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{{short description|Indian spiritual teacher}}
{{Use Indian English|date=November 2019}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2014}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi
| image = Shri Mataji Nirmala Shrivastava.jpg
| caption =
| birth_date = {{Birth date|df=yes|1923|03|21}}
| birth_place = [[Chhindwara]], [[Madhya Pradesh]], India
| death_date = {{Death date and age|df=yes|2011|02|23|1923|03|21}}
| death_place = [[Genoa]], [[Italy]]
| spouse = {{marriage|[[Chandrika Prasad Srivastava]]|1947}}
| known_for = [[Sahaja Yoga]]
| website = http://www.sahajayoga.org/
}}
'''Nirmala Srivastava''' (née '''Nirmala Salve'''; 21 March 1923{{snd}}23 February 2011), also known as '''Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi''', was the founder and [[Modern yoga gurus|guru]]<ref name="Lewis Tollefsen 2016">{{cite book |last1=Lewis |first1=James R. |last2=Tollefsen |first2=Inga B. |title=The Oxford Handbook of New Religious Movements: Volume II |date=2016 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=9780190466190 |page=293 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HZdHDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA293 |quote=A few female gurus have gained international recognition... Sahaja Yoga's guru, Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi.}}</ref> of [[Sahaja Yoga]], a religious [[cult]].<ref name=be-advisory>{{cite web |title=Advies van het Informatie- en Adviescentrum inzake de Schadelijke Sektarische Organisaties (IACSSO) over Sahaja Yoga |publisher={{Ill|IACASSO|nl|Informatie- en Adviescentrum inzake schadelijke sektarische organisaties}} |language=nl |date=7 March 2005 |url=https://www.iacsso.be/publicatiesadvies050307.htm}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Abgrall |first=Jean-Marie |title=Soul Snatchers: The Mechanics of Cults |publisher=Algora Publishing |year=2000 |author-link=Jean-Marie Abgrall |isbn=978-1-892941-04-6 |pages=139–144}}</ref> 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 self-realization.<ref name="Wayne Dyer The Power of Intention">Wayne Dyer, "The power of intention" "She is the primordial mother", p56-57, Hay House, 2004</ref><ref name = "IndianExpress250211">{{cite news |work=[[Indian Express]] |title=Sahaja Yoga founder Nirmala Devi is dead |agency=Express News Service |date=25 February 2011 |url=http://www.indianexpress.com/news/sahaja-yoga-founder-nirmala-devi-is-dead/754645/ |access-date=24 February 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110227021237/http://www.indianexpress.com/news/sahaja-yoga-founder-nirmala-devi-is-dead/754645 |archive-date=27 February 2011 |url-status=live |df=dmy-all }}</ref>

==Early life==

Born in [[Chhindwara]], Madhya Pradesh, [[India]] to a [[Hindu]] father and a Christian mother Prasad and Cornelia Salve, her parents named her Nirmala, which means "immaculate".<ref name="Salve2">H.P. Salve, ''My memoirs'' (New Delhi: LET, 2000), chapter 1</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Origin and meaning of the name Nirmala |url=http://babynamesworld.parentsconnect.com/meaning_of_Nirmala.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110715044230/http://babynamesworld.parentsconnect.com/meaning_of_Nirmala.html |archive-date=15 July 2011 |access-date=1 March 2011 |df=dmy-all}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Rao |first=Mukunda |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/India_s_Greatest_Minds/-zllEAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Nirmala+name+immaculate&pg=PT266&printsec=frontcover |title=India’s Greatest Minds: Spiritual Masters, Philosophers, Reformers |date=2022-04-25 |publisher=Hachette India |isbn=978-93-89253-54-2 |language=en}}</ref> She said that she was born [[self-realization|self-realised]].<ref name="whois" /> Her father, a scholar of fourteen languages, translated the [[Quran]] into [[Marathi language|Marathi]], and her mother was the first woman in India to receive an honours degree in mathematics.<ref name = "IndianExpress250211"/> Shri Mataji descended from the royal [[Satavahana|Shalivahana/Satavahana]] dynasty.<ref name="whois">{{Cite web |url=http://shrimataji.org/site/life/shri-mataji-family.html |title=Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi's Family and Heritage |access-date=13 January 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131206211710/http://shrimataji.org/site/life/shri-mataji-family.html |archive-date=6 December 2013 |url-status=live |df=dmy-all }}</ref> 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 [[Maratha clan system#Salvi, Satavahanas, Andhras|Satavahana Maratha clan]].{{citation needed|date=March 2022}}

