07 Eschatology

CHAPTER VII

ESCHATOLOGY

What happens after death to a human being (which is the subject matter of Eschatology) has been a great mystery that has intrigued and baffled mankind in all ages and was a question of vital importance among almost all ancient peoples such as the Indians, Egyptians, Chaldeans, Greeks and Persians. The word Eschatology is derived from a Greek term meaning ’last things and is applied to the study of opinions that men have held from time to time concerning the future, including such matters as the state of man after life on this earth and the end of the world. It exercises a great fascination over most people and speculation on it can be carried on endlessly. Every religion has its own eschatology. There are two aspects of Eschatology; one is concerned with the destiny of the individual after death, immortality of the soul, sin and punishment, the meaning and content of ‘Heaven’ and ‘Hell’; the other aspect of eschatology has relation to the whole universe, its creation, destination and renovation, and the ultimate end of all things. The first aspect and matters relevant to it from the ancient Indian point of view will be dealt with in this section and the second aspect of Eschatology is reserved for treatment in a later section. In ancient works far more emphasis was laid on the first than on the second, while modern men with a more or less scientific outlook and attitude are inclined to think more of the second aspect.

Death has been generally looked upon with feelings of awe and terror, though there were men (often philosophically minded) who looked upon it as a blessing and as a release of the spirit from the shackles imposed upon the latter by the body. The terror of death was in many cases due not so much to the pain caused at the time of death but rather to the mystery that surrounds what happens after death and to the thoughts about what the survivors would have to undergo. It is said by O E. Vulliamy in his work ‘Immortal man’ (p. 2): ‘although the idea of that life (ghostly life) ranges from the most dismal and horrible fantasies to the most sublime imaginations, the fundamental thought is always the same, the body dies but not the spirit’. There were several attitudes adopted by primitive as well as civilized people towards death. In the Kathŏpaniṣad we read (I. 1.20 ) When a man dies there is a doubt, some saying that there is survival after the death of the body and some denying any survival’ and Naciketas requests the dreaded God Yama to solve this doubt. There are several beliefs¹ even among those who hold that there is survival after death. Some say that there is a world of the dead to which whatever survives goes after death. Others believe that the surviving part goes to Heaven or Hell according as the man has been virtuous or sinful in his life on earth. Others believe in transmigration and re-incarnation, Several of the great writers in ancient Greece believed in this last doctrine, as pindar (in second Olympian Ode), Plato (in Phaedrus and Timaeus) and Herodotus (II. 123) indicate.

The Brahmapurāṇa (chap. 214 verses 34–39) sets out the Persons to whom death is happy and easy and not a source of misery and sorrow. A few may be mentioned here.-‘He who did not tell lies, he who did not prove false to affection or friendship, who is an āstıka (a believer in God and the life to come), who is devoted to the worship of gods and the honouring of brāhmaṇas, ha who does not bear malice to anyone-these have a happy death,’ Similarly, the Anusāsanaparva of the Mahābhārata (chap. 104. 11-12, chap. 144 49-60) states at length the causes of premature death and of long life. Some of them may be translated here. Those who are atheists, do not perform the acts (or sacrifices) proper for them, violate the (dictates of) elders and of sāstras, who do not know what dharma is and are evil-doers are short-lived. Those who have no character, who always break all rules of conduct, who have promiscuous sexual intercourse become short-lived and go to Hell. One who is not irritable by temper, speaks the truth, does not cause injury to beings, who bears no malice to any one and who is not crooked—those live for a hundred years’ (104. 11-12 and 14).

Signs of approaching death

Several works specify the signs indicative of the approach of death. The Śantiparva of the Mahābhārata (chap. 318. 9-17), Devala quoted in the Moksakānda of the Kalpataru (pp. 248-250, about 20 verges), the Vāyupurāṇa (chap. 19 verses 1~32), the Mārkandeyapurāṇa 43. 1-33 (chap. 40 verses 1-33, Venkatesvara Press ed.), Lingapurāṇa (pūrvārdha chap. 91) and other Purāṇas contain long lists of the signs of approaching death. It is impossible for want of space to set out in detail these signs. But the gist of a few verses is mentioned by way of sample. The Sāntiparva (chap 318) states that a man who is not able to see the star of Arundhatī which he could formerly see, nor the pole-star nor the full moon, nor his own reflection in another man’s eye has only one year to live; he has only a span of six months of life left to him who sees the orb of the moon with a hole in it; a man has only seven days left of life who sees a hole pierced in the orb of the Sun, who smells the odour of a corpse when fragrant substances are near; when the nose and ears bend down, when his teeth and eyes become discoloured, when there is loss of consciousness, and loss of bodily heat, when smoke emerges from the crown of the head, when the left eye begins to ooze moisture all of a sudden these are indications of the immediate approach of death. Devala states indications that prognosticate life for only one year, 11, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2 months, one month, half a month, 12 days, 4 days, 3 days, 2 days and winds up by saying that one who cannot hear the humming sound in his ear (when closed with fingers) or cannot see the light in the eye is going to die immediately. The Vāyupuraṇa (19.28) and Lingapurāṇa 91.30 regard the last two as the worst indications of approaching death². The Lingapurāṇa (pūrvabhāga chap. 91.24) states that he who cannot see his own reflection in another’s eye will not live. There is an interesting paper by Dr R.G. Harshe in the Munshi Diamond Jubilee volume (pp. 246-268) where the learned writer gives the text of two mss. on the prognostications derived from dreams e.g. if a man sees an ass in a dream he is sure to die, or if he sees an old maid then it is an indication of danger, disease and death (p. 251) or if he sees a trident death is indicated (p. 254).

When a man is sinking and is almost on the point of death it was and even now is the practice in many parts of India to take the dying man down from the bedstead and place him on & bed spread on the earth³. For example, the Kauśika-sūtra (803) prescribes⁴ : When the man is losing all strength, he (the son or other attending relative) spreads kuśas on the grass growing in the shed and takes him down (from the bed-stead) with the mantra ‘syonāsmai bhava’ (mayst thou be good to this man, Oh Earth). The Baud P S III 1 18 says that sand should be spread on the ground in the sacrificial shed when it is feared that the sacrificer is dying and darbha grass should be strewn on the sand with the sharp ends turned to the south and the dying man should be placed thereon and one (son or the like) should repeat in his right ear the anuvāka beginning with ‘āyusah prānam santanu’. The Gobhilasmṛti III. 22 and later works lika the pitṛdayitā provide the same procedure.

Medieval digests like the Śuddhiprakāśa (pp 151–152) state that when a person is moribund, has half closed his eyes and is taken down on the ground (from a bed-stead), his son or other relative should make him give one or more of ten gifts viz of cows, ⁵ land, sesame, gold, clarified butter, clothes, grain, jaggery, silver, salt. These gifts are superior even to a śrāddha performed at Gayā or to even hundreds of Aśvamedhas.

Gifts when death approaches

The saṅkalpa (verbal declaration of the gift) is made in the words ‘I shall make ten gifts for the attainment of heaven (abhyudaya), or for the removal of all sins’. After the ten dānas, a cow with & calf should be donated if possible⁶ (this cow being called utkrānti-dhenu “a cow donated in view of death’) and then another cow called Vaitaranī with gold (or two pieces of cloth &c) should be donated. The Antyestipaddhati and the Śuddhiprakāśa (pp. 152-153) set out all the mantras (not vedic) that are to be recited at the time of making the several gifts, which (mantras) are passed over here for want of space. The Antyestipaddhati, the Antyakarmadīpaka and other works prescribe that when a person is near death, his son or other relative should make him perform Vratodyāpana, sarvaprāyaścitta and the gift of ten dānas or if the dying man is unable to do these himself, the son or the other relative should perform these and give the merit thereof to the dying man. A person often resolves upon observing certain vratas, but fails to carry out all the details of those vratas to the end. The Vratodyāpana for the dying man is meant to cure all such unfinished vratas, The A.K.D. (pp. 3-4) has a long note about the performance of vratodyāpana. Briefly it comes to this. The son or other relative having brought about the purity of the dying man’s body by a bath or by sprinkling it with holy water (mārjana) or by making him drink Ganges water, having himself taken a bath and performed his daily duties (of sandhyā). having lighted a lamp, having bowed to Ganeśa and prayed to god Visṇu, having placed before him the materials of worship and having repeated the usual saṅkalpa ( see note ⁷), he should honour a brāhmaṇa already invited and should give to him the gold (or silver ) set apart for the purpose and the brāhmaṇa should pronounce the words “May all vratas be fulfilled! May there be the attainment of the fruits of udyāpana (accomplishment of vrata )”. In the sarvaprāyascitta the son approaches 4 or 3 learned men or one man knowing adhyātma (metaphysics) and offers the substitutes (of gold &c.) for sins that involve penances for 6,3 or 1 1/2 years or makes a declaration and performs the prāyaścitta, after the days of impurity.

The sarvaprāyaścitta was to be performed by the dying man or by his son or other relative who was to shave himself, take a bath, drink pañcagavya, honour a brāhmaṇa with sandal paste and other things, after having honoured the cow or the money to be paid in lieu of it, and after referring to the several kinds of sins that one may be guilty of (vide note⁸) he is to make a gift of a cow (with a calf) to the brāhmaṇa or in lieu of it, of some money. After sarvaprāyaścitta come the ten dānas stated above. In the danas the Kāmastuti⁹ as studied by the followers of each veda was to be recited. The Garuḍapurāṇa (II. 4.7-9) further prescribes other dānas called mahā-dānas viẓ, of sesame, iron, gold, cotton, salt, seven kinds of corn, land and cows when a man is dying and also other gifts called padadānas such as of umbrella, sandals, ring, water-jar, seat, food.

Thoughts of a dying man

The Garuḍapurāṇa (II 4 37) further provides that if a man about to die takes sannyāsa according to the rules laid down for what is called āturasannyāsa he never returns to the cycle of births and deaths,

From ancient times it was a firmly held belief that the thoughts that a dying man entertains at the time of death determine what will happen to his spirit after physical death (this is expressed in the well-known words ‘ante matih sā gatih’), that therefore a man should, when death approaches, give up all thoughts of mundane affairs and all earthly attachments, should think of his favourite deity. (Hari or Śiva), should inaudibly recite such mantras as “om namo Vāsudevāya’. Several texts insist on making the dying man listen to holy Vedic texts. The Gautamapitṛ-medhasūtra (1.1-8) prescribes that one should at the time when one’s father, mother, brother, teacher or a brāhmaṇa friend is on his death-bed make the dying man hear the first and last verses of the Veda and certain sāmans and should mutter in the dying man’s right ear (one sāman) The Ṛgvidhāna provides that one should repeat at the time of death the sūkta beginning with ’trātāram’ ¹⁰

The Hir. P. S. I. 1 provides that when it is thought that the āhitāgnı is going to die, he (the son or the like) should mutter in the dying man’s ear (if he is a knower of Brahma) the two anuvākas of the Tai. Up. II. 1 (beginning with ‘brahmavidāpnoti param’) and III. 1 (beginning with ‘Bhrgurvai vāruṇiḥ’). The A. K. D. (P 18) says ¹¹ that if the dying man is unable to engage in japa he should revolve in his mind the benign form of Visṇu or Śiva and should listen to the thousand names (of Visṇu or Śiva), the Bhagavadgitā, the Bhāgavata, Bhārata, Rāmāyaṇa, the Upanisads like Īśāvāsya and hymns to Soma.

History of Dharmaśāstra

The germs of this idea are found even in the Upaniśads, The Chāndogya Up. (in the famous Śāndilya-vidyā, III, 14, 1) remarks ‘All this is Brahman. A man should meditate on that (all this) as beginning, ending and subsisting in it (brāhmaṇn). Now man is a creature of his will. According to whatever is his will (or thought) in this world, so will he become after departing from this world.’² The Praśna Up. II, 10 contains a similar idea. It is here asserted that it is thought power or the will that raises the soul higher and higher, and that the human mind should try to realize the idea that behind all physical transformations the Universe is one and is informed by one all-pervading Essence. Similarly, the Bhagavadgitā puts this idea in a much more clear way. The man, who remembering me alone in his last moments, departs from this life, comes to me, there is no doubt about this’ ( 8,5). But in order to guard against the possible inference that it is only the thoughts at the approach of death that matter whatever the past life led by a dying man may have been, the next verse emphasizes that a man’s spirit is engrossed by the thoughts that he has entertained throughout life and that a man can think of spiritual matters or about God at the time of death only if he has been thinking about such matters or about God throughout his life. That verse (8.6) is ‘whichever form (or thing) a man remembers when he leaves the body at death, to that alone he goes, having been always (throughout his life) engrossed in meditating over it”

Some of the digests, on the authority of several Puraṇas, prescribe that the dying man should be taken, if possible, near a holy place (tirtha) such as the Ganges. For example, the Śuddhitattva¹² (p 299) quotes a passage from the Kūrmapurāṇā to this effect ‘a man attains mokśa (final release from samsāra) by dying in the waters of the Ganges, on land or in water at Vārānasi (Benares) and at the confluence of the Ganges with the sea either on land, in water or in the air.’

Death near a holy place

Another passage to the same effect is quoted from the ‘Skanda-purāṇa and it is further said in the same Purāṇa that for one gavyūti from the banks of the Ganges is a kṣetra (holy place): ‘gifts, japa (muttering of sacred texts), homa performed within this extent is equal to doing the same on the Ganges itself, those who die within this kṣetra go to heaven and are not born again. In the Pujāratnākara¹³ it is said: ‘Hari is present wherever there is the Śālagrāma stone; one dying near ā Śālagrāma stone reaches the highest abode of Viṣṇu’. It was said that a person (even a non-Aryan) dying within one krosa of a Śalagrāma reaches Vaikuntha (world of Viṣṇu) Similarly, one dying in a garden of tulasi (Basil) plants or with Tulasi leaf placed in his mouth at the time of death attains mokṣa even if guilty of crores of sins. These are popular notions held even up to this day among common people, not thoroughly affected by modern ideas.

There are also dicta about the time when it is best to die. The Śantiparva of the Mahābhārata states ‘he who dies after the sun has gone to the northern direction (i.e, when the apparent motion of the sun towards the north begins ) and on any auspicious nakśatra and muhūrta is really one who has a store of merit (with him )’¹⁴. This is based on the ideas of death in Uttarāyana and Dakṣiṇāyana found in the Upaniṣads. For example, the Chāndogya Up. (IV. 15. 5-6 ) states “Now ( if one who knows this dies) whether people perform obsequies for him or not he goes to light (arcis ), from light to day, from day to the bright half of the moon, from thence to the six months during which the sun goes to the north, from the months to the year, from the year to the sun, from the sun to the moon, from the moon to lightning.

There is a person who is not human that leads them to brāhmaṇ. This is the path of the Devas, the path that leads to brāhmaṇ. Those who proceed on that path do not return to the life of man, yes, they do not return’. There is a similar passage in Chāndogya Up. V. 10.1-2 where it is said that even householders who know the doctrine of the five fires (Pañcāgni-vidyā) and those who in the forest follow the path of faith and austerities (i,e. vānaprasthas and parivrājakas wbo do not yet know Highest brāhmaṇṇ) go by the path called Devayāna, while (V, 10. 3—7) those, who, living in a village, practise , sacrifices, works of public utility and alms, go to smoke, from smoke to night, from night to the dark half of the inoon, from thence to the six months when the sun goes to the south, from thence to the worlds of the fathers, from thence to ether (ākāśa) and to the moon, where they consume their works and return again the way they came. The Chān Up. (V, 10. 8) refers to a third place where small creatures (like flies, worms &c.) are continually going and returning. The Br. Up. (VL 2. 15-16 ) contains similar passages about Devaloka, pitṛloka and the third world of worms, birds and creeping beings. The Bhagavadgitā, basing itself on these Upaniṣad passages, puts the matter succinctly (in 8 23-25) as follows:-‘I shall state the times at which devotees departing from this world go, never to return or to return. The fire, the flame, the day, the bright fortnight, the six months of the northern (apparent) motion of the sun; departing from the world in these those who know the brāhmaṇ go to brāhmaṇ. Smoke, night, the dark fortnight, the six months of the southern (apparent) motion of the sun; dying in these the devotee goes to the lunar light and returns. These two paths, bright and dark, are deemed to be eternal in this world. By the one a man goes never to return, by the other he comes back’. The Vedāntasūtra (IV, 3 4-6) explains that the words ’light’ ‘day’ and others are not to be taken in their literal sense (i,e. as signposts or stages on the paths) but they are to be understood as referring to superintending deities that help the spirits and lead them on the path to the worlds of the Devās or of Pitṛs (i e. they are ātivāhikas and abhımānidevatās). Śhaṅkara on Vedāntasūtra IV. 2. 20 (ataścāyanepi daksine) explains that the waiting for the -day of Uttarāyaṇa on the part of Bhiṣma (narrated in the Mahābhārata) is only meant as a eulogy of the path called,‘arcirādi’, that one who has realized brāhma, even if he dies in dakṣiṇāyana, does secure the fruits of his knowledge (viz.reaching Brahma), that Bhiṣma waited for the beginning of uttarāyaṇa to abide by popular ideas and practices and to show that he possessed the power to depart from the world at his wil owing to the boon conferred on him by his father.

Death in Uttarāyana

The Yajñavalkya-smṛti refers to the path (devayāna) ¹⁵ that leads to Devaloka (in III. 193-194, where it reads ‘mānasah’ for ‘amānavah’ of the Ch. Up.) and the Pitṛyāṇa (in III, 195-196). In spite of the interpretations of the Vedāntasūtra (and of Śaṅkara) the popular belief that death in Uttarāyaṇa is best persisted and still persists. For example, the Baud, P.S.(II.7, 21 ) remarks ‘(the sages) provide that death during the northern path of the sun, in the bright half of a month, during the day and at the end of a Śrauta sacrifice is best¹⁶’ The G. P. S. (II. 7.1-2) remarks: ‘It is desirable to avoid dying in the dark half of a month or at night and the following sūtras provide for the offering of certain oblations if the death occurs in the dark half or at night.

FUNERAL RITES (antyeṣṭi) are a saṁskāra. Antyeṣṭi is one of the 16 (or more) saṁskāras of a twice-born person performed with Vedic mantras according to Manu II. 16, Yāj. I 10, Jātūkarnya¹⁷. These saṁskāras were formerly performed for women also (Āśv gr I 15.12, L 16 6, 1. 17-11, Manu II. 66) but without Vedic mantras (except in marriage) and for śūdras also (Manu X, 127, Yāj I. 10) but without Vedic mantras. The Baud. P.S. III, 1.4 states that there are two saṁskāras of every human being and they are like a debt i.e. they must be performed, just as a debt must be discharged viz the saṁskāra on birth and the one on death (mr̥tasaṁskāra). Funeral rites and rites after death varied according as the deceased was an āhitāgni (one who had consecrated the śrauta fires) or one who had only kindled the smārta fire, or one who had neither the śrauta fires nor the smārta fire, or a woman, a child, an ascetic (parıvrājaka), or one dying in a distant land or one dying by accident or committing suicide &c. The śrauta and grḥyasūtras differ among themselves in many details even on the same topic and the procedure becomes more elaborate in medieval and later times. It would be impossible to state all the differences on each topic in this section. A separate volume would have to be written for the purpose of setting out all the variations and. additions from ancient times to modern times, to discuss why and how they arose or were made, to compare the various sūtras and to compare these again with the puraṇas and medieval digests, and to appraise their worth or usefulness. All that can be attempted here is to give the bare outlines of the procedure in different sūtras, smṛtis and digests by way of sample in a chronological order. The Nirṇayasindhu (p. 569 ) expressly says that the last rites differ in each Sākhā, though certain things are common to all ¹⁸. Chronological conclusions have been drawn about the relative ages of the sūtras ( as Dr. Caland does), of the smṛtis, purāṇas and nibandhas from the presence or absence of this or that detail or the elaboration of this or that ritual. But with ‘all respect to the industrious scholars of the West such conclusions are often tentative or misleading and are purely subjective in many cases and are often due to ignorance or loss of ancient works.

