Wikipedia

Sallekhana

Sallekhana(IAST:sallekhanā), also known assamlehna,santhara,samadhi-maranaorsanyasana-marana,[1]is a supplementary vow to theethical code of conductofJainism.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-influencingkarmaby withdrawing all physical and mental activities.[2]It is not considered a suicide by Jain scholars because it is not an act of passion, nor does it employ poisons or weapons.[2]After thesallekhanavow, the ritual preparation and practice can extend into years.[1]

Nishidhi stone with 14th century old Kannada inscription from Tavanandi forest
Nishidhi,a 14th-centurymemorial stonedepicting the observance of the vow ofSallekhanawith old Kannada inscription. Found at Tavanandi forest,Karnataka,India.

Sallekhanais a vow available to both Jainasceticsandhouseholders.[4]Historic evidence such asnishidhiengravings suggestsallekhanawas observed by both men and women, including queens, in Jain history.[1]However, in the modern era, death throughsallekhanahas been a relatively uncommon event.[5]

There is debate about the practice from aright to lifevsright to dieand afreedom of religionviewpoint. In 2015, theRajasthan High Courtbanned the practice, considering itsuicide.In 2016, theSupreme Court of Indiastayed the decision of the Rajasthan High Court and lifted the ban onsallekhana.[6]

Vow

edit
See also:Ethics of Jainism

There are five great vows prescribed to followers of Jainism;ahimsa(non-violence),satya(not lying),asteya(not stealing),brahmacharya(chastity), andaparigraha(non-possession).[7]A further seven supplementary vows are also prescribed, which include threegunavratas(merit vows) and fourSsiksha vratas(disciplinary vows). The threeGunavratasare:Digvrata(limited movements, limiting one's area of activity),bhogopabhogaparimana(limiting the use of consumable and non-consumable things), andanartha-dandaviramana(abstain from purposeless sins). Theshikshavratasinclude:samayika(vow to meditate and concentrate for limited periods),desavrata(limiting movement and space of activity for limited periods),prosadhopavāsa(fasting for limited periods), andatithi-samvibhag(offering food to the ascetic).[8][9][10]

Sallekhanais treated as a supplementary to these twelve vows. However, some Jain teachers such asKundakunda,Devasena,Padmanandin, and Vasunandin have included it undershikshavratas.[11]

Sallekhanameans to properly 'thin out', 'scour out', or 'slender' the passions and the body through gradually abstaining from food and drink.[12][2]Sallekhanais divided into two components:kashaya sallekhana(slendering of passions) orabhayantra sallekhana(internal slendering) andkaya sallekhana(slendering the body) orbahya sallekhana(external slendering).[13]It is described as "facing death voluntarily through fasting".[1]According toJain texts,sallekhanaleads toahimsa(non-violence or non-injury), as a person observingsallekhanasubjugates the passions, which are the root cause ofhimsa(injury or violence).[14]

Conditions

edit
Sallekhanaas expounded in the Jain text,Ratnakaranda śrāvakācāra

WhileSallekhanais prescribed for bothhouseholdersandascetics,Jain texts describe conditions when it is appropriate.[1][15][16]It should not be observed by a householder without the guidance of a Jain ascetic.[17]

Sallekhana is always voluntary, undertaken after the public declaration, and never assisted with any chemicals or tools. Fasting causes weight loss due to malnutrition. As death is imminent, the individual discontinues food and water, with full knowledge of colleagues and spiritual counsellor.[18]In some cases, Jains with terminal illness undertakesallekhana,and in these cases, they ask for permission from their spiritual counsellor.[19][note 1]For a successfulsallekhana,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.[4][2]

Sallekhanadiffers from other forms of ritual deaths recognized in Jainism as appropriate.[21]The other situations consider ritual death preferable to a mendicant breaking his or herFive Great vows(Mahavrata).[21]For example, celibacy is one of the Five vows, and ritual death is considered better than being raped or seduced or if the mendicant community would be defamed. A ritual death under these circumstances by consuming poison is believed to be better, and thus allows for an auspicious rebirth.[21]

Procedure

edit

The duration of the practice can vary from a few days to years.[1][22]The sixth part of theRatnakaranda śrāvakācāradescribesSallekhanaand its procedure[23]as follows:

Giving up solid food by degrees, one should take to milk and whey, then giving them up, to hot or spiced water. [Subsequently] giving up hot water also, and observing fasting with full determination, he should give up his body, trying in every possible way to keep in mind thepancha-namaskara mantra.

