of poor health she propagated Swami Ramdas’s
teachings and served the poor until her death on
February 12, 1989.
Further reading: Mother Krishnabai, Guru’s Grace
(Kahnangad: Anandashram, 1963); Swami Ramdas,
Krishna Bai (Ramnagar: Anandashram, 1940); Swami
Satchidananda, Viswamata Krishnabai (Kahnangad:
Anandashram, n.d.); Sriram, With the Divine Mother
(Kahnangad: Anandashram, n.d.).
Krishnalila See RASA LILA.
Krishnamurti, Jiddu (1895–1986) spiritual
teacher of radical self-observation
Chosen while still a child as the new messiah,
or World Teacher, by the THEOSOPHICAL SOCI-
ETY, the Indian J. Krishnamurti acquired world
fame as he traveled and lectured on the society’s
universalist teachings. After a personal spiritual
transformation, he rejected the society and its
occultism and went on to teach his philosophy
of free inquiry toward the goal of understanding
the self.
Born on May 12, 1895, in Madanapalle, near
Madras (Chennai) in colonial India, Krishnamurti
(the image of Krishna) grew up in an orthodox
BRAHMIN family steeped in tradition, ritual, and
a sacred view of the world. After the death of his
mother when he was only 10 years old, he moved
with his father and siblings to the compound of
the Theosophical Society, a rapidly growing spiri-
tual movement, in Adyar, near Madras.
The Theosophical Society, founded in 1875 in
New York City, began as an organization dedicated
to a synthesis of science, religion, and philoso-
phy with the credo “There is no religion higher
than truth.” Theosophical teaching includes the
exploration of clairvoyant powers for discov-
ering the hidden mysteries of nature and the
esoteric powers of humanity. The Theosophists
drew freely from their understanding of Eastern
thought, particularly Buddhist and Hindu cos-
mologies, to form a worldview that included a
complex cosmology, an esoteric psychology, and
an evolutionary scheme that encompassed eons.
Drawing upon many religious traditions and
prophecies, the Theosophical Society at the time
of Krishnamurti’s youth was actively looking for a
messiah, a world teacher, who would destroy evil
and restore righteousness.
In his early teen years, Krishnamurti was
chosen by the Theosophists as the young world
teacher and appointed head of the Order of the
Star in the East, an organization devoted to real-
izing his teaching mission. For a number of years
he traveled and addressed audiences, maturing inJiddu Krishnamurti (1895–1986), philosopher and
teacher of radical self-observation (Krishnamurti
Foundation America)K 242 Krishnalila