The Man Who Defies Medical Science
Investigations of a sadhu who has not eaten for
sixty years give food for thought to
scientists and spiritualists.
Ambaji,
Gujarat: I am sitting in front of Prahlad Bhai Jani, a sadhu
who claims that he has not eaten or drunk anything for past 60 years.
“IMPOSSIBLE.” If this is your reaction then check out the report by a team of
reputed doctors and scientists from DIPAS (Defence Institute of Physiology And
Allied Sciences). After observing the sadhu in strict controlled environment
for 15 days, they declared: “For 15 days, Prahlad Jani did not eat, drink, and
pass urine or stool.” The medical community calls him a miracle.
I look at him. For
his 83 years of age, he is agile and alert, lean and quick on his feet. There
are no wrinkles on the face, but a thin bluish ring encircles the cornea of the
eye representing cholesterol deposition due to aging. He has grey hair and a
medium size beard. About five feet tall, wearing red robes of a renunciant, he
sits with a straight back.
We introduce
ourselves. He folds his hands and bows his head. “Can we take your pictures,” I
ask. He nods. We begin snapping. He sits unfazed, looking away from us. When we
are done, we again come nearer and with the help of a translator conduct the
interview. Because of prolonged vows of silence often lasting for years, we
were told that his speech is slurred and he seldom speaks for long. But as he
lay on the swing in his ashrama, he spoke candidly and at length with
us.
Some excerpts from
the interview:
BTG:
By seeing your devotion and power, many people are getting faith in
spirituality.
He smiles and
raises his hands towards the heaven.
BTG:
What is your message for the public?
Prahlad Jani
(PJ): Nothing. I just give them blessings. Whatever their
karma, they will get benefit accordingly.
BTG:
What was the purpose behind doing this investigation?
PJ:
We want to tell the world that man can live without food and water. Man can
live without water even in drought. There is nothing new in this. However you
train your body it will adjust. Previously, sages and rsis could
eradicate sickness and live. Everything is there in the body, but we search
outside. There is nothing outside; whatever is there is in the body, with us.
Scientists want to search such a method that the soldiers can live during wars
without food and water. But science deals with outside.
BTG: Vedic
scriptures mention that one should eat food, so how can you live without food
and water?
PJ:
In whichever way we train the body, it adjusts. For nearly 80 years, I have
been living in the forest.
BTG:
What is your age?
PJ:
83 years.
BTG:
Are you happy after doing this austerity?
PJ:
I have now achieved siddhi. I have to show this to the world that
even stone can speak, even stone melts. Man can do anything. Man has power in
body but he searches outside. Whether I live for 11 years or 5000 years, I have
no desire in life. I don’t want to possess anything. I had a desire to build an
ashrama it is now fulfilled. In Allahabad Kumbha and Nasik
Kumbha mela different saints come. So many saints attempt to get this siddhi
but they die without getting it. Only I achieved this siddhi.
BTG:
What inspired you?
PJ:
Divine power. Devi Sakti se. I got the mercy of Goddess Amba in my
childhood.
BTG:
How can common masses get to do this?
PJ:
Only if they search on their own.
BTG:
Is it possible for a common person?
PJ:
They will take many years. It is very rare. Till we become expert, it’s
very rare to achieve it. Otherwise, we will be neither here nor there. Na
ghar ke na ghat ke. People with less knowledge may advance little, but due
to lack of complete knowledge, they eventually back out.
BTG:
People are running away from spiritual life. What do you say?
PJ:
I don’t involve with people of this world. Apni masti mein mast rahta
hoon. I am happy within. Till I achieve my aim I will have no interaction
with this world. My life is different from the world.
BTG:
How does your body function?
PJ:
Amirasa (Amrta or nectar). It runs on amirasa. When Pan
davas, went to Himalayas, they survived on amirasa . . . . Sun rises
and sets at its pace. If it did not do this, there will be chaos in this world.
Time reigns. So many saints come for Kumbha mela, but where they go back after
the mela? How many know about it?
After the interview,
he requests us to take some milk and fruit. He gets up, walks swiftly, climbs
over a stool, takes out some sugar candy prasada from a tin and offers
it to us. For a person in international media limelight, he is humble and down
to earth.
We come out of the ashrama.
On our right is a small white temple on a big hill. It is Gabbar, a holy place
associated with Mother Durga. In a cave of this hill, Prahlad Jani spent years
in meditation and austerity. The temperature is around 480C. I wonder, “Does
this sadhu really live without food and water?”
For the answer, we
travel 200 km to Ahmedabad to meet the doctor who tested this sadhu.
