Sadhus who left behind success for spirituality

Many former professionals, including athletes and engineers, have embraced asceticism at the Kumbh Mela, dedicating their lives to Sanatan Dharma.

Braving cold winds, many sadhus camping on the sandy banks of the Sangam once had successful professional careers. They gave it all up to embrace the life of an ascetic.

Mahamandaleshwar Chetna had cleared the UPSC Mains Civil Services Examination. She says she took sanyas initiation when she understood that she can serve the world better as a sanyasin. (HT)

After taking ‘sanyas diksha’, these individuals say they have gone through such deeply moving experiences that they can never return to their old ways of living. Now, they have devoted their lives to God and propagating Sanatan Dharma.

Among such ascetics is Mahamandaleshwar Sahaj Yogini Shailaja Giri of Juna Akhada. Her camp is located in Sector 20 of the Mahakumbh Mela area. In the 1980s, she was a basketball player in Gujarat. She was a part of the national team and had received many awards, too. She says she came across Swami Punitacharya in 1988, and her life changed. “As soon as I understood the nuances of Sanatan Dharma, I found so much peace and contentment. So, I decided to take ‘sanyas’. My ‘sanyas initiation’ was in front of Lord Dattatreya after which I started preaching Sanatan Dharma.”

As a mahamandaleshwar of her akhada, she is now propagating the principles of Sanatan Dharma in Gujarat, Maharashtra and Rajasthan.

Mahamandaleshwar Shraddha, a disciple of Mahamandaleshwar Yogmata Keiko Aikawa in Pilot Baba’s camp, was also an athlete once. Hailing from Sikkim, she got a chance to play for the state team as well. Later, she met Pilot Baba, and took her sanyas initiation in 2007. She met Keiko Aikawa of Japan and started preaching the religion there as well.

Mahamandaleshwar Chetna also took sanyas around the same time. Determined to become an IAS officer, Chetna had also cleared the UPSC Mains Civil Services Examination. Chetna says she took sanyas initiation when she understood that she can serve the world better as a sanyasin. Today Shraddha and Chetna are preaching Sanatan dharma in Japan together. It is because of them that 600 people from Japan are likely to visit Prayagraj on Mauni Amavasya.

Naga sadhu Digambar Krishna Giri of Niranjani Akhada is no different. He is an M Tech engineer and was a topper of Karnataka University. But 15 years ago, impressed by the carefree yet dedicated life of naga sadhus and their spirituality in Haridwar, he left his high-paying job of ₹40 lakh annual incentive with a multinational company and took sanyas.

“I worked in many MNCs and was drawing a monthly salary of ₹3.5 lakhs. In 2010, when Kumbh was underway in Haridwar, I got a chance to go there for a project for my firm. There. I was so impressed by the dedication of Naga ascetics towards their religion that I decided to leave my job and dedicate the rest of my life to Sanatan Dharma,” he remembers.