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irrelevant but remains relevant in all ages and at all times. It is, therefore, relevant for today's society as well.
As a part of my study of Sallekhanā for my Ph.D. thesis, I had gathered data on the Sallekhanās undertaken over a period of ten years from 01 January, 1994 to 31 December, 2003. It will be an eye opener for most of us to know that nearly twenty persons embrace Sallekhanā every month. The data is presented hereunder for ready reference:
1. Period of Study: Jan 1994 to Dec 2003. 2. Sample Size: 350 cases. 3. Extrapolated figure for the incidence of 'Voluntary Peaceful Death' in the last ten years:
2400. 4. Average incidence of Voluntary Peaceful Death'
1. Per year: 240
2. Per month: 20 5. Sources of Information: 1. Newspapers:
• Rajasthan Patrikā, Daily, Udaipur Edition.
• Dainik Bhaskar, Daily, Udaipur Edition. 2. Periodicals:
Jaina Gazette, Weekly, Lucknow. • Jaina Mitra, Weekly, Surat. • Jaina Sandesh, Weekly, Mathura.
• Jaina Prakash, Mumbai. 3. Magazines and Journals:
• Jaina DharmaJyoti, Monthly, Bhilwara. • Jinavani, Monthly, Jaipur. • Sramanopasak, Monthly, Bikaner.
• ŚramaņaSanskriti, Monthly, Beawar. 6. Limitations of the Study: Though all possible efforts were made to gather as much
information about the practitioners of Voluntary Peaceful Death from as authentic sources as possible, the following limitations have been noticed: 1. Only about 750 issues out of 1500 possible issues of the newspapers, periodicals,
magazines and journals could be accessed for a sample of 350 cases of Voluntary Peaceful Death'.
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STUDY NOTES version 5.0