— Ratnakaranda śrāvakācāra (127–128)[23]

Jain texts mention five transgressions (Atichara) of the vow: the desire to be reborn as a human, the desire to be reborn as a divinity, the desire to continue living, the desire to die quickly, and the desire to live a sensual life in the next life. Other transgressions include: recollection of affection for friends, recollection of the pleasures enjoyed, and longing for the enjoyment of pleasures in the future.[24][25][26]

The ancient Śvetāmbara Jain textĀcārāṅga Sūtra,dated to about 3rd or 2nd century BCE, describes three forms ofSallekhana:theBhaktapratyakhyana,theIngita-marana,and thePadapopagamana.InBhaktapratyakhyana,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. InIngita-marana,the person sleeps on bare ground. He can sit, stand, walk, or move, but avoids food until he dies. InPadapopagamana,a person stands "like a tree" without food and drink until he dies.[1]

Another variation ofSallekhanaisItvarawhich consists of voluntarily restricting oneself in a limited space and then fasting to death.[21]

History

edit
An inscription (No.130) in memory of Vinayadevasena who observedSallekhana.7th-century Kannada script. Found atShravanbelgola,Karnataka, India.
Doddahundi nishidhi inscriptionwas raised in honor ofWestern GangaKing Nitimarga I in 869 CE who observedSallekhana.
The chamber for the ascetics to observeSallekhanaatUdayagirihills,Odisha,India

Textual

edit

TheĀcārāṅga Sūtra(c. 5th century BCE– c. 1st century BCE) describesthree formsof the practice. EarlyŚvetāmbara[note 2]textShravakaprajnaptinotes that the practice is not limited to ascetics. TheBhagavati Sūtra(2.1) also describesSallekhanain great detail, as it was observed by Skanda Katyayana, an ascetic ofMahavira.The 4th-century textRatnakaranda śrāvakācāraand the Śvetāmbara textNava-pada-prakaranaalso provide detailed descriptions. TheNava-pada-prakaranamentions seventeen methods of "voluntarily chosen death", of which it approves only three as consistent with the teachings of Jainism.[11]The practice is also mentioned in the 2nd century CESangam-erapoemSirupanchamoolam.[20]

ThePanchashakamakes only a cursory mention of the practice and it is not described inDharmabindu—both texts byHaribhadra(c. 5th century). In the 9th century text "Ādi purāṇa"byJinasenathethree formsare described.YashastilakabySomadeva(10th century) also describes the practice. Other writers like Vaddaradhane (10th century) and Lalitaghate also describe thePadapopagamana,one of its forms.Hemchandra(c. 11th century) describes it in a short passage despite his detailed coverage of the observances of householders (Shravakachara).[1][11][2]

According toTattvartha Sutra,"a householder willingly or voluntarily adoptsSallekhanawhen death is very near. "[25]According to the medieval era Jain text,Puruşārthasiddhyupāya,both the ascetics and the householder should "court voluntarily death at the end of life", thinking that only sallekhana is a pious death.[27]TheSilappadikaram(Epic of the Anklet) by the Jain prince-turned-monk, Ilango Adigal, mentionsSallekhanaby the Jain nun, Kaundi Adigal.[20]

Archeological

edit

InSouth India,especiallyKarnataka,amemorial stoneor footprint is erected to commemorate the death of a person who observedSallekhana.This is known asNishidhi,NishidigeorNishadiga.The term is derived from the Sanskrit rootSidorSadwhich means "to attain" or "waste away".[1]

TheseNishidhisdetail the names, dates, the duration of the vow, and other austerities performed by the person who observed the vow. The earliestNishidhis(6th to 8th century) mostly have an inscription on the rock without any symbols. This style continued until the 10th century when footprints were added alongside the inscription. After the 11th century,Nishidhisare inscribed on slabs or pillars with panels and symbols. These slabs or pillars were frequently erected inmandapas (pillared pavilions), nearbasadi(temples), or sometimes as an inscription on the door frame or pillars of the temple.[1]