Science Studies the Sadhu
We meet Dr. Sudhir
Shah, an eminent neurophysician based in Ahmedabad, who studied Prahlad Jani
twice in seven years. Since the matter is under defence authorities, Dr. Shah
is unable to disclose information about the investigations and tests. But he
has great interest in spirituality and agrees to discuss the interface between
science and religion with us.
Some excerpts
from the talk:
BTG:
How did you test the claims of Prahlad Jani?’
Dr.Sudhir
Shah (SS): In 2003, I studied Prahlad Bhai for ten days. This was
to verify if the claims were true. They were. In 2010, we did the tests to see
how this can be true. For this study, the DIPAS decided the protocol. Prahlad
Bhai was kept in a closed room with a glass door. The toilet was sealed. There
was 24 hr monitoring with CCTV and a person lived in his quarters for
observation. He was given only 100 ml water for washing his mouth and it was
measured afterwards. He did not bathe for the first seven days. After seven
days, he was given water for bathing and it was measured before and after the
bath. He did not pass urine. He would form around 100 ml of urine, but later
absorb it within the bladder.
The
investigation protocols were decided by DIPAS. They are an independent body who
came in to picture after I requested the former President Dr. Abdul Kalam to
consider the vast potential of this case.
BTG: What
can be the reason behind this phenomenon?
SS:
I have formed a hypothesis, which includes a) chronic adaptation, b)
deriving energy from cosmic sources c) recycling energy within the body, and d)
genetical or structural changes. For more details, check my website
www.sudhirneuro.org
BTG:
Okay. We see that the Vedic literature and tradition is filled with stories
of sadhus possessing mystic powers. For example, in astanga yoga there
is a kriya called khecari mudra, in which the practitioner
elongates his tongue, rolls it back, and then touches it to the back of the
uvula hanging from the palate above. Once the yogi does it, he can access
nectar, which descends from the head.
SS:
Yes. Also by raising the kun dalini (a subtle energy located in
the spine) to the top of the head, one can access the nectar. This nectar has
the power to provide all nutrition. There are some contemporary yogis who have
this power and also there are two cases of non eating sadhus mentioned in The
Autobiography of a Yogi.
BTG: Yes,
they are postulated to access the solar energy through the medulla oblongata, a
part of the lower brain, just above the spinal cord. Also yogis like Baba
Ramdev mention that there are subtle nutrients in the atmosphere, which can
give nourishment to the body.
SS (laughs):
May be this is the reason why some people are unable to put off weight, even
when they hardly eat anything.
BTG: Yes,
it makes sense. But does science believes in all these spiritual theories?
SS:
Science fails here. I am bewildered. This case debunks all our theories
about the human body as we know of it. If the kidneys do not form urine for
four days, a person needs dialysis. This man did not urinate for 15 days in our
controlled environment! Despite fasting, he is in perfect condition. His pulse
is 45. Only highly trained athletes have such low heartbeats.
Although Dr. Sudhir
envisions finding a physical process behind this strange phenomenon and using
it for helping armed forces, astronauts, victims of natural disasters, etc.;
his real motivation is spiritual. “These yogis are the wealth of our nation,”
he says. “They are the pride of our culture. By scientifically verifying and
presenting their amazing powers we are glorifying our vast heritage.”
We are pleased to
see his spiritual interest and gift him a copy of Science of Self
Realization by Srila Prabhupada. “Please keep in touch,” he says and
requests us to share further spiritual insights on this phenomenon.
The Spiritual Science
Modern science sees
the human body as a fine machine, where life is a product of a special
combination of matter. Like any machine, the body needs fuel in the form of
food, and after absorbing the useful components from food, the waste is
discarded as stool and urine. Although man can survive without food for a few
days, survival without water is possible only for 4-5 days. Therefore, this
case makes modern medical science completely clueless. But when we examine it
from the Vedic paradigm, many possibilities open up.
The Vedic literature
describes that there are yogis who possess the powers to manipulate laws
operating in material world. These mystic powers are called siddhis, and
are broadly of eight types:
Anima:
becoming small like a particle
Laghima:
becoming lighter than a soft feather
Prapti:
getting anything from everywhere
Mahima:
becoming heavier than the heaviest
Isitva:
creating something wonderful or annihilating anything at will
Vasitva:
controlling all material elements
Prakamya: possessing
such power as will never be frustrated in any desire
Kamavasayita:
assuming any shape or form one may even whimsically desire
The Vedic literature
is filled with supernatural events and feats which, according to modern
scientific paradigm, were considered miraculous and therefore impossible and
imaginary. Due to innocent faith in the feats of modern science and stubborn
pride, which assumes that science is the only means of providing information
about the cosmos and its phenomenon, unfortunately educated persons were
generally unwilling to accept the Vedic system of knowledge. But this one sadhu
clearly shows that there are higher laws and phenomenon, but our science is
pitifully ignorant of them. Therefore, we should not just dismiss the Vedic
body of knowledge as superstitious or mythological, but try to approach with a
fresh and open mind. Then feats like Krsna lifting Govardhana Hill or
Lord Rama building a bridge to Lanka by floating stones on water will not
appear as flights of fantasy, but a reality that is possible by simply
adjusting the laws governing the material world in these cases the law of
gravity.
