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Re: REQUEST: How is suicide viewed in the Hindu religion?
Suicide is generally a very serious sin. It is rejection of Dharma's will
for you life duration (and suffering duration). It is more grivious if
one still has obligations during this incarnation - wife, children,
parents. People has been told to remain householders and not become
renunciates for the sake of their obligations - this should illustrate how
important familial obligations are to Heaven and Earth.
I think there are a few exceptions. If one is suffering, elderly, or
infirm - and no longer has familial obligations - then whatever penalty
Heaven and Earth choose to exact would be reduced. It should be taken for
granted, that if They have determined you should have a certain quantity
of suffering during this incarnation, then they will carry that suffering
into the following incarnation - this is in addition to the rejection of
the duration of your life and suffering.
My own uncle a few days before his death slipped in a coma. He went into
the hospital and the doctors there went through extreme efforts to keep
him alive. A few hours before he died, he came out of the coma, came to
his sense, pulled the needles out of his arm and said, "let me die". In
his case the penalty was probably fairly minimal, because the remainder of
his life would have been spent unconscious.
The amount of penalty would probably depend on the quantity life and
consciousness. For the people who kill themselves under Kevorkian's
"care", that would determine the amount of de-merit. Dr.K, OTOH, is just
racking of bad karma for doing what he thinks is right (who made him god)
for the sake of money.
Bests,
Jay
