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includes even the lowest and therefore the most undesirable form of life, known as nigoda, no subsequent change of beliefs, on his part, in that 8 particular incarnation, can cancel the liability that has been incurred, though the tinge of his prevailing convictions and thoughts at the last moment of life may be such as to lead him to be reborn amongst the best forms of existence within its range. Similarly, if a person has engendered the karma for a rebirth in hell, it is possible for him by his subsequent good action and right beliefs to reincarnate in the best of the conditions that are available in the gati or to descend to the lowest and the most dreadful of its grades by further perverse thinking and living.
The death the saint aspires to attain to is termed samadhi-maraņa or sallekhanā, that is to say the death of self-control. Even advanced householders aspire for this auspicious form of death. The saint does not like to die like a fool, as a rat in a trap, so to speak. He selects his own time and conditions for death. He perfects himself for it through a long course of training, so that he should not flinch or be deterred in his resolution at the moment of the superme test. The course recommended extends over a period of twelve years, which is to be divided into six unequal parts and devoted to the performance of desireeradicating asceticism. The first four years he should devote to the special form of tapas known as kāyakleśa (bodily afflictions), to be followed by a similar period characterized by the avoidance of the six rasas, namely, (1) milk (2) curds (3) ghee
