Sri Krishna Pranami Dharma~ a 400-year-old sect~ is a liberal blend of the Quran and Gita

A liberal blend of Shrimad Bhagwad Gita and Quran, Krishna and Allah, no caste system, no idol-worship, vegetarianism and non-violence. Some features of the relatively unknown Sri Krishna Pranami Dharma, a 400 year-old sect. It finds a mention in Mahatma Gandhi's autobiography My Experiments With Truth as his mother, Putlibai, was a Pranami. Mahatma says, it is "a sect deriving the best of both the Quran and Gita, in search of one goal - God".Though there are almost a crore Pranamis or Sundersaaths (pleasant company) in India, a majority of them are based in Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Nepal and Bhutan. In Mumbai, there are around 20,000 Pranamis, mostly Gujaratis. They have two temples here - at Bhuleshwar and Borivali. They meet every week for satsang and sing bhajans and prayers that are a mix of Hindi and Urdu words. In their holy text Swaroop Saheb, words such as Mohammad, momin, hukumat, ilam, barkat appear often.

The current head of the sect is Acharya Shri 108 Shrikrishnamani recently attended the international religion summit of the United Nations. "Our religion believes that Krishna is the supreme lord and other gods and goddesses are his shakti," he says.

ORIGIN Sri Krishna Pranami Dharma was founded by Devachandra in Jamnagar and propagated by Prannath Swami and his disciple King Chhatrasal. During the 17th century, religious environment in India was turbulent. Non-Muslims, especially Hindus, under the rule of the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb, faced religious oppression. The Jijia-tax was levied on non-Muslims and Hindus who were forcibly converted to Islam. Those were the times when Devachandra of Umerkot left home at the age of 16 to quench his spiritual thirst. He went to Bhuj and then Jamnagar, where the Pranami movement began. Here, Devchandra studied Srimad Bhagwad by attending the discourses of Savant Kanji Bhatt for 14 years with unswerving attention and devotion. Followers say that during a discourse Devchandra went into a trance and got Krishna darshan and was conferred the highest knowledge - the Tartam Mantra or the supreme truth. After this, Devchandra founded the Nijanand Sampraday or the Shri Krishna Pranami sect and established Shri Navtanpuri Dham in Jamnagar.

ONE WORLD, ONE RELIGION:The most important crusader of Sri Krishna Pranami Dharma was Mahamati Prannath (1618-1694 AD). He brought unity in various religious faiths by analysing and comparing their holy books and laid the foundation of "one world, one religion". He presented the sum total of all religious knowledge as the Kuljam Swaroop (or Tartam Sagar). In 1678 AD, he went to Haridwar to attend the Kumbh mela and met heads of other religious sects. He had detailed discussions with each one of them, at the end of which, they unanimously conferred the title of Vijayabhinand Nishkalank Buddhaji upon him. King Chhatrasal, born in the house of a Bundela chieftain in 1706, was Prannath's most devoted disciple. He wanted to fight against the tyrannical rule of Aurangzeb in Bundelkhand, but did not have the wealth to build up an army and armoury. He met Shivaji, who was also fighting against Aurangzeb in Maharashtra, and found Sant Ramdas as the Maratha's guide. He turned to Prannath for help. He blessed the king and said, "Riding on your horse tomorrow in the morning, the land you cover will be full of diamonds." And Panna in Bundelkhand is even today one of the biggest diamond mines in the country.

PILGRIMAGE Navtanpuri Dham: Navtanpuri Dham in Jamnagar is the main pilgrim centre of Sri Krishna Pranami Dharma because Devchandra attained enlightenment here. Believers say once Devchandra planted two tooth-cleaning sticks in the ground after brushing his teeth, which grew into huge trees. Today, even after 400 years, they are still there and are called Khijada trees. And the temple there is called Khijada mandir.
Surat: Prannath spent 17 months in Surat preaching. During this time he was offered the throne of leadership and his disciples adorned him with the title of Mahamati Swami Prannathji. Since then, this institution in Saiyadpura came to be known as Shri 5 Maha Mangalpuri Dham or, more popularly, Mota Mandir.
Panna: Panna is where Prannath met King Chhatrasal, blessed him and gifted him a sword, which is called Jalpukar. With this sword Chhatrasal defeated the Mughal army in Mhow. Prannath also blessed the land of Panna to yield diamonds, which gave Chhatrasal the wealth to confront Aurangzeb. Wishing to establish a new Panna on the Vindhyachal mountain range, Prannath chose an even land and hoisted a flag 'Shreejika Jhanda' there. The flag can be seen even today. Prannath lived in Panna for 11 years and left his body for his supreme abode here. The place is known as Muktipeetha, and the temple established there is called Padmavatipuri Dham.
Darjeeling: A huge temple, one of the biggest in West Bengal, is situated in Kalimpong, Darjeeling. Built at a cost of Rs 13 crore, the temple is named after Guru Mangaldas for his contribution in propagating the sect. Flanked by Protestant and Catholic churches, the temple houses orphans, many of whom, after leaving the temple, pursue careers in various cities of India.
Text source: www.krishna-pranami.org

