History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v5.c75.237
History of Dharmaśāstra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v5.c75.237
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v5.c75.237.1
Cremation, see under effigy' 'death,' 'burial' 'fires,' 'dead bodies', 'funeral rites,' 'sacrifice', 'tonsure,' acc to Brahmapurāṇa great noise should be made with four kinds of musical instruments when taking a corpse for 217, at end of c relatives take a bath, offer water to deceased and on entering house touch a stone, a bull, fire, cowdung, fried barley 210, bamboo staff with a bundle of grass at its top was carried to cremation ground acc to Kāt Śr. 205n; bath for all relatives on mother's and father's side up to 7th degree (except for a child less than one year old) necessary on c. 211, brahmacārin was not to carry the dead body of a person or relative except of his own parents or of guru or ācārya 214, brahmacārin carrying dead body of a person other than that, of a parent or guru had to undergo expiation for vratatopa 215, carrying the dead body of a brāhmaṇa who is poor and without relatives is highly extolled as equal to a sacrifice at each step 215; cow or goat was taken to c. ground with its left fore-foot tied with a rope, was killed and corpse covered with its body 206, corpse should be first bathed and then cremated but not naked 216, dead body was not to be carried through a village when being taken for c 216, dead body was carried to c. ground in a cart drawn by oxen acc. to Atharvaveda or by men, acc to Sat Śr.
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205n, 206, 212, duty to carry dead body is on the sapiṇḍas of the deceased 215, *dvija* not to carry the dead body of a śūdra 214, fuel for the pyre was not to be carried by śūdras if deceased was dvija but if so carried the pyre should be made by the castemen only 216, ground for c to be open on all sides 205, how relatives are to act and show grief after c 211; long list of persons who should not be cremated 223, Mitāksarā prescribes that if a brāhmaṇa carries a śūdra's corpse the period of impurity for a brāhmaṇa is a month but if a śūdra has to carry the corpse of a brāhmaṇa the impurity is only for ten days 216, c. of bones of āhitāgni, if he died away from home 223, c. of effigy if a man gone to a distant land is unheard of for 12 or 15 years 225, c. of sacrificer with sacrificial implements is *pratipatti-karma* of the implements 208n, 334n; parts of the body on which the several sacrificial implements are placed at time of c 207-208, performer of c rites had to undergo tonsure as an *aṅga* (ancillary part) 217, procedure of c in modern times follows that in Āśv. gr and in Garuḍapurāṇa 212, procedure of, from Antyeṣṭipaddhati, which is now followed by Ṛgvedins in Western India 212-214, procedure where a man returns alive after his effigy is cremated under the belief that he was dead 225;
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rites of, described frequently in Mahābhārata and sometimes in Rāmāyaṇa 223, rites of an effigy made with 360 palāśa leaves bound with yava flour and woollen thread, if even the bones of the deceased could not be found 224, Romans regarded c. as honourable way of the disposal of the dead body and reserved burial for murderers and those guilty of suicide 233, rules about periods of impurity on carrying dead body and staying with and eating the food of the family of the deceased 215-216, rules about impurity on carrying a dead body for a fee or from an interested motive 216, rules about selection of site for 204n, 205, rules about who were to carry the dead body to c ground 214-215, rules for those who not being relatives carry a dead body to c. such as taking bath, touching and drinking ghee 215, sacrificial fires and vessels of āhitāgni are carried to c. ground 206-208, small pieces of gold or drops of clarified butter are cast on seven vital parts of the corpse 207n, special rules for c.
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of women dying in or immediately after childbirth or while in monthly illness 231, śūdras not to carry the dead body of a *dvija* if members of the deceased's varna are available 214, to be carried out at a sacred spot or at least after invoking the presence of tīrthas like the Ganges in the water to be used for washing dead body 217, tonsure necessary in, on first day of death and also after end of impurity acc to Madanapārijāta, others holding that it depends upon the usage of each country 218, varying views about the distribution of leaves to represent different parts of the body when an effigy is cremated 224-225, weeping permitted when body is burning, but none after cremation is finished and water is offered 218, wife of deceased made to lie down on wood pile arranged on c. ground and then made to rise up 207, wife of āhitāgni dying before him had c, performed with his vedic fires and sacrificial implements 225