The naked monks

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There seems to be some commotion at the temple door. I think the monk is coming out and some of

the devotees are running towards him to seek his blessings. Everyone wants to touch his feet

and talk to him, and they are now following the monk in a little procession out of the village.

It's about 2pm and I have joined this group of 50 to 60 people walking through the narrow

lanes of the village. In the middle of the procession is the monk in his 50s. He's walking barefoot

and carrying a peacock feather duster in his hand, and he's completely naked.

The party following the monk also includes some barefoot young women in their 20s and 30s.

They are all covered from head to toe in white saris, but the monk doesn't at all seem to be

self-conscious about his nudity. This is the documentary from the BBC World Service

with me Rajesh Joshi, and for this edition of Heart and Soul, where we explore personal

approaches to spirituality from around the world, I'm in Baragao, a sleepy village,

one our drive north of India's capital New Delhi. I'm meeting Muni Pranamya Sagar,

a Jain monk and his followers, to find out why someone would renounce everything,

including the glows for their faith. I spoke to the barefoot monk as he walked.

We must have walked two or two and a half kilometers from the Baragao temple. How much further will

you be walking today and what will be the next stop and the one after that?

The Delhi schedule varies from day to day. I have to walk for nine kilometers, so we have to walk

for another six and a half or seven kilometers. Then we'll decide about the next day's stop tomorrow

morning. And your final destination is Rurkee, which is about 150 kilometers from here, and you will

walk all the way. Yes, we'll go on foot. This is just 150 kilometers. During the summer season,

I walked 700 kilometers from Kundalpur to Chaapur. This journey to Rurkee was supposed to have been

undertaken during the summer season, but we had to reschedule it for some reasons. It's cold now,

so there's no comfort neither in summer nor in winter.

Why are you doing this?

This act falls under a vow of non-possession, getting out all these external austerities

like walking and facing unpleasant weather and so on, brings a great deal of suffering and distress.

The pain one endures from themselves to increase one's economy or state of calm. This is the primary

objective. I have seen wandering monks since my childhood. They walk from village to village and

tongue to tongue because of a deep spiritual calling. Some of them are Hindu ascetics, some are

Buddhist and also Jain. The monk I'm walking with belongs to the Jain faith. Jains are a minority

religion in India. They constitute only 0.4% of the country's population, but Jainism is an

ancient religion that predates Christianity and even Buddhism, and its demanding ancient

practices continue to survive. Since everyone is walking barefoot, I'm also going to remove my shoes

just to see how it feels to walk without shoes on the hard surface road.

It's not easy. It's really painful to walk on this road.

I couldn't even last a few seconds walking without shoes. Walking naked in the cold

and in public would be rather unthinkable for me. Yet, walking naked in the procession,

Muni Pranam Misagar appears relaxed. I see that you are walking barefoot, you are not

wearing any clothes, but you are carrying a duster made of peacock feathers. What is its significance?

Now see, a little insect is crawling on my neck. If I try to remove it with my hand, it might die.

So I use the duster to swipe it away. There are so many things like that.

If I have to sit down on the ground here, right now, I'll brush away the small creatures

and insects with this duster and then set. This is our rule for protecting living creatures

and exercising caution so that we are always aware of our commitment to non-violence.

Muni Pranam Misagar has no family, no romantic partners, and no material positions. He owns

nothing, not even clothes. By walking naked and carefully barefoot, he's a living embodiment

of two key tenets of Jainism, Ahinsa and Uparigra, that is non-violence and non-position.

Jain religion is so ancient that scholars find it difficult to agree on the exact century

it originated, but most believe that it was established over 2500 years ago. In Jainism,

the theory of karma is fundamental. It's not karma as we might be familiar with,

that you reap what you sow. Jain's belief that karma is a physical substance that is attached

to your soul. Your actions and thoughts shape your karma, and it's the karma that shapes the

destiny of a soul. The soul is reborn into a different body or death, but the ultimate goal for

a Jain is to purify the soul by removing all bondage of karma, to break this cycle of rebirth

and reincarnation, and reaching a state of ultimate liberation called Moksha.

