Sadhvi Harshananad Giri has taken a U-turn on her earlier statement about not staying in an ashram, saying her remarks were distorted. In a video released on social media on Sunday, the Bhopal-based seer said her intention was not to question any ashram or the saint community but to highlight women’s safety.
Beginning the video from her kitchen with ‘Jai Shri Ram,’ she said she prefers living in an ashram, where she spends her time in religious activities, study, and worship, while at home she also has to handle household chores.
Harshananad Giri added that if any saint, institution, or ashram guarantees women’s safety, she is ready to stay there and serve. She also said she is willing to manage an ashram if entrusted with the responsibility.
Cites Ujjain rape case in video
In the video, Harshananad Giri mentioned the rape case filed against a Mahamandaleshwar in Ujjain and said that the accused is still absconding. Such incidents raise serious questions about women’s safety, and for this reason, they feel more secure at home.
Expressed desire to build an ashram for women
Harshananad Giri said that in the future, she wants to build an ashram where women and girls who have become homeless due to domestic violence, social harassment, or other reasons can find safe shelter. She said that there are many such women in society for whom there is no one to take responsibility for their safety and care.
At the end of the video, she concluded her speech by chanting ‘Har Har Mahadev’.
Earlier remarks on safety
On July 31, former model-turned-sadhvi Harsha Richharia, also known as Sadhvi Harshanand Giri, questioned why some saints objected to her personal choices, saying they criticised what she ate, wore, where she lived, whom she met, and even where she travelled. She remarked that such saints behaved ‘more like a mother-in-law than a saint.’
Raising concerns over women’s safety, she said that in a society where even a two-month-old baby is not safe and rape cases are frequently reported, saints asking her not to live with her family should first give a 100% guarantee of her safety. Only then, she said, would she stay in their ashram.
She also questioned why saints were getting offended over trivial matters, saying true saints have no attachment, hatred or jealousy, only love, and do not dwell even on major issues.
