Our storyThe idea behind Arpana
The idea that began Arpana.
Arpana began not with a programme but with a conviction: that dignity, compassion, honesty, humility, fearlessness and service are not the property of any one faith, but the common ground of being human — and that they are proved in action.
Param Pujya Ma, founder and inspiration — her life and legacy →. Chose the practical spiritual path on 9 March 1958; the Trust that carries her legacy was registered in 1963.
Param Pujya Ma
Foundational, not decorative.
Param Pujya Ma taught that to serve those in need is the most practical form of devotion, and that all people, of whatever faith, belong to one family. Her community in Madhuban put that teaching to work — first as a small hospital, then in the villages around it, then wherever capability was missing and people were ready to build it.
Her words — elucidations of the Bhagavad Gita and the Upanishads, questions and answers with seekers, prayers — are preserved by Arpana Trust as Urvashi. They are the reason the institution exists; they are not the condition for receiving its care. Arpana Hospital treats every patient regardless of caste, creed or status.
“Give happiness to all who surround you, and you will gain abiding peace.”
Universal values · as stated in Arpana Trust's purpose
- Compassion
- Service
- Dignity
- Honesty
- Integrity
- Humility
- Fearlessness
- Human unity
From belief to institutions
Values are the start. Self-reliance is the test.
- 01
Values
Held by a community in Madhuban since the 1960s.
- 02
Service
A 13-bed hospital; camps in villages; clinics in the hills.
- 03
Institutions
A 100-bed hospital; federations; FPOs; education centres.
- 04
Self-reliance
Women who govern 1,083 groups; farmers who own their market; students who reach university.
The idea, at work.
Four programme families — Heal, Empower, Enable, Educate — and six decades of records behind them.