Prahlad Jani (Jay Ambe Prahaladbhai Maganlal Jani, real name Chunriwala Mataji; also called "Mataji" by adherents, born August 13th, 1929) is an Indian fakir (and, according to some sources, a follower of Jainism (*) or follower of the Hindu goddess Amba[1]) from Gujarat who claims to not drink or eat usual food since he was eight years old (i.e. for 74 years in 2010). Claims of this sort are known as Inedia. Jani himself believes in a miraculous gift of the Indian goddess Amba Mata, and that a mysterious fluid called "Amrit nectar" is feeding him through a "hole" in his palate.
In June 2006, "Discovery Channel" aired a documentary about Jani and attracted international attention and interest in his case. Jani's case was also made public by Indian neurologist and Jainism follower Sudhir Vadilal Shah of Ahmedabad (chairman of All India Jain Doctors Federation)[2] and Immediate past-chairman, NJDF (National Jain Doctors Federation India) & Present International coordinator of JDF. The JDF association wants to Promote scientific research and medical education based on principles of Jainism[3]. Shah participated in a group of physicians performing two examinations of the alleged abilities of Mr. Jani in 2003 and 2010. The results of these examinations were interpreted by Shah in favour of his private hypothesis that the abilities of Jani were „scientifically not explicable“ and as an endorsement of his hypothesis about a possible autotrophic nutrition (photoautotrophism) in man, known only for plants and algae but not for humans. Shah does not exclude the possibility of a cosmic energy feeding Prahlad Jani.
No scientific publication is known so far in scientific databases in relation to the experiment in 2003. Data for the experiment in 2010 are only preliminary. The only source of data are statements of the collaborating physicians in press conferences, divulged in many newspaper articles and TV broadcasts worldwide. Another source is the private homepage of neurologist Sudhir Shah.
The Indian Rationalist Association (IRA) described Jani as a "village fraud". This Indian association was able to bust several similar "miracles" in relation to supposed inedia.
Biographic Data
Little is known about Jani/Mataji and sources are limited to his entourage. He was born August 13th, 1929 in the Indian village of Charada (or Charod) in Mehsana district/Gujarat. According to a legend, he left home when he was seven years old and became a wandering sadhu. At age of eleven (according to other sources eight), he had some sort of „supernatural experience“ that completely changed his life. He allegedly lost every desire for eating and drinking and did not need to defecate or urinate ever since. He also was never ill, but was brought in a Jaslok hospital for unknown reasons in 1942 (obviously without his consent), where he stayed 45 days. According to this legend, he stopped speaking and did not talk for 45 years (Maunbrat practice). Jani claims to experience a „Samadhi state" every day, filling him with light. A fluid called "Amrit nectar" feeds him through a hole in his palate. According to Hindu texts, this liquid is considered a „drink of gods“ causing a person to become immortal. However, an MRT picture done in 2003 shows no such hole in his palate (see picture).
Prahlad Jani wears the dress of a devotee of the goddess Ambaji: a red sari-like garment. He has a nose ring, bangles and crimson flowers in his hair.
Statements in the internet and newspaper articles suggest that Jani lives in a cave near the Ambaji temple in Gujarat state (about 120 kilometers north of Ahmedabad), but it is unclear whether this is true. In videos on YouTube, Jani is presented in a house environment, often surrounded by followers (e.g. fanning him). Other videos show him in the „Sterling hospital“ in Ahmedabad.
Examinations in 2003
The alleged extraordinary abilities and claims of this Indian fakir, to live without any source of chemically bound energy and without water, were object of an examination in November 2003. Jani was examined in the private "Sterling Hospital"[4] in the west Indian town of Ahmedabad in Gujarat–state during a nine day period of supposed absence of food and drinking water. At the beginning, it was planned to check him over a seven day period in order to prolong the planned observation time without threatening his life. However, Sterling Hospital declined any responsibility and refuted any payment in case of side effects. At the end, the state of Gujarat (the tax payers) guaranteed an insurance in case of side effects.
The examination started November 13th at 10 am and ended November 22nd at 10 am[5] (9 days). Jani was admitted to the intensive care department the first day. According to the panel of physicians performing the examination, his toilet was sealed for the next eight days and he stayed in a room with a glass door. He left that room twice per day for examinations (bladder sonography, MRT, ...).
One of the participating physicians was the Ahmedabad neurologist Sudhir V. Shah, who examined several similar cases in the past: Ellen Greve (Jasmuheen)[6] and Colcata engineer Hira Ratan Manek. Nothing is known about Shah's examination of Greve/Jasmuheen. Ellen Greve also claimed „not to eat“, but she was seen eating several times and close associates of her's confirm this. A test performed together with Australian TV failed after five days of fasting and had to be stopped by the physician present. Hira Ratan Manek also claims never to eat. He is travelling around the world and often stays in Canada and the USA for longer periods where he sells DVDs and offers speeches about his „inedia“. Manek seems to live from monies earned on DVDs and lectures on his alleged inedia. However, like Jasmuheen, Manek has been seen eating several times and was successfully filmed when visiting an Indian restaurant in San Francisco, a behaviour clearly betraying his followers believing in his inedia. Neurologist Shah, who examinated Manek, declared that he checked Maneks abilities and found no explanation for his supposed inedia. There is no examination known of Sudhir Shah showing anything else but a „success“ of inedia or inexplicable facts. Both Hira Ratan Manek and Jani are followers of Indian Jainism (Jani: probably *). The Indian jain monk Sri Sahaj Muni Maharaj also claims that he did not eat over a period of one year (in 1995, according to other sources only 211 days). Periods of fasting are an important issue in Jainism and it is common in India for Jains and Hindus, sometimes for up to eight days, without any adverse affects, as part of their religious worship.