Ṛgveda X 14-18

Before setting out the rites of cremation contained in the Śrauta sūtras, Grḥya sūtras and later works, it would be best to give here a translation of the five hymns from the Ṛg. (X. 14-18)¹⁹. The verses in these hymns are employed by most of the sūtras and are used even now in the cremation rites and most of them about in the other Vedic Samhitās. Varying interpretations have been given of some of these stanzas by Indian and Western commentators and critics. Only a few of these have been mentioned in the notes. Besides some stanzas are employed for different details of the cremation rites by the different sūtras. All such differences cannot be set out for want of space. The five hymns are so placed that they follow the order of the stages in which the funeral ritual proceeded in fact and is performed even now to a great extent. Vide Appendix for the text of the Ṛgveda hymns without accents²⁰.

Ṛgveda X. 14.

X. 14.1 (O! sacrificer!) worship with an offering Yama, king (of pitṛs), son of Vivasvat, the gatherer of men ( that are dead ), who sought out the way for many (men who do meritorious acts) and who passed along great (non-terrestrial) heights²¹. 2. Yama was the first to know (find out) the path for us men; that is a pasture (abode ) that cannot be taken away (by anybody), that is (an abode) where our ancient ancestors went, each knowing his own way thereto²². 3. Mātali (Indra’s charioteer or Indra himself) with the (pitṛs ) called kavya, Yama with the Angirases and Brhaspati with the Ṛkvans become prosperous (or increase in strength); whom (the pitṛs) the gods support and who support the gods; some of them (the gods, Indra and others) are delighted by svāhā (by offerings given after uttering that word) and others (pitṛs) are delighted by svadhā²³. 4. O! Yama! Being of one mind with the pitṛs çalled Angirases come to this (sacrifice) and sit down on the seat (of kuśas). May the mantras recited by the wise (priests) bring you (here). May you (O king) delight yourself with this offering! 5. O Yama! (come with the adorable) Angirases and Vairūpas and delight (or exhilarate) yourself. I invoke Vivasyat, your father; (May he delight himself) after sitting on the kuśa grass (spread) in this sacrifice²⁴. 6. The Angirases, the Navagvas,²⁵ the Atharvans, the Bhṛgus are our pitṛs and love soma (drink). May we secure the good will of those adorable ones! May we be in their gracious favour also! 7. Hasten, hasten²⁶ by the ancient paths (to that place) where our forefathers that went before us passed. May you (the departed) see the two kings Yama and god varuṇa rejoicing as they will. 8. (O departed one!) be united in the highest heaven with the pitṛs, with Yama and with your istāpūrta; leaving here blamable acts (sins), come back to your home! Being endowed with bright lustre, be united with a (new)²⁷ body! 9. (Ye evil spirits! ) Gọ away, depart, move aside from this place ( the cemetery), the pitṛs made (or assigned) for him (the departed person ) this abode Yama gives to him (this) resting place characterized by waters, days and nights. 10. (O departed !) proceeding by a good path, hurry on past the two dappled dogs (of Yama), offspring of Saramā, each having four eyes. Thus approach the pitṛs who will recognize²⁸ you and who enjoy delight in the company of Yama. 11. O king Yama! Give him (the departed one) in charge of those two dogs of yours, who are guards, having four eyes each, who guard the path (to pitṛ-loka) and who watch men. May you bestow on him happiness and health!. 12. The two messengers of Yama, that have wide nostrils, that are very strong, that are satisfied with difficulty, move among the people. May those two (messengers) restore to us to-day auspicious life in order that we may see the Sun!²⁹. 13. Extract Soma juice for Yama (O priests !), offer oblation to Yama.³⁰ Sacrifice, in which Agni is messenger (carrier) to the gods and which is well prepared reaches Yama. 14. (O priests) offer oblation sprinkled with ghee to Yama and then start. May he keep us (tied) to the worship of gods,³¹ so that we may live a long life! 15. Offer to king Yama an oblation which is extremely sweet. Here is salutation to the sages who were born before us and who made the path for us. 16. The one great (Bṛhat-sāman) passes in three sacrifices (called Jyotir-gaur-āyuh) to the six wide expanses³². Tristubh, Gāyatrī and the metres are all centered in Yama.

Ṛgveda X. 15.

X. 15. 1. May the Soma–loving ³³ pitṛs, whether of the lower, middling or higher grade, come forward, those pitṛ̥s that attained life (an eternal life or a life of spirit) being kind hearted and knowing rta (the rule of right)! May those pitr̥s protect us when invoked! 2. Today may this be our salutation to the pitr̥s who went (died) before (the birth of this departed one) or who went after (the birth of the departed ³⁴), also (those pitr̥s) that are seated in this world or those who have places among the powerful people. 3. I have known the pitr̥s as those who will recognize (me, their descendant) and I have known the stride of Viṣṇu and the child (viz. Agni), the pitṛs who sit on kuśa grass and partake of food and Soma offering at their will, repeatedly come here[^456]. 4. O pitṛs, that occupy kuśa grass! (come) down towards us with your protection, we have prepared for you these offerings; accept them. May you come with very blissful protection and then may grant us happiness that is free from trouble (or evil)! ³⁵ 5. May the Soma-loving pitṛs invited by us to the dear treasures (offerings) placed on the kuśa grass come! May they hear (our prayers) here! May they speak in favour of us and may they protect us! 6. O Fathers! May you all, bending your knee and sitting to the right side (of the offering ) commend our sacrifice; whatever fault we may commit in reference to you through our being (erring) men, do not injure us for the sake of that. 7, O Fathers! sitting in front of (in the lap of) brilliant (flames ) may you bestow wealth on ( me) the mortal sacrificer! May you give wealth to the sons (of the deceased mortal) and may you impart vigour (to them)! 8. May Yama desiring offerings and enjoying the company of our ancient and rich pitṛs, who came to (or valued) Soma drinks one after another, who were glorious and in whose company Yama (the king of pitṛs) found great delight. partake of (eat) the offerings (given by us) according to his liking³⁶. 9. O Agni! come down towards us with the pitṛs that were thirsting and gaping (to reach the world of the gods), that know about sacrifice and that were authors of stomas by means of prayers (that they offered), that know us well, that are unfailing (in responding to our call), that partake of the kavya offering and that sit round the heated milk. 10. O Agni! come with the pitṛs earlier and later (in time) that are unfailing, that partake of the offerings (presented to them), that drink the offerings, that are seated in the same chariot with Indra and the gods, that make obeisances to the gods in their thousands, that sit round the hot milk. 11. O pitṛs called Agnisvātta ³⁷, that are good guides! Come (to this rite) and sit down each on his proper seat. Eat (partake of) the pure offerings (offered) on the sacred kuśa grass and then bestow wealth (or prosperity) together with all heroic sons. 12. O Agni Jātavedas! when praised (by us) you, having made the oblations savoury, have carried them and presented (them to the pitṛs). May they eat them as is their wont (or as they are offered with the word svadhā)| O God! May you eat (partake of) the pure offerings! 13. O Jātavedas! you know how many (pitṛs) are there, viz, those who are here (near us), those who are not here, those whom we know and those whom we do not know (because they are remote ancestors). Be gracious to accept as is your habit this sacrifice which is well prepared. 14. (O Agni) Resplendent (or self-ruling) along with those (pitṛs) who (whose bodies) were burnt by fire and also whose bodies were not burnt and who enjoy delight (on account of offerings made) with svadha (or as is their wont) in the midst of the heavens. May you arrange a body as (the deceased) desires that will inspire him to a (new) life (in heaven)!

Ṛgveda X. 16.

X. 16. 1. O Agni! Do not burn out this (departed person?), do not singe him all round, do not throw here and there ( parts of) of his skin or his body , O Jātavedas (fire)! when you burn him completely, may you send him ( the deceased) on to the pitṛs ! 2. O Jātavedas: When you thoroughly burn this (departed person), then may you hand him over to the pitṛs! When he (the dead person ) follows this (path) that leads on to a (new) life, may he become one that carries out the wishes of the gods³⁸! 3. May your eye (of the deceased) go to the Sun, your breath to the wind, may you go to Heaven and earth by your merit or you may go to the waters if you find pleasure there (or if that be your lot)! May you rest (stand) with all your limbs in the herbs! 4 O Jāta Vedas! May you burn by your heat the goat that is your share ! May your flame, may your bright light burn that goat, ³⁹ carry this (departed) to the world of those who do good deeds by means of your beneficent bodies (flames). 5. O Agni! discharge again towards the pitṛs (this deceased) who being offered on to you moves about (or wanders) as is his habit. O Jātévedas! may he take on (a new life and increase his offerings and be united with a new (ethereal) body. ⁴⁰ 6. (O dead man!) May Agni who consumes all make free from blemish that limb of yours which the dark bird (crow) has pierced or an ant or a snake or a wild beast struck at and may Soma that entered into the brāhmaṇas do the same⁴¹. 7. (O deceased) put on (yourself) with cows an armour (i.e. against fire flames ) of Agni (i.e. with the skin of the cow) and surround yourself with the thick fat (of the cow), so that (Agni) that overwhelms with his lustre, that takes delight (in destroying things), that is bold and seeks to burn completely may not scatter (all your parts). 8. O Agni! do not destroy this cup that is dear to the gods and the Soma-loving (pitṛs ). In this cup from which the gods drink, the immortal gods take delight⁴². 9. I send far away the fire that eats raw flesh; may Agni that carries evil (or sins) go (to regions) where Yama reigns! The other Agni (Jātavedas), knowing everything, may take even here the offering to the gods. 10. I, observing the other Agni (Jātavedas) for the purpose of offering a sacrifice to the pitṛs, leave aside the fire that devours raw flesh and that entered your house; may he (the other fire) urge on to the highest world the gharma (heated milk or sacrifice ⁴³). 11. May that fire which carries the havya⁴⁴ offerings offer them to the pitṛs that prosper according to rta! May he offer the oblations to the gods and pitṛs! 12. (O Agni!) we who love you have established you and have kindled you. May you loving (the pitṛs) bring here the pitṛs that love us in order that they may partake of the offering! 13. O Agni! May you extinguish (with water) that spot which you burnt (at the) time of cremation! May Kiyāmbu (plant) arise here and may dūrvā creeper spreading its tendrils grow here! 14. O Śītikā (cool plant), O herb full of cooling effect, O Hladikā (freshening herb) causing delight, may you be well associated with a she frog! May you gladden this fire!

Ṛgveda X. 17.

X. 17. The verses of this hymn, except 3-6, have hardly any bearing on funeral rites. Therefore only those four verses are translated here. The first two verses refer to the marriage of Vivasvat with the daughter of Tvastr and to the legend of the birth of Yama and Yami from Vivasvat. Both are explained at length in Nir. XI. 10-11. Verses⁴⁵ 7-9 which contain prayers to Sarasvati are almost the same as A. V. 18. 1. 41-43 and are employed by the Kauśika-sūtra (81,39) in the cremation rite along with A. V. 7.68 1-2 and 18 3,25.

3. May the all-knowing Pūsan, who does not allow cattle to perish and who protects the world, discharge ( despatch ) you from this ( world to the next)! May he (Pūsan) hand you over to these pitṛs and may Agni hand you over to the gods that know you well!
4. ·May Pūsan, who is the life of the Universe and who is himself life, protect you ! May he who is ahead of you guard you on the way (to heaven)! May god Savitṛ place you in that place where the doers of good deeds went and dwell.
5. Pūsan knows all these quarters in order ; may he take us by (a path ) most free from danger! He is the bestower of happiness, full of refulgence, he has all heroes with him; may he (Pūsan) the wise one go in front of us without committing a mistake!
6. Pūsan exists (stands) in the forefront of the paths (leading to the world of pitṛs ), of the paths leading to heaven and of the paths on the earth. He stands facing both the worlds that are very dear (to all) and he, the knowing one, travels towards and away from both.

Ṛgveda X. 18.

X. 18. 1. O Death! Move aside along another path that is your own and different from the Devayāna path. I address you who have eyes and ears. Do not injure our children, do not harm our heroic sons. 2. (O relatives )⁴⁶ that are sacrificers! Since you have come obliterating the foot-prints of Death and firmly establishing long life for yourselves, prospering with progeny and wealth, may you be pure and holy! 3. These living (relatives) have turned back separated from the dead; this day our invocation (sacrifice to ) of the gods became auspicious. We then went forward for dancing, for laughter (with our children) firmly establishing our long life. 4. I place (here) this barrier (stone) for the (protection of) the living (relatives, son and the like) so that none of them may go this goal that the departed went). May they live for a hundred prosperous autumns! May they keep off Death by means of the mountain⁴⁷ (the stone). 5. O Dhātṛ! Arrange the lives of these (the survivors) in the same way as the days come one after another in proper order, as the seasons follow each other in a proper order, as a younger one does not abandon an elder (relative)⁴⁸. 6. May you (the survivors) accepting old age attain (long) life, striving in order (of age) what ever your numbers may be ; may Tvaṣtr of noble birth and gracious give you here (in this world ) a long life to live!⁴⁹ 7. Let these women whose husbands are worthy and are living enter the house with ghee (applied) as collyrium (to their eyes). Let these wives first step into house, tearless, without any affliction⁵⁰ and well adorned. 8. O wife (of the dead)! Raise yourself up towards the world of the living (your sons and other relatives); you lie down near one (your husband) who is now lifeless; come! You have kept true to this your wifehood of the husband who held your hand (formerly in marriage) and who loved you passionately⁵¹. 9. (I) Take the bow from the hand of the departed (kṣatriya) in order that there may be in us martial vigour, brilliance and strength⁵². May thou (the departed) there and may we here be endowed with heroic sons and conquer here all competing and aggressive enemies ! 10. (O departed) approach this mother Earth which is spread wide and is pleasant. May this young one (the Earth) as soft as (wool) to you who have bestowed gifts save you from the lap of Death⁵³.
11. O Earth! heave yourself up, do not crush it, be of easy approach and of easy resort to him, and O Earth! cover him (the dead person represented by his bones) just as a mother would cover her son with the fringe (of her garment)⁵⁴. 12. Let the Earth heave itself up and remain firm. Let the pillars in their thousands stand up supporting this house. May these homes (the clods of earth) drop him nourishment! May they become here for all days the shelter⁵⁵ for him (the departed represented by bones)! 13. I prop up the earth around you for your sake. May I placing this lump of clay receive no harm. May the pitṛs support (make steady) this post!⁵⁶ May Yama provide here seats (or resting places) for you. 14. (The gods) have placed me in the day that will come back (tomorrow) like the feather of an arrow; (therefore) I restrain backwards (stop) my speech as a person restrains a horse with a bridle⁵⁷.

It should be noted that the word ‘pitṛ-yajña’ actually occurs in Ṛg. X. 16. 10. What does it mean? It has to be remembered that the hymns Ṛg. X. 15-18 refer to rites immediately on the death of a single person. They are not concerned with rites performed for deceased male ancestors long after their deaths. The anxiety (in X. 15-18) seems to be to make the ancient pitṛs (styled Barhisadaḥ and Agnisvāttāḥ in Ṛg. X. 15. 3-4, 11) favourably disposed to the recently departed spirit. Havis (sacrifical food such as boiled rice) was offered to the ancient pitṛs (Ṛg. X 15, 11) who were supposed to have partaken of the food offered (X. 15. 12). The purpose of these Ṛgvedic hymns is entirely different from the purpose of the mantras in Tai, S. I, 8.5 (which refer to the pitṛyajña performed in Sākamedha). As a matter of fact three of the mantras in Tai. S. I. 8.5 do occur in Ṛg. X. 57. 3.5 and are employed in the piṇḍa-pitṛyajña. There is hardly any reason to suppose that the pitṛyajña in Ṛg. X. 15. 10 is more ancient than the piṇḍapitṛyajña, It is quite possible that both referring as they do to different matters were coeval.

It would be interesting to see how the ceremonies on the death of an āhitāgni are described in the śrauta and grhya sūtras. The Aśv. Sr. S. VI. 10 describes what is to be done in case one that has undergone a dīkṣā (initiation) for a Soma sacrifice or a sattra dies before the sacrifice is finished. It states “When the diksita is dead, they take out the body by the tīrtha,⁵⁸ place it on the spot where it was intended that avabhṛtha (bath at the end of a soma or sattra sacrifice) was to be taken and deck the body with the decorations that ordinarily are placed on a dead body. They cut the hair (on the head) of the corpse, the hair on the lips, the hair on the body and also pare the nails. They apply paste of Nalada (Indian spikenard) to the corpse and throw on it a garland of naladas. Some (having cut open the entrails) take out the fecal matter from them and fill them with prsadājya ( when clarified butter is mixed with curds it is so called ). They cut off a portion as wide as the foot of the corpse from a new ( unworn ) garment and cover the dead body with it in such a way that the fringe is towards the west (the head being placed towards the east) and the feet of the corpse are exposed to view. The portion cut off from the piece of cloth is taken by the sons and the like. The deceased man’s śrauta fires are placed on the churning sticks.( the two avanis), the dead body is taken outside the vedi (fire altar) towards its south, fire is produced by attrition and then the body is burnt therewith. After returning from the cremation, they should finish the work of the day. On the next morning, the recitation of the śāstras, the singing of the stotras and the samstavas (reciting hymns in chorus) should be without repetition and the utturing of the him sound. On the same day before taking up the grahas (cups), the priests come out by the tirtha, go round the place of cremation with the right hand turned away (from the place ) and sit round it in the following manner viz. the hotr priest sits to the west ( of the place of cremation ), the adhvaryu to the north, and the sāma priests to the west of the adhvaryu (and the brahmā priest to the south). Then the Sāma priests sing in a low voice the verse beginning with “āyam gauh prśnirakramīt’ When the singing is finished the hotr walks round the place of cremation thrice with his left turned towards the place of cremation and without uttering the syllable ‘om’ recites immediately after the song of the sāma priests the stotriya in a low voice and also the following verses attributed to Yama and Yāmyāyanas (as seers or authors) viz. Ṛg x 14. 7-8, 10-11, X. 16. 1-6, x. 17. 3-6, X. 18. 10-13,X, 154.1-5. They should finish with Ṛg..X. 14.12, then collect the charred bones in a jar, take the jar by the way of the tīrtha and place it on the seat that was occupied by the deceased sacrificer⁵⁹.

