In tracing the background of the Shri Krishna Pranami Dharma, one is left with no alternative but to adopt two view points. One is the spiritual view point and the second is the historical view point. We shall see the spiritual view point first.
If we go minutely into the origin of Shri Krishna, then, before creation came into existence, there was no consciousness or inertness. There was no Nature, nor were the Sat, Rajas and Tamo Gunas there. This Universe along with its nether worlds and higher worlds were not there. There was no atom, nor the 5 elements. There was neither death nor immortality. At that time also what was there, was Aksharatit Shri Krishna's Divine Paramdham, in which HE Himself was there in HIS Eternal Sat-Chid-Ananda form. Wherever there is Shri Krishna there are people who bow down to Him,in reverence, which is called doing 'Pranam'. Whosoever does 'Pranam' to Shri Krishan, is a 'Krishna Pranami' ! Therefore, logically it is not possible to separate Shri Krishna and a Shri Krishna Pranami; for that matter even Shri Krishna Pranami Dharma ! Because, Shri Krishna and the Shri Krishna Pranami Dharma are the obverse and converse of the same coin. How can the moon and moonlight be separated ? or fire and its heat ? And there is no dispute in the fact that Shri Krishna is the Aksharatit Poorna Brahma Paramatma. HE is known by the names, Supreme Truth, Supreme Consciousness, Eternal, Ancient, Imperishable, Infinite, Non-dual, etc. in the Shastras. A subtle indication to this effect is given by Shri Krishna Himself to Arjuna in the Gita - as "Imam Vivasvate Yogam, Proktavaanahamavyayam", (Gita IV-1) meaning - "O Arjun ! Even before this Kalpa, I had taught this imperishable yoga to the Sun"... Here it is to be understood, that the body standing in front of Arjun cannot make this statement, because that body will disappear after some time ! Therefore, the speaker Shri Krishna is different !
The Supreme Poorna Brahma Paramatma
incarnates on this earth through His part power for various reasons. The manifestation
of Shri Krishna took place in order to place before the world the path of
One-pointed Prema Lakshana Bhakti demostrated by the Vrajagopis through their
pure Love ! After that, to kill Kamsa and other demons, and thereby reduce
the burden of oppression on the earth; and finally, to irrigate the minds
of the miserable souls of the world through the
Ganges-like flow of knowledge of the Bhagavad Gita.
(To know more about Shri Krishna, the viewers of Internet are requested to see the matter already covered under the captions 'Tridha Lila', "There Purushas", "Sva Lila Advait Doctrine").
A short introduction of Pranami Dharma/Nijanand Sampradaya by Swami Prannath.
History of Shri Krishna Pranami Dharma
Concluding from the spiritual angle therefore, the Shri Krishna Pranami Dharma is as Ancient and Eternal, as Aksharatit Poorna Brahma Paramatma Shri Krishna Himself.
Now we shall trace the origin of the Shri Krishna Pranami Dharma from the historical point of view, by going back to the medieval age in India.
The medieval age was the time when the religious environment in India, was passing through its most turbulent period. Saints and noble souls faced many difficulties at the hands of the persecutors. Various practices existed, which went under the name of religion in various faiths, and created conflicts in the minds of the common man.
This was the time, when the self-sustaining mechanism in our culture, gave impetus to a powerful Bhakti-movement, in order to counter the various forces trying to pull religion in different directions. Simultaneously, around the 13th century, the Sufi-movement also became a counter part of this Bhakti-movement, and this produced a new cultural synthesis.
Inspite of all this process of adaptation that was taking place, during the 17th century A.D. India came under the rule of the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb, and the country was passing through a period of maximum oppression, especially against the Hindus. The Jazia-Tax was being levied on Hindus, and they were being forcibly converted into Muslims.
It was at this time that the Pranami Movement began. Saurashtra, in Gujarat, played an important role by becoming the fountain-head of the Shri Krishna Pranami Dharma. The most important crusader of the Pranami Dharma is Mahamati Prannathji (1618-1694 A.D.), whose monumental efforts and dedication, have left a distinct historical mark on Indian Religion and Civilisation. Originating in Jamnagar, Gujarat, this Dharma spread all over Gujarat. It slowly covered not only the entire Northern India, but also spread to other corners of the world, like Nepal, Bhutan, Africa, U.K., Canada, America and Australia. Inspite of intermingling with several other religious streams, it has retained its original essence.
The founder of this Dharma, Shri Devachandraji (1581-1655 A.D.) was born in the Marwad Province, in its Umarkot village in a noble Kayasth family. From his early childhood he displayed saintly tendencies. He would seek out saints and ask them questions like, 'Who am I ?', 'From where have I come ?', 'Who created this world ?', 'Where will I go after death ?' etc. Being dissatisfied with the answers he got, at the age of 16, he left home and moved first to Bhuj (in Kutch) and then to Jamnagar in order to quench his spiritual thirst.
Those days, Jamnagar was a very important center of Indian civilisation and culture, and it used to be considered as a miniature Kashi. It is here that Shri Devchandraji drank deeply from the Shrimad Bhagavat, by listening to the discourses of the famous Savant Kanji Bhatt for 14 years, with unswerving attention and devotion. It was while listening to those discourses, that, one day, Shri Devchandraji went into a trance and had the darshan of Lord Shri Krishna, who asked him the very same questions for which he had been seeking the answers ! Shri Devchandraji told the Lord, "O Lord ! I have been seeking the answers to these very questions till today ! Kindly be gracious enough to teach me all the answers to my questions." The Lord is said to have conferred the Highest Knowledge upon him and also initiated him with the 'Tartam Mantra'. The Lord later elaborated Kshar, Akshar and Aksharatita as different levels of consciousness. Aksharatita is the Highest level of Existence, Consciousness (Knowledge) and Bliss. It is beyond the duality aspect of the limited perishable Kshar, and the Imperishable Akshar. The Lord placed the responsibility of spreading this unique knowledge to the entire world, on Shri Devchandraji.
Shri Devchandraji in turn, imparted the entire knowledge (Tartam Gyan) to his main disciple Shri Prannathji, after initiating him into the Tartam knowledge at the age of 12. Mahamati Prannathji in turn travelled through out the country to awaken people from their sleep of ignorance, inspite of all the difficulties of travel and communication he had to face. He got the opportunity to travel in a few Arab Countries also. He wanted an ideal and peaceful society where people would be respected not for their wealth, name, fame, caste or creed, but for their dedication, love and service to humanity.
Mahamati Prannathji's teachings, which poured out of him in the form Divine Revelations, are contained in 18,758 verses, divided into 14 volumes. (The details of these 14 volumes, i.e. Raas, Prakash, Shatritu, ...... etc. are given in brief under their respective captions. The story behind the divine Revelations can be found under 'Tartam Sagar'.)
During his life time, Mahamati Prannathji exerted himself to bring out the inherent unity in the various religious faiths, by analysing and comparing their respective Holy books. According to him, the spiritual endeavour behind all these faiths, is to awaken the soul to know its unequivocal relationship with the Supreme Lord. One can proudly say that Mahamati Prannathji laid the foundation for One World Religion. The sum total of the religious knowledge revealed by him, is referred to as the Kuljam Swaroop (or Tartam Sagar).
In 1678 A.D. Mahamati Prannathji went to Hardwar on the occasion of the Holy Religious congregation of the Kumbh-Mela. There he met the heads of the various Religious sects prevalent in India at that time, had detailed discussions with each one of them, and at the end of the deliberations, all of them were impressed with the unique knowledge expounded by Mahamati Prannathji, and unanimously conferred the Title of "Vijayabhinand Nishkalank Budhaji" upon him.