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INSCRIPTIONS ON SALLEKHANA AT SRAVANABEĻGOLA
T. K. TUKOL
Sravanabelgoļa is the most famous place of pilgrimage in South India for all Jains. The name has a religious and cultural significance. Sramana or Sravana refers to a Jaina saint, obviously to Bhagavān Bāhubali whose colossal image adorns the hill named Vindhyagiri. Belgola means a white pond (bel-kola) obviously referring to the splendid pond a few yards away from the foot of the hill. The two words bel and koļa are Kannada words meaning a white pond which is described in some inscriptions by the Sanskrit words : Sveta-sarovara and Dhavala-sarovara. The earlier inscriptions refer to the place as merely Belgola indicating that the pond was in existence even prior to the carving of the image of Gommateśvara by Cāmundarāya in the latter part of the 10th century.
The word Sallekhana has been derived from the two terms : sam and lih meaning the subjugation of the inner passions by an individual who undertakes the vow. “Sallekhana" may be defined as "facing death by an ascetic or a householder voluntarily when he is nearing his end or when normal life according to religion is not possible due to old-age, incurable disease, severe famine etc, after subjugation of all passions and abandonment of all worldly attachments, by observance of austerities gradually abstaining from food and water, while simultaneously meditating on the real nature of the Self until the soul departs from the body". The vow has been expounded in all its aspects by Ācārya Samantabhadra in his renowned work : Ratnakaranda Śrāvakācāra. According to him the vow is to be adopted "for seeking liberation of the soul from the body as a religious duty during a calamity, severe famine, old age or illness from which there is no cure".
Till about the 10th century, Sallekhanā seems to have been considered both by the ascetics and the house-holders as a holy way of facing death free
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