SANTHARA AS A RELIGIOUS PRACTICE: HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE

THE NATIONAL LAW INSTITUTE UNIVERSITY

BHOPAL

Projects Work of History - I

Santhara as a Religious Practice: Historical Perspective

V TRIMESTER
ACADEMIC YEAR: 2015-
16

26.11.2015

Submitted To: Submitted By:

Prof. (Dr.) U.P. Singh Shashank Chaddha

2014BALLB41
Sec-A

1
Project Work of History -
I
 2
Project Work of History -
I
 SANTHARA AS A RELIGIOUS PRACTICE: HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE

PREFACE
This Research Project is the output of the analysis of the Santhara as a Religious Practice
in Jainism. It has been my pleasure to introduce this project which has given me immense
scope towards comprehending critical areas of the selected topic and thereby to focus on the
issue and consequences related to the same.

This Project is based on case analysis, which has been successfully

analyzed in such a manner so as to give the reader an easy access to the technicalities which
may crept in.

In the course of my research, I learned that no task can be completed in

professional isolation without interaction with others. Discussions arising from differences of
opinion or approach, and particularly criticism, can of course be time consuming and even
painful to deal with, but I believe it has not only kept me from making mistakes, but also
added clarity. I owe much to those who invited me to contribute on equal terms in their field
of expertise and thereby made my research enjoyable. I am grateful for the sharing of
information, the professional guidance and the skilled feedback of those who became
involved in my work.

December 5th, 2015 Shashank Chaddha

(NLIU, Bhopal)
 SANTHARA AS A RELIGIOUS PRACTICE: HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

This Research Project is made possible through the help and support from everyone,
including: parents, teachers, family, friends, and in essence, all sentient beings. Especially,
please allow me to dedicate my acknowledgment of gratitude toward the following
significant advisors and contributors: First and foremost, I would like to thank Prof. (Dr.)
U.P. Singh for his most support and encouragement. He offered valuable and detailed
advices on grammar, organization, and the theme of the paper. Second, I would like to thank
my parents Mrs. Nisha Chaddha and Mr. Vijay Chaddha for reading my project work and
for providing valuable advices, my friends in the University, to reproof the project work, as
well as some other Professors who have provided me with their valuable support giving an
insight of the topic of my pursuit. Finally, I sincerely thank to my seniors, family, and
friends, who provided the advice and financial support. The product of this research paper
would not be possible without all of them.

Thank You.
 SANTHARA AS A RELIGIOUS PRACTICE: HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE

TABLE OF CONTENTS

OBJECTIVES................................................................................................................................................................. 5
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY................................................................................................................................... 5
INTRODUCTION........................................................................................................................................................... 6
THE HISTORY OF JAINISM....................................................................................................................................... 7
THE PRACTICE OF JAIN ETHICS.......................................................................................................................... 10
ENGAGING THE JAIN SOUL IN ENVIRONMENTAL ETHICS.......................................................................... 12
PURIFICATION OF SOUL IN JAINISM.................................................................................................................. 13
CONSTITUTIONAL PERSPECTIVE (IN BRIEF)...............................................................................14
CONCLUSION............................................................................................................................................................ 15
 SANTHARA AS A RELIGIOUS PRACTICE: HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE

OBJECTIVES

1. To historically look into the beliefs of Jainism.

2. To analyse the practice in light of the Rights conferred by the Constitution of India.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

The Research Methodology involved in this project work is purely doctrinal, taken from
secondary sources, such as websites, books, etc. To the best of my knowledge and in limited
capacity, the projects presented attempts to look into the practice of Santhara, through the
background of Purification of Soul in Jainism.
 SANTHARA AS A RELIGIOUS PRACTICE: HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE

INTRODUCTION

For the Jain tradition, the term used to describe the soul is jiva, a term derived from
the Sanskrit root jiv, which means “to live.” This term differs rather significantly from the
Hindu word for soul, atman, which derives from the root word “to breathe” and the
Buddhist term pudgala, which refers to the individual or ego. The ideas regarding the life
force or soul of Jainism carry several characteristics which distinguish this concept from its
counterparts in other Indian traditions. The concept of soul in Jainism holds profound
implications for human agency and environmental ethics.

