Gandhi's Research into Reincarnation: The Story of Shanti Devi

Reincarnation is a deeply ingrained concept across numerous spiritual and religious traditions, positing that the soul essence of an individual undergoes multiple cycles of birth, death, and rebirth. This belief suggests that after death, the soul transmigrates into a new body, carrying forward the accumulated experiences and karma from previous lives. While interpretations vary widely, many proponents of reincarnation argue that it offers a framework for understanding the purpose of existence, the interconnectedness of all beings, and the opportunity for spiritual growth across successive lifetimes. Through reincarnation, individuals may strive to achieve enlightenment or liberation from the cycle of rebirth, aiming to transcend the limitations of earthly existence and attain ultimate spiritual realization. One of the most famous cases of reincarnation is the tale of Shanti Devi. Born on the 11th of December 1926 in New Delhi, Shanti was an average girl until she turned four years old. She would hardly speak, and when she did, it was quite odd. Almost as if she was a person, she would talk about her past life and kept mentioning her husband and kids. Her husband, who she said lived in Mathura 75 miles away from where she lived, owned a cloth shop in the town, and that they had a son together. Her parents understandably brushed off her claims as a childish fantasy and didn't take her seriously at first. That was until the parents became concerned about their daughter's behavior, when she continued repeatedly to talk about her past life in Mathura. When the family would sit down for dinner, Shanti would make comments that at her house in Mathura, she would eat different sweets. When her mother would dress her in the mornings, she would talk about the different dresses she would wear in her past life. She would describe different aspects of her husband, such as that he had a large mole on his cheek or that he was of fair skin and would wear reading glasses. She would also casually mention that her husband's shop was located in front of the Dwarkadish Temple. She also claimed that in her past life, she was a woman that died during childbirth and would describe the intricate details of childbirth, both before her death and after it. When she was six years old and still boldly making these claims of living a past life that no child would ever know the intricate details of, her parents were perplexed and didn't really know what to do. I mean, what do you do when for the past two years your child has been sharing details of a past life? So they took her to the family physician so that way he could confirm some of Shanti's claims. The physician, upon hearing Shanti speak, was himself bewildered about how such a young child could accurately describe the complicated procedures of childbirth. After this incident, the parents began to believe that their daughter's claim for reincarnation were true. By the ages of eight and nine, the young girl would insist to her parents to allow her to travel to Mathura to meet with her past husband. Yet, despite this insistence, Shanti Devi would never tell the name of her husband to her parents, for it is a common custom in India for wives not to speak their husband's names to others. Even when asked by family members, Shanti would become nervous and would blush, then would mutter about how if she saw her husband, she would be able to recognize him. One day, her grand-uncle, Babu Bishchanad, who was a schoolteacher at a school in Delhi, promised Shanti that if she told him her husband's name, he would take her to Mathura to find her husband. Enticed by this promise, Shanti whispered into his ear the name, Pandit Kedarnath Chabe. On January 18th, 1902, a girl by the name of Lugdi was born in the city of Mathura. When Lugdi was ten years old, she was arranged to be married to a man named Kedarnath Chabe. Kedarnath Chabe owned a couple of shops, one in Mathura and the other in Haridwar. From a very young age, Lugdi was a very religious woman and often went on religious pilgrimages. While on one particular pilgrimage, Lugdi was severely injured in her leg and had to be transferred for treatment in Mathura to the city of Agra, where she was treated at a government hospital. Soon after, Lugdi became pregnant, and while a cesarean was being performed, it was discovered that her firstborn child was a stillborn. Determined to have a child, Lugdi tried again, and during her second pregnancy, Kedarnath became worried about both the health of Lugdi and her second child, and so took her to the same hospital that treated her during her injury while on a pilgrimage at Agra. On September 25th, 1925, a cesarean section was performed for a second time, and Lugdi and Kedarnath Chabe welcomed the healthy baby boy into the world. Unfortunately, nine days later, Lugdi's condition, due to her cesarean, deteriorated, and she later passed. Lugdi Chabe passed seven days, ten months, and one year before Shanti Devi was born. Is it truly possible that Shanti Devi and Lugdi Chabe were or are the same person, but in different lives? With this information, Baba Bischenard could now get in touch with Kedarnath, and so wrote to him explaining all of Shanti's claims, asking if he would be interested in visiting the family in Delhi. Now, Kedarnath did confirm all of these claims, but as someone wrote to you saying that their grandniece was actually the reincarnation of your dead wife, you too would also be a little skeptical, so Kedarnath wrote back saying that his cousin, Kandipanjumal, who happened to live in Delhi, would meet with them just to make sure nothing was sketchy about this encounter. When Panjumal met with Shanti, the young girl, despite just meeting the man, was able to tell right away that he was in fact Kedarnath's cousin. She then proceeded to describe certain aspects of her house in Mathura, then told Panjumal something that only she would have known, that she had hidden some money somewhere on the property, and that if he takes her there, she'll show them the location of the money. Due to this encounter, Panjumal was so convinced of her testimony that Panjumal went to Mathura to convince Kedarnath