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SECTION II
WHAT IS SALLEKHANĀ?
Sallekhanā is facing death (by an ascetic or a householder ) voluntarily when he is nearing his end and when normal life according to religion is not possible due to oldage, 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, and by simultaneous meditation on the real nature of the Self until the soul parts from the body. This may be accepted as a brief definition of the vow whose fuller implications and essential psychological constituents are explained in the paragraphs that follow.
The basic concept underlying the vow is that man who is the master of his own destiny should face death in such a way as to prevent influx of new Karmas even at the last moment of his life and at the same time liberate the soul from bondage of Karmas that may be clinging to it then.
According to Jainism, every individual soul, by its nature, is pure and perfect, with infinite perception, knowledge, power and bliss. But from eternity, it is associated with Karmic matter and has therefore become subject to birth and rebirth in numerous forms of existence. The supreme object of religion is to show the way for liberation of the soul from the bondage of Karma. The true path of liberation lies in the attainment of Right Faith, Right Knowledge and Right Con. duct in complete unison and harmony.
Every religion prescribes many vows and rules of conduct to assist its devotee in his arduous task of leading a pure life with a view to smoothening the path of self-realisation. The five vows of abstinence from violence, untruth, theft, un
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