About This File
This article is a compilation of excerpts from the Jaina Scripture on the subject of the human body and its dispassionate abandonment – called sallekhanā – at the end of life.
One should consciously refrain from mistaking the body for the soul. The transformations in the body – stages like childhood, youth, old age, and destruction – do not pertain to the soul. Death should be considered as just a change of clothes.
By no means can the body be protected from destruction; the insistence on protecting it is futile. The body is repugnant, foul-smelling, perishable, and a source of anxiety and, therefore, it is futile to have attachment towards it.
At the time of his death, the yogī wishes that he remains capable of uttering the letters constituting the pious name of Lord Jina. Further, he considers his soul to be one, without infatuation, pure, all-knowing, and capable of being known by the Master Ascetics. All attachments, internal and external, are utterly foreign to its nature.