According to the group of examinating physicians, Jani could not eat or drink during that period, had no defecation and passed no urine. Some urine was sonographically found in his bladder (about 0.1 litres, Jani was informed about it and the urine later disappeared). On an MRT picture, some stool can be seen. Some of the results of the examination remain secret. Nothing was told to the public about his body weight. Also, at least one entry of blood sugar data has been deleted from a (private) website showing the blood values of Jani/Mataji.
According to private web pages reporting this 2003 examination, Prahlad Jani showed signs of being a „healthy man“, with the exception of a hearing loss. On an unknown date around the November 2003 examination, his heart rate was between 42-46 beats/minute, blood pressure was 114/80 mmHg (110/60 according to another source), and breathing frequency was 12-16 /min. Radiology showed stool and gas in his guts. Some urine was also found in his bladder which later vanished miraculously.
One of the main questions, namely body weight and weight changes, remain sort of a secret. We were told that the weight did not change, or only in the order of some grams. On the other side, the blood samples taken have also a weight of several grams. On a private website publishing data of the 2003 examination, Jani's height is given (1.50 m) and a precise value of his BMI (16,89). Calculating back we can therefore assume a body weight of 38,0 kgs. But it is not known at which date precisely this value was secured. On the other hand, according neurologist Shah, Jani's body weight changed between 38 and 42 kgs. But again, it is not known to which period in time this indication is related. A significant drop in body weight during a controlled period of real starvation is not compatible with claims of inedia. Such a drop in body weight drop is known from other cases, for instance in the case of German anthroposophist Michael Werner leading to the conclusion that his inedia claims are a sort of dream and not a fact. Fasting, Werner lost more than two kilogrammes in a week. Other starving people for instance lost 6 kg in 10 days. Hira Ratan Manek even lost as much as 42 kg.
Some (if not all?) blood parameters of the November 2003 examination are shown on the web pages of Sudhir Shah.[7][8] The presented data show an increase in serum urea, and a drop three days after the examination. The same is true for serum sodium, serum chloride and serum potassium. The hematocrit is also increasing. This is a clear sign of dehydration and hemoconcentration, compatible with a period of starvation and thirst. Blood sugar is decreasing, and serum acetone is increasing. This is also a symptom of starvation. At the beginning and three days after the test, values are normal.
But instead of discussing such a starvation period (and not a long lasting esoteric inedia) as a very plausible source for the blood values shown, these are explained by neurologist Sudhir Shah as amazing and as presenting a sort of medical miracle. But in fact they show a normal behaviour of a subject, compatible with actual knowledge in physiology and bioenergetics. Examiner Shah's words sound different: "We have reached a hypothesis which confirms that Jani's body has certainly undergone a biological transformation due to yogic kriyas. And he can control his inner organs' functions, which itself is intriguing."
In April 2010, a second examination over an unknown period of time (perhaps 14 days) was performed, again at the Sterling Hospital and again in collaboration with Sudhir Shah. Psiram will update this web page later, if any data becomes available.
Comments on starvation and necessary water intake
Long lasting starvation leads to death. A healthy subject may survive 50 up to 60 days without food. Known hungerstrikers died after 50 to 60 days (example: Bobby Sands). Irishman Terence MacSwiney died after 74 days of starvation.
Every minute an adult will breathe in and out around 5 litres of air. After one day he will eliminate about one kilogramme of CO2, containing about 270 grams of carbon. A fasting subject will therefore loose 0.270 kgs of carbon every day, 8 kgs every month and 98 kgs per year. That is more than the typical weight of an adult. CO2-concentration in the air is around 0.03%, much less than its concentration in the exhaled air (4%, relationship is 0.7%). So, assimilation of carbon via respiration is not possible.
Humans loose water and water vapour via urine, stool, respiration and the skin (persperatio insensibilis). The amount lost every day is depending on temperature and activity and amounts to around 800 ml of water. At the same time, water is built up via oxidative processes (about 300 ml per day).
A healty adult may survive around ten days without water (temperature dependent). The Guiness book of records cites a case of 18 days without water. American coma patient Terri Schiavo died after 13 days without water. Alaskan fire fighter Robert Bogucki survived 12 days in an Australian desert without water until he was found by a helicopter.
(*) [2] or Durga - hinduism
literature
- Westerterp KR, Plaqui G, Goris AHC: water loss in function of energy intake, physical activity and season, British journal nutrition, 2005, 93, 199-203
Weblinks
- Shah-report on Jani fasting in 2003
- http://www.amazingabilities.com/amaze5a.html
- http://www.amazingabilities.com/amaze5b.html
- http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/3236118.stm
- http://edition.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/asiapcf/south/11/26/offbeat.india.fast/
Video
references
- ↑ http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1274779/The-man-says-eaten-drunk-70-years-Why-eminent-doctors-taking-seriously.html?ito=feeds-newsxml
- ↑ http://www.sudhirneuro.org/files/jain_religion.pdf
- ↑ http://www.jaindoctorsfederation.org/aimsandobjectives.html
- ↑ Sterling Hospital, Gurukul Road, Ahmedabad
- ↑ source: private homepage Sudhir Shah
- ↑ according statement on private homepage Sudhir Shah
- ↑ http://www.sudhirneuro.org/files/mataji_case_study.pdf
- ↑ http://www.amazingabilities.com/amaze5b.html