Deathbed Rites

General term for the rites done for a
dying person. These rites have a twofold
purpose: to purify the person’s body,
and, more importantly, to calm the
mind. The first is generally done by
applying holy substances, such as
Ganges water or a Tulsi leaf. In some
cases, the dying person will also hold the
tail of a cow, since according to popular
mythology this will enable the person to
cross the Vaitarani River, the river leading to the afterlife. The emphasis on
calming the dying person’s mind comes
from the belief that one’s dying thoughts
have enormous karmic ramifications for
future lives. Ideally, the dying person
should be calm and composed, since
any sort of fear or agitation is believed to
have negative consequences. One
method to help promote such calmness
is to read passages from religious texts,
whether to remind the hearer of the
body’s impermanence, or to have the
last thing one hears be the name of God.
At the moment of death the dying person is often placed on the earth—perhaps so that the earth can absorb the
impurity (ashaucha) of the corpse, or
perhaps as a symbol that whatever a
person’s status in life, all human beings
eventually share the same fate. After
death the rites associated with cremation begin, which are the next set of rites
in the series known as the antyeshthi
samskara (“last rites”).