InShravanabelgolain Karnataka, ninety-threeNishidhisare found ranging from circa the 6th century to the 19th century. Fifty-four of them belong to the period circa the 6th to the 8th century. It is believed that a large number ofNishidhisat Shravanabelgola follow the earlier tradition. Several inscriptions after 600 CE record thatChandragupta Maurya(c. 300 BCE) and his teacherBhadrabahuobserved the vow atopChandragiri Hillat Sharavnabelagola. Historians such asR. K. Mookerjiconsider the accounts unproven, but plausible.[28][29][30][31]

An undatedinscriptionin oldKannada scriptis found on theNishidhifrom Doddahundi nearTirumakudalu Narasipurain Karnataka. Historians such asJ. F. Fleet,I. K. Sarma,and E.P. Rice have dated it to 840 or 869 CE by its textual context.[32]The memorial stone has a unique depiction infriezeof the ritual death (Sallekhana) of King Ereganga Nitimarga I (r. 853–869) of theWestern Ganga Dynasty.It was raised by the king's son Satyavakya.[33][34]In Shravanabelgola, the Kuge Brahmadeva pillar has aNishidhicommemorating Marasimha, another Western Ganga king. An inscription on the pillar in front of Gandhavarna Basadi commemorates Indraraja, the grandson of theRashtrakutaKing Krishna III, who died in 982 after observing the vow.[1]

The inscriptions in South India suggestsallekhanawas originally an ascetic practice that later extended to Jain householders. Its importance as an ideal death in the spiritual life of householders ceased by about the 12th century. The practice was revived in 1955 by the Digambara monk Acharya Santisagara.[2]

Modern

edit

Sallekhanais a respected practice in theJain community.[35]It has not been a "practical or general goal" amongŚvetāmbaraJains for many years. It was revived amongDigambara monks.[2]In 1955, AcharyaShantisagar,a Digambara monk took the vow because of his inability to walk without help and his weak eye-sight.[36][37][38]In 1999, AcharyaVidyanand,another Digambara monk, took a twelve-year-long vow.[39]

Between 1800 and 1992, at least 37 instances ofSallekhanaare recorded in Jain literature. There were 260 and 90 recorded Sallekhana deaths among Śvetāmbara and Digambara Jains respectively between 1993 and 2003. According to Jitendra Shah, the Director of L D Institute of Indology inAhmedabad,an average of about 240 Jains practiceSallekhanaeach year in India. Most of them are not recorded or noticed.[40]Statistically,Sallekhanais undertaken both by men and women of all economic classes and among the educationally forward Jains. It is observed more often by women than men.[41]

Legality and comparison with suicide

edit

Jain texts make a clear distinction between theSallekhanaand suicide.[42]Its dualistic theology differentiates between soul and matter. The soul is reborn in the Jain belief based on accumulated karma, how one dies contributes to the karma accumulation, and a pious death reduces the negative karmic attachments.[2][43][44]The preparation forsallekhanamust begin early, much before the approach of death, and when death is imminent, the vow ofSallekhanais observed by progressively denying the body and the passions.[45]

The comparison ofSallekhanawith suicide is debated since the early time of Jainism. The early Buddhist Tamil epicKundalakesicompared it to suicide. It is refuted in the contemporary Tamil Jain literature such as inNeelakesi.[20]

Professor S. A. Jain cites differences between the motivations behind suicide and those behind Sallekhana to distinguish them:

It is argued that it is suicide since there is voluntary severance of life etc. No, it is not suicide, as there is no passion. Without attachment etc, there is no passion in this undertaking. A person who kills himself by means of poison, weapon, etc, swayed by attachment, aversion or infatuation, commits suicide. But he who practices holy death is free from desire, anger, and delusion. Hence it is not suicide.[46]

Champat Rai Jain,a Jainist scholar, wrote in 1934:

