________________
HIS RELIGIOUS LIFE
221
I will be from henceforth till death quite indifferent about this my body which once was dear and beautiful to me. It was like a jewel-case which I carefully protected from cold, heat, hunger, thirst, serpent-bite, the attack of thieves, insects, diseases such as cough and high fever.'
Then he should meditate on the five Atiċāra which would infringe the vow and should strive to avoid them: that is to say, he should not wish to be a king or a rich merchant or a deity in his next life; he should not wish for long life; nor, being weary with the dreadful hardship of Santhāro, must he desire immediate death. He must then quietly wait for death, longing for mokşa, but not for any amelioration of his present state.
Every Jaina hopes to make a Samādhi death, i.e. to die by self-immolation. It is true that near relatives, standing by the death-bed of a younger man, will often not permit him to give up all hope of life and decline to take food, but if an old man is evidently dying, and if he wishes it, he repeats the Santhāro Pāțha, and, before promising indifference to his body, he says:
"I take a vow to abstain from food and drink and fruits and sopāri as long as I live.
The same words are also used when this terrible vow is taken voluntarily in good health by ascetics who wish to reach the highest point of holiness. After his death a man who has done Santhāro is called Samādhistha and held in the highest honour, and while he is suffering the dreadful pangs of thirst before his death, his relatives and friends encourage him to carry out his resolve by every means in their power.
The Eleven Pratima.? We have already noticed that the Jaina aim seems to be to close as many as possible of the channels which love and
1 The Jaina consulted by the writer do not agree with those who say that Santhāro is only performed after twelve years of austerities, declaring that there is no time fixed before which Santhāro may not be performed.
2 Or Padima.
