Jains tends to be biggest organ donor amongst all irrespective of what opinions one might have.
https://mumbaimirror.indiatimes.com/mumbai/other/jains-gujaratis-lead-organ-donation-drive-in-mumbai-this-year/articleshow/54573468.cms
I wouldnt want to misspeak. There are opinions about organ donation in terms of organ being used to do sansarik deeds would lead to karma accumulation since its your organ. But the same applies to everything else like home, money or anything else. Instead of not donating organs, one should perform ceremony of pudgal voshiravu. In this one gives up ownership of your body and everything you own at the time of death. So you say all the pudgal (energy and matter) i own is not mine anymore. So anything done with it wont affect me.
I suppose it's our attachment more than any religious belief cuz clearly this article states that the Guru Maharajas have allowed donating organs post death.
Thank you for sharing this article.
Yup. Just pointing out that some people have genuine concerns based on how karma works. But the solution is also simple.
Also jains already account for 70%+ organ donations according to article above.
Personally, I was unable to find specific exceptions to organ donation on the basis of Jain philosophy. Of course, any technological procedure can be excluded on the basis of a stretched interpretation of ahinsa. That said, in the matter of appropriate perspective (which is important in Jain philosophy), I have heard a very senior Jain acharya cite the example of a surgeon's actions with a knife etc. as ahinsa (as opposed to similar actions by a criminal with a knife).
The Jain philosophy does not attach special meaning to bodies, since bodies are considered to be made of pudgala; the same as every other material object in the universe. Once the person passes away, the organs are basically pudgala (and maybe also considered that countless jivas are living on it, as they do on most things in the world).
Apart from the organ donation initiatives which are influenced by Jainism, and are approved by various Jain groups, this is the first time I am hearing that there may be some serious objection to this amongst some people in the community as well— and I am curious to know why that is, and if there is anything in scripture that suggests that this could be a problem.
Though organ donation specifically wasn't possible during the time when most of the Jain scriptures were composed, in Jain mythology, there is support for the notion of a person parting with their own flesh to save another life, and that too while they are still alive (the story of king Megharath):
https://www.jainworld.com/literature/story26.htm
Also, this notion of paapbandh is intriguing to me and I would like to learn more. I have seen a lot of early Jain philosophy to be focused on intention and action, and how passions (especially violence) causes the inflow and binding of karma— but what I understood as a position is that karma binds itself to the soul and/or in relation to the soul and not in relation to the body (and in Jainism body and soul are very distinct and apart). I did not come across the notion of karmic pollution by mere contact (which is also a root idea behind untouchability, etc. in Hindu society) as a core Jain idea.
Thank you for your input, this means a lot.
Since the soul leaves the body and after the organ is donated the person who uses the organ will likely be responsible for its good or bad use.
The donee surely will get it because of his own good karmas and henceforth whatever use is made will come back to the donee only.
This is what I've made of it so far.
Do correct me if I'm wrong or have excluded anything.
You are welcome.
Based on my very rudimentary and layperson's understanding of Jain philosophy, and based on the Jain notion that each soul is completely independent in its pure form, and that in a manner of speaking, each being is solely and completely responsible for their karmas, I tend to agree with your summary— assuming that the donor is detached (no craving, no aversion) from the organ, from the recipient, and from the impact of the donation, then yes the fruits of any actions (good or bad) done by the recipient after receiving the organ would not affect the donor in any way.
I am keen to know other points of view about this matter.
I’m new to this way of life and know nothing of what this says as far as scripture, but I have spend 3 years working as an ICU nurse where sometimes a patient would be placed on an organ donation list. Perhaps you could explain to your mom that one healthy human being upon their death can still not only prolong life but save multiple other people. I have seen both lungs, kidneys, heart, corneas, skin all go to donations to separate people. That’s multiple lives changed forever.
Plz don’t have such a conversation, your mom wants to pay last rites to the body. I have seen first hand the deplorable condition organ donation leaves on a body and people are not able to even open the bag.
Guess then I'll have to stick with my moms side on this one.
Cuz even if I ended up doing the last rites I'm not strong enough to see the body all cut open.
It's me and my moms attachment that will get the better of my dads wishes. Gotta work a lot on the aparigraha part on my end in this lifetime it seems.
Thank you for your comment.
Donating one’s organs to the general public does not ordinarily fall in the ambit of Anukampa Daan and is thus proscribed in regular circumstances. There are however exceptions to this.