Soul is a simple substance and as such immortal. Death is for compounds whose dissolution is termed disintegration and death is when it has reference to a living organism, that is a compound of spirit and matter. By dying in the proper way will is developed, and it is a great asset for the future life of the soul, which, as a simple substance, will survive bodily dissolution and death. The true idea ofSallekhanais only this when death does appear at last one should know how to die, that is one should die like a man, not like a beast, bellowing and panting and making vain efforts to avoid the unavoidable.[47]

Modern-era Indian activists have questioned this rationale, calling the voluntary choice of death an evil similar tosati,and have attempted to legislate and judicially act against this religious custom.[48]Article 21 of theConstitution of India,1950, guarantees theright to lifeto all persons within the territory of India and its states. InGian Kaur vs The State Of Punjab,the state high court ruled, "... 'right to life' is a natural right embodied in Article 21 but suicide is an unnatural termination or extinction of life and, therefore, incompatible and inconsistent with the concept of the right to life".[49]

Nikhil Soni vs Union of India(2006), a case filed in theRajasthan High Court,citing theAruna Ramchandra Shanbaug vs Union Of Indiacase related toeuthanasia,and theGian Kaurcase, argued, "No person has a right to take his own life consciously, as the right to life does not include the right to end the life voluntarily." So the petitioner citedSallekhanaas suicide and thus punishable under Section 309 (attempt to commit suicide).[50][51]The case also extended to those who helped facilitate the deaths of individuals observingSallekhana,finding they were culpable under Section 306 (abetment of suicide) with aiding and abetting an act of suicide. It was also argued thatSallekhana"serves as a means of coercing widows and elderly relatives into taking their own lives".[41][52]An attempt to commit suicide was a crime underSection 309of theIndian Penal Code.[51]

In response, the Jain community argued that prohibiting the practice is a violation of theirfreedom of religion,afundamental rightguaranteed by Article 15 and Article 25 of the Constitution of India.[53][50][41]The bookSallekhana Is Not Suicideby former JusticeT. K. Tukolwas widely cited in the court[50]which opined that "Sallekhanaas propounded in the Jaina scriptures is not suicide. "[54]

The Rajasthan High Court stated that "[The Constitution] does not permit nor include under Article 21 the right to take one's own life, nor can it include the right to take life as an essential religious practice under Article 25 of the Constitution". It further added that it is not established thatSallekhanais an essential practise of Jainism and therefore not covered by Article 25 (1). So the High Court banned the practice in August 2015 making it punishable under Sections 306 (abetment of suicide) and 309 (attempt to commit suicide).[55]Members of the Jain community held nationwide protest marches against the ban onSallekhana.[20][56][57][58]

Advocate Suhrith Parthasarathy criticised the judgement of the High Court and wrote, "Sallekhanais not an exercise in trying to achieve an unnatural death, but is rather a practice intrinsic to a person's ethical choice to live with dignity until death. "He also pointed out that the Supreme Court in theGian Kaurcase explicitly recognises the right to live with human dignity within the ambit of the right to life. He further cited that the Supreme Court wrote in the said case, "[The right to life] may include the right of a dying man to alsodie with dignitywhen his life is ebbing out. But the right to die with dignity at the end of life is not to be confused or equated with the right to die an unnatural death curtailing the natural span of life. "[59][49]

On 31 August 2015, theSupreme Courtadmitted the petition by Akhil Bharat Varshiya Digambar Jain Parishad and granted leave. It stayed the decision of the High Court and lifted the ban on the practice.[6][60][61][62]

In April 2017, the Indian parliament decriminalised suicide by passing theMental Healthcare Act, 2017.[63][64]

In Hinduism and Buddhism

edit

There are similar practices in other religions, likePrayopavesainHinduism[65]andSokushinbutsuinBuddhism.[66]

The ancient and medieval scholars of Indian religions discussed suicide, and a person's right to voluntarily choose death. Suicide is approved by Buddhist, Hindu and Jaina texts.[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.[69]TheSannyasa Upanishads,for example, discuss many methods of religious death, such as slowing then stopping the consumption of foods and drinks to death (similar tosallekhana), walking into a river and drowning, entering fire, a path of the heroes, and the Great Journey.[70][note 3]

Scholars disagree whether "voluntary religious death" discussed inIndian religionsis the same as other forms of suicide.[71][72][73]

See also

edit
Wikimedia Commons has media related toSallekhana.

