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Re: Organ Donation OK?
AFedel (afedel@aol.com) wrote:
: I am doing research for an article on Organ Donation and world religions.
: I would appreciate any input -- scholarly or personal -- on the question
: of whether various Hindu believers feel it is all right to donate one's
: bodily organs after death. Is there anything about the body that would
: make it less than desirable -- or even objectionable -- for it to be taken
: apart when the spirit leaves?
: thank you in advance for any responses persons might post.
Organ donation, is perfectly OK. The only constraint is that
imposed by the very nature of Dharma. Every act or intention
of anyone should be dharmik. So, if organ donation leads to
a good purpose, then it is OK. Otherwise, it is not.
I will cite two examples where organ transplants have been
mentioned in the Hindu scriptures.
1. The story of Dadhichi: Here, the earth was terrorised
by a demon, Vrtra. It was said that only the bones of
a great sage, (Dadhichi) could be used to make a weapon
which could be later used as an antidote to Vrtra. The
Gods requested the Sage to offer his bones rather
hesitantly. And the sage donated them unhesitantly. These
bones, it is said, were later used to make Vajra, a strong
weapon, which was later used to kill the demon Vrtra.
This is one example, where we see that organs of a human
were used for research and developmental purposes. The mission
was to further order and harmony on Earth.
2. Then we have this tale of Lord Ganesh. It is said that
Lord Shiva, out of rage, once cut off the head of his own
son, Ganesh. Later, upon remorse, and the wailings of the
mother, Parvati, the lord went around, and found an
elephant. He fixed the head of elephant on Ganesh's trunk.
This is another example, where organs have been used.
As of now, I cannot recollect some more examples. Perhaps
some netters could throw in more examples.
--
Nachiketa Tiwari
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