On Santhara

Whereas suicide is an act of extreme desperation fuelled by anguish and hopelessness, a Sallekhana practitioner relinquishing food and drink voluntarily by this method has arrived at that decision after calm and unruffled introspection, with an intent to cleanse oneself of karmic encumbrances and thus attain the highest state of transcendental well-being. Sallekhana, for him/ her, is therefore simply an act of spiritual purification premised on an exercise of individual autonomy. In both the writings of Jain Agamas and the general views of many followers of Jainism, due to the degree of self-actualisation and spiritual strength required by those who undertake the ritual, Sallekhana is considered to be a display of utmost piety, purification and expiation. According to advocate, Suhrith parthasarathy, “Sallekhana is not an exercise in trying to achieve an unnatural death, but is rather a practice intrinsic to a person’s ethical choice to live with dignity until death”.

In his book, Sallekhanā is Not Suicide, Justice T. K. Tukol wrote:”My studies of Jurisprudence, the Indian Penal Code and of criminal cases decided by me had convinced that the vow of Sallekhana as propounded in the Jaina scriptures is not suicide.”