INFORMATION
Tapaswi Shiromani Dr. Jyotiben Gandhi
Tapaswi Shiromani Dr. Jyotiben Gandhi
By Dilip Shah
By Dilip V Shah
Dilip V Shah of Philadelphia is the past president of JAINA. He is currently serving as chairman of JAINA’s Overseas Relations Committee and a member of the Academic Liaison Committee. In addition to being an advisor for Jain Digest, he is also the publisher and General Editor of Jain Avenue magazine – a publication of JAINA India Foundation.
Jainam Jayati Shashanam! Tapaswi Amar Raho! Jainam Jayati Shashanam! Tapaswi Amar Raho! Jainam Jayati Shashanam! Tapaswi Amar Raho! These slogans by the jubilant crowds were coming from Gujarati Samaj Hall on a Sunday morning in Queens, New York. The occasion was the Jain Temple of New York's celebration of Dr. Jyotiben Gandhi's Parna of her 100th Aymbil Oli tapasya.
The weather that day on October 29, 2023, was unseasonably nice. An elegant procession with drummers, dancers, and singers had just ushered Jyotiben and her family into the hall. She was accompanied by 90 other tapaswis who had observed Aaso month Ayambil Oli. Suddenly the procession turned into a Garba. It seemed that the dancing, singing of stavans, and blissful smiles that blanketed the hall would never end. Eventually, Jyotiben was led to the stage. All the other tapaswis were seated in a specially designated red colored Mandap on one side of the stage. The main program began with a Manglik delivered by Shri Nirmal Sagarji. He was followed by Shri
Chandrakant Mehta of NJ, who spoke of the significance and the rarity of the event. The celebration everyone was witnessing was the first such occasion in America – the Tapasya event that took 36 years to complete! Jyotiben completed 5,050 Aayambils with 100 Upvas. A culmination of tapasya covering 15 years if one were to undertake the series of Aayambils back-to-back without a break. Now the Samuh Parna was to begin. Jyotiben insisted all the Tapasiws have their Parna before she would begin her own. For Jyotiben’s Parna, all the Shravaks and Shravikas got the opportunity to go up on the stage to offer a small amount of food. As they were leaving the stage, they each received Prabhavna of a pouch with a package of saffron and dhoop and were offered to partake in a “Lucky Draw”- picking a chit from a ceremonial bowl that suggested a vow they may take for a duration of their choice.
What is more remarkable is the circumstances under which Jyotiben undertook the journey of Vardhman Tap Aaradhna. A ritual in which one consumes only one meal in a day that avoids dairy, fruits, vegetables, oil or ghee, sugar, and most of the spices. It is a practice in which one “eats to live and not live to eat” 39
