Bhanwarlal Raghunath Doshi, a former millionaire, accomplished the extraordinary achievement of giving up his enormous wealth in order to live as a ‘sanyasi’, or monk. Doshi, who was formerly referred to as the ‘plastic king’ of Delhi, shocked the nation by deciding to give up his Rs 600 crore business empire in order to become a Jain preacher.
Doshi made the unexpected decision to give up the life of plenty and start asking for alms in 2015. International trading company DR International was owned by Doshi. He had received Rs 30,000 from his father, a modest textile trader in Rajasthan, to launch his firm.
Doshi became the 108th disciple of Jain Acharya during a grand event attended by thousands of people in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, in 2015.
It took him about three years to convince his family about the extreme step the first time after he expressed his desire, finally they agreed.
Gautam Adani, the head of the Adani Group, who had previously honoured Doshi, was also present at the ‘diksha’ ceremony.
He became a disciple of Jain Acharya, Shri Gunratna Surishwarji Maharaj.
A huge ceremony was held when Doshi turned a monk, with 1,500 bearers serving food and roughly 500 hotel rooms hosting the guests. Approximately 1,000 sadhus and sadhvis were present in addition to the roughly 1.5 lakh samayiks, or onlookers. The hall where the enormous gathering was hosted was 3.25 lakh square feet and 35,000 square yards. The venue was built giving it the look of a ship called the ‘samyam jahaj’ (ship of restraint).
At the diksha ceremony, chariots, elephants, camel carts and musicians formed a part of a 7-km long procession in which 1,000 monks participated.
Under Surishwarji Maharaj’s tutelage, he converted to Buddhism and became the 354th postulant. Doshi did not suddenly decide to choose a monastic lifestyle; rather, he had been thinking about it since 1982. He was inspired by Jain talks, which led him to pursue spirituality. After more than three decades, he made the most important decision of his life.