elizabeth_Abbott_Celibacy">{{cite book
===Om Mandali===
| last = Abbott
In 1937, Kripalani named at first 8 then 17 of his followers as a managing committee including his wife and daughter, and reportedly transferred his fortune to the committee although a formal trust was not established until ] ].<ref name="Elizabeth_Abbott_Celibacy"/> Several women joined Om Mandali, and contributed their wealth to the association. Dada Lekhraj preached ] to his followers .<ref name="Hardayal_Hardy_Struggles">{{cite book
| first = Elizabeth
| last = Hardy
| title = A History of Celibacy
| first = Hardayal
| year = 2001
| title = Struggles and Sorrows: The Personal Testimony of a Chief Justice
| publisher = James Clarke & Co.
| year = 1984
| isbn = 0-7188-3006-7
| publisher = Vikas Publishing House
| pages = 172–174
| isbn = 0706925637
}}</ref>
| pages = 37-39
}}</ref>


=== Om Mandali ===
The ] reacted unfavorably to Lekhraj's movement, as many young Sindhi women attended his ], and the movement involved a vow of ]. Kripalani had described sex as "poison", "criminal assault", and "the gateway to hell".<ref>{{cite book
{{Main|Brahma Kumaris}}
| last = Chryssides
| first = George D.
| title = Historical Dictionary of New Religious Movements
| year = 2001
| publisher = Scarecrow Press
| pages = 35-36
}}</ref> The main complaint was that Om Mandli was preaching celibacy to unmarried girls and married women.<ref>{{cite book
| last = Barrett
| first = David V
| title = The New Believers: A Survey of Sects, Cults and Alternative Religions
| year = 2001
| publisher = Cassell & Co.
| isbn = 978-0304355921
| quote = 'sex is an expression of 'body-consciousness' and 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.
}}</ref><ref name="Liz_Hodgkinson_Peace"/>


In 1936, Lekhraj established a spiritual organisation called Om Mandali. Originally a follower of the ] ] sect<ref>The Brahma Kumaris as a 'reflexive Tradition': Responding to late modernity by Dr John Walliss, 2002, {{ISBN|0-7546-0951-0}}</ref> and member of the exogamous ] community,<ref>The Sindh Story, by K. R. Malkani. Karachi, Allied Publishers Private Limited, 1984.</ref> he is said to have had 12 ]<ref>Adi Dev, by Jagdish Chander Hassija, Third Edition, Brahma Kumaris Information Services, 2003.</ref> but started preaching or conducting his own '']s'' which, by 1936, had attracted around 300 people from his community, many of them being wealthy. Once a relative reported that a spiritual being (], the supreme soul) entered in his body and spoke through him.<ref>{{cite journal | doi=10.1080/13537909908580876 | last=Walliss | first=John | date=October 1999 | title=From World Rejection to Ambivalence: the Development of Millenarianism in the Brahma Kumaris | journal=Journal of Contemporary Religion | volume=14 | issue=3 | pages=375–385 }}</ref> Since then, Lekhraj has been regarded by the Brahma Baba as a medium of God, and as such, speaking channeled messages of high importance within the religious movement's belief system.<ref>Peace & Purity: the Story of the Brahma Kumaris, Liz Hodgkinson. Page 58</ref>
Organizations like the ] and ] denounced Om Mandali as disturber of family peace. Some of the Brahma Kumari wives were mistreated by their families, and Kripalani was accused of sorcery and lechery.<ref name="Elizabeth_Abbott_Celibacy"/> He was also accused of forming a cult and controlling his community through the art of ]; children were removed from his school.<ref>{{cite book
| last = Radhe
| first = Brahma-Kumari
| title = 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
| year = 1939
| publisher = Pharmacy Printing Press
| pages = 35-36
}}</ref>


