Dear all
I used to ask after the soul and the mind departed, the
body is burned or buried, and left over hair and some DNAs do not die but
becomes carbon, without prejudice to Brahmin rituals which is someone’s
sraddha, what really Vedas speak? I reproduce a blogger whose theory
appears to be in order. May be or may not be agreed; but state if there be
any oppositions to the ideas K Rajaram IRS 151224
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Vedic Ideas of Death and Afterlife
Date: April 11, 2020
Author: Paddy Krishnan
I recently encountered the sadness of my father’s passing which was
compounded with helplessness because none of his children were able to be
with my mother in her time of need. I did a quick survey of ideas of death
in Hindu Dharma. Like all aspects of Hindu Dharma, there has been
tremendous evolution in the theory of death and the associated rituals. I
will structure my findings in terms of what the Samhitas, the Brahmanas and
the Upanishads say about death.
The Samhita section of Rig Veda accepts death as inevitable. It does not
try to find an explanation why death occurs and what happens after death.
As the Samhitas focus on yagnas or sacrifices, one of the passages in the
Rig Veda states that death is a form of sacrifice to the Gods. This was
chosen by the first man, Yama, who is also the God of death. The Samhitas
make it clear that life is precious and needs to be enjoyed. Hence the
prayers ask for a full and long life. God’s help is sought to preserve
life. The Vedic God Rudra has the powers to bestow life as well as inflict
death. So all prayers asking for long life and to avoid death are to Rudra.
When death appears, it must be endured in a calm fashion. Note that each
one prayed for their own benefit and perhaps others, like children or
invalids, who could not pray on their own. There are prayers in the Atharva
Veda to ask the Gods to inflict death on enemies.
While the prayers in the initial writings only asked for long life without
pain and all comforts, the Vedas soon start discussing if freedom from
death was possible. They discuss the existence of Amartatva or something
that can ensure deathlessness. The Vedas make it clear that the Gods, like
Agni, Indra and Rudra, have drunk Amartatva. The Vedas speculate why humans
cannot have it. One theory is that it perhaps because Rudra has not been
appeased enough. It is possible that this led to the famous prayer
Tryambakam yajamahe, sugandhim pushtivardhaman urvarukam iva bandhanan
mrtyor muksiya mamrtat which asks for release from death and a complete
escape from death. There are other lesser known verses in the Vedas, e.g.,
Amrtam asmasu dattam‘which asks God to give them the entity (Amartatva)
that ensures deathlessness. The aim was for immortality in this current
body/form and life without pain. That is, the current body should not die
but should not also suffer. Death was viewed as a curse and seen as an end
resulting in infinite sleep.
The infinite sleep theory did not have a notion of afterlife. Slowly, death
was treated like sleep between two awakenings. The awakenings after death
were in an afterlife using the “same” body. There were prayers to Agni that
the actual body being cremated should not be really burned to allow for
reconstitution in the afterlife. But there was no theory on what was being
reconstituted. As these theories were very preliminary, the writings are
not clear. The writings are a bit obscure with no coherent theory or
explanation. The key point was that when one reached the afterlife, all
imperfections are removed.
The next step in the development stated that Manas (or mind/personality)
was preserved for the afterlife. Prayers to extend the life of the Manas
provide evidence for the above claim. This idea was extended to an initial
notion of Atman (or soul). However, this definition of Atman was an
extension of the body and the Atman was an experiencer and enjoyer of
everything in this life and the afterlife. Birth in the afterlife occurs
when Prana (or breath) re-enters the Atman. Prana is essential for life and
is needed even in the afterlife. Atman is still a vessel into which life is
poured. Atman still had individuality and is associated with the body.
The Brahmanas section in the Vedas started developing elaborate rituals
with the aim to obtain the Amartatva to achieves deathlessness. In order to
force people to do rituals, the Brahmins developed the theory that life was
a debt to the Gods. This debt can be repaid only if daily rituals are
performed. Jaimini, the proponent of Mimamsa, had argued that one must
understand the principles underlying rituals and the purpose of doing them
blindly is not clear. To support this, many of the rituals starts to
represent symbolic actions. For instance, giving food for the afterlife
journey, breaking the pot (skull) for spirit to escape, and walking
backwards as a sign that death is not reversible and hence one has to leave
the dead body.
But in the context of death, I also think the Brahmins also used scare
tactics. At first, they argued that those not performing rituals will have
a bad death. Performing the rituals was to appease the Pitr (ancestors) and
the Gods who bless those performing the rituals to avoid an untimely death.
