Business News | Gautam Adani Meets Gurudevshri Rakeshji in Dharampur, Says Adani Foundation Keen to Partner with Mission on Grassroots Projects
Get latest articles and stories on Business at LatestLY. At the Mission's international headquarters in Gujarat, the Adani Group Chairman attended Gurudevshri Rakeshji's discourse, met young members of the Mission and spoke of the role volunteers play in seva at scale
New Delhi [India], October 19 (ANI): At the Mission's international headquarters in Gujarat, the Adani Group Chairman attended Gurudevshri Rakeshji's discourse, met young members of the Mission and spoke of the role volunteers play in seva at scale.
Dharampur (Gujarat): Adani Group Chairman Gautam Adani visited the international headquarters of Shrimad Rajchandra Mission Dharampur (SRMD) in Gujarat's Valsad district on Sunday with his wife Dr. Priti Adani, Chairperson of the Adani Foundation, and met the Mission's founder, spiritual leader Gurudevshri Rakeshji.
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The couple were received by Atmarpit Nemiji, a senior sanyasi who is Vice President of the Mission and personal secretary to Gurudevshri Rakeshji, along with trustees of the Mission.
A conversation on seva and sadhana
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The visit began with a personal meeting with Gurudevshri Rakeshji. According to the Mission, the spiritual leader described sadhana, or spiritual practice, and seva, or selfless service, as inseparable. Just as breathing needs both inhalation and exhalation, he said, a meaningful spiritual life needs both inner growth and its practical expression through service.
When Adani spoke with humility about his own journey, Gurudevshri Rakeshji said an individual can be an instrument through which a larger purpose unfolds, and that what matters is how one uses one's life, resources and opportunities for others. He illustrated the point with an incident from a train journey from Mumbai to Ahmedabad. He was not carrying money, and when a man seeking alms approached him at Palghar, a fellow passenger on the upper berth handed him a one-rupee coin to give. While the man gave blessings, the giver knew it had come from the passenger sitting above. Whatever we are able to give, he said, comes by the grace of God, and we are only instruments. Remembering that keeps a person humble.
Adani asked Gurudevshri Rakeshji why so many young people are drawn to him. Gurudevshri Rakeshji said he does not ask young people to change through a list of do's and don'ts. He introduces them to a higher purpose and a deeper source of happiness, and once they find it, change comes from within rather than being imposed from outside. Religious practice, he added, gives its full benefit only when a person understands its meaning, and that understanding is built through satsang. Just as one feels the heat of a chilli the moment one eats it, he said, one should be able to experience the fruit of spiritual practice so evidently.
At Raj Darbar and Raj Sabhagruh
Gurudevshri Rakeshji then accompanied the couple to Raj Darbar, the ashram's open-air amphitheatre, home to a 34-foot statue of Shrimad Rajchandraji, the tallest in the world. Shrimad Rajchandraji, the 19th-century Jain philosopher after whom the Mission is named, and who is regarded as Mahatma Gandhi's spiritual guide. The Adanis offered their reverence at the sacred lotus footprints of Shrimad Rajchandraji.
At Raj Sabhagruh, the Mission's 12-storey satsang and meditation complex, built in the form of a lantern to symbolise the light of knowledge, the couple were welcomed by a gathering of thousands of seekers. Atmarpit Nemiji and Mission President Abhay Jasani felicitated Gautam Adani. Rakeshbhai Ramanlal Shah, Founder-Chairman of GSEC Limited and one of the founders of JITO, was also on stage.
A short film presented the Mission's work across 142 centres, 77 youth groups, more than 250 value education centres and 136 seva centres. In the discourse that followed, Gurudevshri Rakeshji spoke on the rarity and purpose of human birth and on how one can discover and pursue the ultimate goal of life. He appreciated the couple's spirit of seva and their values, and said their dharmic outlook would bring them inner peace, happiness and a sense of security.
