[2][3] 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.

[4][5] 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".

[8] Her father, a scholar of fourteen languages, translated the Quran into Marathi, and her mother was the first woman in India to receive an honours degree in mathematics.

[6][10] Like her parents, she was involved with the struggle for Indian independence and, as a youth leader when a young woman, was jailed for participating in the Quit India Movement in 1942.

[6][11][12] Taking responsibility for her younger siblings and living a spartan lifestyle during this period infused the feeling of self-sacrifice for the wider good.

[9] Shortly before India achieved independence in 1947, Shri Mataji married Chandrika Prasad Srivastava,[11] a high-ranking Indian civil servant who later served Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri as Joint Secretary, and was bestowed an honorary KCMG by Elizabeth II.