The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions (433 page)

(Skt., literally, ‘the desire to know
Brahman
’ or ‘the enquiry into Brahman’). The subject-matter of the
Brahmas
tra
is pronounced in its famous first verse:
ath
to brahmajijñ
s
, ‘Then therefore the enquiry into Brahman.’ In his commentary on this verse,
a
kara
explains that the knowledge of Brahman is the highest aim of humans, yet the desire for knowing Brahman depends on certain antecedent conditions already having been fulfilled (hence the use of the word ‘then’ in the verse).

 
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Brahma Kumari
.

A Hindu-oriented movement composed in the main of unmarried women and founded in Hyderabad in 1937 by the one-time Sind diamond merchant, Dadi LeKray. Women are clearly the spiritual and moral leaders in this
millennial
movement, in which the traditional role of wives and husbands has been reversed.
Through the practice of celibacy and
yoga
, souls can attain unity with the founder, Shiv Baba as he came to be known, and a right of entry to the golden age. In the late 1960s the movement, with headquarters in Mount Abu, India, began to acquire a following in the West.

 
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(Skt., ‘domain of Brahm
’). Hindu
heaven
in the company of Brahm
and the gods.

 
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