One way karma can be shed is by pursuing a life of non-violence and non-position.

These wandering naked monks are seen as pious role models who are well on the path to Moksha.

Rakshita Jain is one of Muni Purnima Sagar's followers.

Why did you come here?

We just wanted to know about the why he is on this path, same like you.

So when we got in connection with him, so we had to know so much so many things about this world,

the life after life, and what are the karmas, how we are here, and about the Jainism,

the concept of Jainism.

As a young woman, don't you feel uncomfortable looking at men walking without any clothes?

No, it's not like that when a baby bonds, you used to see them like that now.

So it's about the concept of Jain's follow, that you are not attached to a single thing,

whether it's clothes, whether it's food or whether it's anything.

We are now passing through another village and I see a group of young boys and men standing

at a tri-junction.

Have you ever seen a naked person walking like this before?

No sir, we don't know, we haven't seen this sir.

The thing is that I don't know much about them, I haven't seen them before,

today is the first time that I have seen them.

Have you never even heard of these monks?

They walk through the streets naked, what if someone gets angry at them?

No, no, no, no.

There is nothing like that, the difference is that these people are acetics.

These are rebelled.

People worship them, touch their feet, serve them.

No one will serve a common man, these are holy men, these are God.

Naturally, everyone will serve them.

After walking for nearly 10 kilometers without taking a break,

the barefoot monk and his followers have reached a roadside village called Pilana.

He will stay here overnight in this half-constructed storehouse.

It's a very small room with bare walls and only one window.

Moni Pranam is a garish sitting cross-legged on an elevated seat,

placed on top of a broad wooden bench.

His followers are sitting down on the floor,

singing devotional songs and praying.

They are offering him flowers and cooking a fruit.

Tonight, the monk will sleep on this bare hardwood bed,

without the mattress or pillows and no dinner.

He will stop speaking after 8 pm.

The group will embark on the next leg of the journey early tomorrow morning.

Moni Pranam Sagar is an educated man in his 50s who studied maths, physics,

and chemistry at university.

He has a partly frame and a delightful smile and he looks younger than his ears.

I spoke with him again before his nightly vow of silence.

First of all, please tell me a bit about your personal life.

Was there an atmosphere in your childhood home that led you to the path of becoming a monk?

Yes, the atmosphere at home was normal like you find in any Jan household.

Going to the temple, beholding Jan 80s and occasionally coming into contact with Kuru's.

So when I look back, I remember that whenever someone died,

I would think a lot about it, this person has died.

Where has he gone after death?

Where do people go after they die?

I used to think about it a lot and I was always curious to know about the truth of life.

I think if everyone eventually has to leave this world,

they also have their desires and dreams in life.

Where do these disappear?

I used to think about it a lot.

So who is eligible or qualified to attain liberation?

Anyone in the world can be a candidate and there is no guarantee that a soul who begins this

practice in one lifetime will necessarily succeed. It may take two to four lifetimes,

or even ten or twenty, but anyone can attain liberation.

It's a pre-requisite to be born a man to attain Moksha,

but is it also necessary to renounce all material positions?

Or can liberation be attained even while living in comfort, convenience, wealth and opulence?

The path to Moksha is this, as long as one remains living in comforts and wealth.

Once attachment to them grows.

Until we detach ourselves from our family and renounce our attachment to wealth and

possessions will not have the time to conquer our body and our passions.

Only by renouncing all these things does one attain liberation.

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This is Heart and Soul from the BBC World Service. I am Rajesh Joshi. This is the Naked Monks.

Formuni Pranam Misagar, living fully nude, is the ultimate renunciation of worldly positions

to escape from the cycle of rebirth and reach liberation of his soul. The concept known as Moksha.

But this path has risks.

Do you ever feel when you're traveling that there is any danger to your life that someone

might attack you or say nasty words to you? Have you ever experienced anything like that?

