Sallekhana
Sallekhana (IAST: sallekhanā), also known as samlehna, santhara, samadhi-marana or sanyasana-marana,[1] is a supplementary vow to the ethical code of conduct of Jainism.
It is the religious practice of voluntarily fasting to death by gradually reducing the intake of food and liquids.
[2] It is viewed in Jainism as the thinning of human passions and the body,[3] and another means of destroying rebirth-influencing karma by withdrawing all physical and mental activities.
[4] Historic evidence such as nishidhi engravings suggest sallekhana was observed by both men and women, including queens, in Jain history.
[6] There are five great vows prescribed to followers of Jainism; ahimsa (non-violence), satya (not lying), asteya (not stealing), brahmacharya (chastity), and aparigraha (non-possession).
As death is imminent, the individual discontinues food and water, with full knowledge of colleagues and spiritual counsellor.
[19][note 1] For a successful sallekhana, the death must be with "pure means", voluntary, planned, undertaken with calmness, peace, and joy by which the person accepts the ultimate purification of the body and focuses the mind on spiritual matters.
[24][25][26] The ancient Śvetāmbara Jain text Ācārāṅga Sūtra, dated to about 3rd or 2nd century BCE, describes three forms of Sallekhana: the Bhaktapratyakhyana, the Ingita-marana, and the Padapopagamana.
In Bhaktapratyakhyana, the person who wants to observe the vow selects an isolated place where he lies on a bed made of straw, does not move his limbs, and avoids food and drink until he dies.
[1] Another variation of Sallekhana is Itvara which consists of voluntarily restricting oneself in a limited space and then fasting to death.
The Bhagavati Sūtra (2.1) also describes Sallekhana in great detail, as it was observed by Skanda Katyayana, an ascetic of Mahavira.
The Nava-pada-prakarana mentions seventeen methods of "voluntarily chosen death", of which it approves only three as consistent with the teachings of Jainism.
[20] In South India, especially Karnataka, a memorial stone or footprint is erected to commemorate the death of a person who observed Sallekhana.
Several inscriptions after 600 CE record that Chandragupta Maurya (c. 300 BCE) and his teacher Bhadrabahu observed the vow atop Chandragiri Hill at Sharavnabelagola.
[32] The memorial stone has a unique depiction in frieze of the ritual death (Sallekhana) of King Ereganga Nitimarga I (r. 853–869) of the Western Ganga Dynasty.
An inscription on the pillar in front of Gandhavarna Basadi commemorates Indraraja, the grandson of the Rashtrakuta King Krishna III, who died in 982 after observing the vow.
[1] The inscriptions in South India suggest sallekhana was originally an ascetic practice that later extended to Jain householders.
According to Jitendra Shah, the Director of L D Institute of Indology in Ahmedabad, an average of about 240 Jains practice Sallekhana each year in India.
[40] Statistically, Sallekhana is undertaken both by men and women of all economic classes and among the educationally forward Jains.
A person who kills himself by means of poison, weapon, etc, swayed by attachment, aversion or infatuation, commits suicide.
[47]Modern-era Indian activists have questioned this rationale, calling the voluntary choice of death an evil similar to sati, and have attempted to legislate and judicially act against this religious custom.
It was also argued that Sallekhana "serves as a means of coercing widows and elderly relatives into taking their own lives".
He also pointed out that the Supreme Court in the Gian Kaur case explicitly recognises the right to live with human dignity within the ambit of the right to life.
"[59][49] On 31 August 2015, the Supreme Court admitted the petition by Akhil Bharat Varshiya Digambar Jain Parishad and granted leave.
[66] The ancient and medieval scholars of Indian religions discussed suicide, and a person's right to voluntarily choose death.
[67][68] For those who have renounced the world (sannyasi, sadhu, yati, bhikshu), the Indian texts discuss when ritual choice of death is appropriate and what means of voluntarily ending one's life are appropriate.
[70][note 3] Scholars disagree whether "voluntary religious death" discussed in Indian religions is the same as other forms of suicide.