The Sat. Br. (XII, 5 2.5) refers to the practice of cleansing the deceased of all foul matter, but does not approve of it. It recommends ‘having washed him out inside he anoints with ghee and thus makes the body sacrificially pure’ आयं गौः पृश्निरक्रमीत-is the first verse of the hymn Ṛg.x.189. 1-3 which are also S.V. No. 630-632 (Āranyakānda) and 1376-78 (Uttarārcika). The hymn also occurs in the other Vedas. The verses are called सार्वराञ्य ऋचः. It may be noticed that the Aśv.gr. (IV.46) prescribes the recitation of the 24 mantras prescribed in the Aśv Sr. above and employs some more verses (from Ṛg x. 14-18) in the ritual set out below from the Āśv. gr. In the Aśv Sr, II, 19 there is a description of a rite called ‘pitṛyā karma,’ in which offerings are offered in fire taken from the Daksiṇāgni and in which the devatās are five viz. Pitarah-somavantaḥ, Soma pitṛmān, Pitaraḥ barhıṣadah, Pıtaraḥ Agnisvāttāḥ, Yama, for each of whom three verses are recited respectively in order viz Ṛg. X. 15. 1, IX.9611,x15.5, Ṛg 191.1,19112. VIII. 48 13,x.15.4.x 153.x. 15,2: x.15.11,x 1513,४. 15.143 X. 14.4-5, x. 14 1. Ṛg.x,1612 (repeated thrice) becomes the sāmidhenis in that rite, X, 14 5 15 Yājyā and X 14,4 and x 14.1 are anuvālyās, Ṛg. x. 159, IV 113, 1 96.1 are recited when the rite is finished (instead of Agni Sviṣṭakṛt Agni Kavyavāhana is invoked); Rs. 3. 16 11,x. 15.12 are two Samyājyās in Vasaṭkāra. The editor of the Prayogaratna explains that Nalada means “Uśira’ (i.e wālā in Marathi) and that some substitute japā flowers (china rose) for naladas.

The Saṅkhāyana Śr. S. (IV. 14-15) deals at great length with the death of an āhitāgni and the rites that follow. Kāt. Sr. [Vol. S. 25.7 does the same but more briefly. Kāt. (25.7.18) refers to the cutting of hair and nails and taking out fecal matter and Kaus. (80. 13-16), Śān, Śr. 4.14 4-5 also speak of the cutting of hair, of bathing the dead body, applying paste and putting garlands. The Baud. P, S (1 2) refers to these and adds that if they cut open his entrails from the right side they again sew it with darbha grass or they may simply wash the body (without taking out the fecal matter ), cover the body with a piece of cloth, deck it, remove the body by the way between the vedi and utkara, place it on a couch (āsandi) over which a black antelope skin was spread with the head to the south, put Nalada garland on it and cover it with an unworn piece of cloth (as in ĀŚv. Śr, above ). Sat śr. 28 1. 22 and G. P. S. 1. 10-14 contain similar provisions adding that the toes of the feet and thumbs of the corpse are tied with a white thread of the fringe of a garment (baddhvā daśenāṇgusthau-pādayoh pānyośca, G. P. S. I 12 ) and that the āsandi ( a small couch or chair on which the corpse was carried ) was to be of udumbara wood. The Kauśikasūtra (80, 3, 3-45) refers to numerous stanzas from À V. that are to be recited in kindling the funeral fire and offering oblations, viz. 18. 2. 4 and 36, 18, 3, 4; 18. 1. 49-50, 58; 18. 1. 41-43; 7. 68 1-2; 18. 3. 25; 18.2 4-18 (omitting 18.2.10); 18.4.1-15 &c. Compare SBE VO), XI p. XLI for Budhist practice.

The Aśv. gr. ⁶⁰ (IV.1 and 2) prescribes in general the ceremonies on the death of an āhitāgni, while the Āśv. Sr. S. quoted above deals with what should be done in case the āhitāgni dies while engaged in a Soma or other sacrifice. The Aśv. gr. remarks ‘when an āhitāgni dies, one (a son or other relative) should arrange to have a piece of land dug up to the south-east or south-west at a place sloping towards the south or south-east, or according to some towards the south-west. The piece of land dug up should be of the length of a man with upraised arms, of the breadth of one vyāma⁶¹ and one vitasti (twelve finger breadths) in depth. The cemetery (śmaśāna) should⁶² be free (open) on all sides. It should abound in herbs, but plants with thorns and with milky juice (should be dug out) as stated before (in Aśv. gr. IL 7.5 about Vāstu-parikśā). From which the waters flow on all sides (that is the spot should be a little higher than the surrounding ground); this should be a characteristic required for that (kind of) cemetery where (the body) is to be burnt. They should cut off the hair on the head, the lips and the body and pare the nails (of the deceased); this has been declared already (in Āśv, Śr. VI. 10.2). They should make provision for plenty of sacrificial grass and clarified butter. In this (funeral rite) they pour clarified butter into curds. This is the prṣadājya used (in the rites) for pitṛs. The relatives of the deceased) carry his sacred fires and his sacrificial Vessels in that direction (viz, where the ground is dug up for cremation). After these aged persons, in odd numbers, men and women not going together, carry the dead body. Some say that (the dead body) should be carried in a cart with a seat drawn⁶³ by oxen. Some prescriba that a she-animal, either a cow⁶⁴ or a she-goat, of one colour or of a dark colour (should be taken to the cemetery). The (relatives of the dead) tie (a rope) to the left fore-foot and lead it behind (the corpse). Then follow the relations (of the deceased) with their yajñopavitas brought low (round their body) and with the top knot untied ( dishevelled ), the older ones going first, the younger ones last. Having thus arrived at the spot (of cremation ), the performer (of cremation rites ) while walking three times round the spot (for cremation) with his left side turned towards it, sprinkles water on it with a śami twig with the verse ‘apeta vita vi ca sarpatātah’ (Ṛg. X, 14. 9). To the south-east on a slightly raised corner (of the spot for cremation ), he ( son or the like ) places the Āhavaniya fire, to the north-west the Gārhapatya fire and to the south-west the Dakśiṇa fire. Then a person that knows how to prepare a funeral pile) collects a pile of fuel between the fires (on the dug-up spot). Then the performer of the rites spreads barhis (kuśas) and a black antelope skin with the hairy part outside on the pile, ( the relatives ) place the dead body thereon carrying it by way of the north side of the Gārhapatya fire and turning its head towards the Ahavaniya fire. They make the wife of the deceased (belonging to any one of the three higher Varṇas) lie down (on the pile) to the north of the dead body, and also place his bow to the north if (the deceased-was) a kṣatriya. The wife’s brother-in-law⁶⁵ (husband’s brother) or a representative of the husband or a pupil (of the deceased) or an old servant (slave) should make her rise (from the pile) with the mantra ‘udirsva nāryabhi jiyalokam’ (Ṛg. X, 18. 8); the performer (of the rites) should mutter this verse if a śūdra (servant) makes her rise and he takes away the bow with the Verse ‘dhanur-hastādādadāno’ (Ṛg. X. 18. 9). It has been stated (above what is to be done) in case a śūdra (should perform this act). Having strung the bow he should before the piling up of the things (mentioned below on the dead body) is done, break the bow to pieces and throw it on the pile⁶⁶. He then should put the following sacrificial implements (on the dead body ) viz. into the right hand the spoon called Juhū, in the left hand the spoon Upabhrt, on his right side the Sphya (wooden sword), on his left side the Agnihotrahavani (the ladle with which the Agnihotra offerings were offered into fire), on his chest, head and teeth respectively the dhruvā (the big sacrificial ladle), the dishes (or the kapālas ), the pressing stones (used for pressing out Soma juice in a soma sacrifice), on the two nostrils the two small ladles (sruva), on the ears the two Prāśitra-haranas, ⁶⁷ if there be only one then breaking it into two; on the belly the pātri (in which the oblations are collected before offering) and the camasa (cup) in which the iḍā portion) cut off is placed; on his private parts the śamyā, on the thighs the two aranis (wood sticks for kindling fire by attrition) and on the spanks the nortar and pestle, on the feet the winnowing baskets (śūrpa) or if there be one only, by tearing it in two pieces. Those of the sacrificial implements which have a hollow (into which a fluid can be poured) are filled with Prṣadājya. The son of the deceased) should take the upper and the lower mill-stones for himself and the implements made of copper, iron and earthenware⁶⁸.

The Śat. Br. XII. 5. 14 first states that sacrificial implements made of stone or earthenware should be donated to a brāhmaṇa but people regard the latter as a corpse-bearer (and so) they should be thrown into water⁶⁹. Taking out the omentum (vapā) of the Anustarani she-animal he should cover therewith the head and the mouth (of the deceased) with the Verse ‘Agner Varma’ (Ṛg. X, 16. y). Taking out the two kidneys (vrkkau) of the animal he should deposit them into the hands of the deceased) the right kidney in the right hand and left kidney in the left with the mantra ‘ati drava’(Ṛg X. 14, 10, recited once only). He puts the heart (of the animal) on his heart and according to some also two lumps of flour (of rice or barley ); according to others only if there are no kidneys⁷⁰. Having deposited the whole animal limb by limb (on corresponding limbs of the dead body) and having covered it with its own hide he recites when the Pranitā water is being carried forward, by way of invocation the mantra ‘imam agne’ (Ṛg. X. 16. 8). Bending his left knee he should offer into the Dakśina fire oblations of clarified butter with the formula ’to Agni svāhā! To Soma svāhā! To the world spāhā! To Anumati svāhā!’ A fifth oblation (is to be offered ) on the chest of the deceased with the formula ‘from this one, indeed thou hast been born! May he now be born out of thee, N. N.| To the heavenly world, svāhā’ (Vāj s. 35. 22 ). He gives the order ‘Light the fire together.’ Then the Aśv. gr. (IV, 4. 2-5) states what one has to understand if the Āhavanīya or Gārhapatya or Dakśina fire reaches the dead body first or if all the fires reach the body at the same moment; while the body is burning he recites over it the same texts (Ṛg. X 14, 7 and others quoted above in n. 481 from Aśv. Sr. sūtra ). Being cremated by a person who knows this he goes to the heavenly world together - with the smoke (of the funeral pile)–thus it is known (in the Śruti). After he has, recited the verse ‘ime jīvāh’ (Ṛg. X, 18.3) they (all relatives) turn round from right to left and go away without looking back. When they have come to a place where there is standing water, having once plunged into it and raised their heads out of it they pour one handful of water, pronounce the gotra name and the proper name (of the deceased), come out (of the water), put on other garments, wring out (already worn garments) once, lay them away with their skirts to the north and sit down until the stars appear or they may enter their houses when a part of the Sun’s disc is still visible, the younger ones entering first, the older ones last. When they have come to the houses they touch a stone, the fire, cow-dung, fried barley, sesame seeds and water. Compare Sat. Br. XIIL 8, 4. 5 for bath and offering of water by relatives and touching a bull on returning from cremation and reciting ‘udvayam’ (Vaj. S 35. 14 = Ṛg. I 50. 10) and applying collyrium and unguent to their bodies⁷¹.

It is not possible from considerations of space to set out all that is said in the other gṛhya sūtras. A few interesting points may be noted here. The Sat Br XII. 8. 4, 11, Par. gr. (IIL 10. 10 ff) expressly provide that funeral rites for any one whose upanayana has been performed are the same from the choosing of the site for the burning of the body to the descent into water on the part of the relatives (for bathing themselves ) as those prescribed for a person who has set up the śrauta (Vedic) fires, the only difference being that an āhitāgni is cremated with the three Vedic fires kept by him, that one who has kept only the smārta⁷² or aupāsana fire is burnt with that and that common persons who have neither kept the śrauta fires nor smārta fire are burnt with the ordinary⁷³ fire. Devala provides that when using ordinary fire, one should avoid taking the fire from a cāndāla or any unclean fire or the fire in the room of a freshly delivered woman or the fire of a patita or fire from a funeral pyre⁷⁴. Tho pitṛdayıtā states that the mantra ‘asmāt tvam &c’ was not to be recited when the deceased was a person who had not kept sacred fires⁷⁵. The Pār, gr, further provides that all relatives residing in the same village, if they can trace the relationship, do the same, that they wear only one garment, suspend their sacred thread over the right shoulder, that with the fourth finger of the left hand they spurt away the water with Vāj. S 35.6 and facing the south plunge into water and pour out one libation of water with joined hands. The Āp. Dh. S, (TI. 6. 15, 2-7) lays down a bath when a person’s relatives On the mother’s side and father’s relatives up to the 7th degree or as long as relationship can be traced die, except in the case of children less than a year old. In the case of a child’s death before one year, the parents and those who carry the child’s body have to bathe. All the above should have dishevelled hair, should throw dust in the hair, wear only one garment, turn their faces to the south, plunge into water, offer water to the dead thrice and then sit down on the bank (of the river or pond), then come to the village and do what the women tell them to do (such as touching fire and bull &c.). Yāj, III 2 also provides the same rules as Pās. gr, and prescribes the recitation of the mantra ‘apa nah sośucad agham’ (May evil be burnt away from us,’ Ṛg. I. 97 1, A.V. IV. 331, Tai, Ā, VI 10.1). The G P, S, (II, 23) provides that the funeral pyre is to be made with the wood of sacrificial trees, (II. 37 and 39) that the sapinḍas of the deceased headed by the women, the youngest being the first, fan the corpse placed on the pyre with the fringes of their garments, that the performer of the funeral rites takes a jar filled with water, places a darbhendva (?) on his head and goes round the corpse thrice and the priest gives a light stroke on the jar -thrice separately with a stone (aśman) or an axe and recites a mantra ‘imā āpo &c.’ when a stream of water rushes out of the broken jar, (changing the words about ‘asmin loke’ to ‘antarikśe’ and ‘svaṚg’ at the 2nd and 3rd perambulations). The performer while standing should drop behind him the jar of water. Then after repeating the mantra ’tasmāt tvam adhijātosi…asau svargāya lokāya svāhā,’ he should set fire to the pyre to burn the body⁷⁶. The Sat Śr 28 1 38 provides that the family members beat their right thighs, fan the corpse with the fringes of their garments and go thrice round the corpse with the left side towards the corpse and recite the mantra ‘apa nah sośucad agham’ (Ṛg. I 97 1. Tai. Ā, VI 10.1). It further provides (28, 1 37-46) that the corpse is carried in a cart or by (four) men and while being carried four stops are made, at each of which clods of earth are dug up and boiled rice is offered thereon with mantras like ‘pūsā tvetah’ (Ṛg. X. 17 3., Tai Ā VI, 10 1), “āyur visvāyur” (Ṛg. X. 17. 4, Tai. Ā VI 10.2). The Varāhapurāṇa prescribes that a Paurānic mantra should be recited, that the performer should go round the pyre and apply the kindled fire towards the part of the pyre where the head is placed⁷⁷.

Antyeṣṭi in modern times

In modern times the procedure of cremation is generally on the lines of that described in the Aśv. gr, cited above and the procedure described in the Garuḍapurāṇa II, 4, 41 ff. The following is a summary of the procedure set out in the Antyeṣṭipaddhati of Narāyanabhatta which is generally followed by Ṛgvedins in Western India. The dead body is washed with water, is decked with a tilaka on the forehead, is clothed in a garment, is covered with a paste of Jatāmāmsi and a garland of naladas is placed round its neck. Then the performer washes his own feet, sips water, performs prāṇāyāma without Vedic mantra, then makes a Saṅkalpa (as in note 500 ),⁷⁸ he wears his sacred thread under the left shoulder (and on the right shoulder) and prays to the earth with the mantra ‘upasarpa’ (Ṛg. X. 18.10), he then thrice goes round the place dug up (for cremation) and sprinkles water with a śami branch at the end of the mantra ‘apeta’ ( Ṛg. X. 14. 9). This mantra is repeated thrice. Then, he draws three lines on the ground with an iron piece or kuśa roots saying ‘I draw a line for Yama, the lord of cremation’, ‘I draw a line for Kāla, lord of &c’ ‘I draw a line for Mṛtyu, lord of &c’. Then he throws into the dug-up ground pieces of gold and sesame and water mixed with sesame in the middle of the dug up spot for Yama, to the north for Kāla and to the south for Mṛtyu (each being associated with pitṛs, the formula being ’ Yamāya dahanapataye pitṛsbhyaḥ svadhā namaḥ’). He puts sesame in the mouth of the corpse and prepares a funeral pile sufficient for burning the body by means of sacrificial wood brought by the castemen of the deceased. On that pile he spreads kuśa grass and over the latter black antelope skin with the hair outside. Then the corpse is carried to the north of the fire and is placed on the funeral pile with the head to the south. To the north of the dead body, he makes the wife of the deceased sit down. Then the husband’s brother, pupil or an old servant makes her get up with the mantra ‘udīrsva’ (Ṛg. X. 18. 8). Then the performer puts pieces of gold in the seven holes of the body (vide above note 491) or drops of clarified butter. He then throws on the body of the departed sesame anointed with ghee, he performs parısamūhana (wiping with the wet hand) of the fire, then paristarana (strewing darbha grass) round the fire together with the funeral pile) and paryuksana (sprinkling water) and brings to the south of the fire the vessels viz proksani, sruva, camasa and the vessel containing clarified butter. Then he puts water in the camasa (cup), covers it with darbha grass and carries it forward and invokes the camasa with Ṛg. X. 16.8 (imam-agne &c). He makes a saṅkalpa that he would wait upon (or worship) the dead, takes two fuel sticks and offers them into fire and performs the worship of Agni, Kāma, Loka and Anumati by offering clarified butter in fire with the appropriate formula (viz. agnaye svāhā, agnaya idam na mama). Then he offers on the chest of the deceased clarified butter (or prṣadājya) (according to some) with the mantra ‘asmādvai &c. (vide above note 498). Then he prepares apūpas (balls) with barley flour and mixes them with prṣadājya and places portions of the balls on the five parts viz. forehead, mouth, the two arms and chest with the following mantras viz Ṛg X. 16. 7 (for the ball on forehead and mouth), Ṛg X. 14, 10 (for the two arms) and Ṛg. X 14. 11 (for the chest). Then he makes the fire flame up with the mantra Ṛg. X. 16 9 (kravyādam-agnim) towards the head of a male (and the feet of a woman). Then he should repeat certain mantras while the body is being burnt viz. Ṛg. X, 14,7-8, Ṛg. X. 14. 10–11, Ṛg. X. 16.1-6, X 17.3-6. X. 18. 10–13, X, 154, 1-5, X. 14. 12 While muttering these mantras he should throw sesame on the body that is being burnt. Then the performer should take a jar (full of water) on his left shoulder, should make a hole in it on the back of the jar with a broken but smooth stone. He should go round thrice with the left towards the burning body from the spot where the feet of the corpse lie and mutter certain mantras. The jar is struck thrice. ALL the sagotra relatives go round the burning corpse. Then the jar is completely broken near that part of the funeral pyre where the head rests. The relatives without looking back turn to the left and come out of the cemetery with the youngest members first. The performer recites Ṛg 18 3 (ime jīvā &c ). The relatives repair to a spot where water is flowing, wearing only one garment and with faces to the south and hair dishevelled, plunge into the water once, sip water, place on the bank that stone (aśman) with which holes were made in the jar, offer water mixed with sesame on that stone with folded hands with the words ‘O departed, of such a gotra and of such a name! May this water mixed with sesame reach you’. The performer offers water with the uttariya for allaying the thirst (of the departed) due to the burning.