Vihar, do, stayed in a Vihar. Yes, yes, it happens. Once in the state of Pihar, there was a little

roadside shop. So while I was walking past a man saw me and pulled a dagger from his shop. He

was ready to attack me. At that moment I thought my life was over. And there weren't many people around

me that man was talking utter nonsense and he was swearing and he showed me the dagger and started

threatening me and said, I'll kill you. I'll kill you if you ever come back here again. I'll do this.

I'll do that. As he was constantly bravering, it really felt like he was going to kill me.

So I walked away from him very bravely because I was on the move and kept moving.

So I decided I wouldn't stop my momentum. And I thought to myself, he's going to hit me now

if I have to face death and if my time has come, so I'll face that also. With that thought in my mind,

I just kept walking away. And I suppose there was my good karma that he kept shouting a lot

but did not strike me with the weapon he was holding. So when I got about 10 pieces ahead of him,

I felt I had somehow escaped. These kinds of incidents to take place.

But being nude isn't the only path to liberate one's soul in jainism. There are two main

branches in jain religion, the Digambara and Shwetambara. In Sanskrit, Shwetambara means to be white

clad while Digambara means sky clad, describing the male monks who walk naked,

such as Muni Pranamisagar. The Shwetambara sect believes that moksha can be reached without

nudity, while the Digambara's belief nudity is necessary to reach moksha. And this is a path

only open to men. There's a mix of doctrinal and societal reasons that Digambara jains don't

think women can reach moksha. There's a belief that women's bones structure lacks strength,

so they cannot follow certain practices or mudras. Then there is an entrenched societal view

that women should not be naked in public.

Astha jain is another female follower of the Guru. She has come from her home in New Delhi

to listen to his sermons and is pursuing a PhD in jainism from a top university in the capital.

Women are not entitled to moksha, only you have to be born a man to attain moksha.

And this is a very fundamental part of the jain philosophy. Why?

One thing we should always accept is that moksha is not a one birth thing. So don't worry,

if you're even a woman, it's not your last life. It's women. There are certain conditions,

they are natural certain sunken chances because of which we cannot apply or we cannot follow jain

mudra 100%. Somebody will turn around and say this is a very male dominated narrative because

they have laid down the rules for women. Women can't take off their clothes, men can do that,

isn't a discrimination. Women wants to take off their clothes, it's up to them, but it's natural

calamity. Men have not made them women like this, they have their own monthly cycles and

everything. For them women, it's difficult to do them. This is how the nature it is. Moksha is

a very beautiful concept, it's not male or female. If we can be any creature, I can become

ant, I can become plant, I can become male, I can become female, anything can be happen in this world.

That is how we live. To be a digambar jain is to accept that moksha may not be achievable in this

life, but those that seek it face a difficult and vulnerable path of living publicly nude without

positions. Yet, despite the harshness of this chosen lifestyle, scholars say that the number of

these monks have increased in recent years. While there are no official government statistics

and online database called digambar jain wiki lists just over 2000 months walking across the

country at the moment, completely naked. Given that this practice restarted in 1947,

following the end of British rule, it's astonishing just how many of these monks now exist.

I kept asking, what keeps drawing a younger generation of men to this harsh and demanding

lifestyle. Walking behind Muni Pranam Isagar in a loincloth and with a white cloth over his

left shoulder is his younger disciple in his early 40s. He has childlike eyes and the body of an

athlete. He once had a completely different life. He worked in a multinational corporation

and spent some time living in South Korea. Now, Anun Isagar has no positions and survives on handouts

from strangers. My parents used to call me Chandra Prakash Munlite.

Chandra Prakash Jain. And now you are called?

Chulak Anun Isagar. I used to do various adventure activities like paragliding and

I also played judo at state level. So, I played for four years and I like music also

and I like cooking also. We are wearing a piece of cloth that is it and there's another piece of

cloth on your shoulder. Just tell me about that journey. So, when I was studying in my school,

I started reading texts, gender texts. It used to tell me something that what you are doing

is not everything. If you want to attain some peace, if you want to attain the enlightenment,

if you want to attain Nirvana, you have to do something. You have to quit these pleasures.

