"Sallekhana" () means to properly 'thin out', 'scour out', or 'slender' the passions and the body through gradually abstaining from food and drink. "Sallekhana" is divided into two components: "Kashaya Sallekhana" (slendering of passions) or "Abhayantra Sallekhana" (internal slendering) and "Kaya Sallekhana" (slendering the body) or "Bahya Sallekhana" (external slendering). It is described as "facing death voluntarily through fasting". According to Jain texts, "Sallekhana" leads to "Ahimsa" (non-violence or non-injury), as a person observing "Sallekhana" subjugates the passions, which are the root cause of "Himsa" (injury or violence).