History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v5.c72.167

v5.c72.167

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 destroyed⁵³⁴ by vultures and other birds (as among Zoroastrians) or beasts, being preserved in caves,⁵³⁵ 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 heart-rending method of the disposal of dead bodies it is difficult to say⁵³⁶. Burials were not unknown in India even in very early times, as Atharvaveda 5. 30 14 (mā nu bhūmigṛho 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?)536a. 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 Chāndogya⁵³⁷ 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. In Ṛg. VII 89. 1 the sage prays 'O Varuṇa!