Perhaps, the earliest notice given of the Jain interpretation of soul can be found in the
Acaranga Sutra, a text that has been dated to the 4th century B.C.E. In this passage, one can
almost hear the cries of all living beings:

All beings are fond of life.

They like pleasure, they hate

pain, They shun destruction.

They like life and long to

live. To all, life is dear

(I:2:3).1

From this text, we learn that the Jains did not see this life force as limited to human
form. In fact, living forms can be found in the earth, in water, in fire, and in air itself, taking
the shape of large rocks and in microscopic particles circulating in the wind. The text
proclaims: “There are living beings living in the earth, living in grass, living on leaves, living
in wood, living in cowdung, living in dust-heaps” (I:1:4).2 This definition of soul or living
being announces an omni-presence of life and soul. In later cosmological texts, this life exists
from the lowest regions of hell up to the abode of liberated beings (siddhaloka). Jainism also
proclaims a fourteen step teleological journey for the soul, whereby it perceives the true
nature of reality, seeks purification through assiduous ethical practices, and eventually attains
release.
1 Herman Jacobi, tr. Jaina Sutras, Part One. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1884, p. 19.
2 Ibid., p. 8.
 SANTHARA AS A RELIGIOUS PRACTICE: HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE

THE HISTORY OF JAINISM

Jainism arose from the pre-history of India. From archaeological remains, we know
that Jainism provided among the first monumental art beginning in the third century B.C.E.,
with images of the Jina predating those of the Buddha.3

From Greek texts, we know that Alexander encountered the Jains along with the
Brahmans. The early geographer Megasthenes (ca. 350-290 B.C.E.) notes that the Garmanes
(Jains) “live in forests, subsisting on leaves and wild fruits… abstaining from wine and the
delights of love… women as well as men study philosophy.”4 From the dating of the
Acaranga Sutra at 300 B.C.E. or earlier.5 In a search for the founders of this faith, we are
pushed back into pre-history and hence legendary accounts. The putative founder, Rshibha or
Adinath, according to Jain accounts given in the Adipurana, a ninth century text of the
common era, lived several and lists of lineages within this text that go back several
generations, it can be surmised that the Jain tradition began to take shape as early as the
eighth century B.C.E., making it one of the world’s oldest continuously practiced religious
traditions. thousand years ago. In a search for the founders of this faith, we are pushed back
into pre-history and hence legendary accounts. The putative founder, Rshibha or Adinath,
according to Jain accounts given in the Adipurana, a ninth century text of the common era,
lived several thousand years ago. To him Jains credit the establishment of law, agriculture,
marriage, and religion.

The largest stone statue in the world carved of a single rock celebrates the spiritual
heroism of his son, Bahubali, in the sacred pilgrimage town of Sravanabelgola in Karnataka,
South India. Twenty three great teachers or Tirthankaras follow after Rshibha, revising and
updating Jainism when necessary. The existence of the last two can be confirmed. Mahavira
Vardhamana, also known as the Jina, was a contemporary of the Buddha. Buddhist texts
externally confirm his life. Jains consider Mahavira to be the twenty fourth and most recent
of the great teachers. The Acaranga Sutra tells his story and lists predecessors back to
Parshvanatha, deemed to be the twenty third Tirthankara. It seems that both taught about the
nature of the soul, its repeated rebirth within the round of existence or samsara, the need for
strict ethical practices, and the possibility of spiritual liberation, referred to in Jainism as
kevala. Mahavira, according to all accounts, promulgated the Jain faith primarily in north-
eastern India, particularly in Bihar, Orissa, and the area eastern Uttar Pradesh around
Varanasi. In approximately 300