Rules about carrying a corpse

Many rules were prescribed as regards the carrying of the dead body. It has been seen above that the corpse was carried in a cart or on a couch by the relatives or by the servants (dāsas). Some sūtras, smritis, commentaries and other works lay down many other rules here. The Rāmāyaṇa (Ayodhya 76. 13 ff) states that on the death of Dasaratha his Vedic fires were carried by his priests before the corpse, that the dead body was placed in a palanquin (śibika), that his servants carried it and that coins of gold and clothes were thrown about on the road in front of the bier (for the poor). The general rule was that members of the three higher varṇas alone should carry to the cemetery a dead body belonging to any one of those varṇas and a śūdra should not carry the dead body of a man of a higher caste (when there were men of the caste of the dead available) nor should a man of one of the three higher varṇas carry the dead body of a śudra, and that the impurity in the case of a śūdra carrying a dead dvijātı or a dvijāti carrying a śūdra’s body is determined by the caste of the dead man. Vide Viṣṇu Dh S 19 1-4, Gaut, Dh. S. 14 29, Manu 5 104. Yai H 26. Parāśara IL 43-45. A brahmacārin was not permitted to be a carrier of the dead body of a person or relative even of his own caste, except his parents, guru, ācārya and upādhyāya and he was not guilty of breaking his vows of student-hood if he carried the bodies of any one of the five mentioned above. Vide Vas 23. 7, Manu 5. 91, Yāj III 15, Laghu-Harita 92-93, Brahmapurāṇa (g by Par. M. I. 2 g. 278). Guru, ācārya and Upadhyāya are defined by Yaj. I 34-35. If a brahmacārin carried the corpse of any one except the above five he was held to have swerved from his vrata and he had to undergo the expiation for vratalopa. Manu 5.103 and Yāj. II 13-14 state that those who merely carry a dead body of their own caste should bathe with the clothes on, then bite off nimba leaves, should perform ācamana, touch fire, water, cowdung, white mustard, place slowly a foot on a stone and then enter their house. It being the duty of sapinḍas⁷⁹ to carry the dead body of their relative they, after doing so, had simply to bathe, to touch fire and drink clarified butter for being pure (Gaut. 14, 29. Yāj. IL. 26, Manu IV. 103. Parāśara II. 42, Devala q. by Par. M. 1 %, p. 277, Harīta q. by Aparārka p. 871). Carrying the dead body of a brāhmaṇa who has no relatives is highly extolled by Parāśara (III 39-41) who says that a person, that thus carries the dead body of a brāhmaṇa, secures at each footstep the reward of the performance of a sacrifice and he becomes pure at once simply by plunging into water and performing prāṇāyāma, while Manu (5. 101–102) prescribes that if one carries the dead body of a person who is not a sapınḍa through affection he becomes pure after three days. The Hāralatā p. 121 quotes the Ādipurāṇa that if a kṣatriya or vaiśya cremates the dead body of a poor brāhmaṇa or of a kṣatriya who has lost everything or of a poor vaiśya, he secures great merit and becomes pure at once after a bath. Even now generally (particularly in villages) men of the same caste carry or follow a dead body and are held to be purified by a bath with clothes on. The medieval commentaries like the Mitākṣarā stuck strictly to the extreme exclusiveness of caste by prescribing ‘if a man⁸⁰ carries a dead body through affection, eats food in that family and dwells in their house he is under impurity for ten days; if he simply stays with the dead man’s family but does not eat their food he is impure for three days; these rules apply when the carrier is of the same caste as the dead person. But if a brāhmaṇa carries a Śūdra’s corpse, the brāhmaṇa is impure for a month, but if a Śūdra carries a brāhmaṇa’s body the śūdra is impure for ten days. The Kūrmapurāṇa prescribes that if a brāhmaṇa carries the dead body of a brāhmaṇa for a fee or from other interested motive he becomes impure for ten days, a kṣatriya, vaiśya and śūdra doing the same becomes impure for 12, 15 or 30 days and the Viṣṇupurāṇa says that the person carrying a dead body for a fee has to become impure for the period of impurity prescribed for a man of that caste. It may be stated that these rules about impurity on the ground of carrying or following the carrying of a dead body of another caste are no longer enforced and it is extremely doubtful whether they were ever strictly enforced or followed. Hārita⁸¹ prescribes that a dead body should not be carried through the midst of a village if while going to the cemetery a village comes in the way, but it should be carried away from it. Manu, 592 and Vrddha-Hārīta IX, 100-101 prescribed that the dead body of a śūdra, vaiśya, kṣatriya and a brāhmaṇa was to be taken out respectively by the southern, western, northern and eastern gates of the town or village. It was provided by Yama and the Garuḍapurāṇa II 4 56-57 ⁸² that the fuel for the funeral pyre should not be carried (for higher varṇas) to the cemetery by a śūdra and if a śūdra did so the deceased would always remain in the state of preta. The Hāralatā (p 121) says that if firewood is carried by śūdras still the pyre should be made by brāhmaṇas only (for a brāhmaṇa’s body). The sṃrtis and purāṇas provide that the corpse⁸³ should be first bathed with water and then cremated, that the corpse should never be burned naked, but that it should be covered with cloth, decked with flowers and have fragrant unguents (sandalwood paste &c.), that fire should be carried in front of the corpse and one man should carry cooked food in an unbaked earthen vessel and another should deposit part of the food on the way and one should give clothes and the like to candālās and the like that stay near the cemetery).

The Brahmapurāṇa (q. by Śuddhiprakāśa p. 159) states that when carrying a dead body to the cemetery, a great deal of noise should be created by means of the four kinds of instruments⁸⁴.

There were differing rules laid down about vapana (shaving) for the performer as an auxiliary (aṇga) of the rite of cremation, after the cremation and bath thereafter. A smṛti text provides⁸⁵ ‘shaving of the head and moustaches is declared in seven cases. viz, on the Ganges, at the Bhāskarakṣetra, on the death of the mother or father or guru, on consecrating the śrauta fires and in a Soma sacrifice’. The A. K, D. (p. 19) prescribes that the son or other performer of the rites of cremation should first perform vapana and then bathe, then carry the dead body to a sacred spot, bathe it there, or if such a spot is not at hand should invoke the presence of the Ganges, Gayā and other tirthas in the water to be used for washing the dead body, then anoint it with ghee or sesame oil, again bathe it and put on it a fresh garment, should deck it with yajñopavīta, gopīcandana, garland of basil leaves and then should apply to the whole body fragrant substances like sandalwood paste, camphor, saffron, musk &c. But if the cremation took place at night, there was to be no vapana at night, but on the next day⁸⁶. Other smṛtis allowed vapana on the 2nd, 3rd, 5th or 7th or any following day up to the offering of śrāddha on the 11th day⁸⁷.

Āp. Dh. S. I. 3. 10.6 provides⁸⁸ vapana for all sapiṇḍas that are younger than the deceased. The Madanapārijāta holds that the performer of cremation rites had to undergo vapana on the first day and also on the expiry of the period of impurity, while the Śuddhiprakāśa (p. 162) following the Mit on Yāj. III 17 states that the day on which vapana is to be undergone is determined by the usage of each country. This difference in usages has been even judicially noticed. In Chandra choora Deo v. Bibhuti Bhushan Deva A.T.R. 1945 Patna p. 211 at p. 219 it has been stated that according to the Benares School the person who performs the cremation shaves his head at the time of cremation, whereas under the Mithilā school there is no such shaving at that time.

The Garuḍapurāṇa (II. 4. 67-69) provides that loud weeping may be indulged in when the body is burning but there should be no weeping after cremation and the offering of water to the departed.

There was some difference of opinion as to the offering of water (udakakriyā or udakadāna) to the deceased by his sapiṇḍas and samānodakas. Āśv. gr.quoted above (p. 209) speaks of offering water once, but the Sat. Sr. 28. 2. 72 and others prescribe that water mixed with sesame is offered thrice with joined hands on the day of death to the deceased after reciting his gotra and name and every day thereafter up to the 11th⁸⁹. Gaut. Dh, S. 14. 38, Vas. 4. 12 prescribe that water should be offered by sapiṇḍas to the deceased with their faces to the south on the first, third, seventh and ninth days of death and Haradatta says that in all 75 añjalis of water were to be offered (three on 1st day, 9 on 3rd, 30 on 7th and 33 on 9th ), but that the usage in his country was that on the first day water was offered three times with joined hands and then one more añjali on each succeeding day from the 2nd.

Views on offering water

On the other hand, viṣṇu Dh. S. 19. 7 and 13, Pracetas, Paithinasi (both quoted by Aparārka p. 874) prescribe that water and piṇḍa were to be offered to the deceased for ten days⁹⁰. The Śuddhiprakāśa (p. 202 ) quotes verses from Gṛhya-pariśiṣṭa, one of which says that some declare that only ten añjalis were to be offered, some say 100 were to be offered and others that 55 were to be offered and that one should follow the usage settled in one’s vedic Śākhā. The Asv. gr. pariśiṣṭa 3. 4 has a similar rule in prose. The Garudapurāṇa ( Pretakhaṇḍa chap. 5 verses 22-23 ) also refers to the offering of 10, 55, or 100 añjalis. Some smṛtis prescribed that the number of añjalis of water were dependent on the caste of the deceased. Pracetas (q. by Mit. on Yāj. ITI, 4 ) provides that 10, 12, 15, 30 añjalis should be respectively offered to a deceased person of the brāhmaṇa, kṣatriya, vaiśya or śūdra varna. Yama (verses 92-94 ) states how water is to be offered to the deceased standing in navel-deep water and (98) prescribes that water is to be offered in water to gods and pitṛs but on the ground to those that died without upanayana being performed. In a smṛti quoted by Devayājñika⁹¹ it is stated that six piṇḍas were to be offered from the day of death as follows: at the place where the death occurred, at the door of the house, where four roads meet, where the funeral procession on the way to the cemetery rested, on the pile of wood arranged for burning (cita), and at the time of the collection of the burnt bones. It was further provided that for the benefit of the departed a lamp fed by sesame oil was to be kept burning continuously for ten days after death and an earthenware vessel was to be kept filled with water and a handful of cooked rice was to be offered on the ground at the time of the mid-day meal after uttering the name and gotra of the departed. This was called pātheya śrāddha because it helped the departed to go on his way from the earth to the world of the departed (vide Dharmasindhu p. 463).

According to some of the digests a śrāddha called Nagna-pracchādana was to be performed on the day of the death of a person after his sapiṇḍas undergo shaving and bath, enter the village and the house. It consists in filling a jar with grains of rice wound round with a piece of cloth and putting clarified butter in a vessel of bell-metal and some gold (or coins) thereon according to one’s ability. The whole was to be given to a poor brāhmaṇa of good family after remembering Visṇu for the benefit of the departed. Vide Smṛti muktāphala (on śr.) pp. 595-596, Sn. C. (on Aśauca p. 176 ).

The smṛtis and purāṇas (like Kūrma, uttarārdha 23.70) prescribe that after offering with joined hands water to the deceased a ball of rice or barley flour with sesame was to be presented on darbha grass. There are two views on this point, According to Yāj. III. 16 a piṇḍa was to be offered for three days after death according to the procedure prescribed for piṇḍa-pitr-yajña (such as wearing of the sacred thread on the right shoulder and under the left shoulder ), while according to Viṣnu 19. 13 one piṇḍa was to be offered every day as long as impurity on death lasted. The piṇḍa was to be offered on darbhas spread on the ground if the deceased had his upanayana performed, but without mantras or may be offered on a stone⁹². While water could be offered by any and every sapiṇḍa, piṇḍa was to be offered only by the son (and when there were many sons, by the eldest if free from defect); in default of a son the nearest sapiṇḍa like a brother or brother’s son was to offer it and in default of such then the sapiṇḍas of the mother (maternal uncle, his son or the like ) could⁹³ offer it. Even when piṇḍas were to be offered for three days or āśauca lasted only for 3 days the piṇḍas were prescribed to be ten by Śatātapa and Paraskara distributed them as follows: three on the first day, four on the 2nå and 3 on the third and Dakṣa⁹⁴ distributed them as follows: one on the first day, four on the 2nd and five on the 3rd. Pāraskara prescribed that 10, 12, 15, 30 piṇḍas were to be offered according to the varna of the deceased. In the case cited above from A. I. R. 1945 Patna p. 211 at p. 219 it has been stated that according to the Benares school 4, 5 or 6 piṇdas are offered at the time of cremation, while according to the Mithilā school only one piṇḍa is offered.

Views on piṇḍas at cremation

Everybody, whether a person of the same gotra as the deceased or of another gotra, had to carry out all the rites up to the tenth day when he once began them on the day of death, as stated by the Gṛhya-pariśiṣṭa⁹⁵ and Garudapurāṇa. It is further prescribed that when the funeral rites are begun by a person and then a nearer relative such as a son comes, even then the former is to carry on all the rites up to the 10th day, but the rites of the 11th and later days are to be performed by the son and in default of him by a near sapiṇḍa. The Matsyapurāṇa states ⁹⁶ that piṇdas should be offered to the deceased for twelve days; they become his food on his journey (to the other world) and they give him satisfaction; since the deceased is taken to the abode of departed spirits after twelve days, he (his spirit) sees his house, sons and wife for twelve days. Ṛṣyaśṛṅga quoted by Aparārka (p. 889 ) specifies the limbs of an ethereal body with which the deceased is endowed on each day of the ten days after death when a piṇḍa is offered. The Garudapurāṇa (Pretakhaṇḍa chap. 5. 33-36) says the same.

Just as sapiṇḍas of the same gotra and samānodakas were bound to offer water to the deceased, a person was bound to offer water to his maternal grandfather and to the two further ancestors and to his ācārya on their death. Every man, if he so desired (i.e. he was under no religious duty), could offer water to his friend, to his married sister or daughter, to his sister’s son, father-in-law and his sacrificial priest on their death (Pār, gr. III, 10, Sankha-Likhita, Yāj. ⁹⁷ ILI. 4). Pāraskara (III. 10) refers to a peculiar practice. When the sapiṇḍas are about to enter water for bathing and thereafter offering water to the deceased they pray to their relatives or brother-in-law for water with the words ‘we shall perform udakakriyā’, where-upon the other replies ‘do so but don’t come again (with a similar request), if the deceased was less than one hundred years of age, but the reply would be simply do so if the deceased was hundred years of age or more⁹⁸. The G. P. S. (1, 4.4-6) has a somewhat similar symbolic dialogue. A king’s officer, a sagotra or a brother-in-law takes a branch having thorns and prevents them from entering water with the words ‘don’t enter’; then the sapiṇḍas should reply ‘we shall not again enter water’. The probable significance of this was that they thereby would be able to escape from another death in the family soon after.

There were rules prohibiting certain persons from offering water to the deceased and also directing that water should not be offered to certain deceased persons. Impotent⁹⁹ persons and the like, thieves of gold, vrātyas, those who follow forbidden conduct and women that kill their own foetus or husband and that drink the kind of liquor (forbidden to them) should not offer water to a deceased person. Yāj. (III. 6) provides that water should not be offered to and no āśauca observed for heretics, for those who do not belong to one of the four āśramas, to thieves, to women who kill their husbands or who are guilty of prostitution or who drink surā, or who commit suicide. Manu (V. 89– 90) is to the same effect. Gaut. Dh, S. ¹⁰⁰ 14, 11 provides that in the case of those who start (through anger) on the Great Journey, who commit suicide by fasting or by means of a weapon or by fire, by poison, in water, by hanging or falling from a precipice or tree, there is no cremation, no āśauca, no offering of water or piṇḍa. Haradatta on Gaut, 14. 11 quotes three verses from Brahmapurāṇa that those who die of a brāhmaṇa’s curse or black magic and those who are patitas are dealt with in the same way. But Aṅgiras (q. by Mit, on Yāj. III. 6) says that if one dies by water or fire or the like through inadvertence, there was āśauca for him and udakakriya was performed. Vide Vaik. Sm. S. V. 11 for a long list of persons who must not be cremated. In the Māhābhārata the rites of cremation have been described frequently e.g: the cremation of Pāṇḍu in Ādiparva, chap. 127 (the body was carried in a śibikā covered on all sides, there were musical instruments, the royal parasol and chowries were carried in the procession, distribution of wealth to mendicants, carrying the dead body to the bank of the Ganges on a charming sylvan spot, bathing the body, applying sandalwood paste to it); of Droṇa in Strīparva, chap. 23.38-42 (three Sāmans were sung, his pupils with Drona’s wife in front went round the funeral pyre, going to the Ganges); of Bhīṣma in Anuśāsana 169.10-19 (fragrant resins were used on the pyre, his body was covered with fine clothes and flowers, an umbrella and chowries were held over the body, Kaurava women fanned the body with fans, sāmans were sung ); of Vasudeva in Mausalaparva 7. 19-25; of killed warriers in general in Strīparva, chap. 26. 28-43 and of Kunti, Dhṛtarāṣṭra and Gāndhāri in Āśramavāsikaparva, chap. 39. In the Rāmāyana ( Ayodhyā, chap. 76 verses 16-20 ), it is said that the funeral pyre for Daśaratha was made with sandalwood, aguru and fragrant resins, with Sarala, Padmaka and Devadāru (pine) wood and various fragrant substances were heaped thereon, then Daśaratha’s body was placed on the pyre and that Kausalya and other women followed the corpse in śibikās and conveyances according to their status.

To whom no water is to be offered

If an āhitāgni died away from home, the Sat. Br. (XII. 5.1.13-14) provides that, having brought his bones home they were to be spread on a black antelope skin and arranged in imitation of the human frame, were to be covered with wool and ghee and burnt with his śrauta fires and sacrificial Implements. Similar rules are laid down in Kāt. Sr. 25.8-9, Band. P, S, III.8, Gobhilasmṛti III, 47, Vas. Dh, S. IV, 37.