Meeting the Mission's young members
After the programme, Adani met young members of the Mission from varied academic and professional backgrounds, including people associated with the University of California, Berkeley, the University of Chicago and the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad, and a professional working at NVIDIA. Among them were young people who have taken up renunciation under Gurudevshri Rakeshji's guidance and now work across the Mission's social-impact projects.
According to the Mission, the interaction showed how Gurudevshri Rakeshji encourages young people around the world to bring their professional skills to seva, balancing their careers with service to society.
Talks on working together
During the visit, Adani expressed interest in exploring collaboration with the Mission across the initiatives of Shrimad Rajchandra Love and Care (SRLC), its humanitarian arm. Dr. Priti Adani spoke about the Mission's vision care project. Atmarpit Nemiji noted that the Mission has already partnered with the Adani Foundation in Mumbai's Dharavi, working on health, women's empowerment and skilling for young people.
Adani praised the dedication of the Mission's volunteers, observing that money alone cannot achieve impact on this scale and that it is the commitment of volunteers that makes such seva possible. He said the Adani Foundation would be happy to partner with the Mission on grassroots projects.
Dr. Priti Adani at the Jinmandir, the women's centre and the hospital
Accompanied by Atmarpit Nemiji, Dr. Priti Adani visited Shri Mahavir Prasaad, the Jinmandir at the highest point of Shri Dharampur Tirth. Supported by 108 carved pillars and dedicated to Bhagwan Mahavir, it is one of the ashram's best-known landmarks. She offered dhoop and deep puja to Bhagwan Mahavir.
At the Shrimad Rajchandra Sarvamangal Centre of Excellence for Women, she met tribal women trained at the centre and heard how their earnings now support their families. She toured the production floor, where the women make products under the Raj Uphaar brand.
At Shrimad Rajchandra Hospital and Research Centre, a charitable multi-speciality hospital serving rural and tribal communities, she took part in distributing aids to children with disabilities to support their mobility and independence.
A Mission with a global footprint
The international headquarters, spread over 355 acres, has earlier hosted President Droupadi Murmu, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, who performed the Mahamastakabhishek of the Shrimad Rajchandraji statue, and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, who inaugurated the women's centre.
Last month, at 'Aho Gurudev', the celebration of Gurudevshri Rakeshji's 60th birthday at Mumbai's Jio World Convention Centre, Infosys founder N.R. Narayana Murthy, Tata Sons Chairman N. Chandrasekaran and Hinduja Group Chairman Ashok P. Hinduja were among those present. Murthy told the gathering that "the true measure of any spiritual tradition lies not in teachings alone, but in the compassion it inspires in action."
Born in Mumbai in 1966, Gurudevshri Rakeshji earned an M.A. in Philosophy with a gold medal and a doctorate from the University of Mumbai. He founded SRMD in 1994 and established its international headquarters in Dharampur in 2001. He has given more than 16,000 hours of discourses on over 30 scriptures from different faiths and has travelled to 98 countries. The Mission today has centres across six continents.
SRLC holds Special Consultative Status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council, and its work spreads across the world, including 16 countries in Africa. The Shrimad Rajchandra Hospital Network has grown to 2,000 beds and has treated more than 1.6 crore patients to date. Shrimad Rajchandra Vidyapeeth is the first science college across 238 villages, and the Centre of Excellence for Women is equipping tribal women with the skills to earn a livelihood.
To mark Gurudevshri Rakeshji's 60th year, the Mission has unveiled 60 projects, 30 for spiritual growth and 30 for societal upliftment, and pledged that its medical camps, anaemia and vision care programmes will together reach 60 million lives. (ANI)
(The above story is verified and authored by ANI staff, ANI is South Asia's leading multimedia news agency with over 100 bureaus in India, South Asia and across the globe. ANI brings the latest news on Politics and Current Affairs in India & around the World, Sports, Health, Fitness, Entertainment, & News. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)