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SVASTI – Essays in Honour of Prof. Hampa Nagarajaiah
meditation is especially difficult, because it has to be observed at about noon, when they are exposed to heat but are not allowed to drink anything at all. Joshika reported afterwards that under these circumstances she found it quite difficult to focus her mind on that task, and the others agreed with her. However, all in all they proceeded very determined and arrived quite early at the end of the cha gau route in Adpur. While usually this elaborated route of cha gau adds at least another five hours to the main route, the girls completed it within four hours, only slightly later than the young and fast ascetics. Considering the bad physical condition of the girls during their first pilgrimage, this was quite an achievement! After the completion of 60 to 70 yatras on the main route and after having performed all possible alternative routes on foot, their bodies had adapted to the daily demands of navanu. More interestingly, however, they had also become experts of pilgrimage. They knew the various religious sites on Shatrunjaya, their legends as well as the respective rituals. Yet the demands made on the girls during the navanu pilgrimage were once more increased. The maximum of physical strain as well as of spiritual devotion was reached when the girls observed a complete fast without even drinking water on at least two consecutive days (chath) while still performing seven yatras during this fasting period. This kind of fierce asceticism is said to guarantee salvation after three rebirths only, a privilege which is usually attributed to outstanding Acaryas only. Despite the high motivation for achieving that goal, this practice regularly leads to extreme exhaustion and many navanu pilgrims collapse while performing it.48 Unsurprisingly, many pilgrims consider this part of navanu as the greatest challenge of their life and, if successfully completed, as their most important achievement. While performing this kind of extreme austerity the girls again put emphasis on the importance of gaining spiritual bhav. Neepa, to her own surprise, spontaneously decided to perform even three days of fasting (atham) and she managed to complete 11 yatras during these days. On the third day, when she was back in the hostel, she told me about her experiences in a very low voice and with glowing eyes, thereby resembling many other pilgrims whom I talked to after they had performed such extreme austerities. She said: “I pled Dada Adishvar to give me strength for atham and eleven yatras. And I made it! Beforehand nobody, not even me, could imagine that I would be able to do so. At home I never took on a serious fast, not even ayambil. Since I am performing atham, I feel very close to Dada." Another young navanu pilgrim, 21 year old Charita, whom I met in 2003, put it vividly:
48 The festival of "Silence Eleventh", Maun Agyaras/Maun Ekadashi (Cort 2001: 143), the 11th day of the bright half of the month Magsar (November/ December) is especially popular for performing this penance, because according to general beliefs of the pilgrims the punya earned by a penance at this day is multiplied a 150 times. Therefore at this day apart from the navanu pilgrims some 4000 other devotees also come to Palitana in larger groups of 50-150 people and start for seven or eleven pilgrimages while completely fasting on two or three consecutive days.
