30. Sallekhana as samadhimaran in the Indus culture
Some decipherers interpreted the sign of samadhimaran 
as symbol of the bed of arrows of Bhishma in the Hindu Mahabharata. But it is not always shown with the backside streaks. It denotes the lying posture of a Jain monk and mostly the posture also of samadhimaran with sallekhana, known only among the Jain ascetics under their code of monkhood, as earlier discussed in # 14. Samadhimaran in Jainism is also known as veer maran [dying as a hero], fighting and facing one’s karma effects, peacefully, forgiving all creature and asking forgiveness from all. Veer maran in the Bhagavad Gita however is usually regarded as death in war. Many Indus decipherers have read symbol of samadhimaran 
. M.S. Mishra, using the Maheshwar Sutra reads it as ‘sa’; S.R. Rao as ‘phag,’ while Iravatham Mahadevan reads it as marakku. A sign with pichhi in the lap of the figure confirms its identity as the sign of samadhimaran 
of the Jain ascetic.
This seal with an elephant as field animal is shown with self control 
of a house holder 
during the period of the second Tirthankara, Ajitnath, underwent sallekhana as a renunciate shraman caring his peacock broom near his lap, or the great vows (mahavratas). These seals read from right to left and the text below shows that through sallekhana one avails the pancham gati of salvation. No other culture in the world carries this approach as is found in the Jain culture with its logical metaphysics. Those who know the imbalance of this vital theme will positively consider that Indus folk received this belief only from the Jina ascetic culture, prevailing in the Bharatvarsh (larger India) of those days. Below, a sign of the pancham gati of salvation is shown attached to the symbol of sallekhana in the triple peak.
area – the holy place of Shikarji in present day Jharkhand where many householders and renunciates go to observe ratnatraya and sallekhana. The sign thus justifies interpretation as samadhimaran and not as Bhishma. One also sees a big pichhi or peacock feather brush placed on the triple peaks of Shikarji.
Since ancient days Indians have symbolic expressions for preaching to oneself when alone. Mostly they maintained silence according to their vow of vacan gupti (silencing speech), where symbols conveyed the message irrespective of the language they spoke.
The jina ascetics had “pictographic signs” as theme symbols, while Brahmins adopted “personified symbols” for the sun, the moon, wind, rivers, mountains, fire, trees, of which the meaning could be understood. They also had many important personalities such as the elephant-headed Ganesha, Rama, Sita, Hanuman, Karna, the Pandawas, Bhishma etc., born from such personified fathers. Both Jains and Hindus were worshipers of the linga. Adinath, the first jina and Adi Shiva were both worshiped as a lingam by the Bharatiyans, the Indus people. Outwardly, both seemed to have had regard for the ascetics, but their approaches are along different paths; one of complete renunciation, the other with Shiva and his wife Parwati as a couple, hence their ascetics were totally different. Both chose austerity, but Shiva had a family: their sons were Ganesh and Kartikeya facing the world with all charms and pleasures. The first took this path to search the truth, and to achieve this with self-reservation and introvert meditation in observance of ratnatraya, trigupti and with celibacy. This path is known as veetaragism while the other took the path of worldly involvement with its charms, known as the path of progeny or nirmana, presented by means of worshiping the linga of shiva. As two sister cultures, both flourished in Bharatavarsha (larger India) of that time. Both impressed the masses and both had huge numbers of followers. Thus shramanism with their classless shrawakas (householders) and Brahmanism with its classed society cropped up in Bharatavarsha [India], which was a vast land area which included the regions of several modern countries. This was what we find as the area of the Indus heritage. From the moment of starting asceticism the shramans begin sallekhana and the same is conveyed in the seals shown above. That does not mean that all Indus people were ascetics. They were a very advanced community with record keeping, writing, they had a fully developed mathematics for their astrology, house building, trade over land and overseas, and they had the wheel for yarn and weaving, and highly evolved pottery with all kinds of designs, baked bricks of various sizes and shapes, ovens and furnaces for metal extraction, jewelry, toys, hair dressings, hair pins, combs, granaries, dairies, agriculture, open-air stadiums, water reservoirs, an excellent drainage system, wells, docks, yachts. They had the skills to build constructions, art of different types and purposes etc., things which only advanced communities can have developed. The seals and their symbolic script with their beauty and perfection of field animals display their high grade hand art and richness of tatste and skill, as already mentioned earlier.
Dresses and decorations of Indus householders
In addition to what explorers found through excavations so far inscribed as designs on small seal tablets, is surprisingly seen in bigger sizes on lava and granite rock beds, thus suggesting that those seals were souvenirs of what was to be found on mountain rock beds – something very special and auspicious. Identical signs were found on (so far) 26 Jina images, either on their legs, arms, eyebrows or on the support below their legs. In this way it was confirmed that the Indus sign and symbol heritage reflected a religious message for those who opted for the path of spirituality.
Next issue: 31. Indus has hundred percent connection with Jain shramanism