Notes

edit
  1. ^According to Somasundaram,Sallekhanais allowed in Jainism when normal religious life is not possible because of old age, extreme calamities, famine, incurable disease or when a person is nearing their death.[20]
  2. ^ŚvetāmbaraandDigambaraare two major sects of Jainism. SeeJain schools and branches.
  3. ^The heroic path is explained as dying in ajust battleon the side ofdharma(right, good), and equivalent. The Great Journey is walking north without eating till one dies of exhaustion.[71]A similar practise known asVadakirutthal(literally facing north) was prevalent inSangam periodin Tamilnadu. It is mentioned in Tamil anthologies such as inPuranaanooru.[20]

References

edit

Citations

edit
  1. ^abcdefghijkSundara, A."Nishidhi Stones and the ritual of Sallekhana"(PDF).International School for Jain Studies.Archived fromthe original(PDF)on 28 February 2018.Retrieved21 April2017.
  2. ^abcdefghiDundas 2002,pp. 179–181.
  3. ^Vijay K. Jain 2012,p. 115.
  4. ^abBattin 2015,p. 47.
  5. ^Dundas 2002,p. 181.
  6. ^abGhatwai, Milind (2 September 2015),"The Jain religion and the right to die by Santhara",The Indian Express,archivedfrom the original on 22 February 2016
  7. ^Tukol 1976,p. 4.
  8. ^Vijay K. Jain 2012,p. 87-91.
  9. ^Tukol 1976,p. 5.
  10. ^Pravin K. Shah,Twelve Vows of LaypersonArchived11 May 2016 at theWayback Machine,Jainism Literature Center, Harvard University
  11. ^abcWilliams 1991,p. 166.
  12. ^Kakar 2014,p. 174.
  13. ^Settar 1989,p. 113.
  14. ^Vijay K. Jain 2012,p. 116.
  15. ^Wiley 2009,p. 181.
  16. ^Tukol 1976,pp. 7–8.
  17. ^Jaini 1998,p. 231.
  18. ^Jaini 2000,p. 16.
  19. ^Battin 2015,p. 46.
  20. ^abcdefSomasundaram, Ottilingam; Murthy, AG Tejus; Raghavan, DVijaya (1 October 2016)."Jainism – Its relevance to psychiatric practice; with special reference to the practice of Sallekhana".Indian Journal of Psychiatry.58(4):471–474.doi:10.4103/0019-5545.196702.PMC5270277.PMID28197009.
  21. ^abcdBattin 2015,p. 48.
  22. ^Mascarenhas, Anuradha (25 August 2015),"Doc firm on Santhara despite HC ban: I too want a beautiful death",The Indian Express,archivedfrom the original on 4 December 2015
  23. ^abChampat Rai Jain 1917,pp. 58–64.
  24. ^Williams 1991,p. 170.
  25. ^abTukol 1976,p. 10.
  26. ^Vijay K. Jain 2011,p. 111.
  27. ^Vijay K. Jain 2012,pp. 112–115.
  28. ^Mookerji 1988,pp. 39–41.
  29. ^Tukol 1976,p. 19–20.
  30. ^Sebastian, Pradeep (15 September 2010) [1 November 2009],"The nun's tale",The Hindu,archivedfrom the original on 14 January 2016
  31. ^Mallick, Anuradha; Ganapathy, Priya (29 March 2015),"On a spiritual quest",Deccan Herald,archivedfrom the original on 24 September 2015
  32. ^Rice 1982,p. 13.
  33. ^Sarma 1992,p. 17.
  34. ^Sarma 1992,p. 204.
  35. ^Kakar 2014,p. 173.
  36. ^Tukol 1976,p. 98.
  37. ^Tukol 1976,p. 100.
  38. ^Tukol 1976,p. 104.
  39. ^Flügel 2006,p. 353.
  40. ^"Over 200 Jains embrace death every year",Express India,30 September 2006, archived fromthe originalon 14 July 2015
  41. ^abcBraun 2008,pp. 913–924.
  42. ^Chapple 1993,p. 102.
  43. ^Battin 2015,pp. 46–48.
  44. ^Pechilis & Raj 2013,p. 90.
