"In Him all things exist, from Him all things originate, He has become all. He exists on every side. He is truly the all."
Mahabharata Shanti Parva 47-56
Also In modern times, India's greatest apostle of non-violence, Mohandas Gandhi, has written:
"It seems to me clear as daylight that abortion would be a crime."
Mohandas Karamchand Ghandi
So, what do these quotations mean? These quotations mean that Brahman (GOD) is in everyone. This refers to the foetus and mother so there is no easy answer. Each situation must be judged on its merits.
When it comes to real life, abortion occurs widely in India and in Britain with Hindus. For example, in India, parents would not want their children being brought up in a poor family, so they would perform an abortion. In fact, the majority of Hindus in India are in favour of it staying as a legal possibility for couples. For Hindus, many believe that someone’s soul is passed from their past life to their next at the point of conception. This means that there is no single period for eternity where a body has no soul or atman whatsoever. Thus, according to the majority of Hindus, a foetus should not be treated as a piece of flesh, but as a living person.
Hindus, mainly in India are also under great amounts of pressure to produce a boy child. This is because males are generally considered more of a blessing than daughters (which is totally wrong). Daughters are also considered to be troublesome as sometimes as dowry has to be found for them when they get married.
In India some clinics and hospitals forbid parents from doing a test which tells the sex of the child during pregnancy. This is because parents then cannot have an abortion based on the sex of the child. Even though this is enforced, statistics show that aborted foetuses are more likely to be female than male in India. This has cause the Indian Government much concern in the past and at the present.
Arguments for the planning of a family can be decided from the moral teachings of Hinduism. The concept of dharma emphasizes the need to act "for the sake of the good of the world." Producing more children than you or the environment can support is not "for the sake of the good of the world." Overpopulating beyond your income or society's capacity is claiming more than you have a right to. It violates ahimsa and all the other fundamental commitments and concepts of Hinduism. Therefore, abortion has been legal in India since 1971 with the passing of the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act and religious objections to it are very rare.
Hinduisms view on euthanasia is very controversial. Euthanasia is a form of dying usually associated with people who are in extreme suffering or are of an old age. A “mercy killing”, as euthanasia is sometimes called, is a way for people to relieve themselves of their pain or/and stress that they are putting on themselves and/or the people around them. Hindu’s do view suicide and murder as unacceptable, but they find spiritual worth in the idea of euthanasia.
Historically, Hinduism has gone through many changes in their opinions on euthanasia. The ideas have ranged from euthanasia being considered a violent battle ritual to it being a way to die with the utmost respect. Today’s views reflect the view that euthanasia can be a very respectable and thoughtful way to die.
In Hinduism the main goal is that of Moksha or liberation. Liberation is only achieved by way of Samsara. To go through the many cycles of Samsara, an individual must die. To be released of the pain and burden of a disease caused by age or illness by way of euthanasia is considered liberating the person and helping them continue Samsara and inevitably reaching Moksha. The use of euthanasia is condoned as long as the suffering individual wants to die based on self-will. Modern Hinduism condones the practice of euthanasia based on religious beliefs. The use of euthanasia actually assists people in achieving the main goals of their religion.
Euthanasia being an issue that Hindus have had somewhat of an alternative view on, they have supported their views with the fact that euthanasia has actually been a helpful aspect of their religion and in furthering their religious quest.
In Hinduism, a miserable and painful life is directly linked to the result of bad karma in a previous life or past lives. This does not necessarily mean that suffering is due to bad karma but it may also be a way of “working off bad karma” in a certain sense. This is where EUTHANASIA comes in; to interfere with this way of working off bad Karma is not advisable in Hinduism.
The actual subject of euthanasia is quite complex when you look at it from a Hindus standpoint, however most Hindus would be against it. Again Hindus believe all life to be sacred, young or old, and special, as it contains an atman. It is seen that to take life and to gain from it would be an act to deny oneself from achieving MOKSA (freedom and liberation from the endless cycle of rebirth) and would occur in bad karma. However, to take someone’s life to help them by ending their suffering is a totally different thing and should be seen quite differently.
In Hindu society old age and wisdom are greatly admired (’...a man commands respect through his education, religious action, age, friends and wealth’ (Yajnavalkya 1:116)). To honour, care for and respect an elder is to perform your dharma, which is the basis of Hindu morality. In fact one of the four ASHRAMS (stages of life) is the householder stage whereby you would be expected to care for members of the extended family if they were unwell, sick or dying.)
