Some of you must be watching the debate that arose from the petition filed for euthanasia by Pinki Virani for Aruna Shanbaug in the Supreme Court. Because of this petition, we came to know the story of Aruna Shanbaug, a lady who is lying down on a hospital bed in a vegetative state from last 37 yrs.. For those of you who have not followed the story, " Aruna was a nurse, working in King Memorial Hospital, Parel, Mumbai. On the night of 27th Nov 1973, Walmiki, a ward boy at the hospital, attacked her while she was changing her clothes in the hospital basement. He choked her with a dog chain and sodomized her. The asphyxiation cut off oxygen supply to her brain resulting in brain stem contusion injury and cervical cord injury apart from leaving her cortically blind. At that time Aruna was only 25. Now she is 62. To read her story, plz go to this link http://hubpages.com/hub/Rape-In-Revenge
A heart rending story.....even the thought of such cruelty and helplessness makes me shudder...Now there are various aspects to look at in this story.. emotional, practical and philosophical. The Supreme court has denied the euthanasia plea but has allowed passive euthanasia where one can withdraw supplying food to the patient under the supervision of the doctors in certain circumstances. Some people are in favour of Euthanasia and some are not. Though few countries like Netherland, Belgium, Switzerland have allowed euthanasia, India is still struggling with this concept. Some think India is not mature enough to handle this issue and once allowed can be misused by people. Some think Our scripture allows "iksha mrityu" then why not the law of the country. If we have the right to live with dignity then why not to die with dignity. Living a life of a vegetable is not what one can call life. While permitting euthanasia the conditions & circumstances can be outlined, so that people cannot misuse it for their material benefit.
Secondly, Aruna's condition compelled me to think about the philosophy of karma. And when it comes to the philosophy of karma, then the question arises - was Aruna suffering because of her bad karma? Was what happened to her pre-destined? What kind of learning was she experiencing while in a vegetable state? According to dharma, the law of nature balances everything that we do in our past & present life. Looking at that theory, was Aruna paying the debt of her previous karma? According to Brian Weiss , an American Psychiatrist , we all come in body form to learn our lessons, so it is better to finish off that learning and then go, otherwise we will have to come back to finish the remaining lessons. In that case we should not permit euthanasia because if birth is not in our hands, then death shouldn't be either. But how can one see a person suffering in a vegetative state? What if they don't get care? Do they then not have the right to die with dignity. Someone was saying that a reference of iksha-mrityu is mentioned in Ramayana. Can anyone shed some light on it?
To know Aruna emotionally, plz visit http://mvvyasmamta.blogspot.com/2011/03/blog-post_08.html
At the end, how cruel destiny could be to Aruna - a young, pretty, and ambitious girl, coming to Mumbai from a small town Haldipur, Uttar Kannada, Karnataka, working in KEM hospital, fell in love with a young doctor, got engaged and about to get married and all of a sudden her life cord was cut short by this devil called Walmiki and she turns into a living corpse. Is this what we call MAYA?
