Self-Willed death: an aspect of euthanasia in buddhism

Euthanasia has long drawn history in the western philosophical tradition. The practice of euthanasia had been regarded as ethically and morally defamable, though eminent philosophers like Socrates and Plato spoke in favour of it. Self-willed death in Indian culture is almost equivalent to euthanasia in western culture. In spirituo-religious practice, self-willed death held a position of high esteem. In Buddhism a monk must be indifferent towards life and death. A monk or follower was explicitly told that he would not commit self-immolation in order to reach nirvana sooner. In spite of these strong strictures against self-immolation, Buddhist monks used to put an end to their lives wilfully only to get enlightened. The stories relating to self-willed deaths of Vakkali, Godhika, Chhana, Siha and Sappadasa amply testify our view. The paper seeks to explore the relationship between euthanasia and self-willed death with special reference to Buddhism.