3 Pratapaditya Pal, Liberating Victors, Los Angeles County Museum of Art.

4 The Geography of Strabo, translated by Horace Leonard Jones (New York: G.P. Putnam, 1930), 103, 104.
5 Paul Dunda, The Jains Second Edition (London and New York: Routledge, 2002), p. 23.
 SANTHARA AS A RELIGIOUS PRACTICE: HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE

B.C.E., a terrible famine struck India. Some members of the Jain community endured this
tragedy, but many others moved to the west and south of India, where the monsoon had not
failed. This group of Jains then lost touch with the original followers, and two distinct
traditions arose: the Shvetambara (those who remained in the north and moved west) and the
Digambara (those who moved south).

The two groups developed several differences, including variant stories of the life of
Mahavira, distinct canonical traditions, a dispute over the necessity of nudity, and differing
attitudes regarding the spiritual potential of women. In brief, the Svetambaras claim that
Mahavira left home after his parents died to renounce the world and had been a married man,
that nudity, although practiced by Mahavira, is not necessary for liberation, and women have
the potential to achieve kevala. The Digambara claim that Mahavira had never married, that
his nudity was intentional and required for liberation, and that women must wait for another
lifetime as a man before they can ascend to the state of siddha.6

On matters of the soul, both Svetambara and Digambara Jains look to the fifth century
author Umasvati as the primary authority. Umasvati composed a concise text, the
Tattvarthasutra, that encapsulates core Jain teachings. Although each developed separate
commentarial traditions, they agree on the core fundamentals. Innumerable souls or life
forces (jiva) exist. They have always existed and will continue forever.

They were not created by anyone. No one controls these souls. Each soul authors its
own destiny. The nature of the soul is energy, consciousenss, and bliss (virya, caitanya,
sukha). Consciousness includes both perception (darsana) and knowledge (jnana). Energy
allows the soul to “bring about modifications in the functions of the karmic matter drawn to
the soul… to engage in giving (dana), obtaining (labha), enjoyment (bhoga) and repeated
enjoyment (upabhoga) of worldly objects.”7

Depending on past behavior, the soul attracts particles or atoms of variously colored
karma that tint and taint the soul. If one commits an act of violence, then the karmic color
darkens and thickens, covering one’s true nature. If one practices meritorious behavior, then
the karma lightens and even disperses. The spiritual journey requires a systematic process of
purgation, shedding off karma and entering into increasing levels of purification. Padmanabh
Jaini makes the point that the soul is real, bound by karma, and changeable.

6 Ibid.
7 Id. at p.106.
 SANTHARA AS A RELIGIOUS PRACTICE: HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE

Because the karmic material that shrouds the soul authentically alters its state of
being, it is important to note traditional Jain categories to describe karma. All forms of karma
prevent the soul from attaining final liberation. The spiritual quest entails a systematic
expulsion (nirjara) of all karma. Thirty types of karma (with additional subcategories)
obstruct the soul in four destructive ways and must be expelled willfully.

Four types of karma may deemed neutral, and remain even with the purified person
until the final liberation from the body. The destructive karmas fall into four groupings as
follows:

1. Delusional: engendering false views and incorrect conduct, leading to anger, pride, deceit,
and four types of greed: unrelenting, inciting greed in laypeople, inciting greed in monks, and
smouldering lethargy. Delusional karmas also result in vicious laughter, pleasure, displeasure,
sorrow, fear, disgust, and the three types of sexual craving (a man for a woman, a woman for
a man, and man for a man/woman for a woman).
2. Ignorant: incorrect function of senses and the mind; faulty reasoning; lack of intuition; lack of
empathy; inability to adopt a universal view.
3. Obscured: malfunctioning of the eyes; malfunctioning of the other senses; mistaken notions;
failure to perceive universal wisdom.
4. Lack of energy.

