Lekhraj Khubchand Kripalani, known as Dada Lekhraj or Brahma Baba, was an Indian jeweller and religious leader who founded the Brahma Kumaris. After a series of spiritual experiences in the 1930s, he established Om Mandali, transferred his wealth to its trustees, and guided the community from Hyderabad and Karachi to Mount Abu.
Background
Lekhraj Kripalani was born on December 15, 1876, in Hyderabad, Sindh, then part of British India and now in Pakistan. He was the son of a schoolmaster and belonged to the Bhaibund community, a mercantile community of Sindhi Hindus. He was brought up within Hindu religious traditions and later became associated with the Vaishnavite Vallabhacharya sect.
Kripalani built substantial wealth through the jewellery and diamond trade in Calcutta and Hyderabad. His commercial success placed him among the prosperous members of his community, while his later decision to surrender his property to a religious trust marked a sharp transition from business to spiritual leadership. He was the father of five children.
Career
Kripalani worked in the jewellery trade and became a successful diamond merchant, particularly in Calcutta. In the mid-1930s, while approaching retirement age, he reported a series of visions and spiritual experiences that transformed the direction of his life. He withdrew from commercial activity and devoted his time, wealth, and authority to religious teaching and community organization.
Around 1936, satsangs began taking place at his home in Hyderabad. The gatherings developed into Om Mandali, a spiritual community whose teachings drew on Hindu scripture, meditation, celibacy, and the pursuit of moral and spiritual purity. Kripalani became the movement's central teacher and was later given the spiritual name Prajapita Brahma, while followers commonly called him Brahma Baba.
Between 1937 and 1938, he appointed a managing committee of eight young women and transferred his property and assets to a trust administered by them. The community's emphasis on women's leadership, celibacy, and changes in family and marriage practices provoked opposition from sections of the Bhaibund community. Legal proceedings followed, and the Sindh Government eventually used the Criminal Law Amendment Act of 1908 to declare Om Mandali an unlawful association.
The community moved from Hyderabad to Karachi, where it continued under pressure and developed a highly organized communal life. After the Partition of India, Kripalani led the group to Mount Abu in Rajasthan in 1950. The Brahma Kumaris established its permanent spiritual headquarters there, and Kripalani guided the movement's early expansion until his death on January 18, 1969.
Religion
Lekhraj Kripalani was raised within the Hindu tradition and was associated with the Vaishnavite Vallabhacharya sect before founding the movement that became the Brahma Kumaris. In the 1930s he reported a series of spiritual visions and developed teachings concerning the soul, God, time, meditation, moral discipline, and the renewal of the world.
The Brahma Kumaris is a modern religious movement with roots in Hindu devotional culture, especially the Bhagavad Gita, Hindu concepts of rebirth, and the ideal of spiritual purity. Its early community emphasized celibacy, meditation, self-transformation, and the religious authority of women. Within the movement, Lekhraj came to be known as Brahma Baba or Prajapita Brahma and was regarded as the principal medium through whom divine teachings were revealed.
Views
Kripalani's teachings centered on the distinction between the eternal soul and the temporary physical body. The spiritual outlook associated with his movement emphasized meditation, self-discipline, celibacy, moral conduct, and the possibility of transforming individual consciousness as a means of contributing to world renewal.
His thought combined Hindu religious concepts with a distinctive cyclical understanding of time and history. The early Brahma Kumaris community interpreted visions and scriptural study through a framework in which the soul, God, and time were central categories, while the organization placed unusual emphasis on the spiritual capacities and leadership of women.
Connections
Lekhraj Kripalani was married and had five children. His family life preceded the period in which he withdrew from business and devoted his property and time to the Om Mandali community.