Later, the Brahmanas argued that not performing rituals will affect the
ancestors adversely. The rituals provided the ancestors with sustenance so
that they do not suffer in the afterlife. To emphasis such potential
suffering , the idea of Swargalok (or heavens) as separate from Pitrlok was
developed. Gods live in Swargalok because they have performed rituals
correctly. A hierarchy of lokas (worlds) were created along with rituals to
transition from one loka to another. If one does not perform rituals, the
ancestors are stuck in their current loka and cannot progress to Swargalok.
Hence not performing rituals can affect one’s ancestor’s afterlife. Notions
of ghosts (or the departed who cannot leave this earth because of lack of
rituals, of papa (sin) were also introduced. Punishments in the form of
hell, e.g., Garuda Purana having 23 Narakas were also described in great
detail. By insisting on above rituals and scaremongering when people were
in a vulnerable state, the Brahmins became controllers of the path to God.
In order to cater to local customs, the Brahmana writings allow a certain
level of non-uniformity. For instance, there are many rituals that related
to the departed Atman. Some leave water, some leave water and milk, while
others leave plate of food covered with a basket. While most of the rituals
are performed by males (often the sons), some communities send the
daughter-in-law to catch a fish which is kept in a pot of water. These
rituals are to help the soul which is stuck on this earth. Similarly,
different communities handle the ashes of the cremated body in different
ways. Some keep it an urn which is buried in the garden, some build a
memorial where the urn is stored, while others mix the ashes with sand
where different types of grasses grow.
Even the type of food used in funerals changed from the Samhitas to the
Brahmanas. In the Samhitas, feeding dogs was important for funeral rites as
dogs are Yama’s servants. The meat and organs of a slaughtered animal were
placed on the dead body before cremation. The meat and organs were to
please Yama’s dogs who will allow the body to make a smooth transition into
the afterlife. In the Brahmanas, vegetarianism has taken root, and the meat
is replaced with yoghurt, milk, honey being poured into the pyre.
Overall, many of the practices described in the Brahmanas seem very ad-hoc
and not really well reasoned. For instance, the family of the deceased is
said to be “polluted”. But the duration of this pollution varies; 10 days
for Brahmins, 12 days for Kshatriya, 15 days for Vaisya and 1 month for
Sudras.
Both the Samhitas and the Brahmanas treat life as joyful and death as a
curse that reduces the joy. It was only in the Upanishads that life and not
death is seen as a curse. In general, death is necessary for Moksha (being
one with the ultimate) and to avoid samsara or the cycle of birth and
death. The notion of an eternal Atman which represents one true Self was
introduced. Hence funerals should not necessarily be sad occasions as the
person passing is one step closer to Moksha. The focus is on how to
overcome death and attain Moksha via jnana or knowledge. The rituals are
important only if they help calm one’s mind but they are not required.
The Katha Upanishad where the young Nachiketa asks Yama to teach him about
overcoming death, illustrates how the focus has shifted from enjoying just
this life to having eternal happiness. Yama offers all pleasures to
Nachiketa but Nachiketa points out that as long as Yama is there, there is
a limit to what you can enjoy.
To summarise, the Samhitas suggest that life is good while death is an
interruption. One needs to propitiate different Gods if one wishes to delay
death. Not pleasing the Gods will only affect oneself but will do no harm
to others. The Brahmans take the basic concept in the Samhitas but focus on
rituals that have repercussions not only for oneself but also to others
including the ancestors. The Upanishads aim to get away from the cycle of
life and death. This combined with the philosophy of Karma indicates that
one is solely responsible for consequences of one’s actions or inactions. Thus
the consequence of performing or not performing rituals will not be bourne
by others. The Upanishads, remove the notion of guilt and fear, and engages
the mind more constructively. Spiritual concepts of Karma and Dharma help
one deal with death in a positive fashion. The Upanishads do not ban
rituals and accommodate the beliefs of the ritualists. However, the
Upanishads have no injunctions to perform any ritual. Death is not the end
but is the beginning of perhaps Moksha and the path is chartered by one’s
own actions.
Reference:
A. K. Pandya and T. Kathuria: Concept of Death in Hinduism: Implications
for Therapeutic Process, 2018
M. S. Barve and J. V. Bhalerao: End of life: What kind of funeral services
would you choose for your loved once? 2019
H. Bodewitz: Life after Death in the Rig Veda Samhita, 2019
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