The neutral karmas include the process of sensation, one’s name and form, the length
of one’s life, and one’s family group. Reincarnation of the soul plays a powerful role in
explaining the nature of karma and providing incentive for self-correction. The Jains hold that
the soul has been snared in a process of birth, death, and rebirth since beginningless time. In
one famous story, the King Yasodhara goes through several incarnations in rapid succession:
as a king, as a goat, as a chicken, and finally as a monk, in order to learn the lessons of
nonviolence.

Depending upon the experiences that have preceded one in this lifetime and in prior
lifetimes, one or more of the above destructive karmas may prevail.

In another story, a brother and sister unwittingly commit incest leading to a raucous
round of harmful consequences through various births until both take up the monastic life.

In medieval Jainism, duration of life span and various other qualities were specified
for different classes of souls. Santi Suri, a Svetambara Jain philosopher of the 11th century of
the common era, wrote that hardened rock can endure as a single soul for twenty-two
thousand years; water souls for seven thousand years, wind souls for three thousand years,
trees for ten
 SANTHARA AS A RELIGIOUS PRACTICE: HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE

thousand years, and fire for three days and three nights. These stories not only entail human
and animal incarnations, but also refer to life endured as an insect, a micro-organism
(nigoda), a flaring fire, and even a rock. 8

According to the Jain theory of souls, each of these classes of beings, from the four
elements up to micro-organisms and plants, possess the sense of touch. The next most
complex form of life adds the sense of taste, and includes conches, worms, and leeches. As
the insect realm becomes more complex, differentiating into centipedes, bedbugs, lice, ants,
and other creepy crawlers, a third sense appears: smell. The fourth sense, sight, can be found
in scorpions, bees, locusts, flies, gnats, mosquitoes, moths, spiders, and grasshoppers, who
exhibit a lifespan as long at six months. In the top category reside the five-sensed beings,
further divided into those who can hear and those who can hear and think (sometimes counted
as a sixth sense). These include animals and humans, as well as the denizens of the seven
hells and the nine heavens.9

Humans only earn a maximum of seven consecutive births as a human being, after
which one must take another life form. If one has been extremely vicious, then one might
descend to one of the hells. If one has been virtuous, then one might ascend to one of the
heavens. Otherwise, one might endure birth as any of the vast variety of beings listed above.
According to the Jain theory of karma, during the last third of one’s life one’s future birth
becomes scripted. With this in mind, Jains from the age of 50 become even more scrupulous
about their diet and daily, in hopes to ensure an auspicious rebirth for the soul. Each of the
souls encased in any one of these forms will eventually move on to another home.

THE PRACTICE OF JAIN ETHICS

This brings us to a discussion of the role of ethics in the Jain tradition. From earliest
times, datable at least to Parshvanath, Jains have advocated the practice of nonviolence or
ahimsa, for the purpose of purifying one’s soul. By observing an ethical life, one actively
restructures one’s karma, expelling dark materiality and cultivating light. By the time of
Mahavira, five foundational vows were to be observed by all Jains appropriate to their status,
lay or monastic: ahimsa (nonviolence), satya (truthfulness), asteya (not stealing),
brahmacarya (sexual restraint), and aparigraha (non-possession).

8 SantiSuri, Jiva Vicara Prakaranam along with Pathaka Ratnakara’s Commentary, edited by Muni Ratna Prabha
Vijaya, translated by Jayant P. Thaker (Madras: Jain Mission Society, 1950), p. 34.
9 Ibid.
 SANTHARA AS A RELIGIOUS PRACTICE: HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE

For laypeople, these vows have scripted expected norms of behavior in the Jain
community: vegetarian diet, honesty, faithfulness in marriage, and donations to religious
persons (monks and nuns) and organizations such as temples and Jain organizations.