She passed her childhood years in the family house in Nagpur.<ref name="bio">[http://www.shrimataji.net/albums/biography/ShriMatajiNirmalaDevi-SelectedBiography_files/frame.htm Biography at shrimataji.net] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060504041003/http://www.shrimataji.net/albums/biography/ShriMatajiNirmalaDevi-SelectedBiography_files/frame.htm |date=4 May 2006 }}</ref>{{Better source needed|date=June 2011}} In her youth she stayed in the [[ashram]] of [[Mahatma Gandhi]].<ref name="Salve2"/><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://shrimataji.org/site/life/biography-from-nirmala-srivastava-to-shri-mataji/childhood.html |title=Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi - Childhood |access-date=4 March 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140114001031/http://shrimataji.org/site/life/biography-from-nirmala-srivastava-to-shri-mataji/childhood.html |archive-date=14 January 2014 |url-status=live |df=dmy-all }}</ref> Like her parents, she was involved with the [[History of the Republic of India|struggle for Indian independence]] and, as a youth leader when a young woman, was jailed for participating in the [[Quit India Movement]] in 1942.<ref name="Salve2"/><ref name="Salve3">H.P. Salve, ''My memoirs'' (New Delhi: LET, 2000), chapter 4</ref><ref name="The Hindu">{{Cite web |url=http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/mp/2003/04/07/stories/2003040700860400.htm |title=A message for one and all, ''The Hindu'', 7 April 2003 |access-date=6 April 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121108134808/http://hindu.com/thehindu/mp/2003/04/07/stories/2003040700860400.htm |archive-date=8 November 2012 |url-status=dead |work=[[The Hindu]] |df=dmy-all }}</ref> Taking responsibility for her younger siblings and living a spartan lifestyle during this period infused the feeling of self-sacrifice for the wider good.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://shrimataji.org/site/life/biography-from-nirmala-srivastava-to-shri-mataji/shri-mataji-college-years.html |title=Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi - College Years |access-date=4 March 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140114000418/http://shrimataji.org/site/life/biography-from-nirmala-srivastava-to-shri-mataji/shri-mataji-college-years.html |archive-date=14 January 2014 |url-status=live |df=dmy-all }}</ref> She studied at the [[Christian Medical College Ludhiana|Christian Medical College]] in [[Ludhiana]] and the Balakram Medical College in [[Lahore]].<ref name="bio" />

Shortly before India achieved independence in 1947, Shri Mataji married [[Chandrika Prasad Srivastava]],<ref name="Salve3"/> a high-ranking [[Indian Civil Service|Indian civil servant]] who later served Prime Minister [[Lal Bahadur Shastri]] as Joint Secretary, in 1974 elected as the Secretary-General of the [[International Maritime Organization]] (IMO), a United Nations agency based in London, serving successive four-year terms as Secretary-General from 1974 to 1989. He was bestowed an [[Honorary knighthood#Honorary awards|honorary KCMG]] by [[Elizabeth II]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.burkespeerage.com/familyhomepage.aspx?FID=0&FN=SRIVASTAVA |title=Burke's Peerage |publisher=Burkespeerage.com |date=8 July 1920 |access-date=26 November 2011}}</ref> They had two daughters, Kalpana Srivastava<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.imo.org/Newsroom/mainframe.asp?topic_id=1018&doc_id=4971 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070222005627/http://www.imo.org/Newsroom/mainframe.asp?topic_id=1018&doc_id=4971 |url-status=dead |archive-date=22 February 2007 |title=Portraits of former IMO Secretaries-General unveiled |publisher=Imo.org |date=21 June 2005 |access-date=26 November 2011 }}</ref> and Sadhana Varma.<ref>Rommel Varma; Sadhana Varma. ''Ascent to the Divine: Himalaya Kailasa-Manasarovar in Scripture, Art and Thought'' {{ISBN|978-2-88169-001-3}}</ref> 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]].{{citation needed|date=March 2022}}

==Sahaja Yoga==
{{main|Sahaja Yoga}}
[[File:HH Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi.jpg|thumb|Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi temple in [[Naddi]]]]

Nirmala Srivastava founded Sahaja Yoga in 1970.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Encyclopedia of Religion |publisher=Macmillan Reference USA [Imprint] |year=2005 |isbn=978-0-02-865997-8 |editor-last=Jones |editor-first=Lindsey |edition=2nd |location=Detroit }}</ref>{{Excerpt|Sahaja Yoga|paragraphs=2,3|hat=no}}

==Later work==
[[File:Nirmala Srivastava.jpg|thumb|Nirmala Srivastava in 2011]]

