Nirmala Srivastava (née Nirmala Salve; 21 March 192323 February 2011), also known as Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi, was the founder and

guru Guru ( sa, गुरु, IAST: ''guru;'' Pali'': garu'') is a Sanskrit term for a "mentor, guide, expert, or master" of certain knowledge or field. In pan- Indian traditions, a guru is more than a teacher: traditionally, the guru is a reverential ...

Sahaja Yoga Sahaja Yoga (सहज योग) is a religion founded in 1970 by Nirmala Srivastava (1923–2011). Nirmala Srivastava is known as Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi (trans: ''Revered Immaculate Mother'') or, simply, as "Mother" by her followers, who ...

, a

new religious movement A new religious movement (NRM), also known as alternative spirituality or a new religion, is a religious or Spirituality, spiritual group that has modern origins and is peripheral to its society's dominant religious culture. NRMs can be novel in ...

sometimes classified as a cult. She claimed to have been born fully realised and spent her life working for peace by developing and promoting a simple technique through which people can achieve their own self-realization.Wayne Dyer, "The power of intention" "She is the primordial mother", p56-57, Hay House, 2004

Early life

Born in Chindawara, Madhya Pradesh,

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...

to a

Hindu Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...

father and a Christian mother Prasad and Cornelia Salve, her parents named her Nirmala, which means "immaculate".H.P. Salve, ''My memoirs'' (New Delhi: LET, 2000), chapter 1 She said that she was born self-realised. Her father, a scholar of fourteen languages, translated the

Koran The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation from God. It is organized in 114 chapters (pl.: , si ...

into Marathi, and her mother was the first woman in India to receive an honours degree in mathematics. Shri Mataji descended from the royal Shalivahana/Satavahana dynasty. The former union minister N.K.P. Salve was her brother and the lawyer Harish Salve is her nephew. The Salve surname is one of several in the Satavahana Maratha clan. She passed her childhood years in the family house in Nagpur.Biography at shrimataji.net
In her youth she stayed in the

ashram An ashram ( sa, आश्रम, ) is a spiritual hermitage or a monastery in Indian religions. Etymology The Sanskrit noun is a thematic nominal derivative from the root 'toil' (<

Mahatma Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (; ; 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948), popularly known as Mahatma Gandhi, was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist Quote: "... marks Gandhi as a hybrid cosmopolitan figure who transformed ... anti- ...

. Like her parents, she was involved with the struggle for Indian independence and, as a youth leader when a young woman, was jailed for participating in the

Quit India Movement The Quit India Movement, also known as the August Kranti Movement, was a movement launched at the Bombay session of the All India Congress Committee by Mahatma Gandhi on 8th August 1942, during World War II, demanding an end to British rule in ...

in 1942.H.P. Salve, ''My memoirs'' (New Delhi: LET, 2000), chapter 4 Taking responsibility for her younger siblings and living a spartan lifestyle during this period infused the feeling of self-sacrifice for the wider good. She studied at the

Christian Medical College Christian Medical College, Vellore, widely known as CMC, Vellore, is a private, Christian community-run medical school, hospital and research institute. This Institute includes a network of primary, secondary and tertiary care hospitals in a ...

Ludhiana Ludhiana ( ) is the most populous and the largest city in the Indian state of Punjab. The city has an estimated population of 1,618,879 2011 census and distributed over , making Ludhiana the most densely populated urban centre in the state. I ...

and the Balakram Medical College in

Lahore Lahore ( ; pnb, ; ur, ) is the second List of cities in Pakistan by population, most populous city in Pakistan after Karachi and 26th List of largest cities, most populous city in the world, with a population of over 13 million. It is th ...

. Shortly before India achieved independence in 1947, Shri Mataji married

Chandrika Prasad Srivastava Chandrika Prasad Srivastava KCMG, ComIH, IAS (Retd.) (8 July 1920 – 22 July 2013) was an Indian civil servant, international administrator, and diplomat. Biography C.P. Srivastava was born on 8 July 1920 in a religious Chitraguptvanshi Kaya ...

, a high-ranking Indian civil servant who later served Prime Minister

Lal Bahadur Shastri Lal Bahadur Shastri (; 2 October 1904 – 11 January 1966) was an Indian politician and statesman who served as the 2nd Prime Minister of India from 1964 to 1966 and 6th Home Minister of India from 1961 to 1963. He promoted the White Re ...

as Joint Secretary, and was bestowed an honorary KCMG by

Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death in 2022. She was queen regnant of 32 sovereign states durin ...