Additionally, several occupations are not suitable for Jains, such as the manufacture
or sale of weapons or meat. For monks and nuns, these vows become increasingly rigorous.
These individuals are forbidden from preparing food, because of the potential harm caused in
the process of collecting, chopping, and cooking of grains and vegetables. Food must be
freely given

by lay supporters, and ideally one given food in small amounts by many different families in
order not to cause a disproportionate burden to only a few households. This guards the purity
of the monk or nun, and also benefits the families who, by donating food, cleanse their own
karma.

As a practice of truthfulness, monks and nuns regularly confess their shortcomings,

asking forgiveness for even the smallest of infractions. Touching between genders is strictly
forbidden. Monks and nuns possess only a change of clothing and own no shoes. When they
take their final vows, they forgo all motorized or mechanical forms of transit, even bicycles.
They periodically remove the hair from their heads to discourage lice, and bathe infrequently,
and then only with very meagre amounts of water, if they use any water at all.

In the Digambara tradition, the most advanced monks give up all clothing and remain
naked until death. In this state, they avoid harming the insects who could be trapped in their
robes, they avoid harm to the cotton that would need to be woven for their garments, they
take nothing at all from the environment to clothe themselves, have no shame about their
sexual organs, and do not even possess a bowl for eating food, taking donations of food
directly into their hands.

These vows bring the mendicant closer to the purified soul, dispelling karma and
revealing increasing energy, consciousness, and bliss. In addition to the five great vows,
monks and nuns also adopt five rules of conduct (samiti) that heighten mindfulness of the
soul in one’s life and the life of others minute by minute. These five are care in walking, care
in speaking, care in accepting things from others, care in picking up and putting down things,
and care in the performance of excretory functions. The adoption of these observances makes
nearly every movement an occasion for reflection on the status of one’s soul.
 SANTHARA AS A RELIGIOUS PRACTICE: HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE

ENGAGING THE JAIN SOUL IN ENVIRONMENTAL ETHICS

The Jain tradition challenges many traditional categories and conceptions regarding
the human person and ethics. First, it exhibits a radical pluralism. Innumerable souls take
seeming countless forms. Second, it suggests a radical egalitarianism. Each soul has endured
countless births in a variety of different forms of life.

If we examine the three soul qualities of Jainism: pluralism, egalitarianism, and

individualism, we confront a religious system quite markedly different from those that
emphasize monism (such as Brahmanical Hinduism) or monotheism (Judaism and Islam) or
trinitarianism (Christianity) or even harmony (Confucianism and Taoism). How then, might
Jainism contribute to the conversation of environmental ethics?

Each human knows innately how it feels to be an animal, how to be a member of the
other gender, how to feel empathy even with the earth itself. Third, this tradition evokes
images of the solitary hero. Each of the Tirthankaras forged a life of privation through which
they gained great spiritual strength, serving as a model for later practitioners. Their spiritual
liberation was achieved without the help of others, and, once liberated, they are able to
inspire others but are not able to directly provide aid or succour to others

A renewed sense of connectivity with others arises as one enters into the Jaina
spiritual journey. For Jains, this journey requires care in all inter-personal and animal
relationships, to be enacted through adherence to the vows of nonviolence, truthfulness, not
stealing, sexual restraint, and nonpossession. The sense of community and personal
responsibility in this tradition leads to the development of not only a normative ethics that
may be universally applied, but is also leads in many cases to the cultivation of a personal
ethics in keeping with one’s individual tastes and inclinations. In Jainism, this concept of
“others” extends beyond the human realm to animals and to plants and insects. Non-violence
requires a careful consideration of how one’s actions affect not only the human order. In
traditional Jainism, vegetarianism, periodic fasting, vows of stability (limiting the extent of
one’s travel), and in some instances the donning of a face mask and the use of broom to
sweep one’s path constitute adaptive ethical responses that exceed what would normally be
expected under the general requirements of normative ethics. Particularly for laypersons, the
application of the Jain ethical code requires imagination and creativity. Jains in the
pharmaceutical industry, for instance, have developed animal-friendly testing to minimize
harm and suffering. Many Jains in America, aware of the peril to the well-
 SANTHARA AS A RELIGIOUS PRACTICE: HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE

being of animals caused by factory farming, have eschewed dairy products that otherwise
would be consumed in more cow-friendly India.

