CHAPTER 17 Making a Model of Madhuban The Kumaris’ Journey to and Presence in Europe

Tamasin Ramsay

The Brahma Kumaris Ishwariya Vishwa Vidyalaya (Brahma Kumaris) has become a global spiritual movement with a membership of around 1 mil- lion in almost 130 countries. Its earliest history—in Sindh, during the 1930s—was dynamic and controversial. With support from the male founder, children and young women asserted themselves against the weighty pres- sures of culture and tradition so that they could fulfil their vision of becoming maryadāpuruṣottam (the ideal who adheres to the highest moral code throughout life). The Brahma Kumaris was revolutionary in its beginnings but today is comparatively conventional. The organisation is an exemplar of a contemporary movement with deep Hindu roots that, through various adap- tations, has both remained a haven for members from its beginning and has become more germane to the rest of the world. The chapter begins with an introduction to the Brahma Kumaris and its connection to, and contention with, the Hindu community. Original docu- ments from the Brahma Kumaris’ foundation years reveal the esoteric nature of members’ early experiences. The impact of those experiences, and their as- sociated disciplines, upon the society in which they were embedded created social upheaval. This resulted in court cases and an eventual move to the then newly formed, post-Partition India. The compelling narrative of the early days, very different from the modern Brahma Kumaris, has inspired extensive spiri- tual endeavours in generations of members. I explore the persistence of Hindu ideas and the ways in which their endurance and fluidity have strengthened the adaptability of the Brahma Kumaris on its journey into Europe. Through shifting identities and tensions between both tradition and modernity, and Hinduism and secularism, I suggest that the Brahma Kumaris was born and is sustained by the purity of Hindu ideals in the lives of its students. With the ul- timate goal of world transformation, the Brahma Kumaris has become a social reform movement through the ascetic practices of its members, who have held fast to the founder’s vision that was established in twentieth-century Sindh, while fluidly adapting its offerings to ever-changing societies in India, Europe, and even further afield.

© Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, 2020 | doi:10.1163/9789004432284_018 Making a Model of Madhuban 529

The Brahma Kumaris began as a small, caste-specific, spiritual community in Hyderabad, Sindh, India in the 1930s. The community was formally estab- lished in 1937 as a trust comprised of young women, but its formation can be traced back to 1932 (Pokardas 1939: 3). Lekhraj Kubchand Kripalani (1884–1969) was a successful diamond merchant who resided in Hyderabad, India (pre- Partition) and co-owned a jewellery business in Calcutta. Lekhraj was from the Bhāīband caste and a devotee of Vallabhācārya (1479–1531), a Hindu theologian and philosopher who taught śuddha (pure) advaita (nondualism), an interpre- tation of Vedānta. As a teacher of nondualism, Vallabhācārya’s interpretation of Vedānta rejected asceticism and monastic life. Rather, he suggested that through loving devotion to God, any householder could achieve salvation. This would be a key point in the teachings of the Brahma Kumaris going forward, and it would become the heart of its role as a social reform movement. Although established only eighty years ago, the Brahma Kumaris is now a significant and well-regarded spiritual community of approximately 1 million members in around 1301 countries. Both its teachers and students (hereafter referred to as BKs) conduct courses and classes on different spiritual topics, and all activities are free of charge. The community’s main work since the early 1950s has been to offer a seven-day course on BK Raja Yoga to members of the public. Although the “Foundation Course” forms the Brahma Kumaris’ core curriculum, its public programmes are diverse. Members or “BKs,” as they call themselves, create programmes for the public based on the contemporary interests of specific groups of people (youth, women, architects, businesspeople, men, mothers, etc.) and with different foci (empowerment, environment, forgiveness, happiness, etc.). The organisation’s work is sup- ported by anonymous donations into the “Baba’s Boxes” that are located at all teaching centres. Centres are almost always administered by sisters, although brothers’ centres do exist.

1 Summary of Contemporary BK Knowledge

The current practice of Raja Yoga meditation that is taught by the Brahma Kumaris is based on adherents establishing a heart/mind connection with the Supreme . This practice relies on the following concepts: All human and nonhuman animals are individual who inhabit individual bodies.

1 Some centres are in countries of political unrest and are not counted in official numbers, thus making the count approximate.