If even the bones could not be found, then the sūtras following the Ait. Br. (chap. 32.1) and similar ancient works¹⁰¹ provide that on a skin of black antelope one should make the effigy of a human frame with palāśa stalks (leaves ) 360 in ¹⁰² number, the effigy should be bound round with woollen thread, should be covered with yava flour mixed with water and anointed with clarified butter and cremated with his fires and sacrificial implements. The Brahmapurāṇa (q. by Suddhi prakāśa p. 187) contains similar rules about burning an effigy and ordains three days’ impurity thereafter. Acc. to a smṛti (q. by Aparārka p. 545 ), the palāśa leaves were to be 362. They were to be distributed according to Baud. P.S. and Gaut. P.S. as follows: 40 represent the head, 10 the neck, 20 the chest, 30 the abdomen ( udara), 50 each of the arms, 10 the fingers of the two hands, 170 each of the two legs, 10 the toes of the feet, 8 the male organ, 12 the testicles. This is also the enumeration in Sat. Śr. 29.4.39. Vide also Sān. Sr. IV. 15.19-31,525 Kāt. Sr. XXV. 8.15, Baud. P. S. III. 8, G. P. S. II 1.6-14 Gobhila-smṛti III.48. Hārīta q. by Suddhiprakāśa p. 186, Garudapurāṇa II, 4. 134-154 and II.40 44 ff. It may be stated here that all the sūtras and smṛtis do not entirely agree as to the number of palāśa leaves taken as representing the several parts of the body, as may be seen from a comparison of the Sān. Sr. quoted in the note with Baud. P. S. set out here. A smṛti quoted by Aparārka (p. 545 ) gives the numbers as follows: 32 for the head, 60 for the neck, 80 for the chest, 20 for the hip and loins, 20 each for the two arms, 10 for fingers, 6 for testicles, 4 for the penis, 60 for the two thighs, 20 for the knees, 20 for the lower parts of the legs, 10 for toes of the feet. Jātūkarṇya (q. by Aparārka p. 545 ) and Bhaviṣyapurāṇa (q. by Śuddhi prakāśa p. 187) say that when a son does not hear for 15 years about his father who had gone to a distant land, he should perform the cremation of the effigy (called ‘ākṛtidahana’). Bṛhaspati advises waiting for 12 years before resorting to ākṛtidahana (Śuddhipr. p. 187). The Vaikhānasa-smārta-sūtra V. 12 regards the burning of the effigy as a meritorious act for every one and does not restrict it to the case where the body or bones are not found. The Śuddhiprakāśa p. 187 quotes several verses from the Brahmapurāṇa that the procedure of burning an effigy of palāśa stalks was to be followed even in the case of one who has not consecrated Śrauta fires and āśauca for three days has to be observed, while the aśauca for burning the effigy of an āhitāgni was ten days.

Burning of Effigy with palāśa stalks

It is further provided in Sat. Śr. 29. 4. 41, Baud. P.S. (III. 7. 4) and Garudapurāṇa II, 4. 169-70 that, if after the effigy is cremated in the belief that a person died in a foreign land, he returns alive, then he is plunged in a pit containing clarified butter and then he comes out of it, takes a bath, then all the saṁskāras from jātakarma are performed on him, then he marries the same wife again or if she be dead, he may marry another girl, then consecrate again śrauta fires. Some sūtras provide that if the wife of an āhitāgni dies before him, he may, if he so desires, cremate her with his śrauta fires or he may cremate her with fire prepared from cowdung and some easily inflammable things (like straw) placed in three sthālis (cooking pots ¹⁰³). Manu (V. 167-168) provides that if the savarṇa and virtuous wife of a twice-born person who had consecrated sacred śrauta fires died before him she was to be cremated with his fires (śrauta and smārta) and with the sacrificial implements. Then he may marry again and consecrate śrauta or smārta fires again. To the same effect are Yāj. I. 89, Baud. P.S. .4,6, Gobhila-smpti III.5, Vaikhānasa-smārtasutra VII 2, Vr̥ddha-Harita XI. 213, Laghu Aśv. 20. 59. 527 Viśvarūpa on Yāj. 1.87 quotes a Kathaka-śruti to the effect that if a person keeps the same śrauta fires after the death of his wife they are (impure like) the fires used for burning a corpse and adds that even if a brāhmaṇa āhitāgni had a wife of the kṣatriya class and she died before him, she was to be cremated with his śrauta fires.

This view is opposed to that of many other commentators and he explains Manu V. 167 (where ‘savarnām’ occurs ) as merely illustrative and that if it were interpreted as restricted to a savarṇa wife alone, there would be the fault of vākyabheda. Some of the smṛtis provide that he may remain a widower and perform his Agnihotra by having a golden effigy of the wife or one made of kuśa grass, as Rāma did. Vide Gobhilasmṛti III, ¹⁰⁴ 9-10, Vṛddha-Hārita XI. 214. If the householder did not marry again (when his wife died before him and was cremated with his śrauta fires) and did not consecrate fresh vedic fires he was to be cremated with ordinary fire. If the householder was unable to marry again, he may cremate his wife with fire kindled by means of the kindling sticks (araṇis) and keep his śrauta fires and carry on agnihotra with the image or effigy of the wife. If the āhitāgni died first and his wife then died as a widow she was to be cremated with fire (nirmanthya) kindled by attrition of the araṇis. Vide Baud. P. S. II, 4, 6-8, Kāt. Śr. 29.4. 34-35, and Trikānda-mandana II, 121,¹⁰⁵ When the wife was cremated the mantra ‘Asmāttvam-abhijātosi’ quoted above was not to be recited (vide Gobhilasmṛti III. 52). It was only a virtuous wife and not an unchaste one that was cremated with śrauta or smārta fire (Gobhilasmṛti III. 53). Kratu (q. by Śuddhiprakāśa p. 166 )¹⁰⁶ and Baud, P, S. III. 1. 9-13 state that a widower and a widow were to be cremated with fire generated on a kapāla (made red hot and then cow-dung thrown thereon), a brahmacārin and yati were to be cremated with uttapana (or kapālaja) fire, an unmarried girl and a boy whose Upanayana is not performed are to be cremated with fire produced from chaff. If an āhitāgni became patita or guilty of suicide in various ways or met death by challenging animals or snakes, his śrauta fires were to be cast into water and smārta fire was to be cast on the place where four roads meet (or in water), his sacrificial implements were to be burnt (a smṛti q. by Par. M. I. 2. p. 226, Parāśara V. 10-11, Vaik. Smārta V. 11) and he was to be cremated with ordinary fire.

Cremation of widower and others

Manu V. 68, Yāj. III, 1, Parāśara III. 14, viṣṇu Dh. S. 22. 27-28, Brahmapurāṇa quoted by Par. M. I. 2 p. 238 provide that in the case of abortion, the foetus, and a still-born child, and a child that has not yet struck teeth should be decked with clothes and the like and should be buried। Children of tender years were not to be cremated, but there was some difference of opinion among ancient writers on the exact age at which one or the other method of disposal was to be resorted to. Pāraskara-gr.¹⁰⁷ III, 10, Yāj. III. 1, Manu V.68-69, Yama and some others provide that a child that had not completed two years at death was to be buried under ground in an unsullied spot outside the village (other than the usual cemetery), the dead body being anointed with ghee and decked with flowers and sandal paste and that no burning nor offering of water nor the collection of bones was to be performed in this case. The relatives may all follow the body or not and Yama allows the recital of the Yamasūktā (Ṛg X. 14) and the verses in honour of the god Yama. Manu V. 70, however, states other optional provisions viz, that the offering of water may be done (and therefore the cremation also of the dead body) in the case of infants that have struck teeth or after nāmakaraṇa. Therefore there is an option as to cremating an infant of less than two years, viz. it may be buried or cremated after nāmakaraṇa or after the appearance of teeth. In this case it is not necessary that all the sapiṇḍa relatives should follow the dead body. If a child is two years old or more at death and upanayana has not been performed it must be cremated with ordinary fire and water must be offered silently. The same rule applies to a child whose cūḍā (tonsure ) had been performed before death as stated by Laugākṣi¹⁰⁸. The Vaik. Sm. S. V.11 lays down that there is no burning with fire until the 5th year for a boy and the 7th year for a girl. After Upanayana the child was to be cremated according to the rites prescribed for an āhitāgni so far as they could be applied (i.e. there would be cremation without sacrificial implements and the mantra “asmāt tvam abhijātosi’ was not to be recited). The Baud.¹⁰⁹ P. S. (II. 3,10-11) provides that there is no cremation for children dying before the performance of caula (tonsure) and there is no pitṛmedha for those whose upanayana had not been performed at death or for unmarried girls. It also provides that infants that have struck no teeth are to be buried with syllable ‘om’ and those that have had teeth with the Vyāhṛtis. The Mit, on Yāj. III.2 summarises the rules as follows: Before Nāmakaraṇa there was to be only burial and no offering of water and the like; after Nāmakaraṇa up to the third year cremation and offering of water are optional with burial; from the third year up to upanayana there is cremation and also offering of water but silently (without mantras); if Cūḍā ceremony was performed before the 3rd year and the child died then also the same rule applied. After Upanayana the deceased was to be cremated with ordinary fire but the procedure was to be the same as for an āhitāgni.

Disposal of an ascetic’s corpse

A yati (sannyasin) was and is even now buried. In a previous note (n. 528b ) a verse of Kratu is quoted that a brahmacārin and yati are to be cremated with uttapana fire. The explanation of the Śuddhiprakaśa (p. 166 ) is that the word yati here means an ascetic of the Kuṭīcaka kind and quotes a¹¹⁰ verse as to how the dead bodies of the yatis of four grades are to be disposed of. The¹¹¹ Baud. P. S. III,11 gives a brief description which is adopted with some variations by the Smṛtyarthasāra (p. 98 ) that contains a description of the death rites of a parivrājaka¹¹². One should go to the east or north of the village, he should dig a pit (lit. a sacrificial place) as deep as the staff ( carried by the yati) under a palāśa tree or on a river bank or on some other pure spot to the accompaniment of the vyāhrtis; then he should sprinkle water thereon thrice repeating the seven vyāhrtis each time, should spread darbha grass on the bottom of the pit, should deck the dead body (with garlands, sandal paste ), deposit the body in the pit with the mantra (Tai. S.L1.3.1) ‘O Viṣṇu! guard this offering (the dead body ).’ He should place in the right hand the staff of the parivrājaka ( breaking it into three parts ) with the mantra ‘Viṣṇu took strides over this’ (Ṛg. I.22.17, Vāj. S. V. 15, Tai. S. I.2.13.1). He places the śikya (loop of strings ) in the left hand with the mantra “what is beyond this world’ (Tai. S. IV.2.5.2 ), the piece of cloth used as a water-strainer on the mouth with the words by which strainer the gods’ (Tai. Br. 1.4.8.6), the pot on his belly with the Gāyatri stanza (Ṛg III.62.10, Vāj. S. III. 35, Tai. S. 1.5.6.4), his water pot near his private parts with the mantra earth went to earth’. He then invokes with the mantras beginning with ‘cittiḥ sruk’ (ten sentences in Tai. Ā., Maitrāyaṇi S. I 9. 1 which are called ‘caturhotāraḥ”)¹¹³. The other rites are not performed here as they were performed before. No cremation should be done, no āśauca should be observed nor should water be offered to (an ascetic who is dead) who was free from all attachments and who had given himself up to meditation. The Smṛtyarthasāra adds that no _ekoddiṣṭa śrāddha nor sapiṇḍikaraṇa is performed for an ascetic, but only pārvana on the 11th day, that a kuṭīcaka should be cremated, the bahūdaka should be buried, haṁsa should be thrown into water and _paramahaṁsa should be thoroughly buried. The Nirṇayasindhu (pp. 634-635) quotes the Smr̥tyarthasāra and then adds a few details from Br̥hat-Śaunaka, viz, that the dead body of a yati should be bathed with the Puruṣasūkta (Ṛg X, 90), then the pit (dug for burial) should be sprinkled eight times with the syllable ‘Om’on all sides; having deposited the body in the pit with the Yajus formula ‘O viṣṇu! guard this offering’ (Tai, S.1.1.3.1) and with ‘Om’, he should place in the right hand the staff with the mantra “Viṣṇu took strides over this’ (Ṛg I. 22.17), then pierce the crown of the head with a conch by repeating the mantra ‘bhūr-bhuvaḥ-svaḥ’, he should fill up the pit with salt to the recitation of the Puruṣasūkta (Ṛg X. 90). He should fill up the pit thoroughly (with sand) in order to guard against jackals and dogs and the like (exhuming the body with their paws). The Dharmasindhu (p. 497) adds some details particularly as to the number of hymns and mantras to be repeated. It states that the crown of the head should be pierced with a conch or an axe, that one who is unable to do this should smash a ball of jaggery placed on the head. It adds that no yati except kuțicaka should be cremated. In modern times a sannyāsin is always buried and not cremated, since kuțicaka and bahūdaka kinds of yati are no longer in vogue and it is only the paramahaṁsa that is prevalent in the whole of India. The reason why ascetics were buried and not cremated appears to me to be as follows; part of the procedure of becoming an ascetic consisted in giving up his śrauta fires and throwing in fire his sacrificial wooden implements (vide H. of Dh. vol. II. p. 954). One of the rules for ascetics is that he should not kindle śrauta or smārta fires nor kindle ordinary fire for cooking his food but was to subsist on cooked food obtained by begging (H. of Dh. vol. II, pp. 933-934). The householder was cremated with his śrauta or smārta fire but the ascetic, having abjured these, was without any fire and was therefore buried. The Vaikhānasasmārtasutra X. 8 (ed. by Caland ) contains a brief description of the burial of an ascetic who was not an āhitāgni and the cremation of an ascetic who was āhitāgni.

Why ascetics were not cremated

Special rules were laid down about the cremation of women dying in or immediately after child-birth and women dying while still in their monthly illness. A smṛti quoted by the Mit. and the smṛti-candrikā (I. p. 121) provides that in the case of a sūtikā, one should take water and pañcagavya in a jar, should repeat holy texts (such as ‘āpo hi ṣṭhā’ Ṛg. X. 9. 1-9, verses addressed to Varuṇa) over them, should then bathe the sūtikā with water and pañcagavya and then cremate the body. A woman in her monthly illness was to be similarly bathed and she was to be covered with another garment and then cremated. Vide Garudapurāṇa II, 4. 171 ff and Nirṇayasindhu p. 621. Similarly, elaborate rules are prescribed about the rites of cremation in relation to the death of a pregnant woman (vide Baud. P. S. III, 9, Nirṇayasindhu p. 622) which are passed over here.

Dead bodies were disposed off in different ways at different times and in different countries. The various methods of disposal were cremation, burial underground, water burial, exposure of the body for being destroyed¹¹⁴ by vultures and other birds (as among Zoroastrians) or beasts, being preserved in caves,¹¹⁵ or being mummified (as in Egypt).

The general rule in India from times of which we have literary evidence was cremation; though burial took place in certain exceptional cases such as in the case of infants, ascetics &c. How the ancient Indians hit upon this scientific though rather heartrending method of the disposal of dead bodies it is difficult to say¹¹⁶. Burials were not unknown in India even in very early times, as Atharvaveda 5. 30. 14 (mā nu bhumigṛho bhuvat) and 18. 2. 34 show. The last may be rendered as follows: O Agni! bring all those pitṛs here in order that they may partake of the offering, those (pitṛs whose bodies) were buried or cast aside (exposed) or burnt or deposited above (on trees or in caves ? )¹¹⁷. In the word ‘anagnidagdhāḥ’ occurring in Ṛg. X. 15. 14, scholars see a reference to burial. But it is quite possible that no burial is referred to. If some ancestors were killed far from home in a fight or if they were kidnapped and killed by enemies, their bodies might have been left uncared for in a distant land and not cremated nor buried. A. passage in the Chāndogya¹¹⁸ Up. (VIII, 8. 5) is construed by some scholars as referring to burials. It may be rendered as follows: Therefore they designate even now a man, an asura who does not make gifts, who has no faith and who offers no sacrifices ; for this is the esoteric doctrine of Asuras. They deck out the body of the dead with bhikṣā (perfumes and flowers ?), with a raiment by way of decoration, and think that they will thus conquer the next world. Though the passage is not quite clear, the reference to Asuras, their usage of decorating the dead body and thereby being able to gain the next world render it probable that the usage of the burial of the body among Asuras is referred to.

Burial

In Ṛg. VII. 89.1 the sage prays O Varuna! may I not go to the earthen house’. This is probably a reference to burial. Besides, after the charred bones were collected, they were placed in an urn or pot, which was buried in the ground and after a good deal of time a mound (śmaśāna) was built upon the bones as will be seen immediately from a passage in the Sat. Br, and other sources. In A, V. XVIII. 2. 25 it is said, ‘may the tree not oppress them, nor the great goddess Earth’. This is probably a reference to a coffin and burial.

It is somewhat curious that the progressive nations of the West, believing in a literal interpretation of the Biblical words (such as Matthew 22.23-33, Mark 12. 18-27 and Luke 20. 37-38, John 5. 19-31 and 6. 32-56) about physical resurrection of the dead, held fast by burial alone and up to the end of the 19th century people in Christendom would not allow the cremation of a dead body. The case of Reg. v. Price illustrates how deep the sentiment against cremation was and how popular fury prevented Price from disposing of the body of his dead child of five months by petroleum fire in a field, how he was prosecuted for two offences viz, misdemeanor at Common Law for burning a dead body instead of burying it and misdemeanor on the ground that he attempted to burn the body with intent to prevent an inquest being held on it by the coroner¹¹⁹. It was only in 1902 that the Cremation Act (2 Edw.7 Ch. 8) was passed empowering burial authorities to establish crematoria on plans approved by the Minister of Health. The Catholic Church does not even now allow cremation. The ancient Romans on the other hand held cremation as the honourable means of the disposal of the dead body but reserved burial for the suicide and the murderer.

Embalming the dead for some time at least was not quite unknown in India. The Sat. Sr. 29. 4. 29 and Vaik. Sr. 31.23¹²⁰ prescribe that if an āhitāgni died away from his people his corpse should be laid down in a tub or trough filled with sesame oil and brought home in a cart. In the Rāmāyana it is several times said that the body of Daśaratha was placed for several days in a tub containing oil till the arrival of Bharata (vide Ayodhyā 66. 14-16, 76.4). In the Viṣnupurāṇa¹²¹ it is stated that the body of Nimi being covered with oil and fragrant substances did not become decomposed and looked as if the death was recent.

What the state of things was before the composition of the Ṛgveda cannot be said with certainty. There is no general agreement as to the age of the Ṛgveda and of the ruins found at Mohenjo-daro and Harappa. Sir John Marshall (in Mohenjo daro vol. I. p. 86) refers to complete burials, partial burials and post cremation burials. The excavations at Lauriya¹²² Nandangarh have brought to light supposed Vedic burial mounds in which has been found a small repousse golden plaque bearing the figure of a nude female, the Earth Goddess. These and the disposal of corpses in paleolithic ages are matters for archaeologists and are outside the proper scope of the present work.

The Hâralata (p. 126 ) quotes a passage from the Ādipuraṇa to the effect that Magas (Magians ) are buried underground and that Daradas and Luptrakas (?) go away after placing their dead relatives on trees¹²³.

