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Suicide is a heinous crime according to Hindu scriptures (see this thread - What does Hinduism say about Suicide?). Then how come an Acharya (Vallabhacharya) who propounded Shuddhadvaita darshan (Pushti Marga) committed suicide by jumping into the river Ganges in Benaras? You will get to know about this incident from the book "Bhakti Schools of Vedanta" by Swami Tapasyananda.

Lord Rama and Lakshman both committed suicide by drowning in the river Sarayu. One version says that Lord Caitanya - the propounder of Acintyabhedabhedvad darshan - jumped into the ocean in Puri and died. Also, Totapuri, the guru of Sri Ramakrishna, once tried to commit suicide when he was severely ill by drowning in the Ganges. So if suicide is such a heinous crime, then why do so many important Hindu personalities die by drowning?

Is that true that this specific mode of suicide (suicide by drowning) is permitted in Hindu Scriptures?

Amritendu Mukhopadhyay
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    Samadhi left the chat :) – LSSJ Broly Apr 21 '23 at 07:12
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    Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa said that although suicide is a sin, commiting it after attaining jivanmukti isn't a sin, for the body's primary purpose is to help the soul attain moksha & a jivanmukta finds no reason to retain the corporal form which prolongs separation from the Ultimate Reality. In this regard, he gave the example of the clay mould that is discarded away after the metallic idol has been manufactured by the artisan. – অনু Apr 21 '23 at 13:12
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    Ritualistic suicide was a common practice in the past. Chinese Buddhist pilgrim Xuanzang mentioned about 'heretics' (the term he explicitly used to describe Hindus) commiting suicide under the foot of the Akshayavata in Prayaga. – অনু Apr 21 '23 at 13:26
  • suicide is a sin if you have karma left. because karma can be finished only with a body - so throwing away the main instrument to get rid of karma means you have to wander as a ghost in limbo until the time for your next body arrives. It's like leaving your home, throwing away the key, and going to railway station 20 years before your train is scheduled to arrive. you can't get new body until then. if your train has already arrived, or is going to arrive in a few minutes, you can leave home (body) - it's not really suicide even though it looks like it. – ram Apr 24 '23 at 12:50

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