Sallekhana

Sallekhana is a Jain vow of gradually renouncing food and drink, traditionally undertaken near life’s end or when severe circumstances prevent ordinary religious duties. It is understood within Jainism as disciplined detachment, not as an act of violence.

Jain vows: Ethical commitments that guide conduct in Jain religious life. Sallekhana is undertaken as a vow governed by Jain ethical discipline.
Jainism: An Indian religion centered on liberation through nonviolence, self-discipline, and the purification of the soul. Sallekhana’s vows and interpretations belong to Jain religious teaching.
Jain Agamas: Canonical scriptures preserved by Jain communities, with contents differing among sects. Jain scriptural traditions provide sources for the vow’s religious setting.
Suicide: The intentional ending of one’s own life. The central dispute is whether sallekhana’s religious context and conditions make it morally distinct.
Acharya Shantisagar: A prominent twentieth-century Digambara Jain monk who undertook sallekhana before his death in 1955. His widely noted death is a modern example of the vow within Jain monastic life.
Jain fasting: Religious abstention from food practiced in Jain traditions for spiritual discipline and purification. Sallekhana develops fasting into a sustained, end-of-life vow.
Jiva (Jainism): The living soul in Jain philosophy, understood as distinct from matter and capable of liberation. Sallekhana is interpreted as discipline of the embodied soul, not destruction of the soul.
Tattvartha Sutra: A foundational Jain philosophical text attributed to Umaswati or Umasvami. Its account of Jain doctrine helps frame the vow’s ethical and spiritual aims.
Hunger strike: A protest in which a person refuses food to press for political or social change. Unlike a hunger strike, sallekhana is not ordinarily undertaken to compel another party.
Nishidhis: Memorial stones or inscriptions marking the death of Jain ascetics, often associated with sallekhana. These monuments preserve public records of deaths understood as disciplined religious departures.

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