Disposal of Buddha’s body

It appears that among early Buddhists in India hardly any religious ceremony was performed, whether the person deceased was a layman or even a member of the Order. In the Mahaparinibbāna Suttanta the death and the funeral ceremonies of the great founder of Buddhism are described in chapter VI (Section 14 ff). All that is gathered from that chapter is that the favourite disciple of the Buddha, Ānanda, uttered a stanza, some of the disciples that were not free from passion wept and fell headlong on the ground, while others (who were Arahats ) bore the grief with composure, that next morning Ānanda went to the Mallas of Kusinārā, that the Mallas took perfumes, garlands, all musical instruments and five hundred suits of apparel, the Mallas passed seven days in paying homage to the body of the Buddha that lay in the śāla grove with dancing, hymns, music, garlands and perfumes, in making canopies of their garments, that on the 7th day they carried the body of the Blessed One to the south but owing to a miracle (described in sections 29-32) they carried it through the city by the north gate and laid the body to the east (the general rule was that a dead body was not to be carried through the middle of a village, and was to be carried to the south but as Buddha was so extraordinary and holy the above was allowed to be done). The body of the Buddha was then wrapped in a new cloth, then with cotton wool, then in a new cloth and so on till 500 layers of cloth and cotton wool covered the body. The body was then placed in an oil vessel of iron which was covered with another oil vessel of iron. Then a funeral pile of all kinds of perfumes was built upon which the body was placed. Then Mahākassapa and five hundred brethren accompanying him arranged their robes on one shoulder (representing the way in which the sacred thread is arranged among the brāhmaṇas), bowed down with clasped hands, went round the body reverently thrice. The body was then burnt and only bones remained. Then the narrative states that Ajātasatru, king of Magadha, the Licchavis of Vesāli and several others claimed portions of the relics of the Buddha. Then the relics were divided into eight parts. Those who received them built mounds (Thūpas) over the relics and the Moriyas who got only embers also built a Thūpa over them and a brāhmaṇa Dona (Droṇa) built a mound over the jar (kumbha) in which the bones were collected. Mr. Rhys Davids remarks (S. B. E. vol. XI Introduction p. XLV) ’though funerals are naturally not infrequently mentioned in the historical books and in the Birth stories there is nowhere any reference to a recognised mode of performing any religious worship’. It will be noticed that the Buddhist ritual¹²⁴, though simple, agrees closely with some of the rules of Āśv. gr.

After the relatives (sons and the like) of a deceased person have offered water, have taken a bath and after they emerge from the water (of a river or the like) and are sitting on a plot of soft green grass, elderly persons should talk to them (in order to lessen their grief) about ancient narratives (Yāj. III, 7 and G. P. S. I. 4.2 ¹²⁵). viṣṇu Dh, S. 20. 22-53 contain a long disquisition on the grip that Kāla (Time, Death) has on every body including even Indra, gods, daityas, great kings and sages, how everyone that is born is sure to die (i. e. Death is inevi table), and how no one (except the wife) can follow the depar ted on his journey to the other world, how the good actions and bad actions will accompany the spirit of the dead, how śrāddha confers great benefit on the departed; it winds up that therefore the surviving relatives should offer śrāddha and give up lamentations that help no one, that it is dharma that alone follows the soul through his wanderings¹²⁶. Yāj. III. 8-11 (=Garudapurāṇa II. 4. 81-84) are verses in a similar strain and are intended to serve the same purpose. They are: ‘He, who seeks everlastingness in this human life that is as devoid of strength as the stock of a plantain plant, and that is as inconstant as a bubble of water, is a deluded person. What is the use of lamentation if the body, created out of the five elements by reason of actions performed in a former life, returns to those five elements? The earth, the ocean and the gods are destined to go to destruction (at some future date when pralaya takes place).

Consoling words to the bereaved

How is it possible that the world of mortals which is (evanescent) like foam will not meet with destruction? As the departed spirit, being helpless, has to swallow the tears and phlegm cast by kinsmen, they should not weep but should perform (obsequial) rites according to their ability.’ Gobhilasmṛti III. 39 urges ‘do not lament for what is perishable and what is the characteristic (destiny) of all beings. Exert yourselves in the performance of meritorious acts which will accompany you.’ Gobhila then quotes Yāj. III. 8-10 and one verse from the Mahābhārata¹²⁷ viz. ‘All collections are to end in dissipation, all rise is to end in fall, all unions in separation and life in death’. Aparārka quotes the Rāmāyana and Vāsudeva’s words from the Śalyaparva to Dhṛtarāstra on the death of Duryodhana. The Par. M. I. 2 pp. 292-93, the Suddhi prakāśa pp. 205-206 and several other works quote the verses of Viṣṇu, Yāj, and Gobhila.

The Garudapurāṇa here (II. 4.91-100) waxes eloquent over the immolation of a wife on her husband’s funeral pyre, over the miraculous power of a pativratā, and states that a brāhmana woman should not burn herself apart from her husband’s body (or after he is cremated), but that kṣatriya and other women may do so, that the practice of sati is common to all women even including chāṇḍāla women, but pregnant women or those that have young children should not do so and that a woman does not become free from the liability to be born again and again as a woman until she becomes a Sati.

After listening to the philosophical discourse of elders the relatives return to their house, placing children in front and standing at the door of the house, they with minds under control bite the leaves of the nimba tree, perform ācamana, touch fire, water, cowdung, white mustard; then they should enter their house after slowly (firmly) planting their foot on a stone. According¹²⁸ to Śaṇkha the relatives should touch the tendrils of Dūrvā, fire and a bull, should offer a piṇḍa to the departed at the door of the house and then enter it. Baijavāpa¹²⁹ q. by Śuddhitattva prescribes the mantras to be recited in touching śami, the stone (aśma), fire and provides further that a cow and a goat should be touched holding fire between themselves and these animals; food should be purchased or obtained from another’s house, it should be of one kind only without salt, that they should for one day eat only by day and stop all actions for three days. Yāj. III. 14 prescribes that the actions prescribed by him in III, 12 for relatives (viz. biting nimba leaves up to entering the house) must be done by others who, though no relatives. carried the corpse or decked it &c.

Observances for near relatives in mourning

The Sān. Sr. IV. 15.10, the Aśv. gr. IV. 4.17-27, Baud. P.S. I. 12.10, Kauśikasūtra 82,33-35 and 42-47, Pār. gr. III, 10, Ap. Dh. S. I. 3.10,4-10, Gaut. Dh. 14.35-36 Manu V. 73, Vas, 4.14-15, Yaj. III. 16-17, Viṣṇu Dh. S. 19.14-17, Saṁvarta 39-43, Śankha 15.25, Garudapuraṇa (Pretakhaṇḍa chap. 5,1-5) and others lay down several rules for those (both men and women) who have lost a near sapiṇḍa by death to be observed immediately after they return from the cremation and for three more days¹³⁰. The Sān. Sr. provides that they should sleep on the bare ground (not on a cot), they should subsist on sacrificial food, they should give up the performance of their usual religious duties (except in relation to the vedic fires ) for one night, three nights or nine nights or till the day of the collection of the bones. The Āśv. gr. (IV. 4.17-24) provides these observations viz. ‘Let them not cook food during that night, let them subsist on bought food or on food received from others, let them eat no mineral salt or ordinary¹³¹ salt for three nights, let them optionally avoid for twelve nights the distribution of gifts and the study of vedic texts if one of the principal gurus (father, mother or the teacher who performed upanayana and taught the whole Veda ) dies. Par. gr. III. 10 adds that they should remain chaste, eat food only once in the day and that they should not repeat Veda study, and should give up the daily obligatory duties except those connected with Vedic fires. Manu (V. 73) adds that they should not eat flesh for three days. Vas. ( 4.14-15 ) lays down that the relatives who returned from the cemetery should sit down for three days on mats and fast, that if they are unable ( to fast for three days ) they should subsist on food bought in the market or obtained unasked. Yāj. III. 17 and Pār. III, 10 ¹³² provide that for the night they should put milk and water in an earthen vessel in the open space (on a śikya) with the words ‘O departed one! bathe here ( in the water) and drink this milk’. Yāj. III. 17, Paighinasi, Manu V. 84, Par. gr. III. 10, and others state that the relatives of the departed should perform their own daily rites to be performed in the śrauta fires (such as Agnihotra and Darsapūrnamāsa ) and in the smārta fire (such as morning and evening homa) on account of the peremptory dictates of the Veda (such as one should perform Agnihotra as long as one lives’). The commentators have added several limitations and restrictions. The Mit.¹³³ on Yāj. III, 17 states that, as Manu V. 84 only prohibits the stopping of the rites in (Vedic and Smārta) fires, such religious duties as the five daily Mahāyajñas are excluded, that Vaiśvadeva, though performed in fire, is excluded because there is an express text of Samvarta a brāhmaṇa should be without Vaiśvadava for ten days ( after the death of a sapiṇḍa), that the śrauta and Smārta rites should be got performed by another, as Pāraskara (III. 10’anya etāni kuryuḥ) expressly lays down. Only nitya and naimittika acts to be performed in Vedic and Smārta fires are allowed and so kāmya rites cannot be performed. Even at present Agnihotrins perform their śrauta nitya homa during days of impurity themselves, though some get it performed by another. (Vide Yāj. III. 17, Manu V. 84). Although there is a text of Gobhilasmṛti (III, 60 ) prohibiting the performance of sandhyā, yet relying on a sūtra of Paithinasi the Mit. says that a man can offer water to the Sun in worship; others like the smṛtimuktāphala (p. 478) say that sandhyā mantras may be revolved in the mind, except the prānāyāma mantras. This is followed in modern times in many parts of India. viṣṇu Dh. S. 22,6 prescribes that in impurity due to birth or death homa (Vaiśvadeva ), giving and accepting gifts and the study of Veda cease. The Vaik. Sm. S. VI.4 states that the performance of sandhyā adoration, all rites for the gods and manes, gift and acceptance and Veda study should be given up during impurity on death. Gautama 14.44 appears to hold that a brāhmana is not affected by impurity on birth and death for the purposes of Veda study. On the other hand Saṃvarta¹³⁴ (43) affirms that on the days of impurity on birth and death there is no performance of the five Mahāyajñas nor of Veda study. The Nityācāra-paddhati p. 544 states that even in aśauca the thousand names of viṣṇu may be recited.

Asthisañcayana

Asthisañcayana or Sañcayana means that rite in which the (charred) bones (of the cremated person) are collected. This rite is dealt with in many sutra and smṛti works, such as Sān. Sr. IV. 15. 12-18, Sat. Śr. 28. 3, Āśv.gr. 1V. 5.1-18, Gaut. P. S. I. 5, viṣṇu Dh. S. 19. 10-12, Baud. P. S. I. 14, Kauśika-sūtra 82. 29-32, Vaik. Smārta Sūtra V. 7, Yama 87-88, Samvarta 38, Gobhila-smṛti III, 54-59 (q. by Haralata p. 183). There is great divergence of views about the day on which this was to be done. For example, Sat. Sr. 28. 3.1 provides: ¹³⁵ ‘bones are collected on the next day (after cremation) or on the 3rd, 5th or 7th.’ Saṁvarta (verse 38) and Garudapurāṇa (Pretakhaṇḍa 5. 15) prescribe that collection of bones should be made on the 1st, 3rd. 7th or 9th and (particularly) on the 4th by twice-born persons. The Vámanapurāṇa (14. 97-98) allows it on the 1st, 4th or 7th day. Yama (87) requires the relatives to collect bones from the 1st to the 4th day after cremation and also provides (verse 88) that the four varnas should respectively perform sañcayana on the 4th, 5th, 7th and 9th day. The Āśv. gr. S. IV. 5. 1 states that sañcayana should be performed after the 10th day from cremation in the dark half, but on uneven tithis (i.e. 1st, 3rd, 11th. 13th, 15th) and on a nakṣatra which bears a name not applicable to two or more nakṣatras (i.e, except on the two Āṣāḍhas, two Phalgunis and two Bhādrapadās). viṣṇu Dh, S. 19 10. Vaik. Smārta-sūtra V. 7, Kaus. 82. 29, viṣṇupurāṇa TIL 13 14. Kūrmapuraṇa (uttara) 23 and a few other works lay down that sañcayana must be done on the 4th day after cremation. The various texts differ a good deal in details. The following is the procedure in the Aśv. gr. IV.5:–The bones of a male should be collected into an urn that has no special marks (protuberances), those of a woman in an urn that has protuberances but no other special marks. Aged persons, odd in number¹³⁶ not being together with women, (i.e. not as a mixed assemblage ) collect the bones. The performer walks thrice round the spot (where the body was burnt) with his left side turned towards the spot, sprinkles on it with a śami branch milk mixed with water with a verse ‘śitike’ ( Ṛg. X. 16. 14). With the thumb and the 4th finger they (gatherers ) should put each single bone into the urn without making a rattling noise (of the bones in the urn), the bones of the feet being taken first, those of the head last. Having well gathered the bones and having purified them with a winnowing basket (i.e, removing the dust attaching to them) they should put the urn in a pit at a place where the waters from different sides do not flow together except rain water with the verse ‘upasarpa’ (Ṛg. X. 18. 10) and he should throw earth (into the pit) with the following verse (Ṛg. X. 18. 11). After having thrown (earth) he should repeat the next verse (Ṛg. X. 18. 12). Then covering (the mouth of the urn) with a lid with the mantra ‘ut te stabhnāmi’ (Ṛg. X. 18. 13) (he fills up the pit). Then without looking back they return (towards the house), bathe in water and then offer śrāddha to him alone (the departed).

Dr. B. N. Datta in his paper ‘Vedic funeral customs and Indus Valley culture in ‘Man in India’, vol. 16 pp. 223-307 regards (p. 285) Ṛg. X. 18 as a hymn dealing with burial of the whole body (and not of ashes), while he admits (p. 287) that Ṛg. X. 16 is a cremation hymn. I dissent from him for various reasons; the most important is that if his theory be correct a period of several centuries must be postulated between the two hymns. This is inadmissible.

The Kauśikasutra (82. 29-32) prescribes certain details differently. It says that the bones are collected with A. V. 18. 2. 24, 26, then they are consigned to a jar over which all fragrant powders are scattered, then the jar is raised with the Utthāpanī verses and carried with the verses called Hariṇis (i.e. A. V. 18. 2. 11-18). He (the performer) deposits (in the earth the urn) at the root of a tree with the verse ‘mā tvā’ (A. V. 18. 2. 25 ‘May the tree not injure thee all round, may not the wide goddess Earth also injure thee’)¹³⁷.

The other sūtras present several variations which are passed over here, excepting one or two matters. The Sat. Sr. provides that the twig should be of the Udumbara tree, that the bones are collected by women of the family of the deceased (his wife and others) odd in number (five or more), or other women (in the absence of women of the family). A woman who is not likely to have a child should tie in her left hand a Bṛhati fruit with two threads, blue and red in colour, should step on a stone with her left foot, collect the bones first from the teeth or head with the mantra “uttiṣthata’ (Tai. Ā. VI. 4. 2) and she should deposit those bones in a jar or garment, then a second woman of the same type collects bones from the shoulders or arms, a third woman from the sides or hips, a fourth from the thighs or legs, and a fifth from the feet. They or more women collect the bones completely. The urn is deposited at the root of a śami or palāśa tree.

Modern sañcayana rite

In modern times, particularly in towns and cities, the collection of bones has to be done immediately after cremation. The Antyeṣṭi-paddhati closely follows the procedure prescribed in the Āśv. gr. quoted above. It says: the performer goes to the place of cremation, sips water, mentions the time and place, makes a saṅkalpa (declaration) that he will perform the collection of the bones of the departed naming him and his gotra, Ho walks thrice round the place of cremation with his left towards it and sweeps it with a sami branch and sprinkles it with milk mixed with water with the mantra ‘śītike’ (Ṛg. X. 16. 14). Then old men odd in number with the performer collect the bones (as stated by Asv. gr. above) and place them in a new jar and if they are of a woman in a jar with protu berances. They also winnow the ashes with a sūrpa and place in the jar even small bones and throw the ashes into the Ganges. Then at some time other than the rainy season a pit should be dug in a pure spot whereon water would not flow and the performer deposits the jar in the pit with the mantra ‘approach this mother, Earth’ (Ṛg. X. 18. 10). With Ṛg. X. 18. 11. he throws earth in the pit all round the jar and murmurs with folded hands the mantra (Ṛg. X. 18. 12) and he closes the jar with a new earthen disk with the verse Ṛg. X. 18. 13. Then he should put earth on the jar in such a way that it may not be geen by anybody and without looking back should go elsewhere and bathe. The Nirṇayasindhu (p. 586) expressly states that the procedure for the collection of bones may be gathered from one’s sūtra or from the work of Bhaṭṭa (i.e. Nārāyana, Kamalakara’s grandfather).

The viṣṇudharmasutra (19.11-12) and Anu. 26.32 state that the collected bones should be cast in Ganges water, since as many particles of the bones of a man remain in Ganges water for go many thousands of years he dwells in heaven. It was provided in the Purāṇas that a virtuous son, brother or daughter’s son or a relative on the father’s or mother’s side should cast the bones in the Ganges, that one not so related should not do it and that if he does it he has to perform cândrāyaṇa prāyaścitta. Even in modern times many Hindus take the charred bones of their parents or other dear relatives to the Ganges at Prayāga (Allahabad) or some other holy river[554a] or cast them into the sea. The Nirṇayasindhu (p. 587 ) quotes an elaborate rite of casting the ashes in the Ganges from Śaunaka. It is briefly as follows: The performer should go out of the village, bathe with clothes on sprinkle the earth where the ashes are deposited with the Gāyatri and the other mantras usually repeated over pañcagavya. With the four mantras ‘upasarpa’ (Ṛg. X. 18.10-13) he should respectively pray to the earth, then dig it, take out the earth, and then the bones. Then he should bathe and purify the bones by touching the bones again and again and repeating the mantras ’eto nvindram stavāma suddham &c.’ (Ṛg. VIII. 95. 7-9). Then he should bathe with pañcagavya and become pure. Then he should bathe ten times with cow’s urine, cow’s dung, cow’s milk, curds, clarified butter, water in which kuśas have been dipped, ashes (of sacred fires ), earth, honey and water. Then he should sprinkle (with kuśas) water on the bones with the mantras, viz. Ṛg. 1.22.16. Ṛg. VIII. 95,7-9¹³⁸ Ṛg. VII, 56,12-14, Ṛg. X. 126,1-8, Ṛg. X. 119.1-13, Ṛg. IX. 11-10 (called Pāvamāni Verses ), Ṛg. X. 128.1-9, Ṛg. I. 43.1-9 (a hymn to Rudra ); then he should offer a hiraṇya śrāddha for the deceased, offer piṇḍa to him and perform tarpaṇa with sesame. Then he should cover the bones in seven ways viz. by deer-skin, woollen blanket, darbhas, cow’s hair, hempen cloth, birch leaf and palm leaf. He should cast among the bones pieces of gold and silver, pearls, coral and sapphire for the purification of the bones, then he should offer into fire 108 oblations of clarified butter and sesame with the hymn beginning with ‘udiratām’ (Ṛg. X. 15). Then he should cast the bones in holy water; thereby he does not incur the fault of touching an unclean object. While answering the calls of nature or performing ācamana one should not hold the bones.

The Nirṇayasindhu adds (p. 588) that there is no asthisañcayana for one whose upanayana had not been performed.

