History
of Shri Krishna Pranami Dharma
Concluding
from the spiritual angle therefore, the Shri Krishna Pranami Dharma
is as Ancient and Eternal, as Aksharatit Poorna Brahma Paramatma
Shri Krishna Himself.
Now
we shall trace the origin of the Shri Krishna Pranami Dharma from
the historical point of view, by going back to the medieval age
in India.
The
medieval age was the time when the religious environment in India,
was passing through its most turbulent period. Saints and noble
souls faced many difficulties at the hands of the persecutors.
Various practices existed, which went under the name of religion
in various faiths, and created conflicts in the minds of the common
man.
This
was the time, when the self-sustaining mechanism in our culture,
gave impetus to a powerful Bhakti-movement, in order to counter
the various forces trying to pull religion in different directions.
Simultaneously, around the 13th century, the Sufi-movement also
became a counter part of this Bhakti-movement, and this produced
a new cultural synthesis.
Inspite
of all this process of adaptation that was taking place, during
the 17th century A.D. India came under the rule of the Mughal
Emperor Aurangzeb, and the country was passing through a period
of maximum oppression, especially against the Hindus. The Jazia-Tax
was being levied on Hindus, and they were being forcibly converted
into Muslims.
It
was at this time that the Pranami Movement began. Saurashtra,
in Gujarat, played an important role by becoming the fountain-head
of the Shri Krishna Pranami Dharma. The most important crusader
of the Pranami Dharma is Mahamati Prannathji (1618-1694 A.D.),
whose monumental efforts and dedication, have left a distinct
historical mark on Indian Religion and Civilisation. Originating
in Jamnagar, Gujarat, this Dharma spread all over Gujarat. It
slowly covered not only the entire Northern India, but also spread
to other corners of the world, like Nepal, Bhutan, Africa, U.K.,
Canada, America and Australia. Inspite of intermingling with several
other religious streams, it has retained its original essence.
The
founder of this Dharma, Shri Devachandraji (1581-1655 A.D.) was
born in the Marwad Province, in its Umarkot village in a noble
Kayasth family. From his early childhood he displayed saintly
tendencies. He would seek out saints and ask them questions like,
'Who am I ?', 'From where have I come ?', 'Who created this world
?', 'Where will I go after death ?' etc. Being dissatisfied with
the answers he got, at the age of 16, he left home and moved first
to Bhuj (in Kutch) and then to Jamnagar in order to quench his
spiritual thirst.
Those
days, Jamnagar was a very important center of Indian civilisation
and culture, and it used to be considered as a miniature Kashi.
It is here that Shri Devchandraji drank deeply from the Shrimad
Bhagavat, by listening to the discourses of the famous Savant
Kanji Bhatt for 14 years, with unswerving attention and devotion.
It was while listening to those discourses, that, one day, Shri
Devchandraji went into a trance and had the darshan of Lord Shri
Krishna, who asked him the very same questions for which he had
been seeking the answers ! Shri Devchandraji told the Lord, "O
Lord ! I have been seeking the answers to these very questions
till today ! Kindly be gracious enough to teach me all the answers
to my questions." The Lord is said to have conferred the Highest
Knowledge upon him and also initiated him with the 'Tartam Mantra'.
The Lord later elaborated Kshar, Akshar and Aksharatita as different
levels of consciousness. Aksharatita is the Highest level of Existence,
Consciousness (Knowledge) and Bliss. It is beyond the duality
aspect of the limited perishable Kshar, and the Imperishable Akshar.
The Lord placed the responsibility of spreading this unique knowledge
to the entire world, on Shri Devchandraji.
Shri
Devchandraji in turn, imparted the entire knowledge (Tartam Gyan)
to his main disciple Shri Prannathji, after initiating him into
the Tartam knowledge at the age of 12. Mahamati Prannathji in
turn travelled through out the country to awaken people from their
sleep of ignorance, inspite of all the difficulties of travel
and communication he had to face. He got the opportunity to travel
in a few Arab Countries also. He wanted an ideal and peaceful
society where people would be respected not for their wealth,
name, fame, caste or creed, but for their dedication, love and
service to humanity.
Mahamati
Prannathji's teachings, which poured out of him in the form Divine
Revelations, are contained in 18,758 verses, divided into 14 volumes.
(The details of these 14 volumes, i.e. Raas, Prakash, Shatritu,
...... etc. are given in brief under their respective captions.
The story behind the divine Revelations can be found under 'Tartam
Sagar'.)
During
his life time, Mahamati Prannathji exerted himself to bring out
the inherent unity in the various religious faiths, by analysing
and comparing their respective Holy books. According to him, the
spiritual endeavour behind all these faiths, is to awaken the
soul to know its unequivocal relationship with the Supreme Lord.
One can proudly say that Mahamati Prannathji laid the foundation
for One World Religion. The sum total of the religious knowledge
revealed by him, is referred to as the Kuljam Swaroop (or Tartam
Sagar).
In 1678 A.D.
Mahamati Prannathji went to Hardwar on the occasion of the Holy
Religious congregation of the Kumbh-Mela. There he met the heads
of the various Religious sects prevalent in India at that time,
had detailed discussions with each one of them, and at the end
of the deliberations, all of them were impressed with the unique
knowledge expounded by Mahamati Prannathji, and unanimously conferred
the Title of "Vijayabhinand Nishkalank Budhaji" upon him.
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