Jain Religious Rites Banned :Death, Law and Literature
“The thought of suicide is a
great consolation: by means of it one gets through many a dark night.’” Friedrich Nietzsche
The right to Life is Fundamental Right
in Indian Constitution. A literary interpretation is that the Right to Life
automatically includes "Right to Die". Otherwise how we would justify
that so many millions of people have Right to Life but are not provided with the
means to sustain that Life.
Jainism is one of the oldest religions.
The last prophet Mahavir is more than 2500 years old. Nonviolence is their main
preaching. How such religion can permit voluntary death, if it is at all
violent.
Many hundreds of Jain old people opt for
Santhra or voluntary death in India.
Emily Dickinson
welcomes to death in her poem “Because I Could Not Stop For Death”
Because
I could not stop for Death,
He
kindly stopped for me;
The
carriage held but just ourselves
And
Immortality....
Walt
Whitman says Death is a prize won.
O
Captain! My Captain!
O
Captain! my Captain! our fearful trip is done,
The
ship has weather'd every rack, the prize we sought is won,
The
port is near, the bells I hear, the people all exulting,
While
follow eyes the steady keel, the vessel grim and daring;
Henry
Wadsworth Longfellow's perception of death is
The
Cross of Snow
In
the long, sleepless watches of the night,
A
gentle face--the face of one long dead--
Looks
at me from the wall, where round its head
The
night-lamp casts a halo of pale light....
William
Blake in his poem On Another's Sorrow see Death as kind relief
Can
I see another's woe,
And
not be in sorrow too?
Can
I see another's grief,
And
not seek for kind relief?..
William
Butler Yeats in his poem A Dream Of Death has wondered about solitude
death provides.
I
dreamed that one had died in a strange place
Near
no accustomed hand,
And
they had nailed the boards above her face,
The
peasants of that land,
Wondering
to lay her in that solitude,
Robert
Browning in his poem A Death in the
Desert
has given a beautiful description of death.
Almost
all writers have praised the mystery and awe of death and old age.
In Harakari
Seppuku is defined as "Japanese ritual of
the samurai used either voluntarily by samurai to die with honor rather than
fall into the hands of their enemies (and likely suffer torture) or as a form
of capital punishment for samurai who had committed serious offenses, or
performed because they had brought shame to themselves".
Likewise, in Rajput
warrior's ritual of Johar was performed. The act is defined as the practice of mass suicide carried out
in medieval times by Rajput women to save their honor from invaders.
Another popular
ritual was of Sati. Sati refers to the obsolete(?) Indian funeral custom
where a widow, was expected to immolate herself on her husband's pyre, or
committed suicide in another fashion shortly after her husband's death at war
or from other causes.
Voluntary death
is not a transgression. It is a highly acclaimed transmission of one form into
another for a better purpose. Especially so in Santhara. Jainism otherwise also
has a strong belief in penance.
According
to Jainism the Pudgal or Matter has two forms 1. Gross 2. Subtle.
Gross matter is perceptible, everything that we see around us, while subtle
matter is manifested as Karma. The Karma gets attached to a soul as dirt
gets attached to the sticky surface. The object of austerities and penance is
to annihilate old karma and stop the influx of new karma.
Dainik Bhaskar-Jain Community protest march against the decision of High Court prohibiting Santhara
How
any legal system can stop anyone from achieving the highest objective of
salvation. One of the major objections raised is priests of Jain could not
produce any religious text in support of the rituals. The Jain scriptures are
some of the oldest scriptures known to human civilization. Rig Veda finds a
mention of the first prophet of Jain religion. At that time the information was
passed from one generation to another by word of mouth. Since the Santhara is
being performed for centuries and is part of religion, it cannot be denied on
such a paltry ground.
Thus Spoke Zarathustra: “Many die too late and a few die too early. The doctrine still sounds strange: “Die at the right time.”- Thus Spoke Zarathustra (Friedrich Nietzsche)
Thus Spoke Zarathustra: “Many die too late and a few die too early. The doctrine still sounds strange: “Die at the right time.”- Thus Spoke Zarathustra (Friedrich Nietzsche)
We
have a history of privilege to end life. ~Tall Man Small
Shadow. ( A youth is convicted for attempt to suicide and faces humiliation, while
an old Jain Lady is revered for Santhara i.e.fast unto death)
Social scientists have expressed concern over increase in suicidal rate in soldiers and students. Both of them live a mission oriented life. They work not only for duty but to prove themselves. The high expectation of society, insecurity,apprehension of failure,lack of self confidence,peer pressure are some of the other reasons of suicide. State should provide them stress free environment and society should take care of emotional need of these segments of society.Meditation camp can be arranged to reduce the anxiety by acceptance of inevitable.
Kota in Rajasthan(India), is hub of tuition centres for students aspiring to be IITian or a Doctor. Every month few students commit suicide in this city. Parents have put lot of expectations from their children. Invariably the students have left a suicide note addressed to their parents. In the note, they have apologised for their inability to fulfil the dreams of their parents.
Kamala Das famous English poet could not reconcile her inner world to her external world, her body to her soul, she addresses her monologue to the sea who(personification) can act as medium of her salvation (suicide).
O sea I am fed up
I want to be simple
I want to be loved
And
If love is not to be had
I want to be dead,just dead.
31 August 2015
Supreme Court Stays High Court Judgement
Justice seems to be prevailing. Supreme Court stayed the High Court decision that Santhara is also suicide and thus illegal. Various religious bodies of Jain Community had filed petition against decision of High Court of declaring Santhara as illegal. The same tenets were considered while granting stay that have been raised in the article. The Santhara is part of Jain Philosophy, and courts should abstain from interfering in the core rituals of any religion.
According to Durkheim the abnormally high or level of social integration results in suicide. He made an observation that the rate of suicide is low in Catholics since they have normal level of social integration.Low level of social integration results in disorganised society and suicide is seen as last remedy while in high level of social integration the person think himself to be a burden on society and thus commit suicide.
Kota in Rajasthan(India), is hub of tuition centres for students aspiring to be IITian or a Doctor. Every month few students commit suicide in this city. Parents have put lot of expectations from their children. Invariably the students have left a suicide note addressed to their parents. In the note, they have apologised for their inability to fulfil the dreams of their parents.
Kamala Das famous English poet could not reconcile her inner world to her external world, her body to her soul, she addresses her monologue to the sea who(personification) can act as medium of her salvation (suicide).
O sea I am fed up
I want to be simple
I want to be loved
And
If love is not to be had
I want to be dead,just dead.
© Vipin Behari
Goyal
Advocate, Rajasthan High Court, Jodhpur, India
Advocate, Rajasthan High Court, Jodhpur, India
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