Editing Divine Light Mission (section)

===Founding and early years in India===
{{Further|Hans Ji Maharaj#Succession}}
[[Hans Ji Maharaj|Shri Hans Maharaj Ji]], initiated by the [[Sant Mat]] guru Sri [[Swarupanand Ji]], began teaching in the [[Sind province|Sind]] and [[Lahore]] provinces of India in the 1930s. In 1950 he began initiating ''[[Mahatmas]]'', followers who could themselves initiate devotees, and formed a magazine called "Hansadesh" which is still active in 2017.<ref>Melton (1992), pp. 217-218</ref>

In 1960 in the city of [[Patna]], he founded the Divine Light Mission (''Divya Sandesh Parishad'') to organize followers across Northern India. At the time of his death on 19 July 1966, the Divine Light Mission had six million members in India.<ref>"Whatever Happened to Guru Maharaj Ji? ", Hinduism Today Magazine, October 1983 [http://www.hinduismtoday.com/archives/1983/10/1983-10-06.shtml Available Online] (Retrieved March 2008)</ref>

During the customary 13 days of mourning, his mother and senior officials of the organization discussed the succession. Prem Rawat, who was 8 years-old at the time, addressed the crowd and was accepted by them as their teacher and "[[Sant Mat#The Sants|Perfect Master]]" and was named as Bal Bhagwan.<ref>Aagaard (1980)</ref><ref>U. S. Department of the Army (2001), pp.1-5</ref><ref>Fahlbusch et al. (1998), p. 861</ref> Because of his age, effective control of the DLM was shared by the whole family.<ref name="Melton 1986, pp.141-2">Melton (1986), pp.141-2</ref>