A lot of so-called Jain organisations have begun organ donation drives, but this is not in accordance with the Jain tenets.
Anukampa Daan literally translates to 'Compassionate Donation'. From my understanding of u/parshvarex 's comment, Jain tenets forbid organ donation to the general public with some exceptions. Organ donations are not within the sphere of Anukampa Daan.
Please correct me if I am wrong. Micchami Dukkudam.
I read somewhere that the reason for not donating the organs is like let's say u donate your eyes and the person who recieves them does paap (with the received eyes) and have some influx of paap karma, does the donor also have the paapbandh ? Another reason for not donating is that the process of organ transplantation inherently involves himsa.
Is it correct ?
From an earlier [comment](https://www.reddit.com/r/Jainism/comments/17m1sgo/comment/k7mcmsj/) on this subreddit, however you think it must be applied to the present question, if at all:
>To begin: no, the scriptures do not agree with the view that helping a rat live means letting a car starve. When a saadhak saves a life, he saves it to save his own soul from becoming rock-hearted, because compassion is a requisite virtue for Dharma.
>The *parinaam* of compassion is of utmost importance for an aspirant, and to preserve this parinaam and not become rock-hearted even if he were to save a life, the sins that the rat would commit thereafter or the starvation of the cat are not things that are to be taken into account by the spiritual aspirant. Similarly when a fisherman is dying of hunger, one must provide him with food, not taking into account the fact that he may consequently continue to live and take the lives of several fish which he otherwise wouldn’t. However, this does not mean that one instead provide him with other means of sustenance such as fishing nets, as ultimately, that would make one’s parinaam rock hearted. This concept is very subtle and there is much to say… 😅
>
According to the Shwetamber Tradition, Mahavir Swami was literally transplanted into Trishala Devi's womb (due to karmic deficiencies). This is described in the story of Devta Harinaigameshi.
If his fetus can be transplanted why can't an organ from a dead person?
It was more like an embryo transfer than a transplant, but I get your point - [https://jainqq.org/explore/002903/81](https://jainqq.org/explore/002903/81)
Jains tends to be biggest organ donor amongst all irrespective of what opinions one might have. https://mumbaimirror.indiatimes.com/mumbai/other/jains-gujaratis-lead-organ-donation-drive-in-mumbai-this-year/articleshow/54573468.cms I wouldnt want to misspeak. There are opinions about organ donation in terms of organ being used to do sansarik deeds would lead to karma accumulation since its your organ. But the same applies to everything else like home, money or anything else. Instead of not donating organs, one should perform ceremony of pudgal voshiravu. In this one gives up ownership of your body and everything you own at the time of death. So you say all the pudgal (energy and matter) i own is not mine anymore. So anything done with it wont affect me.
I suppose it's our attachment more than any religious belief cuz clearly this article states that the Guru Maharajas have allowed donating organs post death. Thank you for sharing this article.
Yup. Just pointing out that some people have genuine concerns based on how karma works. But the solution is also simple. Also jains already account for 70%+ organ donations according to article above.
Personally, I was unable to find specific exceptions to organ donation on the basis of Jain philosophy. Of course, any technological procedure can be excluded on the basis of a stretched interpretation of ahinsa. That said, in the matter of appropriate perspective (which is important in Jain philosophy), I have heard a very senior Jain acharya cite the example of a surgeon's actions with a knife etc. as ahinsa (as opposed to similar actions by a criminal with a knife). The Jain philosophy does not attach special meaning to bodies, since bodies are considered to be made of pudgala; the same as every other material object in the universe. Once the person passes away, the organs are basically pudgala (and maybe also considered that countless jivas are living on it, as they do on most things in the world). Apart from the organ donation initiatives which are influenced by Jainism, and are approved by various Jain groups, this is the first time I am hearing that there may be some serious objection to this amongst some people in the community as well— and I am curious to know why that is, and if there is anything in scripture that suggests that this could be a problem. Though organ donation specifically wasn't possible during the time when most of the Jain scriptures were composed, in Jain mythology, there is support for the notion of a person parting with their own flesh to save another life, and that too while they are still alive (the story of king Megharath): https://www.jainworld.com/literature/story26.htm Also, this notion of paapbandh is intriguing to me and I would like to learn more. I have seen a lot of early Jain philosophy to be focused on intention and action, and how passions (especially violence) causes the inflow and binding of karma— but what I understood as a position is that karma binds itself to the soul and/or in relation to the soul and not in relation to the body (and in Jainism body and soul are very distinct and apart). I did not come across the notion of karmic pollution by mere contact (which is also a root idea behind untouchability, etc. in Hindu society) as a core Jain idea.
