Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi was born on March 21, 1923 to Salve family in Chindawara, India. Her parents were Prasad and Cornelia Salve, direct descendants of the royal Shalivahana dynasty. Seeing the beauty of this child who was born with a spotless brilliance, they called her Nirmala, which means ‘Immaculate’.
Later on she came to be known by the multitudes by the name of Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi – the revered Mother who was born with her complete Self Realization and knew from a very young age that she had a unique gift which had to be made available to all mankind.
Her parents played a key role in India’s Liberation Movement from British rule. Her father, a close associate of Mahatma Gandhi, was a member of the Constituent Assembly of India and helped write free India’s first constitution. He was a renowned scholar, master of 14 languages, and translated the Koran in Marathi. Her mother was the first woman in India to receive an Honors Degree in Mathematics.
As a child, Shri Mataji lived with her parents in the ashram of Mahatma Gandhi. Gandhi saw the wisdom of this child and used to appreciate her immensely, affectionately calling her Nepali due to the Nepali features of her face. Even at a young age, her deep understanding was evident to Gandhi, who frequently sought her advice on spiritual matters.
Shri Mataji’s involvement in the freedom struggle is extremely remarkable. She was very courageous and played a daring role as a youth leader of this campaign. In the 1942 Quit India Movement announced by Gandhi, she was arrested and put in jail along with other freedom fighters for actively participating in this movement.
Shortly before India achieved independence she married Sir. C.P. Srivastava, one of India’s most dedicated civil servant officers, who was knighted by the Queen of England. In India it is believed that the wife brings luck to her husband – this is most certainly the case for Sir. C.P. Srivastava. He rose in government ranks very quickly though he was an absolutely honest person. He held the post of the Joint Secretary to the Prime Minister’s office of the late Shri Lal Bahadur Shastri in the years 1964-66. Shastri himself was an ideal model for a Prime Minister in India’s political history. Afterward, he was elected for 16 consecutive years to be the Secretary-General of the United Nations International Maritime Organization. As Sir C.P. Srivastava moved in fame from the Indian history to the worldly scene, Shri Mataji, after fulfilling her family duties, embarked on her spiritual mission.
Mrs. Srivastava made this experiment of awakening the spiritual power of every human being (which the Hindus name the Kundalini, the Muslims as the Ruh and in the bible it is described as the Holy Ghost) and was amazed at the results. She tried it first on people near to her and noticed they were transformed physically, mentally and spiritually. Slowly she found out that only this process had the potential solution for all human problems and therefore she decided to spread it on an en-mass level. She invested her own time and money to talk to people and give them the key to their own spiritual power.
Those few people who started feeling this spiritual power, which flowed like a cool breeze over their whole body, especially over the palms of their hands and on top of their head (around the fontanel bone area) were quite astonished that it worked. Though they argued and disputed over it they could not disbelieve their own experience. Under the instructions of Shri Mataji they tried giving this power to others, which really gave them the faith that this was the true spiritual experience that was being prophesied in every religion.
Amazingly, without any financial support from any person, Shri Mataji neither charges for Her lectures nor for Her ability to give Self Realization, nor does one have to become a member of this organization. She insists that you cannot pay for your enlightenment and to-date she continues to denounce the false, self-proclaimed “gurus” who are more interested in the seekers’ purse than their spiritual ascent.
Since 1970, Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi has kept a busy schedule, traveling around the world to teach the techniques of Maha Yoga. She has demonstrated her capacity to trigger the awakening of the spiritual power in human beings (Kundalini) at an “en mass” level.
Large numbers of people, without distinction of race, religion, age or social status have acknowledged the value of her teachings by establishing Maha Yoga centers in over 75 nations. These people who live a normal family life, tap to their inner spiritual power through daily Maha Yoga practice and have achieved a complete balance of their lives on the physical, emotional, mental and spiritual levels. They understand the integration of all religions and spiritual paths not at a mental level, but through their direct, tangible experience on the central nervous system. Thousands of years ago, the Blossom Time was prophesied to come when, in these modern times of crisis, thousands of seekers of Truth are going to experience this connection with their Spirit.
Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi has dedicated her life to triggering the spiritual ascent of mankind through Self Realization, reclaiming the role of women in the spiritual evolution, and guiding humanity to correct today’s moral dilemmas. It seems that the light of Gandhi’s vision is being brought to fulfillment by this great lady who is revered as the compassionate Divine Mother by her followers, as the “Messenger of peace” by Ayatollah Rouhani, an Avatar of the modern era by Claes Nobel, grandnephew of Albert Nobel (the creator of the Nobel foundation) and Chairman of United Earth.