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104
Sallekhanā by Acārya Säntisågar
Om now and then. The great Acārya breathed his last on 18-9-1955 with the repetition of 'om namah siddhebhyah' (obeisance to the perfect souls).
Thus ended the life of this great holy saint who showed the path of salvation to innumerable people by his own life of austerity, purity and self-restraint. While he elevated his soul by preaching and practising the doctrines of Jainism, he left his permanent imprints of spiritual greatness on the sands on time. He lived what he preached and what had been taught to the humanity by the revered Tīrthankaras thousands of years ago.
Can the manner of his death be dubbed as suicide ? He was initiated into the first stage of asceticism in 1918. By 1955, he had ennobled his life by a devoted study, understanding, practice and preaching of the great doctrines of a universal religion which stands for a scientific approach to all metaphysical, theological and ethical problems. The religion of the conquerors, that is, of the Jinas shows the path of salvation according to which every åtman can attain the state of para. mātman by liberating the atman from the bondages of the karma by leading a life of purity, restraint and contemplation.
Now let us examine from the facts of his life and the circumstances under which he adopted the vow of Sallekhana to show that it is not suicide. The true tests, as mentioned in the previous chapter are : (1) Intention; (2) Situation; (3) Means adopted; and (4) Consequences.
So far as the intention is concerned, it is clear from the brief history of his life that the Ācārya firmly believed in the teachings of the Jinas viz. that the soul and the body are different, that the body which had become old was not assisting him in living the life of a saint as the sense of dependence was increasing day by day and that the only way to stop further transgressions of the vows of an ascetic was to adopt the vow of Sallekhanā. In short, his express intention
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