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ELEVEN The Procedure of an Ascetic’s Funeral 1. I will now describe the procedure of an ascetic’s funeral. In connection with this, Bodhāyana states: I will describe the complete procedure of an ascetic’s funeral. After purifying himself by taking a bath, a householder should perform the funeral of an ascetic.

2. He should decorate the corpse with perfumes and garlands and place it on a bier. He should carry it toward the east or the north accompanied by the shouts of victory and the sound of drums and take it to a pure place.

3. On a river bank, under a banyan tree, near a temple or a cow pen, or under a Palāsa tree, he should dig the sacrificial ground that is the grave; he should dig it to a depth equal to the height of the ascetic’s staff while reciting the Great Utterances. He should sprinkle the grave with water while reciting the Great Utterances, have the corpse bathed while he recites the Puruṣa hymn (RV 10.90), decorate it with perfumes and the like, and place it in the grave, saying, “O Visnu, protect the oblation” [TS 1.1.3.11. He then places the staff in the right hand of the deceased ascetic, saying, “Viṣṇu traversed this…” ITS 1.2.13.1-2]. Then, he should silently recite the mantra “The swan seated in purity…” [TS 1.8.15.2] at the chest of the deceased, the Purusa hymn [RV 10.90] between the eyebrows, and the mantra “Brahman was first born in the east…” [TS 4.2.8.2] at the crown of the head. He should then split the top of the ascetic’s head as he recites the mantra “The earth has gone to the earth…” [ApSr 3.20.9; BDh 1.6.7), touching it as he recites the Gayatri verse. He should fill the sacrificial ground of the grave, reciting the syllable OM, and repeatedly purify the area while reciting the Gayatri. If the grave is disturbed by jackals, crows, and the like, the person who performed the funeral would incur a sin and a drought would strike that region. Therefore, he should repeatedly put dirt into the grave until it is completely covered. After performing the funeral, one should not observe a period of impurity or make water offerings. When a man carries or touches the corpse of an ascetic or digs a grave for him, he is puri- 176 11. The Procedure of an Ascetic’s Funeral fied immediately and takes a bath similar to the one taken at the end of a sacrifice. At every step a man obtains the reward of a horse sacrifice.

So said the Blessed Bodhāyana.

4. When an ascetic who was established in Brahman dies, his son, pupil, or a householder should bury him. The same person should perform an oblation to Nārāyaṇa’ on his behalf.

5. There are no burnt offerings, no libations of water, no funerary offerings, and no feeding of Brahmins. He should perform all the offerings to Nārāyaṇa according to the rules of the funerary offerings made to a newly deceased person.2 6. Sages proclaim this to be the procedure even at the death of a simple ascetic.3 On the eleventh day after death, a Pārvaṇa offering is prescribed.

6. One should never perform the Sapinḍīkarana rite for them, because they do not fall into the ghostly state by the mere fact that they carried a triple staff.4 8. This alone is sufficient for a mendicant devoted to solitude, for no one does anything for him, and he does not do anything for anyone.5 9. There is, moreover, another procedure. He should do everything given before reciting just the Great Utterances. With the same Utterances he should place the corpse in the bier and dig the grave.

177 1. The Nārāyaṇabali is a special offering made after the death of certain individuals, including ascetics, and after certain types of deaths, such as suicide. For a description, see Sp, Ch. 23; for a detailed examination of the rite, see Krick 1977.

2. This type of offering is called the ekoddiṣṭaśraddha and is made during the first eleven days after a person’s death. The offerings are made only to that individual. On the twelfth day, the newly deceased is ritually associated with his ancestors in the ceremony known as Sapindikarana. After that ritual, which, as we are informed at Ch. 11.7, is not performed for ascetics, funerary offerings are made in common to the three previous generations of deceased ancestors: father, grandfather, and great grandfather. This common śrāddha is called Pārvaṇaśrāddha.

3. The first two verses addressed the death of an ascetic who had acquired the knowledge of Brahman. Here the same procedure is said to apply even when an ordinary ascetic dies.

4. A newly deceased person remains in a ghostly state (preta) until he is ritually conducted to the world of the fathers through the ritual of Sapindikarana. The deceased in that ghostly state is impure and hovers around the place of his former dwelling. He is then dangerous to his former relatives. The power of the triple staff is believed to conduct a newly deceased ascetic directly to the world of the fathers, bypassing this intermediary state.

5. The phrase is elliptic and ambiguous, and the various scribes appear to have tried to make sense by providing different readings. I think the overall sense is that an ascetic is totally independent and does not need the ritual services of others for his bliss after death, 178 Rules and Regulations of Brahmanical Asceticism 10-11. He should again sprinkle water on the grave while reciting the same seven Great Utterances and place the corpse in the grave, reciting the mantra “May god Savitr spur you…” [TS 1.1.1.1]. Putting the bier away, he should place the staff on the deceased ascetic’s side, reciting the mantra “Friend, protect me” [see Ch. 4.19], and lay the sling on his chest.

6. He should then place the water strainer on his mouth, reciting the mantra “The purifier with which the gods ever cleanse themselves…” [TB 1.4.8.6], and place the water pot in his right hand with the mantra “You, O Agni, who are wise…” [TS 2.5.12.3).