Why do people turn to God?

Today, people are seen turning to God more for their worldly needs -- for a peace of mind and comfort to cope with life’s routine problems - than for their need for self-actualization. Of course, religions, scriptures and masters have satisfied both the needs, and there is nothing wrong with it. But, is this the real purpose of adopting a religion? What is the common view of scriptures in this regard? Why shouldn’t we focus more on the real essence of the scriptural wisdom that can bring us eternal happiness? In this book, our focus will be primarily on the human quest for self-realization.
To seek is the start of any quest. World religions explain the quest as the longing of a soul for God. The reward of the spiritual quest is gaining the deeper understanding of one’s True Self and the discovery of a new and different way of being. The spiritual nature of humans has allowed them to think about the creation of this universe and their own spiritual nature and origin. They also tend to think about the true form, sports, and the abode of the Supreme Truth God and the purpose of their worldly existence. As intellectuals, we humans often confront such brainstorming questions:
Who am I? Where have I come from?
What is the purpose of my existence in this world?
Who is the true owner of my soul?
Where is the God who created this beautiful Universe?
What is the bondage of Maya (illusory power) that takes me away from the truth?
How can I break these bondages to attain eternal salvation?

Pran Nath Ji says: "A strong desire to receive the true answers to these questions is the first step to move towards the attainment of Eternal Bliss. An individual seeking Nijanand, being a true jeweler, will, of course, shop with extreme care and a firm mind; they will always look for Nijanand --the Jewel of all Jewels."
Kharo khoji hasey jaan jawery, teh joseh drudh man dheer Vastu akhand ne tehaj leyse, jeh hosey vivhikshin veer (KS, Kir: 125/11)

The above-mentioned questions occurred to Dev Chandra Ji (1581-1654AD), the founder of Nijanand Sampradaya, when he was eleven. He got answers to these questions when the Supreme Lord appeared before him and awakened his soul through the Divine Tartam Knowledge. If we deeply study the diverse world faiths, we find that their respective scriptures have also attempted to answer some of these questions. However, their individual messages appear to be scattered like pearls in an ocean. Yes, all of them did explore God territory; however, Pran Nath Ji says, "each scripture or religion explored just a part of the territory or spiritual plane; of course, they did so according to their respective understandings!"
So teta hi boliya, jo gaya jahan laun chal Apne apne mukhse, jaher karey majal (KS, San: 25/12)

In light of the Divine Tartam Wisdom, a seeker soul can put all these different scriptural explorations together. Such a soul realizes that each scripture attempted to reach the same goal, but could explore only up to a certain spiritual plane, among the many planes--one above the other.
First, this book attempts to teach us what exactly to expect from the world religions and scriptures. Then, it explores the process of understanding the scripturally correct answer to these questions. Given the fact that the Supreme Truth God cannot be fully understood through the human mind and intellect, the book relies mostly on the divine wisdom hidden in the many world scriptures; it is not based on any human philosophy.
Through many references on different aspects of spiritual awakening from different scriptures, and by comparing each aspect of spirituality in the light of Tartam Knowledge of Mahamati, this book attempts to lead the seeker soul closer to the goal of realization of Supreme Eternal Bliss. In doing so, the seeker soul’s heart must always be pure, soft and open to Mahamati's teachings to reap the fullest benefit.
Finally, the readers should always keep this message from Mahamati in mind:
Eah maathey lese tehney kahun chhoon, bija maa karjo dukh Tamey tamaari maya mahen, sehejey bhogvjo sukh (KS, Kir: 126/31)

"This Divine Wisdom is only for those who have a true desire to build their faith in it, act upon it, and enshrine its teachings in their hearts. Those, who do not realize the need for this treasure, may continue to enjoy their material life as usual." The fire of Divine Love must start from within an individual's heart.