to come to Delhi to meet Shanti. So, on November 12th, 1935, Kedarnath Chaube came to Delhi, alongside his son Navneet and his new wife. However, despite Shanti having convinced his cousin, Kedarnath was still slightly distrustful of the scenario. So, as a way to test Shanti, Kedarnath had Panjumal introduce him as Panjumal's brother, and that Kedarnath would arrive at a time. Upon seeing Kedarnath, Shanti soon began to blush and became nervous. When her parents asked her why, she explained that Kedarnath was not Panjumal's brother, but actually her husband in her past life. Shanti Devi could see through Kedarnath's ruse. When Shanti's mother started to prepare dinner for her guests, Shanti requested she make stuffed potato parathas and pumpkin squash, as that was one of Kedarnath's favorite dishes. Kedarnath was astonished by this response. How could this young girl know what his favorite dish was, despite having just met him? Kedarnath would often give her little tests, asking if she could tell him anything unusual about Lugdi that only she would know. She responded with a strong answer telling him, yes, there is a well in the courtyard of our house where I used to take my bath. Shanti became emotionally overwhelmed upon seeing Navneet, her son in her previous life. She bawled her eyes out while hugging him, and asked her mother to bring all of her toys down to give to Navneet. When Kedarnath asked how she was able to recognize him as her son in her previous life, as she had only seen her son once before she died, she explained that Navneet was a part of her soul, and because of that, she easily recognized him as such. Their time together was not entirely a happy reunion, however, as Shanti began inquiring Kedarnath as to why he had remarried. For in their previous life, they agreed not to get remarried if one of them died. Kedarnath had no reply to these questions. Kedarnath noticed certain similarities between Shanti Devi and his past wife, Lugdi. Before turning into bed, Kedarnath requested that he be allowed to be alone with Shanti, to discuss Lugdi and their life together. During this time together, Kedarnath became totally convinced that Shanti Devi was his past wife, Lugdi Chhabe. In the morning, Kedarnath had to leave to go back to Mathura. When Shanti found out that they were leaving, she became very upset. She began to beg and plead with her parents to allow her to leave to go to Mathura with them, but her parents would not allow this. Soon, Shanti Devi's story spread all around the country. It was widely covered in the media, and many intellectuals became invested in the story. Even Mahatma Gandhi became interested in the story, so much so that he called Shanti and requested that the family stay with him in his ashram. Here, Gandhi was able to put together a committee of 15 individuals, composed of some of the most prominent individuals in India. This included politicians, journalists, and national leaders. Their mission? To study and produce a commission report to either verify or refute Shanti Devi's claims of reincarnation. The committee embarked on their journey with Shanti Devi towards the city of Mathura by rail on November 24th, 1935. A part of the report reads as follows. As the train approached Mathura, she became flushed with joy and remarked that by the time they reached Mathura, the doors of the temple of Dwarkadish would be closed. The first incident which attracted our attention on reaching Mathura happened on the platform itself. The girl was in Eldhish Bandhu's arms. He had hardly gone 15 paces when an older man, wearing a typical Mathura dress whom she had never met before, came in front of her, mixed in the small crowd, and paused for a while. She was asked whether she could recognize him. His presence reacted so quickly to her that she at once came down from Mr. Gupta's lap and touched the stranger's feet with deep veneration and stood aside. On inquiring, she whispered in Eldhish Bandhu's ear that the person was her older brother of her husband. All this was so spontaneous and natural that it left everybody stunned with surprise. The man was Baburam Chaube, who was really the older brother of Kedarnath Chaube. After arriving in Mathura, the committee rented a tonga and allowed Shanti Devi to give instructions to the driver. On this tour, Shanti narrated different changes that had taken place in her past life in excruciating detail, verifying many of her claims and statements to the committee around Dwarkadish Temple, even recognizing important landscapes which she had known about before she had even visited the city. As they neared her former house, she noticed an elderly man in a large crowd. She ordered the tonga to stop, got off, and immediately bowed to the elderly man. She then explained to the committee that this was her father-in-law, and indeed it was. When Shanti Devi arrived at her former house, she instinctively went to her bedroom and recognized many former items of hers. The committee immediately went to work, testing Shanti by asking her the layout of the house. After these tests were completed, Shanti requested to be taken to her second house. Again, the young girl was able to guide her driver to the house that she lived with Kedarnath for many years prior. After arriving, the committee asked to be shown the well that she spoke of in Delhi. Without hesitation, Shanti began running to where she thought was a well, but found no such thing, even stating to the officials in the committee with great conviction that there was a well in this very spot. Kedarnath, who was watching all of this unfold, walked up, pulled out a brick from the ground, and sure enough, a well was in fact there. The committee also inquired about the money that she hid inside of the house. The girl took the committee to the second floor of the house, and showed them a flowerpot where she said the money was behind. But just like the well, when Shanti Devi pulled back the flowerpot, there was no money. Yet, Shanti insisted that there was money there before. Kedarnath then confessed to both the committee and Shanti Devi that he took the money that was indeed behind said flowerpot after Luggi's death. She was then taken to her parents' house, where at first she