By: BK Brij Mohan 
Source: The Daily Guardian https://epaper.thedailyguardian.com/view/1928/the-daily-guardian%09/15 
Dated: January 18th, 2025

India has a rich history of spiritual leaders who have significantly influenced the country and the world with their teachings and philosophies. An inconspicuous figure among them stands out for what he did. 

Prajapita Brahma founded the Brahma Kumaris, a spiritual organization led by women, which is the largest of its kind in the world. In the 1930s, when women were allowed little education, social space, or individual freedom, this was an unprecedented step.

A wealthy jeweller, Prajapita Brahma had a series of visions that inspired him to retire from his business and create a community to study and practise the principles of a virtuous and meditative life. This was in Hyderabad, Sindh. The community later moved to Karachi and, after Partition, to Mount Abu, where the Brahma Kumaris are headquartered today.

Initially, the members were mostly women and girls, who were drawn to the community by its spiritual teachings, emphasis on virtuous living, and egalitarian practices that did not discriminate against the fair sex – a sharp contrast to the prevailing social milieu. They devoted their time to intense spiritual study, meditation, and self-transformation. 

The community was given the shape of an organization, and Prajapita Brahma entrusted its administration to a committee of women. He also willed his entire wealth to the new organisation. This was perhaps the first time in history that women had been placed in a leadership position in this manner. 

This extraordinary step was based on a spiritual truth, which is the first teaching of the Gita - that we are souls, not bodies. The soul is a sentient point of energy; it has no gender. The body is the physical medium through which the soul thinks, speaks, and acts. Qualities such as intelligence, courage, and industriousness reside in the soul, regardless of the gender of its body, so there is no reason why women cannot perform tasks that men can, so long as they are physically capable.

Such practical application of spirituality in every aspect of life became a notable feature of the Brahma Kumaris.

Prajapita Brahma remained the spiritual beacon of the group, and he taught by example. He emphasised cultivating constant awareness of being a soul, which would naturally give expression to the soul’s innate qualities of purity, peace, truth, and love.

Soul-consciousness is a pre-requisite for establishing a living relationship with God, the Supreme Soul, who is the Father of all souls. Remembering God with the awareness of being a soul, His child, is Rajyoga. Through this spiritual connection the soul receives God’s power, which enables it to stay true to its innate virtues in all circumstances. The equanimity of a yogi that the Gita speaks of, is attained by regular practice of Rajyoga.

Brahma Baba, as the Brahma Kumaris refer to their founder, stressed that self-transformation was the key to changing the world. The world around us is the creation of the collective consciousness of the people living in it. Making the world a better place, therefore, requires creating a better consciousness first. 

Prajapita Brahma set an example of how one can elevate one’s thinking and achieve angelic consciousness – a noble state of mind completely free from any weakness - by living a life based on spiritual principles.

Today, exactly fifty-six years after Prajapita Brahma attained perfection and left his mortal coil, his life continues to inspire people in 140 countries to follow the Brahma Kumaris’ teachings, with the firm conviction that by changing themselves they can help create a better world.

 
BK Brij Mohan is Secretary General of the Brahma Kumaris