Talk:The Hindu Funeral Ceremony

By Vishal Agarwal

Antyeṣhṭi Saṃskāra The word ‘Antyeṣhṭi’ means the final Ishti (=Yajna). A human being’s entire life, if lived according to the guidelines of scriptures, is one continuous Yajna – worship to the Divinity. Therefore, it is very fitting that when he dies, his very body, which had performed acts of Dharma while living, should itself be cremated as an offering to the Divine powers. In the Rigveda and other Hindu traditions, some alternate ways to dispose of the body are also mentioned, like burial, placing it on tree branches, or just immersing it in a river. However, cremation has always been the dominant method that gained even more prominence in Hindu society with time. The reason is that cremation is consistent with the Hindu spiritual viewpoint that our body is merely a temporary garment that the ātmā wears and yet the latter becomes attached to the body that it makes alive-

“Cremation is the best way of destroying a dead body. This is highly beneficial for the departed soul. If the body is not burnt, the Jīva is linked to the earth. The soul hovers around or hangs about the dead body on account of Moha or attachment to the physical body. Its journey to celestial regions is interfered with.”

Numerous unwritten customs accompanying the cremation ceremony emphasize to the ātmā that it must overcome the attachment to its perishing body as the soonest and proceed along its onward journey. For example, the near and dear ones leave the cremation ground without looking back at the pyre. The scriptural chants too are extremely meaningful and meant to emphasize the ephemeral nature of our body and all the worldly relationships dependent on temporary physical existence versus the eternal existence of the ātmā and its eternal relationship with the Supreme Divine.

“….The vibrations set up by the recitation of Mantras and the offerings and oblations of water, bring solace and comfort to the departed soul. The Sapindikarana ceremony helps the Jīva to pass from the Preta Loka to the Pitri Loka. He is then enrolled among the Pitris or the ancestors. The son walks three times around the dead body of his father before fire is set to the pyre and sprinkles water once, reciting the mantra: “Go away. Withdraw and depart from here.” The bones are collected the next day and thrown into a river. Those who can afford to take them to Benares or Haridwar and throw them into the Ganga. It is believed that the soul whose mortal remains are consigned to the sacred Ganga attains to the higher regions of spiritual light and splendor and, in the end, salvation.”