The list of ethical issues to be considered in Jainism includes topics not generally
taken into account when thinking about the “good life” in Europe and America. Jainism’s
unique cosmology gives cause for Jains to think deeply about their role in such environmental
issues as industrial pollution and global warming. Jains state that the waters and the air
contain life, in addition to the living creatures that dwell therein. Hence, pollution deemed
harmful in either element must be mitigated, not only for the sake of human health, but also
for the sake of the life that thrives in air and water.

Similarly, global warming will not only cause great disruption for humans but will
displace and perhaps decimate countless species, the most famous at present being the polar
bear. Given human complicity and causality in regard to climate change, Jains would have a
double incentive for taking action: protection of humans and protection of other life forms.

The Jain definition of soul puts life in the recesses of the earth, in the waters of lakes
and oceans, in the very air itself. In order to preserve the well-being of our own soul, Jainism
suggests that steps must be taken to protect the lives of all beings. With disregard and perhaps
intentional harm, karma accrues that deprives the human being of energy, of happiness, even
consciousness itself. By respecting life in its human and nonhuman forms, the soul embarks
on a steady course of self-purification that benefits all beings

PURIFICATION OF SOUL IN JAINISM

According to the Jaina's religious perfection and purification of the soul could occur only
when the soul is in a state of eternal liberation from and non-attachment to corporeal
(material) bodies. Liberation of the soul is impeded by the accumulation of karmas, bits of
material, generated by a person's actions, that bind themselves to the soul and consequently
bind the soul to material bodies through many births; this has the effect of thwarting the full
self-realization and freedom of the soul.10

The Jainism emphasizes three major teachings about the purification of the soul (jiva).
Ahimsa teaches that all life in all forms is valuable and therefore should not be destroyed or
injured. Recognized as a virtually impossible ideal for humans, ahimsa also teaches that
although human life is inevitably destructive, its ultimate aim is to cause as little harm as
possible to other

10 http://www.appiusforum.com/jainism.html
 SANTHARA AS A RELIGIOUS PRACTICE: HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE

creatures, including other persons. Ahimsa extends to thinking and speaking as well because
abusive words and negative thoughts can harm others. Jain would not agree with the well-
worn ditty Sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me. Aparigrapha
teaches that through nonattachment to both things and people, one kindles the way to inner
peace. It is notable that Jainism teaches that this non-acquisitiveness is not only the way to
inner liberation, but is also valuable for the world as well.

Jainism teaches that if more people limit their needs and desires, then fewer demands
will be placed on the environment. The third great teaching of Jainism is anekantwad,
relativity loosely translated. This teaches that it is important to avoid polarized issues and
judgmentalism. In other words, anekantwad instructs followers to cultivate openmindedness,
and to be sensitive to the truth that the issues can be seen from many different angles.
Because truth has many facets, the enlightened person is responsive to the subtleties of
existence. 11Jainism, The focus of this religion has been purification of the soul by means of
right conduct, right faith and right knowledge.12

CONSTITUTIONAL PERSPECTIVE (IN BRIEF)

The concept of Right to Die, or better to be said as, Right to end one's own life,
through whatever means, has been a prominent issue now, even much after the debated legal
developments and court cases, both in India and in other countries. One of the major
contributing factors towards this can be attributed towards the era of modern technology and
since its inception, its ability to cure or prolong one's life beyond a 'natural' period. India
witnessed a much heated debate on this issue by way of a recent judgment of the High Court
of Rajasthan, Jaipur Bench, in Nikhil Soni v. Union of India and Anr., which has ruled the
practice of Santhara, identified to take place in the Jain community, as criminal. It has
therefore held such 'religious practice' as suicide. Another aspect of this issue may be Death
with Dignity. This term has been referred to by the human rights activists in the US, and
those who advocate the right to end one's own life. Whether the U.S. or India, the
philosophers and legal experts have consistently debated on the people's right to end their
'own' lives, and under what circumstances can they do so.