Sānti rite some days after death

The Aśv. gr. 1V.6, the Sat. Sr. 28.4, Sān. Sr. 4.6 (called paridhikarma) and some others prescribe a śānti rite after collection of the charred bones of a deceased person. The Baud. P. S. (II. 3.3) and Viṣṇu Dh, S. 19.19 appear to prescribe the Śānti rite after the ten days of impurity have expired (‘daśarātre saucam kṛṭvā sāntiḥ’). It is described by Aśv. gr. as follows: They who have lost a guru (father or mother) by death should perform on the new moon day an expiatory ceremony. Before sunrise they should carry fire together with its ashes and with its receptacle to the south with the half verse ‘I send away the flesh-devouring Agni’ (Ṛg. X. 16. 9). Having cast that fire down at a place where four roads meet or somewhere else, they walk round it thrice, with their left side turned to it and beating their left thighs with the left hand. They should then return home without looking back, bathe in water, have their hair, beards and hair on the body and nails cut, furnish themselves with new jars, pots, vessels for rinsing the mouth, with garlands of śami flowers, with fuel of śami wood, with two pieces of śami wood for kindling fire¹³⁹ and with branches for encircling the fire, with bull’s dung and hide, fresh butter, a stone and as many bunches of kuśa grass as there are young women (in the house). At the time of the Agnihotra (in the afternoon) he should kindle fire (by means of the araṇis) with the half verse ‘Here may this other Jātavedas’ (Ṛg. X. 16.9 latter half)’. Keeping the fire burning they sit till night silence falls, repeating tales of old men (of the family) and stories of auspicious contents, Itihāsas and Purūṇas. When all sounds have ceased or when the others (members of the deceased’s family) have gone to their houses or resting place, the performer) should pour out a continuous stream of water beginning at the south side of the door with the verse (Ṛg. X, 53.6) ‘spreading the thread follow the light of the world’ and go round the house ending at the north side of the door, Then having placed the fire and spread to the west of it a bull’s hide with neck to the east, with the hair outside, he should cause the people of the house (including women) to step on that hide with the verse’ Arise to long life’ ¹⁴⁰ (Ṛg. X, 18.6). He should place twigs round the fire with ’ Here do I deposit an encircling thing’ (Ṛg. X. 18.4). Having placed a stone to the north of the fire with the words ‘May they place a mountain between themselves and death’ (Ṛg. X. 18.4 last pāda) and having sacrificed with four verses ‘Go hence, O Death’ (Ṛg. X. 18.1-4), he should look at his people with the verse ‘as days follow each other’ (Ṛg. X. 18.5). The young women (belonging to the house ) should with each hand separately with the thumb and 4th finger salve (at one and the same time) their eyes with fresh butter by means of young darbha blades and cast away the blades turning their faces away. The performer should look at them while they are salving their eyes, with the verse these women, being no widows and having good husbands’ (Ṛg. X. 18.7). The former should first touch the stone with ’the stream containing stones flows’ ( Ṛg. X. 53.8). After that, stationing himself to the north-east, while others go round with the fire, bull-dung and a continuous stream of water he should, after repeating the three verses (āpo hi śṭhā, Ṛg. X. 9.1-3), murmur the verse ’these have led round the cows’ (Ṛg. X. 155,5). A tawny-coloured bull should be led round. They then sit down at a place where they like to stop, having put on fresh unwashed garments and they sit there till sunrise avoiding sleep. After sunrise, having murmurred the hymns sacred to the sun and auspicious hymns, having prepared food and made oblations with the hymn beginning ‘May he burn away evil from us’ (Ṛg. I. 97.1-8), verse by verse, having given to the brāhmaṇas to eat, he should cause them to pronounce auspicious words. A cow, a cup of metal and a fresh unworn garment are the sacrificial fee for each of the brāhmaṇas.

A few details may be added from other sutras. The Sat. Śr. (28.4.1) provides that the Śānti is performed on the 10th day after cremation by a priest, that in the folded hands of the wives (of the members of the family ) he puts the remains of the material used for oblations with the verse ’these women, not being widows’ (Ṛg. X. 18.7=Tai. A. VI. 10.2), that the priest plants in the earth the stalk of a plant with the verse ‘yathā tvam’ (Tai, Ā. VI. 10.2 )¹⁴¹, that after they return home, they cook goat flesh and boil yava grains and eat them and then may occupy couches and cots (i. e, give up the observances of mourning).

Ancient Graves

Interesting information is furnished by the Śat. Br. about graves (XIII. 8. 1-4) and Kāt. Śr.¹⁴². It is said in Śat. Br. that the grave¹⁴³ or monument should not be built too soon after death, lest he (the performer) freshen up the sin of the deceased ; that he should make it a long time after and when people do not even remember the years (that have elapsed since the decease). He should make it in uneven years and under a single nakṣatra (i.e. containing a single star such as Citrā and Puṣya, and not dual such as Punarvasu and Viśākhā or plural such as Kṛttikā) and on the New Moon day. Let him make it in autumn or in Māgha or in summer. The sepulchral mound should be four cornered, because the people who are worshippers of gods (or godly) make their burial mounds four-cornered, while those who are followers of Asuras, the Easterns and such like people make them round. As to the choosing of the ground, the Śat. Br. states several views viz. he makes it on ground sloping towards the north or, according to some, to the south; but the Śat. Br. disapproves of both the views and prescribes that he should make the burial mound on any level ground where the waters flowing from a southernly direction come to the east and stand still without dashing forward and on such a ground one may make it (burial mound). Let him make it on a pleasant and peaceful spot, but not on a road nor in an open space lest he should make the deceased’s sin manifest. It should have the sun shining on it (at mid-day). It should not be made at a place where it would be visible from the village and there should be charming objects to its west (woods, gardens &c.). If there be no charming objects there should be waters to its west or north. He makes it on salt (barren) soil, on such ground as abounds in roots. Let him not make it near where grows the Bhumipāsā plant or where reeds grow, or Aśvagandhā or Adhyaṇḍa, or Pṛśniparṇi grows. He should not make it near an aśvattha tree or near a vibhitaka tree or a tilvaka, a sphūrjaka or a haridru or nyagrodha tree or other trees that have an evil name (like ślesmātaka or kovidāra). For one who has performed Agnicayana, he makes a tomb after the manner of the fire altar, One must not make it too large lest he should make the sin (of the deceased) large. He should make it just a man’s size, broader behind (to the west) and broader on the north side. He encloses it with cords twisted in the non-sunwise way. He then bids them to cut out the earth which would be just sufficient for making the mound of a man’s size.

The Kāt. Sr. (21.3.1 and 6) closely follows the above directions contained in the Śat.¹⁴⁴ Br. The Śat. Sr. 29. 1.2 provides that when the day of cremation is not known or remembered one may erect a mound over the bones ( with clods of earth or bricks) on the New Moon day that comes immediately after the Full Moon day of Māgha, Phālguna, Caitra, Vaisakha or of the summer months (Jyeṣṭha and Āṣāḍha),

Sepulchral monuments

The Śat. Br. (XIII. 8.2-4) pursues the subject of sepulchral monuments as follows: Godly people make their sepulchres so as not to be separate from the earth; while those who are of the Asura stamp, the Easterns and others, make the sepulchral mounds so as to be separate from the earth, either on a stone basin or a similar thing. He then encloses it with an undefined number of stones silently. He then sweeps the sepulchral site with a palāśa branch with (Vāj. S. 35.1 ‘May the niggardly god-haters go away’) and prays that Yama may grant him (the deceased) an abode. He throws out the branch to the south side. He then yokes the team of six oxen to the plough on the south side or on the north side, as he chooses, Having given the order ‘Yoke ‘he (the performer ) utters the mantra (Vaj. S. 35, 2 )¹⁴⁵. Having turned round the plough from right ( south side ) to the north, he ploughs the first furrow with Vāj. S. 35.3 ’ May Vāyu purify’ along the north side towards the west; with ‘May Savitṛ purify’ along the west side towards the south ; with ‘Agni’s lustre’ along the south side towards the east: with Sūrya’s brilliance’ along the front side towards the north. Four furrows he ploughs with a Yajus formula. He then ploughs across the body (of the sepulchral site ) silently with an undefined number of furrows. He then unfastens the team of oxen, To the right side (south-west ) he removes this (the plough and the team).

He then sows seeds of all kinds of herbs with a single verse (Vāj. S. 35.4); for long life he thereby prays for these (the performer’s family ) and accordingly each subsequent one of them dies of old age. He then pours out that (jar of bones ). He does so before sunrise so that the sun should rise over him while he is doing it. He does so with Vāj. S. 35, 5-6. He then says to some one ‘Proceed in that ( southern ) direction without drawing breath and having thrown down the jar, return hither without looking behind.’ He then mutters Vāj. S. 35.7. He then arranges the dead man ( the bones ) limb by limb with Vāj. S. 35.8-9. Now thirteen unmarked¹⁴⁶ bricks each measuring a (human) foot (pada) have been made and are laid down silently (and not with mantras as in the case of the Agnicayana ). One of the thirteen he places in the middle, with the front towards the east (this represents the trunk); three are placed in front (representing the head); three on the right (that is the right wing ); three on the left (that represents the left wing); three behind (representing the tail). He then directs them to bring some soil from a cleft in the ground. Some dig in the intermediate (south-eastern ) quarter and fetch it from there; others dig in the south-west and fetch it north wards; he may do as he likes (there is an option). Let him not make the sepulchral mound too large. For a kṣatriya he may make it as high as a man with upstretched arms, for a brāhmaṇa reaching up to the mouth, for a woman up to the hips, for a vaiśya up to the thighs, for a śūdra up to the knee; or let him rather make it so high (for all ) as to reach below the knee. While the mound is being made, they hold a bundle of reed grass to the north of it. Let him not throw it down after holding it up or after bringing it, but let him set it up in the house (as it represents offspring). Having prepared it he sows barley grain, thinking ‘May they ward off (yavaya) sin from me!’ He covers it over with Avakā plants in order that there may be moisture ( ka or joy ) for him and with darbha grass for softness.

They fix pegs round it, a palāśa one in front, a śami one on the north corner, a varaṇa one behind and a vṛtra¹⁴⁷ peg on the right (south corner). On the south side they dig two somewhat curved furrows and fill them with milk and water and they dig seven on the left (north) side and fill them with water for sin not to pass beyond. They throw three stones each into the northern furrows and pass over them with Vaj. S. 35. 10 ( = Rg. X. 53. 8). They cleanse themselves with Apāmārg¹⁴⁸ plants with Vāj. S. 35.11; they thereby wipe away sin. They bathe at any place where there is water. With Vāj. S.. 35. 12 he takes water with his joined hands and he throws it in the direction in which he who is hateful may be and thereby overthrows him¹⁴⁹. Having bathed and put on garments that have never yet been washed they hold on to the tail of an ox and return to their home.

Rites of sepulchral mounds

They proceed towards the village muttering Vaj. S. 35.14 (ud vayam). When they have arrived, ointments for their eyes and feet are given to them; such indeed are human means of embellishment and therewith they keep off death from themselves. Then in the house having kindled (domestic) fire and laid enclosing sticks of varaṇa wood round it he offers by means of a sruva (spoon) an oblation to Agni Āyuṣmat. Vāj. S. 35. 16 serves¹⁵⁰ as a puronuvākyā (invitatory formula). He then offers with Vāj. S. 35.17. He says this so that Agni may guard and protect these men. The sacrificial fee is an old ox, old barley, old chair with a head cushion. He may give more if he desires. This is the procedure in the case of one who has performed Agnicayana¹⁵¹. In the case of him who has not performed Agnicayana, there is the same procedure for selecting a site and the same performance save that of the fire-altar. Having fetched a clod from the boundary he deposits it midway between the sepulchral mound and the village with Vāj. S. 35. 15 (imam¹⁵² jivebhyaḥ). He then makes this a boundary between the Fathers and the living, so as not to commingle the two.

The Sat. Sr. 29.1 3 ff. and Baud. P. S. I 17-20 provide a lengthy procedure for erecting a mound over the bones of one who has performed the special rite of agnicayana which is passed over here. In building a mound the urn deposited under a tree is taken out and after the bones are purified in various ways (such as the spilling on them of curds mixed with vājina from a jar, the digging up of the clods by means of a plough to which a certain number of oxen are yoked). The Sat. Śr. (29.1. 3-12) deals with one kind of procedure in which there is no dhavana, while 29.1. 13-32 deal with the procedure where dhavana is employed and sūtras from 33 deal with procedure common to both pakṣas (viz.one without dhavana and the other with dhavana). The building of a mound with clods (loṣtaciti) in which there is dhavana is rather an obscure matter in its nature and had some gymbolic significance which is now lost. It may be briefly described as follows:- The members of the deceased’s house build a shed or a seat for a bed.

They drive in the eastern half or middle or western half of it a three-pronged palaśa peg. In front of it one born of a śūdra woman or a brahmabandhu (a brāhmaṇa only in name ) sits down for a dialogue. He asks the principal wife ( of the deceased) ‘will you dwell with me. That woman replies to him ‘I shall not give (what you ask).’ The same dialogue takes place on the 2nd day. Then on the third day she replies ‘I shall give for one night.’ Or if this peculiar practice (of talking about dhavana, which literally means ‘sexual intercourse’) was intended to last for more days than three she was to give a suitable reply (viz, for three nights or for five nights &c). When the words of the reply are uttered by the wife, the performer deposits the bones ( of the deceased) at the root of the peg and places between the three prongs of the peg a jar having a hundred holes at the bottom. The mouth of the jar is covered with a hide and kuśa grass. On that jar he sprinkles curds mixed with vājina with the mantra ‘Vaiśvānare haviridam’ (Tai. Ā. VI, 6.1). When the liquid oozes from the jar on the bones he invokes the two verses ‘drapsaś-caskanda’ and ‘imam samudram’ (Tai. Ā. VI. 6). Then the Sat Śr. (29.1. 26-29) provides that four brahmacārins or other brāhmaṇas, that are pure, tie up their locks on their heads that are to the right and keep dishevelled those on the left side of the head, they strike their right thighs and also the hide that is wound round the jar of bones, fan it with the fringes of their garments, go round the peg thrice with their left side towards the jar and the people living in the same house (with the deceased) and women also do the same,¹⁵³ that lutes (viṇā) are played upon and also conches are blown and other instruments like nālika, tūṇa, paṇava are beaten and there is also dancing, singing and playing on musical instruments. This practice of dhavana (symbolic ) may go on for five, seven, nine, eleven days, half a month, a month or a year during which time one has to donate food and money (gold &c.) according to one’s ability or on the last day according to some¹⁵⁴. If one may offer a conjecture. this rite was intended to assure the deceased man (represented by the charred bones) that his wife had remained faithful and unattached to any one else even long after his death.

##‍ Rites of erecting mound over bones

The Baud. P. S. (I. 17.8) also states that female dancers dance in this rite. Various measurements are given in the sūtras for the mounds that are constructed over the bones. Sat, Sr. (29.1,5-6) says¹⁵⁵ that the site of the mound / śmaśānāyatana ) is five prakramas on all four sides (or six on the east and five in the other directions, acc. to some ). The height of the mound is variously given even in the same sūtra¹⁵⁶. Sat. Sr. states that the height may be two finger-breadths, or three or four or a prādeśa (the distance between the thumb and index finger when both are stretched away) or a vitasti (twelve finger-breadths), or it may be up to the knee or thighs or buttocks. The Baud. P.S.T. 18 gives different¹⁵⁷ measurements. It states ‘if the mound to be raised is as high as the neck towards the west, then it is up to the navel on the east; if it is as high as the navel on the west, then it is as high as the knee on the east; if up to the knee on the west then on the east it is level with the ankle’. The Kauśikasūtra¹⁵⁸ (85.4-10) gives certain options viz, the maṇḍapa on which the mound is to be erected is either 7, 7,5, 3 prakramas on the south, north, east and west or 9, 9, 7,5 on the same sides in order or 11, 11, 9, 7; that in the case of those who worshipped the gods, the length was eleven on all sides; that in the case of the Śaunakins the sides (of the mound) are to be measured in odd numbers (of prakramas ) and the mounds are either round or four-cornered; that such mounds are seen (in those days) and that the grave built for one who had set up vedic fires was to be of the height of a man with arms upraised.

These passages show that the graves were generally quadrangular but sometimes round also (acc. to certain schools). The mounds at Lauriya referred to above are round.

Another feature to be noted is that clods were employed (and so the mound was called loṣṭaciti) or baked bricks in building the mound or grave over the bones by piling up layers of clay or bricks. In laying down the bricks first on the east, then on the north, then on the west and then on the south, the sūtras such as Sat, Sr. ( 29.1.53)¹⁵⁹ Baud, P.S. (I 19.4-7) four verses were respectively employed that are (in order) Ṛg X. 18.13, 10, 11, 12 (which are also A. V. XVIII. 3.52, 49 50, 51 and Tai. A. VL71). One of these (Ṛg X. 18.12 ) speaks of pillars and the other (Ṛg X. 18.13) of a post (sthūṇā). Vide above p. 189. The discovery of two wooden posts in two mounds ( at Lauriya above) in which the bones were deposited indicates that the Lauriya mounds followed a vedic custom which is mentioned by the śrautasūtras. The main difference between the Vedio and sutra ritual on the one hand and the Lauriya mounds on the other is the height of the latter, which betokens a later age than that of the sūtras.

The Sat. Sr, describes in the 28th praśna what is called pitṛmedha while in praśna 29 it describes the brahmamedha. The difference between the two is pointed out in Sat. Śr. 29.3.4-18 and it is stated¹⁶⁰ (in Sat. Sr. 29.3. 20, 22 ) that the mantras called ‘catur-hotārāḥ’ are spoken of as brahma (in Tai. Br. III. 12.5) and that the procedure of Brahmamedha is to be employed only for an ācārya or a śrotriya and for no one else. The Vaijayanti by Mahādeva states (in the Introductory verses) that praśnas 28 and 29 of Sat. Sr. are taken from Bharadvāja. It may be stated here that the procedure of dhavana described above in Sat. Sr, is no longer followed in India in modern times.

Stages in the disposal of dead bodies

In the Baud.¹⁶¹ P. S. I 17 there are passages that bear a close resemblance to some passages of the Sat. Sr. on dhavana. Similarly, Kāt. Sr.¹⁶² 21. 3.6 provides (immediately after the months in which mounds were to be constructed) that as many jars should be taken as there are persons performing dhavana (or dhuvana) and the commentator explains that word as meaning ‘fanning’.

It will be soon that the disposal of the dead in ancient India was divided into four stages viz. cremation, collecting the charred bones and depositing them underground in an urn, expiatory rites (called Śāntikarma) and erection of a monument over the bones. The last was not necessarily done in every case. The Andhau Inscription of the time of Rudradāman in the year 52 (probably of the śaka era ) refers to the erection of a staff (laṣṭi i.e. yaṣṭi) as a funeral monument to the memory of a sister, brother and wife by Madana son of Sihila (vide E. I. Vol. 16 pp. 23-25). In a long passage of the Brahmapurāṇa quoted by Aparārka (pp. 885-886) it is stated that the charred bones of a cremated person should be collected in an urn and deposited at the root of a tree or cast in the Ganges, that the place of cremation should be purified with cowdung and water, that a puskaraka tree should be planted there or an eduka (a structure ) should be built over it¹⁶³.

The Sat śr. 28.4. 28 and Baud. P.S. II. 3. 2 state as shown above that the rites immediately after death were performed only up to the depositing of the urn (containing the bones) underground in the case of those householders who had not set up the vedic fires and in the case of married women and that in the case of him who had performed the solemn rite of Agnicayana a mound with bricks or clods was built up on the bones.

