Bengaluru: Jain octogenarian on fast dies, tributes pour in

Bengaluru: The Jain octogenarian who took the oath of Santhara or Sallekhana on November 20 vowing to fast unto death breathed his last on November 24 afternoon. Bastimal Borana, 87, died a stoic death among his friends and family members who were chanting bhajans by his bedside at the time of his demise. The family members called for a doctor who declared him clinically dead.

Bastimal Borana, was a pawn broker by profession and retired from work 20 years ago. Mr. Borana had undertaken the 8-day ‘Tapasya’ (preparation for Santhara) since November 12 when he deprived himself of food and water and has determined to fast unto death. Around 300 to 400 friends and neighbours visited Borana at his house before the time of his death where they could get a glance of him alive for the last time, said a family friend.

His body was carried on a decorated ‘howdah’ on November 25 and the final rites were carried out at a crematorium in Chamrajpet.

“Nobody cried among the 1200 to 1300 people mostly Jains who gathered at his house in Nagarathpet and followed the funeral procession until the crematorium where his final rituals were done,” said Vikram Dugar, a member from Terapanth Yuvak Parishad who organised Borana’s final rites.

“No doubt it was a ‘good death’ one should get. He was calm and composed during the time of his death where he knew that the soul leaving the body is inevitable. There are no emotions attached such as fear or anguish to the death, and it’s just thinking only about one’s soul and its rebirth,” said Mr. Vikram Dugar.

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