  45. ^Vijay K. Jain 2012,pp. 114–115.
  46. ^Vijay K. Jain 2012,pp. 116–117.
  47. ^Champat Rai Jain 1934,p. 179.
  48. ^Battin 2015,pp. 47–48.
  49. ^ab"Smt. Gian Kaur vs The State Of Punjab on 21 March, 1996".Indian Kanoon.Archivedfrom the original on 7 March 2017.Retrieved24 April2017.This article incorporates text from this source, which is in thepublic domain.
  50. ^abc"Nikhil Soni vs Union Of India & Ors. on 10 August, 2015".Indian Kanoon.24 May 2003.Archivedfrom the original on 28 February 2018.Retrieved24 April2017.This article incorporates text from this source, which is in thepublic domain.
  51. ^ab"Religions: Jainism: Fasting".BBC.10 September 2009.Archivedfrom the original on 7 July 2015.
  52. ^Kumar, Nandini K. (2006). "Bioethics activities in India".Eastern Mediterranean Health Journal.12(Suppl 1): S56–65.PMID17037690.
  53. ^article 15 of India Constitution
  54. ^Tukol 1976,p. Preface.
  55. ^Vashishtha, Swati (10 August 2015),"Rajasthan HC bans starvation ritual 'Santhara', says fasting unto death not essential tenet of Jainism",News 18,archivedfrom the original on 11 October 2016
  56. ^"Jain community protests ban on religious fast to death",Yahoo News,Indo Asian News Service, 24 August 2015,archivedfrom the original on 16 October 2015
  57. ^Ghatwai, Milind; Singh, Mahim Pratap (25 August 2015),"Jains protest against Santhara order",The Indian Express,archivedfrom the original on 26 August 2015
  58. ^"Silent march by Jains against Rajasthan High Court order on 'Santhara'",The Economic Times,Press Trust of India,24 August 2015,archivedfrom the original on 27 August 2015
  59. ^Parthasarathy, Suhrith (24 August 2015),"The flawed reasoning in the Santhara ban",The Hindu,archivedfrom the original on 14 January 2016
  60. ^Anand, Utkarsh (1 September 2015),"Supreme Court stays Rajasthan High Court order declaring 'Santhara' illegal",The Indian Express,archivedfrom the original on 5 September 2015
  61. ^"SC allows Jains to fast unto death",Deccan Herald,Press Trust of India,31 August 2015,archivedfrom the original on 13 September 2015
  62. ^Rajagopal, Krishnadas (28 March 2016) [1 September 2015],"Supreme Court lifts stay on Santhara ritual of Jains",The Hindu,archivedfrom the original on 30 November 2016
  63. ^"Mental health bill decriminalising suicide passed by Parliament".The Indian Express.27 March 2017.Archivedfrom the original on 27 March 2017.Retrieved27 March2017.
  64. ^THE MENTAL HEALTHCARE ACT, 2017(PDF).New Delhi: The Gazette of India. 7 April 2017.Archived(PDF)from the original on 21 April 2017.
  65. ^Timms 2016,p. 167.
  66. ^Hayes 2016,p. 16.
  67. ^Arvind Sharma 1988,p. 102.
  68. ^Olivelle 2011,p. 208 footnote 7.
  69. ^Olivelle 2011,pp. 207–229.
  70. ^Olivelle 2011,pp. 208–223.
  71. ^abOlivelle 1992,pp. 134 footnote 18.
  72. ^Olivelle 1978,pp. 19–44.
  73. ^Sprockhoff, Joachim Friedrich (1979). "Die Alten im alten Indien Ein Versuch nach brahmanischen Quellen".Saeculum(in German).30(4). Bohlau Verlag:374–433.doi:10.7788/saeculum.1979.30.4.374.S2CID170777592.

Sources

edit
edit
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Sallekhana&oldid=1268180127"