It is remarkable that while slaves and even attendants were often buried with the master in Babylon and Celtic Britain, there is no similar reference to the burial or cremation of anybody with the deceased even in the ancient procedure found in the Sat. Br. It is ouly possible to say that in some cases in the pre-Vedic age the wife might have burnt herself along with the deceased husband on the funeral pyre. There is no doubt that later works like the viṣṇudharmasūtra recommended to women the practice of Sati as an option to leading the life of perfect celibacy after the husband’s death.

Adhikarin for Antyeṣṭi

The persons entitled to perform the funeral rites after death (antyakarmādhikārin) are the same as those entitled to offer śrāddha. There is a good deal of difference as to the order of the persons so entitled. For example, Gautama (Dh.S. 15. 13-14) states ‘On failure of sons the sapiṇḍas (e. g. brother, brother’s son), the sapiṇḍas of the mother (e.g maternal uncle or his son) and pupils may perform śrāddha for the deceased; in default of these the family priest and the ācārya (veda teacher).’ Sankha says ¹⁶⁴ ‘The offering of piṇḍa and water should be done by the son for the father; in default (i.e. absence or death) of the son, the wife of the deceased) should offer, but in default of her the full brother.’ The viṣṇupurāṇa¹⁶⁵ provides : ’the son, grandson, great grandson (of the deceased), the offspring of the brother (of the deceased), the offspring of a sapiṇḍa become entitled to offer (piṇḍa).’ The Mārkandeyapurāṇa provides (30. 19-21, chap. 27. 19-23 of the Venk, ed.) ‘On failure of the sons, sapiṇḍas, on failure of them the samānodakas, then the sapiṇḍas of the mother, and samānodakas of her, should perform these rites; a daughter’s son should perform them (if the man dies sonless), the putrikāputra should perform them for his maternal grand-father; in default of all these, women should perform these rites for their husbands but without Vedic mantras; in default of wife the king should get the rites performed by some one belonging to the family (of the deceased) or by persons of his caste, since the king is the relative of all varnas’¹⁶⁶. There was a close connection between taking the estate of a man and performing the rites after death up to the 10th day. For the doctrines represented by the Mitakṣarā and the Dāyabhāga, vide H. of Dh. vol. III pp. 734-743. Even those that regarded that inheritance was based on relationship by blood and not on the capacity to offer piṇḍas held that it was obligatory on everyone who took the estate of another (including the king who took as the ultimate heir by escheat) to arrange for the rites after death and śrāddha. Viṣṇu¹⁶⁷ Dh. S, XV. 40 declares whoever inherits the estate of a deceased person has to offer piṇḍa to him.’ Yāj. II. 127 says the same thing about the Kṣetraja son (ubhayorapyasau rikthi piṇda-dātā ca dharmataḥ).

The Smṛtyarthasāra (p. 94) states the order of adhikārins as follows; a competent son is the first adhikarī for offering piṇḍa; in default of a son, husband, wife and co-wives; in default of these, the brother’s son, the brother, daughter-in-law, daughter, daughter’s son, any other sagotra, a sapiṇḍa, a fellow-student, a friend, a pupil, the teacher, any relative and anyone who takes the wealth of the deceased may offer piṇḍa. The father is not competent to perform śrāddha rites for his (deceased) son, an elder brother for his younger brother; these may even do so through affection but they cannot perform the sapiṇḍikaraṇa. Parents may offer piṇḍa to unmarried daughters, and even to married daughters in the absence of another (proper) giver. The daughter’s son and the maternal grandfather may offer to each other; the daughter’s son to maternal grand-mother; the son-in-law and father-in-law to each other, the daughter-in-law to her mother-in-law, brothers among themselves, teacher and pupil to each other. For the order of śrāddhādhikārins, according to the Dāyabhāga, vide H. of Dh, vol. II p. 739. The Nirṇayasindhu¹⁶⁸ says that in the Kali age only two kinds of sons viz. aurasa and dattaka are allowed (out of the twelve mentioned by Yāj. II. 128–132) and the order of śrāddhādhikarins is given by it as follows: aurasa son, then grandson, then great grandson, then adopted son. If there are many sons then the eldest alone is the adhikarin; if the eldest be not present or is patita, then the son next to the eldest is the adhikārin (and not the youngest). If the sons are divided from each other, then all the rites up to sapiṇdikaraṇa are to be performed by the eldest alone who may make the other sons contribute to the expenses, but the yearly śrāddha may be performed by each son separately. If the sons (of the deceased) are not divided, then all rites including the yearly śrāddha also are to be performed by the eldest alone. When the eldest son not being present, the younger one or the youngest performs the cremation, he should perform all rites up to and including the sixteen śrāddhas, but not sapiṇdikaraṇa and he should wait for one year for the arrival of the eldest. If the eldest comes to know of the death within one year, he alone should perform the sapiṇḍíkaraṇa. If the eldest son does not come even at the end of one year, then even the youngest may perform sapiṇdikaraṇa. If before the expiry of one year the youngest son or some one other than a son performs the monthly, anumāsika, sapiṇdikaraṇa śrāddhas, then the eldest son or a son should again perform these. If there is a grandson who has his upanayana performed and there be a son whose upanayana is not performed it is the latter who is a preferable adhikārin, provided he is either three years old or has the cūḍā ceremony performed as stated by Sumantu¹⁶⁹. Manu II. 172 states that a boy should not repeat the Veda before the performance of Upanayana except the mantras that are required for the śrāddha of his deceased father or mother. Such a son may perform with Vedic mantras the funeral rites on the death of his father or mother and their yearly and other śrāddhas. If he is unable to repeat the Vedic mantras, he may simply perform the cremation with mantras and the rest may be got performed through another person. In the same way he should make only the declaration (saṅkalpa) of darśaśrāddha and mahālaya and the rest may be performed by some one else. An adopted son becomes an adhikarin for funeral rites and the like only if the upanayana has been performed. If there be no lineal descendant up to a great-grandson and also no adopted son, then the wife should perform with mantras the funeral rites and yearly and other śraddhas but if she is unable to repeat the Vedic mantras, then the same rules apply as in the case of an anupanīta son. Even if the husband be not divided from his brother, or he be re-united with his brother, it is the wife and not the brother who is to be preferred as having adhikāra for śraddha, though the brother gets all the property. Though some of the latest works on dharmaśāstra like the Nirṇayasindhu¹⁷⁰ and Dharmasindhu (bhāryayāpi samantrakam-eva-aurdhvadehikādikam kāryam) allowed the wife to perform rites after death with vedic mantras, several works such as the Markaṇḍeya-purāṇa and the Brahmapurāṇa did not allow the wife to repeat Vedic mantras (vide note 583 above). In default of the wife, the daughter has the right to perform rites after death if the deceased was separated and not re-united. But if the deceased was joint then his full brother would be the proper adhikārin after the wife. Among daughters the married one is preferred, though an unmarried daughter is a preferable heir. In default of daughters, the daughter’s son is an adhikārin; then a brother, then a brother’s son. Among brothers a full brother is preferred to a half brother and if there be both elder and younger brothers, then the younger is preferred for performing rites after death (in order to make as near an approach as possible to the relation of father and son). If there be no younger brother, then even an elder one could be adhikārin; in default of full brother, a half brother. Some held that even if the deceased was separate from his brother and had a daughter or daughter’s son as heir the funeral rites were to be performed by the brother (and not by the daughter or her son), since a sagotra is to be preferred as an adhikārin to one of a different gotra. If there be no brother, then a full brother’s son was to be preferred, then the half brother’s son, then father, then mother, then daughter-in-law, then sister. In case of there being full sisters, half sisters, younger and older sisters the same rules apply as in the case of brothers; in default of any sister, sister’s gon. If there be many sister’s sons, the rules as to brothers would apply. Then come paternal uncle, his son, other sapiṇdas;¹⁷¹ then samānodakas, then other persons born in the same family. In default of these, the sapiṇḍas of the mother, such as the maternal grand-father, maternal uncle, maternal uncle’s son in that order; in default of the sapiṇdas of the mother, the sons of the deceased’s paternal or maternal aunt; in default of these the pitṛ-bandhus such as the sons of the father’s father’s sister, of the father’s mother’s sister, of father’s maternal uncle; then the mātṛ-bandhus such as mother’s father’s sisters’s son; in default of these, a disciple (of the deceased); in default of disciple, son-in-law of the deceased (or the father in-law of the deceased); in default of these, a friend; in default, any one who takes the wealth of a brāhmaṇa (deceased); if the deceased was other than a brāhmaṇa the king (who took the wealth of everyone dying heirless, except the wealth of a brāhmaṇa) who arranges for funeral rites through another.

In the case of women the following order of those entitled to perform rites of a deceased woman is given in the Dharmasindhu (p. 370); If the female be unmarried then her father is the adhikārin, then her brother and the like; if the woman was married, her son, then her co-wife’s son, then co-wife’s grandson and then great-grandson; in default of these, the husband; in default of husband, daughter, then daughter’s son; then husband’s brother; then husband’s brother’s son; then daughter-in-law; then (the deceased) woman’s father; then her brother; then her brother’s son and the rest.

An adopted son should perform the śrāddha of his natural father if the latter left no son or other adhikārī.

Brahmacarin when adhikarin

If a brahmacārin dies, his monthly, yearly and other śrāddhas should be performed by his father and mother. A brahmacārin may carry the dead body of his parents, or of his maternal grand-father, upādhyāya and acārya and perform the cremation and other rites; but if another adhikārin is available, he should not do these even for the parents and the other three. A brahmacārin should not at all carry the dead body of any one except of the above five or perform the cremation and other rites for any one else. If a brahmacārin performed all the rites for ten days he had to observe āśauca for ten days, but if he performed only the cremation he had to observe āśauca only for one day. Even while in mourning his obligatory acts do not stop; but he should not eat the food cooked for his relatives that are in mourning nor should he dwell among them; if he did (both these ) he had to undergo prāyaścitta and perform upanayana again.

It is somewhat curious that Baudhāyana, the Lingapurāṇa (quoted in śrāddhaprakāśa pp. 361-371), the Mārkandeyapurāṇa, the Pitṛdayitā (p. 82) and several other works allow man himself while living to perform his own rites after death (antyeṣṭi)¹⁷². This will be dealt with briefly later on under śrāddha. Further, if a man became patita and refused to undergo prāyaścitta, he was driven out of the Hindu fold by the procedure of ghaṭasphoṭa (vide H. of Dh. vol. II pp. 387-388), and Gaut. Dh, S. 20.2 and Manu XI. 182-183 provide that such a man was to be held to be dead and his relatives were to perform all rites for him such as offering water and śrāddha and were also to observe āśauca for him¹⁷³.

Navaśrāddhas

Many commentators and digests quote certain verses of the Viṣṇupurāṇa (III. 13. 34-39) wherein the rites (kriyāḥ) after death performed for a person are enumerated as falling into three classes, viz. pūrva, madhyama and uttara. The rites from cremation up to the end of the 12th day are called pūrva, the śrāddhas performed monthly and sapiṇḍikaraṇa and ekoddiṣṭa are called madhyama rites and those that are performed after sapiṇḍikaraṇa, when the deceased has reached the position of pitṛ after being a preta, are designated uttara¹⁷⁴. The pūrva and madhyama rites of the deceased may be performed by the father, the mother, sapiṇdas, samānodakas and those belonging to the deceased’s group (gotra) or by the king if he takes the wealth of the deceased. But the rites called uttara are to be performed only by the son, grandson, great-grandson, daughter’s son or the latter’s sons. Even in the case of women, on the day of the anniversary of death every year an ekoddiṣṭa śrāddha may be performed for them. There is also another classification of śrāddhas viz, Navaśrāddha (those rites up to ten days after death), Navamiśra (those performed after ten days up to six seasons ), Purāṇa (those performed after a year )¹⁷⁵.

As stated above, for ten days after death a handful of water mixed with sesame was to be offered to the deceased on a stone (aśman) placed on kuśa grass and one large piṇḍa (called pūraka-piṇḍa) was to be offered on kuśa grass everyday with the face to the south and the sacred thread on the right shoulder (prācīnāvīti) for the purpose of freeing the departed from the state of being a preta. On the piṇḍa, water mixed with sesame was to be offered and leaves of Bhṛngarāja (called mākā in Marathi) and Tulasi also. The verse ‘anādinidhano’ was to be repeated¹⁷⁶. The performer throws the piṇḍa in water and then bathes. Vide A. K. D. pp. 43-50 and Antyeṣṭi-paddhati of Nārāyaṇa for detailed treatment of the procedure of these ten days. Besides this, the Āśvalāyana- gṛhyapariśiṣṭa¹⁷⁷ III. 6 speaks of five śrāddhas called ’nava śrāddhas’ (or Viṣamaśrāddhas) performed on the uneven days (i. e. 1st, 3rd, 5th, 7th and 9th ) with uncooked food. According to the Garudapurāṇa (Pretakhaṇḍa 34. 36 which speaks of six śrāddhas on uneven days from 1st day to 11th) and Āpastamba they are six (Dharmasindhu p. 464, Nirṇayasindhu p. 588, Śuddhiprakāśa pp. 214-216, śrāddhatattva p. 619) and according to others there is an option. Aṅgiras and Vasiṣṭha speak of six Navaśrāddhas on uneven days from the 1st to the 11th, while Baud. Pitṛmedha S. II. 10. 6 speaks of five. Some prescribe the placing of some cooked food sprinkled with ghee on the hand of a brāhmaṇa. Others do not approve of this. They prescribe the placing of uncooked corn in front of a brāhmaṇa or in front of a figure of a brāhmaṇa made with kuśas (called caṭa in Marathi). The Garudapuraṇa (II. 5, 67 ff) holds that the navaśrāddhas are those performed at the place where a man died, where the funeral procession rested on the way, when the bones were collected and those performed on the 5th, 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th and 11th day. The Śuddhiprakāśa p. 214 quotes similar views from Kātyāyana and the view of Vṛddha-Vasiṣṭha that the deceased does not become free from the status of a preta, unless the navaśrāddhas are performed. The Garudapurāṇa, Pretakhaṇḍa (chap. 34. 27-28, 44, 48) states that by the piṇḍas offered for ten days the several limbs of a subtle body are provided for the departed spirit which at first wanders like thin air. There are several differing views on the navaśrāddhas which are passed over here. On the uneven days if navaśrāddha is performed two piṇḍas will be offered (one the daily one and the other, of the navaśrāddha). The Padma (Sṛṣṭikhaṇḍa 10. 19) prescribes that one should not partake of the food at navaśrāddha and on doing so should undergo the cāndrāyaṇa expiation.

In modern times, after the rites of the first day of cremation and of the collection of the bones, the rites for the dead generally begin on the 10th day. The performer goes to the place where the rites of the first day were performed, makes a saṅkalpa and offers a piṇḍa with the words “May this piṇḍa wait upon the preta named N. N. and of the gotra (Kaśyapa &c.) in order that hunger and thirst affecting the preta may be removed’. Then he offers water mixed with sesame, places leaves of bhṛñgarāja and tulasi, repeats the verse ‘anādinidhano’ (note 592), removes the piṇḍa to another place from the place where it was offered. Then he prepares a vedi with loose earth with a triangular shape, purifies it by means of cowdung, decks it with turmeric powder and places thereon five jars full of water and on each of them a ball of rice. Then he offers a request to the middle jar with the words. ‘May this piṇḍa together with the jar of water wait upon the preta by name N. N., of such and such a gotra in order that his hunger and thirst may be allayed’. There is a prayer before the jars to the east, south, west and north respectively to those whom the preta had befriended, to Yama, to crows, to Rudra respectively. There is a difference of view here, some prescribing four jars, some three, while others offer a piṇḍa with the jar of water only on the place meant for the preta and mere piṇḍa to others. Then water is offered over the piṇḍa and to each of the above he offers sandals, umbrella, banner, bread. Then the performer waits till a crow seizes or eats the piṇḍa placed to the west¹⁷⁸. Then the aśman (stone) is anointed with oil and cast in water. Then the performer requests the relatives, who offer one handful or three handfuls of water to the preta on the bank of the reservoir of water. Then the sons and others according to usage cut their hair and nails. Then all persons of the same gotra, according to the custom of the country, bathe with sesame and myrobalan, wear pure and dried garments, go home and take their meals there.

Ethereal body after death

Some of the Puraṇas and medieval digests assert that after a man dies, the soul or spirit assumes what is called an ātivāhika¹⁷⁹ body consisting of three of the five elements (viz. fire, wind and ākāśa) that rise up from the dead body (while two viz. earth and water remain below), that such a body is obtained only by men and not by other beings, that with the aid of the piṇḍas that are offered to the departed at the time of cremation and during ten days thereafter, the soul secures another body called bhogadeha (a body for enjoying the piṇḍas offered) and that at the end of a year when sapiṇḍikaraṇa is performed, the soul secures a third body wherewith the spirit reaches heaven or hell according to the nature of his actions. The word ‘ātivāhika’ is comparatively an ancient one. It occurs in Vedāntasūtra IV. 3.4 (ātivāhikās-tal-liṅgāt). But there the meaning is somewhat different. The Upaniṣads speak of the soul as going by the path of arcis, day &c. The sūtra says that these (viz. arcis, ahaḥ &c.) are superintending deities that take the soul gradually onward by the path that leads to Brahma. Govindānanda in his commentary on the Prāyaścittaviveka (pp. 13-14) holds that there are only two bodies (and not three as appears at first sight), viz. the ātivāhika or pretadeha and the bhogadeha. The belief was that the man on whose death no piṇḍa was offered or the sixteen śrāddhas to be described below) were not performed remained for all time in the condition of a piśāca, from which he would not be freed even if numerous other śrāddhas were later on offered for him¹⁸⁰. The Brahmapurāṇa calls the body ‘yātaniya’(i.e. one that has to undergo trials and torments), while the Agnipurāṇa calls it yātāniya’ or ‘ātivāhika’ and asserts that this body is made up of the elements of ākāśa, vāyu and tejas. The Padmapurāṇa (II. 67. 98 ) states that persons who commit certain sins secure after death a body similar in shape to the physical body for undergoing torments. The underlying conception was that when the gross body was destroyed after death by cremation, burial or other methods an intermediate subtile body had to be built up before the departed soul was compelled to assume another body in a fresh incarnation, The subtile body was gradually built up, as stated by the Mārk, 10.73, by the rites performed on death and on several days after death. Though this conception is very clearly set forth in the Purāṇas it should not be supposed that it was altogether a new one. It had its roots deep down in the earliest Vedic period and was implicit in some of the hymns as indicated by Ṛg X. 15. 14, X. 16. 4-5 translated above. Though in the Tai. S. I. 8. 5. 1-2 and in passages of the Tai. Br, and Sat. Br. to be set out later on it is said that the offerings are made to the paternal ancestors, it does not follow that the brāhmaṇas were not fed at the same time on the food prepared for being offered to the ancestors, just as in the solemn Vedic sacrifices offerings were made to the gods, Agni, Indra, Prajāpati, Viṣṇu and others and at the same time priests engaged in the sacrifices were fed and given presents ( dakṣiṇā). Therefore, it need not be necessarily supposed that feeding the brāhmaṇas at śrāddha was a later idea and offering food to the dead was the original idea.