Prakash Shah Becomes a Monk: The Spiritual Awakening of Mukesh Ambani’s Right Hand

Prakash Shah becomes a monk, leaving behind a ₹75 crore corporate life for a path of spiritual liberation and eternal truth.

In today’s world, success is often seen as having power, fame, and wealth. But Prakash Shah’s story is a powerful reminder that real success can also mean letting go of it all. He gave up his high-paying job and luxurious life to follow a path of peace, truth, and spiritual freedom.

Prakash Shah, once the right hand of India’s richest man Mukesh Ambani, chose the spiritual over the spectacular. After years of dedicated service as Vice President at Reliance Industries—with a reported salary of ₹75 crore—Shah stunned the corporate world by stepping away from all material wealth and embracing monkhood. On the sacred occasion of Mahavir Jayanti, he and his wife Naina Shah took diksha, the solemn vow of ascetic life, choosing renunciation over riches.

This wasn’t a sudden decision. Shah’s inner calling had emerged years earlier but was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. And while it shook many to the core—how could someone so successful let go of it all?—to those rooted in Sanatan Dharma, it made perfect sense.

The Journey Behind the Choice

Prakash Shah’s story doesn’t begin in marble offices but in the deeper corridors of values and sanskaras. A chemical engineering graduate who later pursued postgraduation from IIT Bombay, Shah climbed the ladders of corporate success with brilliance and humility. His wife, a commerce graduate, walked beside him in every phase. They raised two sons—one of whom had already taken diksha years earlier.

In a society chasing milestones and stock market gains, Prakash Shah’s milestone was moksha—liberation. He recognized that material life, however grand, was transient. He chose to align his life with deeper values, rooted in the core Sanatan principles of vairagya (detachment), seva (service), and atmabodh (self-realization).

Why Do Top Professionals Become Monks?

Why Do Successful People Leave Everything for a Simple Spiritual Life?

What makes a highly successful person leave behind money, status, and comfort to live a life of simplicity and spiritual discipline?

The answer is deep and beautiful.

1. Spiritual Awakening

Some people are born with a deep spiritual spark. But it may not show up early in life. As they grow and achieve success, they start to feel that something is still missing. That’s when they realize — this material world is not everything.

2. From Stress to Stillness

The corporate world looks shiny on the outside, but inside it can be full of pressure, stress, and constant chasing. Over time, many people feel tired of this fast life. They start searching for real peace — not in their salary, but in silence, prayers, and spiritual practice.

3. Purpose Beyond Position

Even after reaching the top of their career, many professionals feel an emptiness inside. Their position and achievements don’t give them the inner joy they expected. They begin to look for a deeper purpose — something that brings lasting peace and fulfillment. That search often leads them towards a spiritual path. Despite climbing every ladder, they feel empty. Monkhood offers a chance to live with purpose—not for profit, but for parmatma.

Faith Over Fame: In Sanatan Dharma, dharma always outweighs dhan. People like Shah remind us that spiritual wealth is far more fulfilling than financial one.

The Sanatangyan Perspective

In the Sanatangyan lens, Prakash Shah’s journey is not an exception—it is the return to the eternal truth. It is what the Gita teaches: Tyagat shantir anantaram—from renunciation comes lasting peace.

His story echoes the lives of rishis who once lived in palaces and left it all for the forests. Just like King Bharata, who renounced his empire, or Lord Buddha, who left behind luxury for enlightenment, Shah too has chosen the higher path.

And let’s not forget the role of strī shakti here. Naina Shah’s decision to walk this path with her husband reflects the power of devotion and shared dharma.

Prakash Shah Becomes a Monk: Conclusion

Prakash Shah’s journey is not just inspiring—it is instructive. In an era where success is measured in zeros, his life reminds us of shunya—the divine nothingness that holds the universe.

For the youth of Bharat, caught between westernized ambition and traditional values, this story is a lighthouse. It tells us that you can touch the sky—and still choose the soil. That you can walk out of a boardroom into a life of silence and find the divine waiting there with open arms.

Mukesh Ambani may have built an empire—but Prakash Shah found eternity