Putting elderly members of the family into nursing homes is not usually the done thing as they must be cared for until they die. Indian medicine also seeks to heal the whole person rather than their symptoms (which western medicine tends to do through dispensing tablets). This would affect the belief that the mind and body are separate and that if someone is in a coma or has a mental illness that one has become ‘less than human’ and so should be allowed to die.
Although they have no religious objection to life-support machines, euthanasia is not generally practised as the taking of another person’s life is considered to be a great sin (although it might happen in some cases). Hindus also look forward to death as the passing from one life to another. In this context they recognise the need to carry forward good karma (the consequences of one’s actions), based on the life one has lived. Thus a Hindu would be careful not to do anything which would either affect their own karma, or that or a member of their family. On this basis alone euthanasia might not be an option for many people.
Quotes from Religious texts
"Let your mother be a god to you. Let your father be a god to you."
Taittiya Upanishad 1:11
"The result of a virtuous action is pure joy; action done out of passion bring pain and suffering; ignorance arises from actions motivated by 'dark' intentions."
Bhagavad-Gita 14:16
"May all be happy here;
May all be free from disease;
May all be righteous
and without suffering."
A Hindu prayer
These quotes and prayers basically mean that all acts performed should be done out of compassion and all acts should be selfless.
Hinduism does not approve suicide. Hindus believe that human life is very precious, which is attainted after hundreds and thousands of births and provides a unique opportunity to each individual to make a quantum jump into higher planes of existence or attain immortality. Even gods and other celestial beings do not have this opportunity unless they come down to earth and take birth as human beings.
It would therefore be a very serious mistake on the part of an individual if he commits suicide. It would seriously hamper his spiritual progress and put him back on the evolutionary scale by a few lives behind. It would also expose him to the risk of redoing in a more arduous way what he wanted to avoid in the first place.
According to Hindu beliefs if a person commits suicide, he neither goes to the hell nor the heaven, but remains in the earth consciousness as a bad spirit and wanders aimlessly till he completes his actual and allotted life time. Thereafter he goes to hell and suffers more severely. In the end he returns to the earth again to complete his previous karma and start from there once again. Suicide puts an individual's spiritual clock in reverse. Hindu scriptures therefore aptly described it as murder of self (atmahatya).
One of the traditional customs of Hinduism in the past was sati, the self immolation of a woman on the funeral pyre of her husband with the underlying belief that if she died along with her husband she would rejoin her husband in the heaven and give him company as a (servant) wife. Though this was not practiced universally and was mostly confined to certain castes, the custom of sati prevailed for a very long period in the Indian subcontinent till the British, backed by educated Indians, aptly put an end to it in the 19th century through legislation.
Sati was a cruel custom born out of the belief that a woman had no intrinsic value without her husband and that she had no duty and no justification to exist after the death of her husband. It was a sad and cruel custom and speaks volumes about the attitude of ancient Hindus towards women; the same Hindus who would at the same time bow before a goddess and surrender themselves in meek submission. For the rich and aristocratic it was a convenient way to get rid of old and hapless widows and keeps the family properties intact.
Prayopavesa, or fasting to death, is an acceptable way for a Hindu to end their life in certain circumstances.
Prayopavesa is very different from what most people mean by suicide:
- It's non-violent and uses natural means;
- It's only used when it's the right time for this life to end - when this body has served its purpose and become a burden;
- Unlike the suddenness of suicide, prayopavesa is a gradual process, giving ample time for the patient to prepare himself and those around him for his death;
- While suicide is often associated with feelings of frustration, depression, or anger, prayopavesa is associated with feelings of serenity
Prayopavesa is only for people who are fulfilled, who have no desire or ambition left, and no responsibilities remaining in this life. It is really only suitable for elderly ascetics.
Hindu law lays down conditions for prayopavesa:
- inability to perform normal bodily purification
- death appears imminent or the condition is so bad that life's pleasures are nil
- the decision is publicly declared
- the action must be done under community regulation
An example of prayopavesa:
Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami, a Hindu leader born in California, took his own life by prayopavesa in November 2001.
After finding that he had untreatable intestinal cancer the Satguru meditated for several days and then announced that he would accept pain-killing treatment only and would undertake prayopavesa - taking water, but no food.
He died on the 32nd day of his self-imposed fast.