This should help us
trust the words and wisdom of holy scriptures. We should be prudent enough to
put our faith in things and facts that are beyond our direct observation, but
are mentioned by the holy scriptures.
THE TOPMOST MYSTIC
While the average
person will find the case of Prahlad Jani as giving faith in God and ample food
for philosophical thought, a yogi or transcendentalist should use it to go
deeper in the pursuit of the absolute truth. Srila Prabhupada writes in purport
of Adi lila (1.91) of Sri Caitanya caritamrta:
“Mystic powers can
make a yogi materially powerful and thus give temporary relief from the
miseries of birth, death, old age and disease, as other material sciences can
also do, but such mystic powers can never be a permanent source of relief from
these miseries… In the Bhagavad gita (6.47) it is clearly defined that
the most elevated and powerful mystic yogi is one who can constantly think of
the Supreme Lord within his heart and engage in the loving service of the
Lord.”
The permanent relief
from miseries mentioned above is only possible if one possesses the ability to
get out of the entanglement of this material world. It, however, does not
depend on ones own endeavor; it needs mercy from a higher source. Devotional
service is the process to attract that mercy. Lord Kapila, an incarnation of
Lord Krsna, explains in Srimad Bhagavatam (3.27.30)
yada na yogopacitasu ceto
mayasu siddhasya viNajjate ‘nga
ananya hetusv atha me gatih syad
atyantiki yatra na mrtyu hasah
mayasu siddhasya viNajjate ‘nga
ananya hetusv atha me gatih syad
atyantiki yatra na mrtyu hasah
Translation: When a
perfect yogis attention is no longer attracted to the by products
of mystic powers, which are manifestations of the external energy, his
progress towards Me becomes unlimited, and thus the power of death cannot
overcome him.
Lord Krsna, the
Supreme Personality of Godhead, is described as Yogeshvara, the master of
all mystic powers. He declares, “And whoever, at the end of his life,
quits his body, remembering Me, attains immediately to My nature; and there is
no doubt of this.” [Bg. 8.5]
It is impossible for
most of us to undergo the great austerities that Prahlad Jani has performed,
and for most of us, even the end point of forgoing food and water will be
highly undesirable. Bhakti yoga, however, offers a much easier and
faster method of spiritual elevation. Simply by chanting the holy names of the
Lord, honoring Krsna prasada and performing the rules and regulation
of devotional service all perfection is guaranteed. Bhagavad gita (18.78)
says, “Wherever there is Krsna, the master of all mystics, and wherever there
is Arjuna, the supreme archer, there will also certainly be opulence, victory,
extraordinary power, and morality.”
If only we
become open minded and try to learn from the vast treasure of knowledge
available in Vedic literature, we will find many gems enriched both in
knowledge of the external world and of the internal world within us, leading to
peace, prosperity, happiness, and enlightenment. Srila Prabhupada’s books can
help us direct our lives to the ultimately extraordinary goal: an eternal,
spiritual life in a world of spirit, where all of us can become free from
hunger and all other bodily pangs. Prahlad Jani’s particular form of
extraordinary achievement may not be attainable by us, but the principle of
freedom that it represents is accessible to all of us.
(Readers
interested in understanding more about scientific exploration of
paranormal phenomena can refer to chapter “Paranormal modification of
biological form” in Human Devolution by Michael A. Cremo).
The author
thanks the following people for help in compiling this article: Ramesh Bhai
Patel, Madhvacarya Dasa, Suhasini Radha Devi Dasi, Kalanidhi Dasa, Vaàsi Gopala
Dasa, Kisori Radhika Devi Dasi, Dilip Patel, Deven Patel, Hitesh, Caitanya
Carana Dasa, Jessu Bhai and other followers of Sri Prahlad Bhai Jani.
Ref:
- Autobiography of a Yogi, Ch. 46.
- Classical Hatha Yoga by Swami Rajrashi Muni, Ch. 11.
- www. sudhirneuro.org
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