In 2003 a charity house for the rehabilitation of destitute women was set up in Delhi (the ''Vishwa Nirmala Prem Ashram'').<ref>{{cite web |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/opinion/edit-page/A-New-Childhood/articleshow/457754.cms |title=A New Childhood |author=Arshiya Khanna |date=16 November 2006 |access-date=4 November 2007 |format=Editorial |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121018233831/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2006-11-16/edit-page/27827906_1_girls-drunken-man-mother |archive-date=18 October 2012 |url-status=live |work=[[The Times of India]] |df=dmy-all }}</ref> 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.<ref name = "IndianExpress250211"/><ref>{{cite web|title =Shri P.K. Salve Kala Pratishthan|publisher =PKS Academy|url =http://www.pksacademy.com/about.htm|access-date =25 February 2011|url-status =dead|archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20110715091513/http://www.pksacademy.com/about.htm|archive-date =15 July 2011|df =dmy-all}}</ref>

Until 2004, during her travels, she gave numerous public lectures, [[Puja (Hinduism)|pujas]], 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.<ref name="SWAN">[http://www.sahajayoga.org/swan/view/swan_247_2004.asp We want the world to know...] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120204211013/http://www.sahajayoga.org/swan/view/swan_247_2004.asp |date=4 February 2012 }} "Shri Mataji has completed her work"</ref> She continued to give talks to her devotees<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.shrimataji.org/india2007/story/226#more |title=Sunday 23rd March. ''You have to forgive'' – Easter puja talk |publisher=Shrimataji.org |access-date=26 November 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111002161134/http://www.shrimataji.org/india2007/story/226#more |archive-date=2 October 2011 |df=dmy-all }}</ref> and allowed them to offer her [[Puja (Hinduism)|puja]].<ref>[http://www.shrimataji.org/italy2008/story/241#more Shri Mataji allowed to offer her puja on the occasion of Buddha Purnima] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080720154748/http://www.shrimataji.org/italy2008/story/241 |date=20 July 2008 }} (20 May 2008)</ref>{{Better source needed|date=June 2011}}

She spoke on several occasions about the harms of drinking alcohol<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.shrimataji.org/italy2008/story/242 |title=Saturday 17th May. ''Will power and the menace called alcohol'' |publisher=Shrimataji.org |access-date=26 November 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111002161225/http://www.shrimataji.org/italy2008/story/242 |archive-date=2 October 2011 |df=dmy-all }}</ref> and that many people were cured from addiction when they got their self realization through Sahaja Yoga.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.sahajayogaportal.org/en/stop-drinking-with-yoga.html|title = Stop Drinking with Yoga}}</ref>