mistook her aunt for her mother, then corrected her mistake and proceeded to sit in her lap. Afterward, she successfully recognized her father. This reunion was very emotional for everyone involved, as they burst into tears and hugged each other for a long period of time. This reunion scene emotionally moved the members of the committee. Through this, the committee published a commission that concluded, though controversial, that Shanti Devi was in fact a reincarnation of Lugde Chaube. The committee also concluded that it was a blessing that most past lives are forgotten, for they felt that by bringing Shanti back to the city of her past life, they had undertaken a huge responsibility to bear, as they had to forcibly separate Shanti and her past life parents. This report attracted worldwide attention, and over the years, many high-standing individuals researched the case, both in support of the committee's conclusion and those who criticized it. In 1936, a hypnotic test was performed on Shanti. Some highlights are read as follows. Girl. Lugde is dead. Now Lugde is getting up from her bed. Hypnotist. Whether Lugde is getting up or her soul, the body is already dead. Girl. Yes, the body is on the bed. Her soul is getting up. Four men wearing yellow underwear are standing. They also have thrones. And there are three saints in blue, black, and white clothes. Girl. Now Lugde has reached God. She has a piece of paper with a written note in hand. She is showing the note to God. Bad people are crying. Hypnotist. What is Lugde doing now? Girl. Now Lugde is coming downstairs of gold and silver now. Even years after the reports were published, research about Shanti Devi is still being conducted. In 1986, Dr. Ian Stevenson and Dr. K.S. Rawat interviewed Shanti Devi, where they were able to bring to light new information about the case, such as a group of women that owed Lugde money before her death that Shanti was able to collect on during her visit to Mathura. Also during their visit with Shanti, they were able to confirm how Kedarnath became fully convinced of Shanti's story, in which Kedarnath, his family, and Shanti Devi were in the room together during their stay in Delhi. After Navneet and his wife went to bed, Kedarnath inquired with Shanti about her arthritis, and if she was not able to get out of bed, how she became pregnant with their son Navneet. Shanti then began to recount the intimate details of how they had sexual intercourse. Later on, a critic and author, Stuart Lonerstag, came to India from Sweden to expose the case as a fraud after learning of the case. After investigating for some time, Stuart reconsidered his initial position and became a strong believer in Shanti Devi's reincarnation, and in 1998 released a book titled I Have Lived Before, the true story of the reincarnation of Shanti Devi. Even years after her death in 1987, her family is still being interviewed about her experience 80 years ago. Is there another explanation for the story of Shanti Devi? In the 1930s, India's independence movement was in full swing. However, at the same time, the Muslim and Hindu populations of India were at conflict with each other. This culminated in the 1930 Bombay riots in the city of what is now Mumbai. Could Gandhi have used Shanti Devi's story as a sort of peaceful distraction for the political tension of India at the time? Members of the committee that Gandhi appointed to investigate Shanti Devi were also members of the International Aryan League, also known as the Aryasaj. I hope I didn't mispronounce that, but I probably did. The Aryasaj are a Hindu sect that believe in reincarnation, rebirth, and other traditional Hindu beliefs. Most interesting is the fact that they had a strong prejudice against Muslims, and that Gandhi was kind of biased towards them due to the fact that they had control over the Indian Congress. So Gandhi could have used the committee full of Aryasaj to find a peaceful resolution to this conflict in return. The Aryasaj could have used this case to reaffirm their religious beliefs onto the Indian population. So Gandhi and the committee had the motives to prove that Shanti's reincarnation were true. Most of the facts and sources behind this case seem to come from people who already support the idea of past lives and reincarnation. Carol Bauman, Dr. K.S. Rawat, and Ian Stevenson are all past life researchers and therapists who have written numerous pieces and articles about Shanti Devi and fully believe in reincarnation. So it makes sense that they sort of have a bias towards this case. It means that their work and professional careers rely on reincarnation being true. So in other words, they would have had a bias towards Shanti Devi's story. Of course, this does not inherently prove or disprove the case, it just makes it a lot less reliable. Especially since this case is almost over 80 years old. A lot of those who were initially involved have long since passed away, and therefore you can't really get any more information out of them. You know, Kenanath has died, most of the first sources have sort of passed away. They're no longer living and we can't have reincarnation to interview them. So that makes it very hard to verify that these events actually happened the way those who have a bias reported on them say that that happened. Please don't take this like I'm trying to disprove other people's religious beliefs. I am not trying to prove or disprove other people's religion. That's not what I'm about or what this video or channel is about. You know, I'm a religious person myself, so it'd be pretty hypocritical if that's what I was trying to do. What I'm trying to do is just be unbiased with my sources and tell the story from both sides of the spectrum. Because both sides of the story are very very critical for this case. You know, I leave it up for the viewers and anyone who watches this video to decide what they think of the case. You know, do you believe that Shanti Devi's story is true or untrue? Why or why not? I'd like it if you could discuss it in the comment section below. I'd love to see what others think about this case. As always, please leave a like and subscribe if you like this video. Catch you next time here on Kino Spiracy. I'm out.