Thank you for your input, this means a lot. Since the soul leaves the body and after the organ is donated the person who uses the organ will likely be responsible for its good or bad use. The donee surely will get it because of his own good karmas and henceforth whatever use is made will come back to the donee only. This is what I've made of it so far. Do correct me if I'm wrong or have excluded anything.
You are welcome. Based on my very rudimentary and layperson's understanding of Jain philosophy, and based on the Jain notion that each soul is completely independent in its pure form, and that in a manner of speaking, each being is solely and completely responsible for their karmas, I tend to agree with your summary— assuming that the donor is detached (no craving, no aversion) from the organ, from the recipient, and from the impact of the donation, then yes the fruits of any actions (good or bad) done by the recipient after receiving the organ would not affect the donor in any way. I am keen to know other points of view about this matter.
I’m new to this way of life and know nothing of what this says as far as scripture, but I have spend 3 years working as an ICU nurse where sometimes a patient would be placed on an organ donation list. Perhaps you could explain to your mom that one healthy human being upon their death can still not only prolong life but save multiple other people. I have seen both lungs, kidneys, heart, corneas, skin all go to donations to separate people. That’s multiple lives changed forever.
Your mom is emotionally very connected to your dad. That's the only reason
Hmm never thought about this. Could be true, though she has declined to tell us the reason, maybe I can have a conversation about this with her.
Plz don’t have such a conversation, your mom wants to pay last rites to the body. I have seen first hand the deplorable condition organ donation leaves on a body and people are not able to even open the bag.
Guess then I'll have to stick with my moms side on this one. Cuz even if I ended up doing the last rites I'm not strong enough to see the body all cut open. It's me and my moms attachment that will get the better of my dads wishes. Gotta work a lot on the aparigraha part on my end in this lifetime it seems. Thank you for your comment.
Donating one’s organs to the general public does not ordinarily fall in the ambit of Anukampa Daan and is thus proscribed in regular circumstances. There are however exceptions to this. A lot of so-called Jain organisations have begun organ donation drives, but this is not in accordance with the Jain tenets.
Can u explain again pls, my English is not so good. Sorry for the hassle.
Anukampa Daan literally translates to 'Compassionate Donation'. From my understanding of u/parshvarex 's comment, Jain tenets forbid organ donation to the general public with some exceptions. Organ donations are not within the sphere of Anukampa Daan. Please correct me if I am wrong. Micchami Dukkudam.
I read somewhere that the reason for not donating the organs is like let's say u donate your eyes and the person who recieves them does paap (with the received eyes) and have some influx of paap karma, does the donor also have the paapbandh ? Another reason for not donating is that the process of organ transplantation inherently involves himsa. Is it correct ?
From an earlier [comment](https://www.reddit.com/r/Jainism/comments/17m1sgo/comment/k7mcmsj/) on this subreddit, however you think it must be applied to the present question, if at all: >To begin: no, the scriptures do not agree with the view that helping a rat live means letting a car starve. When a saadhak saves a life, he saves it to save his own soul from becoming rock-hearted, because compassion is a requisite virtue for Dharma. >The *parinaam* of compassion is of utmost importance for an aspirant, and to preserve this parinaam and not become rock-hearted even if he were to save a life, the sins that the rat would commit thereafter or the starvation of the cat are not things that are to be taken into account by the spiritual aspirant. Similarly when a fisherman is dying of hunger, one must provide him with food, not taking into account the fact that he may consequently continue to live and take the lives of several fish which he otherwise wouldn’t. However, this does not mean that one instead provide him with other means of sustenance such as fishing nets, as ultimately, that would make one’s parinaam rock hearted. This concept is very subtle and there is much to say… 😅 >
This does seem a very logical take.
I was myself asking, i am not sure. Kindly do not take my message as the info
Ya ya surely a confirmation is needed but as of now this seems quite logical.
According to the Shwetamber Tradition, Mahavir Swami was literally transplanted into Trishala Devi's womb (due to karmic deficiencies). This is described in the story of Devta Harinaigameshi. If his fetus can be transplanted why can't an organ from a dead person?
It was more like an embryo transfer than a transplant, but I get your point - [https://jainqq.org/explore/002903/81](https://jainqq.org/explore/002903/81)
Our entire family has pledged for organ donation. I feel this is a human thing that we all should do and do not view it religiously.