. They had two daughters, Kalpana Srivastava and Sadhana Varma. In 1961, Nirmala Srivastava launched the "Youth Society for Films" to infuse national, social and moral values in young people. She was also a member of the

Central Board of Film Certification The Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) is a statutory film-certification body in the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting of the Government of India. It is tasked with "regulating the public exhibition of films under the provision ...

Sahaja Yoga

Nirmala Srivastava founded Sahaja Yoga in 1970.

Later work

In 2003 a charity house for the rehabilitation of destitute women was set up in Delhi (the ''Vishwa Nirmala Prem Ashram''). She set up the ''Shri P.K. Salve Kala Pratishthan'' in Nagpur as an international music school in the same year, to promote classical music and fine art. Until 2004, during her travels, she gave numerous public lectures,

pujas ''Puja'' ( sa, पूजा, pūjā, translit-std=IAST) is a worship ritual performed by Hindus, Buddhists and Jains to offer devotional homage and prayer to one or more deities, to host and honor a guest, or to spiritually celebrate an event. ...

, and interviews to newspapers, television and radio. In 2004 her official website announced that she had completed her work and Sahaja Yoga centers exist in almost every country of the world.We want the world to know...
"Shri Mataji has completed her work" She continued to give talks to her devotees and allowed them to offer her puja. She spoke on several occasions about the harms of drinking alcohol and that many people were cured from addiction when they got their self realization through Sahaja Yoga.

Honors and recognition

* Italy, 1986. Declared "Personality of the Year" by the Italian Government. * New York, 1990–1994. Invited by the United Nations for four consecutive years to speak about means to achieve world peace. * St. Peterburg, Russia, 1993. Appointed as honorary member of the Petrovskaya Academy of Art and Science. * Romania, 1995. Awarded honorary doctorate in cognitive science by the Ecological University Bucharest. * China, 1995. Official guest of the Chinese Government to speak at the United Nations International Women's Conference. * Pune, India, 1996. On the occasion of the 700th Anniversary of Saint Gyaneshwara, she addressed the "World Philosophers Meet '96 - A Parliament of Science, Religion and Philosophy" at Maharashtra Institute of Technology. * London, 1997. Claes Nobel, grandnephew of

Alfred Nobel Alfred Bernhard Nobel ( , ; 21 October 1833 – 10 December 1896) was a Swedish chemist, engineer, inventor, businessman, and philanthropist. He is best known for having bequeathed his fortune to establish the Nobel Prize, though he al ...

, chairman of United Earth, honoured her life and work in a public speech at the Royal Albert Hall. * A road in Navi Mumbai, near the Sahaja Yoga Health and Research Center, was named in her honor. * Cabella Ligure, Italy, 2006. She was awarded honorary Italian citizenship. * Cabella Ligure, Italy, 2009.

Bhajan Sopori Pandit Bhajan Sopori (22 June 1948 – 2 June 2022) was an Indian instrumentalist. He was a player of the santoor, an ancient stringed musical instrument. Early life and family Sopori was born in Srinagar to Shambhu Nath Sopori on 22 June ...

and his son

Abhay Sopori Abhay Rustum Sopori (born 7 June 1979) is an Indian Santoor player, music composer and conductor. He is the son of Santoor player Pandit Bhajan Sopori, known for his versatility, innovations and experimentation. Sopori has received awards in ...

composed the raag ''Nirmalkauns'' in her honour.

References

Bibliography

* Mataji Shri Nirmala Devi, ''Meta modern era'' (New Delhi: Ritana Books, 1997) * Pullar, Philippa (1984) ''The shortest journey'', * Kakar, Sudhir (1984) ''Shamans, mystics and doctors: a psychological inquiry into India and its healing traditions'', * Coney, Judith (1999) ''Sahaja yoga: socializing processes in a South Asian new religious movement'', (London: Curzon Press) * H.P. Salve er brother ''My memoirs'' (New Delhi: LET Books, 2000) * Gregoire de Kalbermatten, ''The advent'' (Bombay, 1979: reprint: New York: daisyamerica, 2002) * Gregoire de Kalbermatten, ''The third advent'' (New York: daisyamerica, 2003; Melbourne: Penguin Australia, 2004; Delhi: Penguin India, 2004)

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Srivastava, Nirmala 1923 births 2011 deaths Sahaja Yoga Indian spiritual teachers Founders of new religious movements Indian spiritual writers People from Chhindwara Deified women 20th-century Indian educators Female religious leaders Indian yoga teachers 20th-century Indian women Scholars from Madhya Pradesh Indian women educational theorists Women educators from Madhya Pradesh Educators from Madhya Pradesh Marathi people 20th-century women educators Modern yoga gurus