A Short History Of The Terapanthi Sect Of The Swetamber Jains And Its Tenets: 03.1 Short Accounts Of Notable Fastings

The Terapanthi Sadhus observe austere fastings. Continuous fasting for 267 days was observed by a Sadhwi named Sati Mukhaji of Sujangarh (Bikaner). During this long period of fasting, she did not take any food at all and drank only the greenish water floating on boiled whey.^[1]

Some of the Sadhus had fasted up to 108 days taking only boiled water as their drink. One of the head Sadhwis fasted up to 22 days without any food or drink. The mode of living, discipline and austerities practised by the Tera­panthi Sadhus and Sadhwis have been highly spoken of by those, who have seen them at close quarters.

A short description of a few among many notable fastings by the Sadhus of the Terapanthi sect is given below:  

During the time of the first two Acharyyas of this sect namely Swamiji Pujya Sri Bhikhanji Maharaj, and Swamiji Pujya Sri Bharimalji Maharaj, no Sadhu had fasted continuously for 6 months. During the time of Swami Pujya Sri Raichandji Maharaj the first six monthly fasting was undertaken by a Sadhu named Pirthirajji Maharaj (the elder). He was originally a resident of Bajoiia in Marwar State. He was initiated as a Sadhu in the Samvat year 1866, at Pali (Raj) by Swamiji Hemrajji Maharaj. He was a married man and renounced this world and left his wife and home and became a Sadhu. For the first six years he used to fast off and on for some days. But from the Samvat year 1873, during each rainy season (चतुर्मासChaturmasa), he began to undertake long fasts. A list of them is given below:

This last long fast began on Jyestha Badi of 1883. On that day he was fasting arid in the presence of the Acharyya Maharaj Pujya Swamiji Sri Raichandji Maharaj, the said Sadhuji Pirthirajji Maharaj took a vow of six months conti­nuous fasting! Swamiji Sri Pirthirajji Maharaj passed away to heaven on Pous Badi 2, Samvat 1883, after about a month of the termination of the long fast.