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88
Sallekhana is not Suicide
functioning. Besides the vow has to be adopted only with the consent of the spiritual master or guru. It is a vow which has to be most voluntarily adopted and joyfully observed.
The mental condition is one of absolute freedom from passion or attachment. To ensure complete purity of mind, the person adopting the vow must have subjugated all his passions and given up all attachments and possessions. He should have no sense of posessiveness. He should put an end to all family or friendly ties by disclosing his intentions and by asking their forgiveness with an open mind. He has also to discuss all his acts of commission and omission with his Guru. He should forgive everybody and must have developed full faith in religion and acquired clear knowledge of its principles. 5
It is under these situations and this state of mind that the vow has to be adopted.
What are the means adopted towards the fulfilment of the vow? Not the violent means of hanging, poison, stabbing, shooting or drowning in deep waters or jumping from the precipice. He has to fast according to well-regulated principles. He has to increase his days of fasting gradually. He has to change from the solid foods to liquid until he even gives up drinking of water. He has to spend his time in reading scriptures, meditation and self-introspection. He can devote part of his time to preaching religion to such of the devotees that may be present. He should neither hasten nor delay death. He should wait for the hour calmly, getting engrossed in deep meditation with complete detachment and inward concentration.
The consequences of death by Sallekhana are neither hurtful nor sorrowful to any, because before adopting the vow, all kinds of ties have been terminated with common consent. The immediate consequence is one evoking reverence
5. Ibid., Verses 123-125.
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