Sallekhanā: Jaina version of “euthanasia”

Abstract

The article deals with the specific features of the interpretation of the sallekhanā ritual in the context of the philosophical, ethical and religious doctrine of Jainism based on the analysis of disciplinary texts for monks and laity. The author stresses the ethical ambiguity of this practice from the point of view of modern legal norms and emphasizes that the idea of a worthy “good death” through gradually increasing fasting in Jainism is based on the key idea of non-violence (ahiṃsā) for this tradition, including the prohibition of self-harm. For an adequate understanding of sallekhanā in the context of Jain ethics is necessary to take into consideration who (which person – the factor of the subject), how (in which way – the factor of method), when (at what time – the factor of time), why (on which reason – the factor of purpose) and where (in what place – the factor of place) makes it. It is only with proper preparations and in keeping all the requirements it could be reckoned as the ethically right way to finish a properly (i.e. according to all the precepts of Jain doctrine) lived life both for monks and laypeople. In this case, sallekhanā could be considered as a Jain solution to the moral dilemma of the entire Western European philosophy about whether an individual has the right to leave life independently.