We find a strong reference to euthanasia as a solution to unbearable suffering at the end of the Mahābhārata. The Kauravas, who personify injustice and wickedness, are defeated by the Pāṇḍavas who personify justice and goodness. King Dhṛtarāṣṭra, akin to the Kauravas and the symbol of ignorance, weeps and wails over his sons and family who have been defeated. Together with his wife Gāndhārī, he pays a visit to the battlefield where the last deceased lie, severely mutilated and their wives and children crying and mourning next to them.
Gāndhārī and Dhṛtarāṣṭra weep and wail when they see their sons there. They no longer want to live, because everyone close to them is dead (Mahābhārata. 592). Sages try to comfort them. Once back in the palace, Dhṛtarāṣṭra does not get a chance to get over his intense grief, as this king was a great lover of meat. Whenever he cracked the bones of animals with his teeth, which he was served with every meal, and ripped off the flesh with cracking noises, Bhīma, who had murdered his two strongest sons Duryodhana and Duḥśāsana, stirred up his grief, as he noticed that this sound exactly matched that of when he broke Duryodhana’s thigh and tore Duḥśāsana’s chest.
The grief gradually accumulated to such an intensity that Dhṛtarāṣṭra decided to withdraw into the forest with his wife Gāndhārī (and Kunti, his sister-in-law) and by meditating and living an ascetic life, atoned for his sins, especially the negative upbringing of his sons, because of which they were filled with a thirst for power, materialism and injustice. At one point a fire broke out in the forest. Dhṛtarāṣṭra refused to flee from the fire and so, together with Gāndhārī and Kunti, chose death.
Recently, there has also been a call in the Netherlands for the legalization of ending life when an individual considers his life complete. The continuous thought that life is complete and that one no longer has goals nor desire to continue living is seen as spiritually endless suffering. The VVE (association for voluntary euthanasia) supports individuals’ rights to end their lives without sanctioning consequences for next of kin. The law to make this possible will be discussed by parliament in the spring of 2021.
Those Hindus who are also advocates of this idea, find a reference for it in the Mahābhārata. By the time King Yudhiṣṭhira has reigned as king for over 36 years, Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the great philosopher, knowe of dharmar, guru and life-guide of the Pāṇḍavas, declares to Arjuna and the rest of the Pāṇḍavas that their mission has been completed and that they must now abandon everything to seek mokṣa. The Pāṇḍavas know that they can only reach heaven without their physical bodies. Convinced that their life and mission has been completed, they go into the Himalayas. Choosing certain death, one by one they drop dead. Only Yudhiṣṭhira is allowed to enter heaven while preserving his body. Conversely, there are strong opponents of euthanasia who argue from the perspective of Hindu philosophy that they are not allowed to interfere in the natural course of life. Killing someone prematurely is also a matter of bad karma.
Non-violence is the highest ethical code of behaviour. It includes non-killing , non-injury, and non-harming. Do not kill any living creature. Do not kill a human being. Do not commit suicide.
(Shikshapari of Lord Swaminarayan; Bodleian library, University of Oxford)
Yet, on a daily basis, we are unwillingly (at the cellular level) altering our natural course of life by implementing an unhealthy diet or lifestyle, and polluting or over-consuming natural resources. According to a WHO study, in 2019 in Europe alone, 80,000 people died prematurely as a result of air pollution. To those who see euthanasia as a solution to long-term excruciating suffering, I say: “It’s in your personal karma or individual responsibility. The intention from which you make your choice is most important.
इति ते ज्ञानमाख्यातं गुह्याद्गुह्यतरं मया ।
विमृश्यैतदशेषेण यथेच्छसि तथा कुरु ॥
iti te jñānam ākhyātaṁ guhyād guhya-taraṁ mayā
vimṛśyaitad aśeṣeṇa yathecchasi tathā kuru
Thus, I have taught you the wisdom that is the greatest of all secrets. Reflect deeply on these teachings and then do as you please. (Bhagavad Gītā 18.63)
On the other hand, it is your personal duty to take good care of soul’s home, the body. If you are considering euthanasia, many family members will discourage, out of attachment and the feeling that they will never see and speak to you again. Ultimately, it is your duty to make this choice: suffer endlessly and let others pity or leave the body that is no longer fit to perform any form of karma.
श्रेयान्स्वधर्मो विगुणः परधर्मात्स्वनुष्ठितात् ।
स्वधर्मे निधनं श्रेयः परधर्मो भयावहः ॥
śreyān sva-dharmo viguṇaḥ para-dharmāt sv-anuṣṭhitāt
sva-dharme nidhanaṁ śreyaḥ para-dharmo bhayāvahaḥ
Excelling in one’s own dharma, even if it is less glamorous is better than trying to excel in another’s dharma. It is better to die upholding one’s dharma ; following the dharma of others is worse than death. (Bhagavad Gītā 3.35)
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