Plastics magnate gives up $840m to become monk
One of India’s richest men has renounced all his wealth and taken a vow of celibacy to become a monk.
Bhawarlal Doshi, a Delhi-based plastics tycoon with a fortune valued at over US$600 million (NZ$840m) by Forbes, was initiated into a monastic order of the Jain faith in a three-day ceremony attended by more than 150,000 people.
Doshi, 58, the son of a textile merchant in the desert state of Rajasthan, started out selling paraffin from a street cart.
He later built his own company, DR International, into one of India’s largest plastics manufacturers, earning him a fortune that until last week ranked him as one of India’s richest 100 people.
His diksha, or monastic consecration ceremony, in the western city of Ahmedabad began with a 6-kilometre procession of painted elephants, camels, horses, musicians, sword dancers and 1000 Jain monks.
Jainism professes non-violence and the renunciation of worldly goods as a path to spiritual liberation.
Doshi’s head was ritually shaved in a special hall, a mundansthal, and he was greeted by spiritual leaders and the city’s top Jain industrialists such as Gautam Adani, a billionaire and close friend of Narendra Modi, the prime minister.
During the ceremony, crowds cheered Doshi’s decision to give much of his fortune to Jain charities.
Having given up his luxurious lifestyle, including multiple homes, cars and holidays overseas, the strict vegetarian and father of three can now look forward to a life of total austerity.
Forgoing phones, ornaments or colourful clothes – which will be exchanged for simple white robes – he will rise every day at 4am for several hours of meditation and yoga.
He will not be allowed to cut his hair and will have to walk barefoot at all times to avoid the possibility of squashing insects, as Jainism rules against doing harm to any animals.
Before he goes to bed each night, he will undertake a Jain rit- ual known as alochana, or selfcriticism, in which adherents consider their day’s activities and the times they may have hurt something or killed an insect, while repenting of their daily sins.
‘‘Taking diksha is not easy,’’ said Surishwarji Maharaj, a Jain guru from the order that Doshi has joined as its 108th disciple. ‘‘A Jain monk’s life is like that of conch shell that cannot be painted any other colour.’’ Jains believe that possessions are an obstacle to spiritual advancement and monks give away everything except the bare minimum they require to eat and live.
Some Jain monks live naked without even a bowl to eat from and carry only a whisk in order to sweep insects from their path without hurting them.
Renouncing possessions is seen by Jains as a way to attain moksha, or ultimate liberation, which means escaping the continuous cycle of birth, death and rebirth in which they believe most ordinary people are trapped.
Doshi had long considered living as a Jain monk but his family had not wanted him to.
However, his son Rohit, 33, said that he was now proud of his father’s decision.
‘‘He would have taken diksha three years ago but the family stopped him then. It is always tough when the head of the family wants to seek diksha,’’ he said. ‘‘It took three years for him to convince us.
‘‘We are proud of him. The honour and respect that he got when he announced his decision is something that can only be seen to be believed.’’
A minority of Jains pursue an even more extreme path by choosing to ritually starve themselves to death in a practice known as santhara.
Hundreds of Jains die each year after taking a vow to stop eating, based on the belief that it is a method of achieving moksha.
Although there are about 5 million practising Jains in India – a modest number compared with the major religions of Hinduism and Islam – the community has an outsize impact on the nation’s cultural and political life.