The Nun's Tale Short Story

The Nun’s Tale, by William Dalrymple is a story about a young female named Mataji who decides to become a Jain nun early in life, and later on chooses to undertake Sallekhana, or Santhara. Sallekhana is a ritual to where you fast your death. In the story, Jains believed that sallekhana is a beautiful thing, and when you embrace sallekhana, you are embracing a whole new life. To give a little background information, a Jain nun is a human who practices Jainism. They are similar to Buddhist but also have ways of their own. For an example, Jains have to have to pluck their hair from the root, whereas Buddhist shave their heads. To continue, during the story, Mataji explains her lifetime from start to finish about how she became a Jain nun, and …show more content…
It all started the day she was taken to meet a monk named, Dayasagar Maharaj. The monk stayed in the town for 3 months and read and preached to the children. He talked about what you should eat, how you should purify water to avoid drinking creatures, how to avoid killing creatures, and also how to live a peaceful life; rules he had to live by as a monk. After admiring Maharaj, Mataji knew right away that she wanted to be just like him. A few weeks later, she began to stop eating after hours of darkness, and also refused to eat anything that grows from the earth, such as potatoes, carrots, and so on because once you harvest the vegetable, you kill the plant. She also gave up foods she really enjoyed such as milk and jaggery (cane sugar), attempting to control her desires. Although this action was difficult for Mataji, she was determined to become a Jain as she looked up to Dayasagar …show more content…
As walking was very important to the Jains, they always walked together, because they believe walking is the right speed for humans, and also prevents you from killing creatures. A day came to where Prayogamati became sick and had a bad cough to where she began to cough up blood. Mataji stayed beside her 24.7 and her job was to feed Prayogamati. As a Jain, Western medicine cannot be used by a Jain, but because of the severity of her suffering, their Guruji, or spiritual teacher, gave them permission to see a doctor. Prayogamati was diagnosed with Cox’s Syndrome—advanced Tb of the digestive system, and also later on contracted Malaria. The day she was diagnosed, was the same day she made a decision to embrace Sallekhana. Prayogamati believed that it would be better to give her body away, rather than it be taken from her. Mataji’s friend embracing Sallekhana had a big toll on her decision. She stated “Now my friend has gone, it is easier for me to go too “. Mataji felt as if she was already on the path. She describes Sallekhana as the last renouncement to a new life. She doesn’t look at it as suicide but as an expression of hope. She explains that suicide is full of pain and suffering, while Sallekhana is a beautiful