History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v5.c72.183

v5.c72.183

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 Mahāparinibbāna 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 brāhmanas), 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 Ajātaśatru, king of Magadha, the Licchavis of Vesali 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 brāhmana Dona (Drona) 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 ritual⁵⁴², though simple, agrees closely with some of the rules of Āśv. gṛ.