You know, we are made in a certain way. Nature has made us in a certain way. We have anger,

jealousy, hatred, love, sexual feelings. How do you curb that feeling? How do you release that

feeling? How do you release that? I was 20 years old when I took the pledge of celibacy for the

first time and at that time there were the feelings. The feelings were there. I used to

so when I was in school only, I was there. The guys were there. The friends were there who used to

talk rubbish, who used to talk abuse and I was also part of that group. But I never did

anything which is off track. They used to watch some viral movies like, but those things didn't give

me that pleasure when I started meditation. And when I got involved with my soul, I realized

that whatever these guys are doing, I am getting much more happiness, much more pleasure,

much more love inside myself. When our love is not dependent on any other external living or

non-living thing, it just depends on our own self. Then you can experience that love forever.

How do you feel when you imagine a time when you will have to drop this line cloth also and you

will have to walk in front of everybody when you think of that moment, what goes through your mind?

It's just one fear, sometimes that comes in my mind, that I have to face the situations

when there would be some guys or some girls who would not like it. But I have to face that situation.

Nearly three months after I last met the naked monk and his disciple, they both took part in an

ornate ceremony held in Delhi. I have been sent a link to the ceremony which was broadcast live

and now I'm going to watch some of it to see what happens.

The ceremony is going to start. It's a huge hall packed with lots of men and women decked out in

bright colored attire.

Monipurana Misagar is sitting on a raised platform and below him are sitting the

junior monks. Among them is Kshullak Anunai Sagar who is going to be promoted to the next stage of

monkhood. His getting off from his seat and going to the guru but he no longer has the white cloth

on his shoulder. He takes a bow and Monipurana Misagar gives him the duster.

The ceremony marked another step closer to full nudity for Anunai Sagar. Since we first met,

he and his guru have walked more than 500 kilometers. I caught up with him again in February at a

gen temple in North Indian city of Mathura. Munyanunai Sagar and I took a walk around the temple grounds.

What are the thoughts in your mind?

Yeah, so one more is left. So the thought is one more as in your loincloth is left.

Still, if I have that loincloth to cover my genitals, that is also a hindrance.

So I am mature enough to drop that also.

Yes, I understand that. You are mature enough but the word around you, people around you may not

be that mature. They look at a naked man, young man walking around and they may have different

thoughts in their minds. Are you aware? Are you concerned about those things that people will say

things to you or they will form opinion about you? It happens but since it is the only path,

so it doesn't matter for me what the people will think, let them think.

Okay, so since you have dropped one piece of cloth and you are ready to drop your, even your loincloth,

what does life hold for you in future? You know, the whole lifetime without any clothes walking around.

How are you feeling about the future? What are your feelings about the future?

So the kind of purity that I will achieve, I am thinking, I am actually very

you can say, I am eager, I am very eager to achieve that meditation, that state of purity,

which is told by my master, that when you leave all the positions, all your

clothes and positions, you achieve that state of purity of your soul, that you cannot achieve

even with a piece of cloth. So you have spent I think a few years in this state,

right, without clothes walking around from town to town, from village to village.

Now, are you 100% convinced from within that you are on the right path or do you have any

second thoughts about whatever you are doing? No second thought, I am very well confident and I know

that this is the path on which I am walking. So if I know that I am, I am on the right track,

why should I worry and what should I worry?

As I've watched on a Sagar climbing the stress of the temple to join his Guru,

Muniprinam Sagar, I was left with a moment of quiet reflection. These monks will spend the rest

of their lives walking their chosen path, doing their best to remain unaffected by the tumultuous

world around them. You have been listening to the naked monks from the BBC World Service,

the presenter was Rajesh Joshi, the producer Emily Ujida Finch, and it was a whistle-down production

for the BBC World Service.

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