Spiritual Awakening and other Essays

Author(s): Kamalchand Sogani
Publisher: Prakrit Bharti Academy

Page 74

that is apt to be caused and not that of total relinquishment which is not possible without jeopardizing the survival of man. The hard fact to be noted is that man is subject to Hiṁsā by the very condition of his existence. Yet instead of aggravating the natural weight of Hiṁsā by falling foul upon one another and by our cruel treatment of the animal and vegetable kingdoms, we should endeavour to alleviate this general curse, to the extent to which we are capable of doing, by conforming ourselves to the sacred injunctions enjoined by Jaina spiritual teachers. 70 Vegetarianism is therefore prescribed. It limits us to the unavoidable injury caused to only one-sensed-Jivas. This is the philosophy of vegetarianism propounded by Jainism.
10. Accepting Sallekhanā as the spiritual welcome to death without any fear and perturbation."
Sallekhanā implies the enervation of external body and internal passions in a legitimate way by the gradual removal of the causes of their nourishment, so that one may renounce the present body with a view to having a new bodily modification. Sallekhanā is performed on the occasion when the time of natural death has been known in all probability. No doubt the body which is the medium of upliftment of the soul is to be properly nourished and cared for and the diseases are to be seriously met with without any retreat. But if the body refuses to respond to our earnest endeavours, we should not falter to forsake it in the interest of saving the peace of mind. Thus if one is encountered with the termination of duration of the present life one should resort to the performance of the process of Sallekhanā, which is not other than the spiritual welcome to death. This is not yielding to death, but a way of meeting the challenge of death undauntedly and adequately. "Self-restraint, study,
Spiritual Awakening (Samyagdarśana) and Other Essays
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