Two very different journeys

The pandemic was a wild time. With many people working from home during the lockdown, commute times were cut down. I also had more free time, saving nearly an hour each way on my commute.

One night during the lockdown, I had a night off from dialysis. While scrolling through social media, I found a Facebook page called Ajit Sanskar. It was run by followers of Jain sadhus, Param Pujya (P.P.) Ajit Yash Vijayji Maharaj Sahib (left in the picture) and P.P. Sanskar Yash Vijayji Maharaj Sahib (right in the picture). That page brought back a flood of memories.

Back in 1996, I was very religious and connected with many Jain Sadhus. I heard about a Deeksha ceremony about to happen in Vapi, Gujarat. A young boy, around 18 or 19 years old, was going to renounce the world and become a Jain Sadhu.

I was very intrigued and eager to attend the Deeksha ceremony. I shared this with my grandmother, who was also quite religious, and she decided to join me. We traveled to Vapi a couple of days before the event. Witnessing someone so young, in the prime of life, renounce everything to become a Sadhu was deeply moving. The whole experience left a lasting impression on me.

The Facebook page I found was dedicated to the two sadhus, one of whom took deeksha in Vapi almost 25 years ago. His name was P.P. Sanskar Yash Vijayji, and his guru was P.P. Ajit Yash Vijayji Maharaj Sahib. P.P. Ajit Yash Vijayji later became P.P. Ajit Yash Surishwarji Maharaj Sahib. What touched me that night during the pandemic was seeing that the boy who took deeksha back then had grown into a wise and capable Jain sadhu. He also received the Acharya Padvi and is now known as P.P. Sanskar Yash Surishwarji Maharaj Sahib.

I couldn't help but reflect on our two journeys. While I don't intend to compare myself with the learned sadhu - I am no comparison for his greatness, I found it fascinating to see how different our paths were. He renounced the world and became a capable spiritual leader, achieving so much in 25 years. Meanwhile, I was struggling with my health. It's not a sad reflection, just an observation of how starkly different our lives turned out. Around the same time he took deeksha, I finished my chemical engineering degree and was diagnosed with a rare illness called aHUS. Now, 25 years later, our journeys have led us to very different places.

It was heartwarming to see that the young boy who took Deeksha in front of my eyes had succeeded in his spiritual journey. It felt really nice to see him grow into such a capable sadhu.