In 1937, Lekhraj named some of the members of his ] as a managing committee, and transferred his fortune to the committee. This committee, known as ''Om Mandali'', was the nucleus of the Brahma Kumaris.<ref name="Elizabeth_Abbott_Celibacy" /> Several women joined Om Mandali, and contributed their wealth to the association.<ref name="Hardayal_Hardy_Struggles">{{cite book
To avoid ], legal actions and opposition from family members of his followers, Kripalani moved his followers from Hyderabad to ], where they settled in a highly structured ashram. The ] Anti-Om Mandli Committee that had opposed the group in Hyderabad followed them.<ref>{{cite book
| last=Hardy | first=Hardayal | title=Struggles and Sorrows: The Personal Testimony of a Chief Justice | year=1984 | publisher=Vikas Publishing House | isbn=0-7069-2563-7 | pages=37–39 }}</ref>
| last = Howell
| first = Julia Day
| editor = Peter Clarke
| title = Encyclopedia of New Religious Movements
| year = 2005
| publisher = Routledge
| isbn = 978-0415267076
| pages = 63-64
| quote = 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
}}</ref> On ] ], the mothers of two girls aged 12 and 13 filed an application against Om Mandali, in the Court of the Additional Magistrate in Karachi. The women, from Hyderabad, stated that their daughters were wrongfully being detained at the Om Mandali in ].<ref name="Liz_Hodgkinson_Peace"/> The court ordered the girls to be sent to their mothers. Om Radhe of the Om Mandali appealed against the decision in the High Court, where the decision was upheld. Later, Hari's parents were persuaded to let their daughter stay at the Om Mandali.


The ] reacted unfavourably to Lekhraj's movement due to the group's philosophy that advocated women to be less submissive to their husbands, going against that strong cultural aspect at the time in India, and also preached chastity.<ref name="Liz_Hodgkinson_Peace">{{cite book | last=Hodgkinson | first=Liz | title=Peace and Purity: The Story of the Brahma Kumaris a Spiritual Revolution | year=2002 | publisher=HCI | isbn=1-55874-962-4 | pages=2–29 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book | last=Chryssides | first=George D. | title=Historical Dictionary of New Religious Movements | year=2001 | publisher=Scarecrow Press | pages=35–36 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book | last=Barrett | first=David V. | title=The New Believers: A Survey of Sects, Cults and Alternative Religions | year=2001 | publisher=Cassell & Co. | isbn=978-0-304-35592-1 | quote='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. | url-access=registration | url=https://archive.org/details/newbelieverssurv00barr }}</ref>
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.<ref name="Hardayal_Hardy_Struggles"/> Under further pressure from the Hindu leaders in the Assembly, the Government also ordered the Om Mandali to close and vacate its premises.<ref>{{cite book
| last = Coupland
| first = Reginald
| title = The Indian Problem: Report on the Constitutional Problem in India
| year = 1944
| publisher = Oxford University Press
}}</ref> The Om Mandali successfully appealed against the Government order in the court.


Some organisations accused ] of being a disturber of family's personal matter. Some of the Brahma Kumaris wives were mistreated by their families, and Lekhraj was accused of sorcery and lechery.<ref name="Elizabeth_Abbott_Celibacy" /> He was also accused of forming a cult and controlling his community through the art of ].<ref name="Om_Radhe">{{cite book | last=Radhe | first=Brahma-Kumari | title=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 | year=1939 | publisher=Pharmacy Printing Press | pages=35–36 }}</ref>
===Mount Abu===
After the ], the Brahma Kumaris moved to ] in India in April, 1950.<ref>{{cite book
| last = Chander
| first = B. K Jagdish
| title = Adi Dev: The first man
| year = 1981
| publisher = B.K. Raja Yoga Center for the Brahma Kumaris World Spiritual University
}}</ref> After his death in 1969, his followers expanded the movement to other countries.<ref name="Stephen_Hunt_Alternative"/>. Lekhraj Kripalani did not claim to be a ] or ],<ref name="Stephen_Hunt_Alternative"/> but the members of the Om Mandali believed that Lekhraj Kripalani was Prajapati God ].<ref name="Liz_Hodgkinson_Peace"/><ref name="Om Radhe"/>


