Pursuing Death: Philosophy and Practice of Voluntary Termination of Life

Pursuing Death widens the canvas of enquiry on the Jaina practices of voluntary termination of life, identified with terms such as Santāra, Sallekhanā, Samādhi, Sanyasana, Arādhanā, Bhaktapratyakhyana, Panchapada, Prāyopagamana, Ingiņī, etc. This volume undertakes an in-depth study of both the philosophy and the practice of death, as revealed in a wide variety of texts written in Prakrit, Sanskrit, Kannada as well as a vast body of historical records, dated between the third century BCE and nineteenth century CE. The citation for the National Award of the Indian History Congress, conferred on this volume at the Fifty-fourth Annual Session (1993), states, 'Pursuing Death by Professor S. Settar presents the theory and practice of voluntary termination of life in historical perspective, it illumines the problems with the help of Jaina philosophical writings, historical archaeology, art history and socioeconomic history. The methodology is new and a whole new area has been opened up in Indian historical studies.'

S. Settar is Professor Emeritus, National Institute of Advanced Studies, Bangalore and Honorary Director, Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts, Southern Regional Centre, Bangalore