Mahamati Prananathji is well konwn as Mehraj Thakur, was born on the October 26, 1618 that is in the Vikram Samvat Era (An ancient Hindu calendar established by Indian emperor Vikramaditya) year 1675. His father was Keshav Thakur, a well-known Diwan in the state of Jamnagar. His mother was Dhanbai. He was the fourth amongst their five sons.

At an early age, Mehraj Thakur was well versed in ancient Hindu philosophy. He was bold and aggressive and had good aptitude for spiritual knowledge. He came to listen to Shri Devchandra`s discourses, in the company of his brother; Govardhan Thakur, at the early age of twelve. As he bowed before the master, Shri Devchandra saw in him a great visionary and recognized in him the great divine soul of Indravati, who was to carry on the work of awakening the souls, after Swami Devchandra.

Mehraj Thakur wanted to have a glimpse of the Lord Krishna and his life as depicted in the ancient Hindu sacred books, as described by Shri Devchandra. For that, he started a life of penance but Shri Devchandra told him that not all these hard practices were essential as contemplation, training of the mind and service of humanity. According to Mehraj Thakur`s Spiritual guru, "One should see the world as a stage and perform his duties as a seer without getting engrossed into it."

Later, Mehraj Thakur left Jamnagar and went to Dharol to accept the post of a Diwan. He worked very efficiently and the king left everything to him. Suddenly, his guru Shri Devchandra fell sick and succeeded him to preach the Pranami Sect all over India.

Shri Mehraj was with his Guru for three weeks. In this period, every aspect of spiritual, political, religious and social matters, were discussed and plan was drawn up. After bestowing his blessings on Mehraj, Shri Devchandra left his mortal and assigned his job of "Jagni" that is the head of the community to Mehraj.

While fulfilling this assigned job, Shri Mehraj Thakur was named as Lord Prannath. He brought many changes into the Hindu society. While travelling throughout the country, he talked to many people in their language. That is the reason why the six languages like Gujarati language, Sindhi language, Arabic language, Persian language, Urdu language, Hindi language are prevalent languages in his major work which is called "Kuljam Swarup". Most of the books of "Kuljam Swarup" are in Hindustani Dialect. The great thing about it is that all these languages are written in Devnagiri, a Hindi script. The "Kuljam Swarup" contains fourteen books in 18758 verses. His followers compiled these as the Lord Prananathji spoke them. Thus, the Kuljam Swarup is the most authentic scripture of the world to Pranamis.

In his task of promulgating the faith, Mahamati Prannath travelled to every corner of India, and travelled, too, the Arab lands: Muscat, Basra, and to Bandar Abbas in Iran. In India, he went to Junagadh, Thatthanagar, Naliya, Khambhalia. In Surat, he established the holy shrine of Shri Mahamangalpuri Dham.

Shri Prannath never stayed in one place for long. Inspite of the difficulties of travelling, he was moving around from place to place to awaken the divine souls. At that time, the Hindus were divided in the name of caste, creed, rituals etc. Exploitation of the poor, downtrodden and low castes was a common problem during that time. The status of the woman was degrades in Hindus and the Muslims. They were not allowed to remarry even if they became widowed at an early age. Women were not allowed to read scriptures or to receive the sacred mantras. "Sati" or bride burning was in vogue. Mahamati Prannath, in his travels and discourses, tried to reform the Hindu society from the rule of Mughal Dynasty. He gave "Tartam Mantra" to the women. Some of them became preachers and started many centres for bringing awareness into the Indian society.

During his travels, Mahamati met many saints and tried to unite them so that they could raise a revolt against the despotic Mughal Emperor, Auragzeb. He attended many religious congregations like the Kumbh in Allahabad, Haridwar and tried to convince many Hindu saints that instead of praying to thousands of deities, one should pray to the Supreme Lord, the "Advaita Brahman". In Haridwar, many saints and learned people were impressed by his philosophy. They realized that the time for the incarnation of "Vijayabhinand Budh Ji" had come which signified that satanic instincts of human beings will be ended and all will come under the folds of true religion - which is one and the only one and for all.

In Haridwar, in the year Samvat 1735, the great Kumbha Mela took place, and there Mahamati Prannath introduced a number of people to Nijanand Sampraday. Followers of Lord Shiva, of Shakti, and of Lord Vishnu; the Four Sects, the Dasnam, ascetics, the followers of the six philosophies; all had realized the unparalleled wisdom of Mahamati Prannath, and proclaimed him to be the Vijayabhinand Nishkalank Budh and that day of that proclamation, an era began in his name, known as "Budh ji ka Saka".

In The Vikram Samvat year 1740, he met Maharaja Chhatrasal who was the king of the Bundelkhand, raised the rebellion against the Mughal Dynasty. Under the protection of Chhatrasal, the shrine of Padmavati Puri Dham was established. It was during his eleven years in Panna District, Mahamati Prannath spoke the inspired message of the "Tartam Vani" or Kuljam Swarup, the sacred book that is the essence of all sacred books.

Throughout his life, he spread the knowledge of Hindu - Muslim Unity to his disciples. Shri Keshavdasji compiled all the verses and the holy sermons of Prananathji in fourteen books came to be known as "Kuljam Swarup". He emphasized the oneness of the Muslim and Hindu faith and established a universal religion - a religion for all mankind and called it "Nijanand Dharma" or the blissful religion for the souls.

In the year 1751 of the Vikram Samvat era, Mahamati Prannath died after establishing the Pranami Sects as a most influential religion through Maharaja Chhatrasal. This sect is better known as "Paramdham".