To avoid persecution, legal actions and opposition from family members of his followers, Lekhraj moved the group from Hyderabad to ], where they settled in a highly structured ashram. The ] anti-Om Mandli Committee that had opposed the group in Hyderabad followed them.<ref>{{cite book | last=Howell | first=Julia Day | editor=Peter Clarke | title=Encyclopedia of New Religious Movements | year=2005 | publisher=Routledge | isbn=978-0-415-26707-6 | pages=63–64 | quote=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. }}</ref> On 18 January 1939, the mothers of two girls aged 12 and 13 filed an application against Om Mandali, in the Court of the Additional Magistrate in Karachi. The women, from Hyderabad, stated that their daughters were wrongfully being detained at the Om Mandali in ].<ref name="Liz_Hodgkinson_Peace" /> The court ordered the girls to be sent to their mothers. Om Radhe of the Om Mandali appealed against the decision in the High Court, where the decision was upheld. Later, Hari's parents were persuaded to let their daughter stay at the Om Mandali.
==Further reading==

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.<ref name="Hardayal_Hardy_Struggles" /> Under further pressure from the Hindu leaders in the Assembly, the Government also ordered the Om Mandali to close and vacate its premises.<ref>{{cite book | last=Coupland | first=Reginald | title=The Indian Problem: Report on the Constitutional Problem in India | url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.137042 | year=1944 | publisher=Oxford University Press }}</ref>

After the ], the Brahma Kumaris moved to ], Rajasthan in India on 5 May 1950.<ref>{{cite book | last=Chander | first=B. K. Jagdish | title=Adi Dev: The first man | url=https://archive.org/details/adidevfirstman00jagd | url-access=registration | year=1981 | publisher=B.K. Raja Yoga Center for the Brahma Kumaris World Spiritual University }}</ref>

Lekhraj died on 18 January 1969, and the Brahma Kumaris subsequently expanded to other countries.<ref name="Stephen_Hunt_Alternative">{{cite book | last=Hunt | first=Stephen J. | title=Alternative Religions: A Sociological Introduction | year=2003 | publisher=Ashgate | isbn=0-7546-3410-8 | pages=120 }}</ref>

== References ==
{{Reflist|2}}

== Further reading ==
* {{cite book * {{cite book
| last = Chander | last = Chander
| first = B. K. Jagdish | first = B. K. Jagdish
| title = A Brief Biography of Brahma Baba | title = A Brief Biography of Brahma Baba
| year = 1984 | year = 1984
| publisher = Brahma Kumaris World Spiritual University | publisher = Brahma Kumaris World Spiritual University
}} }}
* {{cite book
| last = Radhe
| first = Om
| title = Is this Justice?
| year = 1937
| publisher = Pharmacy Press, ltd
}}


{{Authority control}}
==References==
{{reflist|2}}


{{DEFAULTSORT:Lekhraj}}
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Latest revision as of 15:33, 20 May 2024

Indian guru

Lekhraj Khubchand Kirpalani (Brahma Baba)
Personal life
Born15 December 1876
Hyderabad, Sindh, British Raj
Died18 January 1969(1969-01-18) (aged 92)
Mount Abu, Rajasthan, India
NationalityIndian
Other namesPrajapita Brahma, Brahma Baba
Religious life
ReligionHindu spiritualist, Brahma Kumaris

Lekhraj Khubchand Kirpalani (15 December 1876 – 18 January 1969), also known as Dada Lekhraj, was an Indian guru who was the founder of the Brahma Kumaris.

Life

Lekhraj Kirpalani was born in a Hyderabad, Sindh in 1876. In his fifties, Kirpalani reported having visions and retired, returning to Hyderabad and turning to spirituality.

Om Mandali

Main article: Brahma Kumaris

In 1936, Lekhraj established a spiritual organisation called Om Mandali. Originally a follower of the Vaishnavite Vallabhacharya sect and member of the exogamous Bhaiband community, he is said to have had 12 gurus but started preaching or conducting his own satsangs which, by 1936, had attracted around 300 people from his community, many of them being wealthy. Once a relative reported that a spiritual being (Shiv, the supreme soul) entered in his body and spoke through him. Since then, Lekhraj has been regarded by the Brahma Baba as a medium of God, and as such, speaking channeled messages of high importance within the religious movement's belief system.

