She was a giant of a figure – a spiritual head who ran the world’s largest spiritual organisation, the Brahmakumaris Sansthan. Rajyogini Dadi Janki passed away at the age of 104 after a prolonged illness on Friday 27th March 2020 in Mount Abu, India. She was suffering from respiratory and stomach-related problems.

The Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed grief on Twitter stating: “Rajyogini Dadi Janki Ji, Chief of the Brahma Kumaris, served the society with diligence. She toiled to bring a positive difference in the lives of others.”

The prime minister applauded her role in empowering women. “My thoughts are with her countless followers in this sad hour. Om Shanti,” he wrote.

Dadi Janki was born on 1st January 1916 in Hyderabad, Sindh province, now in Pakistan. By aged 21 she already had chosen the spiritual path, and within a few years established the benefits of Indian philosophy, Raj Yoga and human values in the west. She had set up ‘Seva Kendras’ in 140 countries around the world. The chief administrators at 8,000 of such centres are women.

Dadi Janki’s message is essential that the teachings and knowledge of the Brahma Kumaris are open to everybody, whatever their race or religion and now there are people from Christian, Jewish, Hindu, Sikh, Muslim and Buddhist backgrounds who are either Brahma Kumaris themselves or are very close to the movement.

Internationally acknowledged as a great spiritual leader, Dadi’s lifelong focus has been to align her mind and heart to God’s will and purpose. She experiences God as a source of pure love and wisdom and has made those qualities the foundation of her life. This spiritual strength enables her to be a beam of light in the lives of others.

Dadi Janki was appointed the brand ambassador of Swachh Bharat Abhiyan (Clean India Mission) by the government for her work in the field of maintaining cleanliness. Around 2 million people, including 46,000 women are associated with Braham Kumaris.

HMB met Dadi Janki at the celebration of her 100th birthday when she visited the Brahma Kumaris Harmony Centre in Leicester, the UK in 2016.

To commemorate the 100 years of dedication, journalist and author Liz Hodgkinson published Dadi Janki biography titled ‘A Century of Service.’ Liz Hodgkinson said to HMB at the time:

 

“I wanted to try and get underneath exactly who Dadi was, what she had achieved and how she achieved it, namely, arriving in London in the 1970s, already quite elderly and never having been outside India before, to try and interest Westerners in a brand-new type of spiritual movement.”

Ms Hodgkinson has a close relationship with Dadi Janki and her movement since her first encounter with them in 1981 when she wrote a piece for She magazine. She feels that Dadi Janki has done much “to close the gap between the Hindu and Western communities.  I doubt that even she could imagine in 1974 (when Dadi Janki came to the UK) how Indians would become central in British society, holding many high posts and becoming extremely successful in business, law and medicine.  There was a lot of racial prejudice against Indians when she arrived, and she had to combat this as well.  She has seen it almost disappear within the last 40 years,” added Ms Hodgkinson.

Dadi Janki RIP: 1916 - 2020