== Honors and recognition ==
* Italy, 1986. Declared "Personality of the Year" by the Italian Government.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Rome|first1=Marcus|title=Yogi shared teachings at no cost|url=https://www.smh.com.au/national/yogi-shared-teachings-at-no-cost-20110520-1ewo1.html |publisher=The Sydney Morning Herald |date=21 May 2011 |access-date=19 Nov 2019 |ref=The Sydney Morning Herald |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170202065059/http://www.smh.com.au/comment/obituaries/yogi-shared-teachings-at-no-cost-20110520-1ewo1.html|archive-date=2 February 2017|url-status=live|df=dmy-all}}</ref>
* [[New York City|New York]], 1990–1994. Invited by the United Nations for four consecutive years to speak about means to achieve world peace.<ref name="A Selection of Awards and Recognitions">{{cite web|title=A Selection of Awards and Recognitions|url=http://shrimataji.org/site/life/awards-and-recognition.html|access-date=2 March 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170330195304/http://shrimataji.org/site/life/awards-and-recognition.html|archive-date=30 March 2017|url-status=live|df=dmy-all|website=Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi}}</ref>
* [[St. Peterburg]], Russia, 1993. Appointed as honorary member of the Petrovskaya Academy of Art and Science.<ref>{{cite web|title=International Scientific Conference, St. Peterburg|date=14 September 1994 |url=https://www.amruta.org/1994/09/14/medical-conference-in-st-petersburg-1994/|access-date=2 March 2017|location=|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170207031239/https://www.amruta.org/1994/09/14/medical-conference-in-st-petersburg-1994/|archive-date=7 February 2017|url-status=live|df=dmy-all|website=Amruta}} Timestamp: 00:15:46</ref>
* Romania, 1995. Awarded honorary doctorate in cognitive science by the Ecological University Bucharest.<ref>{{cite web|title=Medical Conference, Ecological University of Bucharest|date=2 August 1995 |url=https://www.amruta.org/1995/08/02/medical-conference-at-ecological-university-of-bucharest-1995/|access-date=2 March 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170207112955/https://www.amruta.org/1995/08/02/medical-conference-at-ecological-university-of-bucharest-1995/|archive-date=7 February 2017|url-status=dead|df=dmy-all|website=Amruta}} Timestamp: 55:17</ref>
* China, 1995. Official guest of the Chinese Government to speak at the United Nations International Women's Conference.<ref>{{cite web|title=Fourth World Conference On Women, Beijing, China|date=13 September 1995 |url=https://www.amruta.org/1995/09/13/conference-on-women-in-beijing-1995/|access-date=2 March 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170207031349/https://www.amruta.org/1995/09/13/conference-on-women-in-beijing-1995/|archive-date=7 February 2017|url-status=live|df=dmy-all|website=Amruta}}</ref>
* 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.<ref>{{cite web|title=Public Program at Maharashtra Institute of Technology|date=25 November 1996 |url=https://www.amruta.org/1996/11/25/pp-on-the-700th-birthday-of-shri-gyaneshwara-1996/|access-date=2 March 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170207031412/https://www.amruta.org/1996/11/25/pp-on-the-700th-birthday-of-shri-gyaneshwara-1996/|archive-date=7 February 2017|url-status=live|df=dmy-all|website=Amruta}}</ref>
* London, 1997. Claes Nobel, grandnephew of [[Alfred Nobel]], chairman of United Earth, honoured her life and work in a public speech at the Royal Albert Hall.<ref>{{cite web|title=Tribute To Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi By Claes Nobel|date=3 July 1997 |url=https://www.amruta.org/1997/07/03/public-program-tribute-to-shri-mataji-nirmala-devi-by-claes-nobel-royal-albert-hall-london/|access-date=2 March 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170110035516/http://www.amruta.org/1997/07/03/public-program-tribute-to-shri-mataji-nirmala-devi-by-claes-nobel-royal-albert-hall-london/|archive-date=10 January 2017|url-status=live|df=dmy-all|website=Amruta}}</ref>
* A road in Navi Mumbai, near the Sahaja Yoga Health and Research Center, was named in her honor.<ref>{{cite web|title=Awards and Achievements|url=http://www.sahajayogahealthcentre.org/awards-and-achievments.html|access-date=2 March 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170201132827/http://sahajayogahealthcentre.org/awards-and-achievments.html|archive-date=1 February 2017|url-status=unfit|df=dmy-all|website=Sahaja Yoga Health & Research Centre (Greater Noida)}}</ref>
* Cabella Ligure, Italy, 2006. She was awarded honorary Italian citizenship.<ref>{{cite web|title=Cittadinanza onoraria, Il Secolo XIX|date=25 February 2011|url=http://www.ilsecoloxix.it/p/basso_piemonte/2011/02/25/AOJ2KW-cabella_addio_santona.shtml|publisher=Il Secolo XIX|access-date=2 March 2017|language=it|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170207032009/http://www.ilsecoloxix.it/p/basso_piemonte/2011/02/25/AOJ2KW-cabella_addio_santona.shtml|archive-date=7 February 2017|url-status=live|df=dmy-all}}</ref>
* Cabella Ligure, Italy, 2009. [[Bhajan Sopori]] and his son [[Abhay Sopori]] composed the [[Raga|raag]] ''Nirmalkauns'' in her honour.<ref>{{cite web|title=Nirmalkauns (Pandit Bhajan Abhay Sopori) in honor of Shri Mataji|website = [[YouTube]]| date=19 September 2013 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6lCWb-ZSSp0|access-date=3 March 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170208024013/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6lCWb-ZSSp0|archive-date=8 February 2017|url-status=live|df=dmy-all}} Timestamp: 0:14-3:03</ref>

==See also==
*[[List of messiah claimants]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Bibliography==
* Mataji Shri Nirmala Devi, ''Meta modern era'' (New Delhi: Ritana Books, 1997) {{ISBN|81-86650-05-9}}
* Pullar, Philippa (1984) ''The shortest journey'', {{ISBN|0-04-291018-8}}
* Kakar, Sudhir (1984) ''Shamans, mystics and doctors: a psychological inquiry into India and its healing traditions'', {{ISBN|0-226-42279-8}}
* Coney, Judith (1999) ''Sahaja yoga: socializing processes in a South Asian new religious movement'', (London: Curzon Press) {{ISBN|0-7007-1061-2}}
* H.P. Salve [her brother], ''My memoirs'' (New Delhi: LET Books, 2000)
* Gregoire de Kalbermatten, ''The advent'' (Bombay, 1979: reprint: New York: daisyamerica, 2002) {{ISBN|1-932406-00-X}}
* Gregoire de Kalbermatten, ''The third advent'' (New York: daisyamerica, 2003; Melbourne: Penguin Australia, 2004; Delhi: Penguin India, 2004) {{ISBN|1-932406-07-7}}

==External links==
* {{commons category-inline}}
* {{wikiquote inline}}
* {{official website|http://www.shrimataji.org/}}

{{Modern yoga gurus}}

{{Authority control}}

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

Nirmala Srivastava - Revision history

Surojits999: added new article