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. Several women joined Om Mandali, and contributed their wealth to the association.

The Sindhi community reacted unfavourably to Lekhraj's movement due to the group's philosophy that advocated women to be less submissive to their husbands, going against that strong cultural aspect at the time in India, and also preached chastity.

Some organisations accused Om Mandali of being a disturber of family's personal matter. Some of the Brahma Kumaris wives were mistreated by their families, and Lekhraj was accused of sorcery and lechery. He was also accused of forming a cult and controlling his community through the art of hypnotism.

To avoid persecution, legal actions and opposition from family members of his followers, Lekhraj moved the group from Hyderabad to Karachi, where they settled in a highly structured ashram. The Bhaibund anti-Om Mandli Committee that had opposed the group in Hyderabad followed them. On 18 January 1939, the mothers of two girls aged 12 and 13 filed an application against Om Mandali, in the Court of the Additional Magistrate in Karachi. The women, from Hyderabad, stated that their daughters were wrongfully being detained at the Om Mandali in Karachi. The court ordered the girls to be sent to their mothers. Om Radhe of the Om Mandali appealed against the decision in the High Court, where the decision was upheld. Later, Hari's parents were persuaded to let their daughter stay at the Om Mandali.

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. Under further pressure from the Hindu leaders in the Assembly, the Government also ordered the Om Mandali to close and vacate its premises.

After the partition of India, the Brahma Kumaris moved to Mount Abu, Rajasthan in India on 5 May 1950.

Lekhraj died on 18 January 1969, and the Brahma Kumaris subsequently expanded to other countries.

References

  1. 'Custodians of Purity, An Ethnography of the Brahma Kumaris', Tamasin Ramsay, PhD (2009), Monash University
  2. ^ Abbott, Elizabeth (2001). A History of Celibacy. James Clarke & Co. pp. 172–174. ISBN 0-7188-3006-7.
  3. The Brahma Kumaris as a 'reflexive Tradition': Responding to late modernity by Dr John Walliss, 2002, ISBN 0-7546-0951-0
  4. The Sindh Story, by K. R. Malkani. Karachi, Allied Publishers Private Limited, 1984.
  5. Adi Dev, by Jagdish Chander Hassija, Third Edition, Brahma Kumaris Information Services, 2003.
  6. Walliss, John (October 1999). "From World Rejection to Ambivalence: the Development of Millenarianism in the Brahma Kumaris". Journal of Contemporary Religion. 14 (3): 375–385. doi:10.1080/13537909908580876.
  7. Peace & Purity: the Story of the Brahma Kumaris, Liz Hodgkinson. Page 58
  8. ^ Hardy, Hardayal (1984). Struggles and Sorrows: The Personal Testimony of a Chief Justice. Vikas Publishing House. pp. 37–39. ISBN 0-7069-2563-7.
  9. ^ Hodgkinson, Liz (2002). Peace and Purity: The Story of the Brahma Kumaris a Spiritual Revolution. HCI. pp. 2–29. ISBN 1-55874-962-4.
  10. Chryssides, George D. (2001). Historical Dictionary of New Religious Movements. Scarecrow Press. pp. 35–36.
  11. Barrett, David V. (2001). The New Believers: A Survey of Sects, Cults and Alternative Religions. Cassell & Co. 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.
  12. 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.
  13. Howell, Julia Day (2005). Peter Clarke (ed.). Encyclopedia of New Religious Movements. Routledge. pp. 63–64. 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.
  14. Coupland, Reginald (1944). The Indian Problem: Report on the Constitutional Problem in India. Oxford University Press.
  15. Chander, B. K. Jagdish (1981). Adi Dev: The first man. B.K. Raja Yoga Center for the Brahma Kumaris World Spiritual University.
  16. Hunt, Stephen J. (2003). Alternative Religions: A Sociological Introduction. Ashgate. p. 120. 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.
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