The Indian Constitution relating to Article 25, guarantees equality of all religions.
Under this, a person is guaranteed two-fold freedom, i.e. (i) freedom of conscience, and (ii)
freedom to
11 http://wps.prenhall.com/wps/media/objects/251/257884/im_ch04_1.pdf.
12 http://www.asianinfo.org/asianinfo/india/religion.htm#Christianity.
 SANTHARA AS A RELIGIOUS PRACTICE: HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE

profess, practice, and propagate religion.13 The expression "freedom of conscience" means
absolute inner freedom of the citizens to have their own relation with Almighty. To "profess"
means to openly declare one's own beliefs, and to "practice" means to perform the religious
duties, rites and rituals according to one's own religion.14

CONCLUSION

The idea of specifying one's date of death has emerged as one of the many facets of
the practice of Santhara. This concept id an age old tradition, being practiced and 'professed'
in the Jain community for centuries now. The devout Jains believe that Mahavira, the 24th
Tirthankar, allowed Santhara, or Sallekhana, as the ultimate test of spirituality, will power,
whose ultimate goal is purifying body and mind and facing death voluntarily.15 Further, what
is important is the cause and effect of this age old practice. It is when, a person is suffering of
an 'incurable' disease that one gives up food and water to practice Sallekhana. It is clearly on
a different pedestal than the practice of suicide.16

The religious tenet of Jainism, which involves two facets of Jiva and Ajiva, which
denote living and non-living, respectively. Soul is characterised by the former, wherein, the
followers of Jainism believe it to be an essential characteristic of their faith.17 The soul,
according to Jainism, is either liberated or kept in bondage in the body. This is the basic
premise of peaceful release of the soul for the divine liberation. Jainism believes in rebirth
and so the consequences of our Karmas, and the goal of a human endeavour is towards
liberation from the various Karmas.18 Before commencing this process of liberation, it is
necessary that there is a stoppage of inflowing of new Karmas and shedding in the existing
Karmas which is embodied in the concept of Nirajara, before the final goal of ultimate
liberation i.e. Moksa.

13 See Bijoe Emmanual v. State of Kerala, (1986) 3 SCC 615, and Ramesh v. Union of India, (1988) 1 SCC 668.
14 Dr. Paramjit S. Jaswal, Human Rights and the Law, 107 APH Publishing Corporation (1996).
15 Sandipan Sharma, Debating Santhara: This Jain practice is not suicide, but Indian laws don't see it that way,

avaliable at http://www.firstpost.com/india/debating-santhara-the-jain-practise-isnt-suicide-but-indian-laws-dont-
see-it-that- way-2408134.html (last visited 31st Oct, 2015).
16 Osho Rajneesh, And Now, And Here, available at http://www.oshorajneesh.com/download/osho-books/hindi-

translations/And_Now_And_Here.pdf, (last visited, October 31st, 2015).

17 Justice T.K. Tukol, Sallekhana is not Suicide, (1st ed.), Ahmedabad: L.D. Institute of Indology, (1976).
18 Id. at Section 1, Page 2.
 SANTHARA AS A RELIGIOUS PRACTICE: HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE

References (Websites/Articles):

http://www.redalyc.org

http://www.infinityfoundation.com/indic_colloq/papers/paper_sethia2.pdf

http://eprints.soas.ac.uk/13657/3/Jaina_Law_Shramana.pdf

http://www.jainworld.com/pdf/A%20HISTORY%20OF%20THE%20JAINS.pdf

Christopher Key Chapple, Jainism, Life, and Environmental Ethics, Loyola Marymount

University.