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Bewaakshawkesbuzkee
completely estranged, in thought, from his body, which is henceforth allowed to lie like a log of wood, uncared for and unattended by its owner, who does not allow any one else either to attend to its needs. Massage and the cleaning of the bodily impurities with purified water is permitted in the other two forms of the sallekhanā death.
In addition to saints, even householders may join in the service of a sadhu that is embarked on sallekhanā death, and they can render valuable service when he is unable to move about from enfeeblement, by arranging to have their own food prepared nearer to his residence, thus placing themselves in a position to offer him suitable food, nearer at hand, in strict accordance with the rules.
In addition to those forms of help already referred to, the purification of his seat, the kamaṇḍalu and the picchi may also be done for him by another. At night he may lie on smooth even ground after it has been duly seen to be free from insect-life, or use a mat of straw or dry grass, a wooden plank or a slab of stone. These will have to be 'insect-freed' likewise. Towards the end of the sallekhanā death the saint endeavours to conquer sleep itself, and spends the whole of his time in holy meditation.
Those who attend on a saint duly set out on the accomplishment of the sallekhanā death, should be endowed with great faith and wisdom, and should refrain from all kinds of show of sentimentalism that might cause him to waver in his resolution or to be agitated in thought. They should exclude all undesirable visitors and hangers-on and should ०३६६००००० २३ ४०००६
