imagesource: wikicommons]

What would you do if you were the heir to one of the oldest diamond empires in India? Well, eight-year-old Devanshi Sanghvi has renounced her family fortune and will spend her life in service as a child nun.

Devanshi and her family are devout followers of Jainism, an Indian religion with roots dating back 2 500 years. The religion is known for shunning material possessions, and now the young heiress will be joining the growing group of religious followers as they roam from house to house, collecting alms for the poor.

“A Jain nun’s life is really austere. She will now have to walk everywhere, she can never take any kind of transport, she’ll sleep on a white sheet on the floor and cannot eat after sundown.”

Devashni’s family is said to be extremely religious and as such the young woman was encouraged to follow her chosen path with her family’s blessing. Her parents also accompanied her to Surat City, where Devanshi took part in “diksha“, or vow of renunciation. The ritual was performed in front of senior Jain monks, as well as thousands of faithful onlookers.

Following the ceremony, Devashni’s new home is now an Upashraya, a holy place where she will live and serve with her fellow nuns and well as Jain monks. According to a friend of the family, Devashni is no longer part of her old family.

“She can no longer stay at home, her parents are no longer her parents, she’s a Sadhvi [a nun] now,”

Before the ceremony, her family arranged an incredible procession to celebrate their daughter’s sacrifice, with camels, stilted walkers, drummers and ox-driven carts entertaining the throngs of onlookers. The Sanghvi family were carried along in a chariot pulled by elephants as people cheered and showered them with flowers.

The story has generated debate among a lot of people with questions being raised as to whether the family should not have urged Devashni to hold off on her life-altering decision until she was a bit older and wiser.

“Children can’t even decide what stream to study in college until they are 16. How can they make a decision about something that will impact their entire life?”

As the BBC reports, the path chosen by Jain nuns is one of struggle and service. Whether Devashni will come to regret her decision is perhaps a cynical question, but for now, she and her family appear to be happy with her choice.

It is rather refreshing to see an heiress whose ambition doesn’t include just being a TikTok influencer and partying in Ibiza.

Jai-Jinendra dear Devashni. And Good luck.

[source: bbc ]