7. He should similarly place the begging bowl on his stomach, reciting the mantra “The earth has gone to the earth…” [ApSr 3.20.9], worship him with the Hot mantras,7 and sprinkle him with water reciting the seven Great Utterances.

8. He should finally fill the grave as he recites the mantra “Fire by fire is set alight…” [TS 1.4.46.3]; he should do so in such a manner that jackals and dogs would not be able to pull out the corpse.

9. A Brahmin should bury in the ground the bodies of ascetics who had previously maintained a sacred fire, while those of accomplished ascetics who had not maintained a sacred fire he should cremate.

10. He should also perform on their behalf the funerary offering for a newly deceased person, water libations, offerings of rice balls, and rites for the newly deceased, and, in their case, observe also the period of impurity. After one year, moreover, he should perform their Sapindikarana rite according to the prescribed rules. In the case of a mendicant who has attained Brahman, however, one should not perform any rite other than the Pārvaṇa offering (see Ch. 11.5 n. 2].

11. Atri: After purifying himself by taking a bath, the son or a householder should perform the funeral of an ascetic. He should decorate the corpse with perfumes and garlands and place it on a bier.

12. Kindling a fire with chaff, he should carry it along for the ascetic’s last rite. He should proceed toward the east or the north accompanied by the shouts of victory and the sound of drums and go to a pure place.

13. He should dig a grave as deep as the ascetic’s staff while reciting the Great Utterances, sprinkle the grave with water reciting the seven Great Utterances, and make on it a wooden pyre.

14. According to his ability, he should use logs that are suitable for a sacrifice or others that are not objectionable. Then, with a pure mind, he should wash the corpse reciting the Gayatri verse.

15. The reading piṣtapraskanda adopted in the edition is far from certain and its meaning, as well as that of the variant readings recorded in the mss, is far from clear.

16. These are the mantras of the ten Hotr contained in the TA 3.7. The full text is found in App. 1.12.11. The Procedure of an Ascetic’s Funeral 21. After laying the corpse on the pyre as he recites the mantra “O Visṇu, protect the oblation” ITS 1.1.3.1], he should place the water strainer on the mouth, reciting the mantra “The purifier with which the gods ever cleanse themselves…” [TB 1.4.8.6].

17. He should place the triple staff in the right hand, reciting the mantra “Viṣṇu traversed this…” [TS 1.2.13.1-2], and the sling in the left hand with the mantra “May that bright light born beyond the atmosphere…” [TS 4.2.5.2] and concluding with “Svāhā!” 23. Conversant with the rules, he should place the begging bowl on the stomach while reciting the Gayatri verse, and the water pot on the lap with the mantra “The earth has gone to the earth…” [ApSr 3.20.9].

18. The performer of the funeral should consecrate the corpse that has been laid on the pyre in the grave and on which his equipment has been placed and worship it, while reciting the Hotṛ mantras. He should then cremate the body until it is turned completely to ash.

19. Scriptures prescribe for a Brahmin the rites beginning with the impregnation ceremony and ending with cremation. Therefore, a householder performs the funerary rite of even an ascetic using the appropriate mantras.

20. When his father has proclaimed the Praiṣa formula [see Ch. 4.27 n. 26] after depositing the sacred fires in himself, the son should make the sacred fires descend once again and cremate him according to the rules.

21. When a father who had been devoted to ritual activities even after renunciation dies, his sons should carry out his cremation and perform the funerary offerings, libations of water, and offering of rice balls on his behalf.

22. If, following the alternative method, a person becomes an ascetic at the very beginning while he was still a vedic student, a householder should perform all his funerary rites in the presence of Viṣṇu.

23. After carrying, touching, or cremating the corpse of an ascetic, a person is purified by just taking a bath, and at every step he obtains the reward of a horse sacrifice.

24. Śaunaka: In the case of an ascetic who had suppressed all his attachments and had been devoted to the practice of meditation, neither cremation nor the offering of water and rice balls should be performed.

179 8. The depositing of fires in the self or the fire drills was performed also when a Brahmin set out on a journey. According to the Vedic ritual texts, that Brahmin can reproduce his fires (literally make them descend) by using the mantra: “Descend again, O fire…” (TB 2.5.8.8). For this ritual, see AsSr 3.10.6; ApSr 6.28.12. Our source expects the son of the deceased ascetic to likewise reestablish the sacred fires that his father had deposited in himself prior to his renunciation.

9. For a discussion of this alternative, see Ch. 2.11-24.

180 Rules and Regulations of Brahmanical Asceticism 31. The corpse of an ascetic devoted to meditation should be placed in a grave while just the syllable OM is recited. One should get everything done-sprinkling the corpse, digging the grave, and so forth-while reciting just that syllable.

32. After carrying or touching the corpse of an ascetic, a person is purified by just taking a bath, and at every step everyone who participates obtains individually the reward of a horse sacrifice.

33. This same procedure has been given by the Blessed Lord Yajnavalkya the Elder.10 146. That ends the eleventh chapter, entitled “The Procedure of an Ascetic’s Funeral,” of the Collection of Ascetic Laws composed by Yadava Prakāśa.

34. See App. 1.11 for this passage of Yajnavalkya the Elder.