Page Text
________________
Concept of Santhără (Samadhimarana) in Jainism : 79
should resolve himself to follow the best method of leaving the body happily, peacefully and artistically. It is a well-planned spiritual death inspired by the highest ideal of self-realization to ward off further entanglement in the bondage of karmas. Hundreds of instances of Santhārā have been recorded in the inscriptions found in different parts of the State of Karnataka and collected in twelve volumes of Ephigraphia Carnatica published by the state government and many scriptural and documental evidences are authentic to prove logically the age old ancient tradition of Santhārā being practiced. It is emphatically denied that Santhārā is a voluntary suicide. Samlekhanā (Santhārā) is arbitrarily equated with the offence of suicide or Satī or euthanasia by IPC. It is submitted that a voluntary fast unto death is an act of self-destruction, which amounts to "suicide”, which is a criminal offence and is punishable under section 309 by Rajasthan Court. But there is a radical difference between the Santhārā and suicide, Sati-prathā and Euthanasia, so it cannot be equated in any way with the above mentioned concepts philosophically, conceptually and conventionally. Moreover, the tradition of Sati-prathā is radically different from Santhārā from all angles of human understanding. The emerging concept of euthanasia needs to be further studied as few Western and Eastern scholars both relate it with the passive euthanasia but it is not so because the intention behind the vow of Santhärā, the situation, means adopted and the consequences of death everything must be taken into the consideration before arriving at final judgment. So the need of the hour is to reinvestigate the entire procedure of pious death of Santhārācomprehensively. Moreover the case history study of the persons who have undergone such a practice of pure meditation and self-introspection with Supreme forgiveness towards one and all must be taken into consideration for better clarification of the fact. Samlekhanā is a retreat to peace in true sense, to be yourself entirely free from all distractions for pure contemplation and introspection. It can be finally concluded that it is a noblest way to die in the pursuit of immortality.
| SR No. | 525093 |
| Book Title | Sramana 2015 07 |
| Original Sutra Author | N/A |
| Author | Sundarshanlal Jain, Ashokkumar Singh |
| Publisher | Parshvanath Vidhyashram Varanasi |
| Publication Year | 2015 |
| Total Pages | 114 |
| Language | Hindi |
| Classification | Magazine, India_Sramana, & India |
| File Size | 13 MB |