Vedic Index of Names and Subjects v1.c3.116

v1.c3.116

Agni-dagdha.—This epithet (‘burnt with fire’)¹ applies to the dead who were burned on the funeral pyre. This is one of the two normal methods of disposing of the dead, the other being burial (*an-agnidagdhāḥ*, ‘not burnt with fire’).² The Atharvaveda³ adds two further modes of disposal to those—viz., casting out (*paroptāḥ*), and the exposure of the dead (*uddhitāḥ*). The exact sense of these expressions is doubtful. Zimmer⁴ considers that the former is a parallel to the Iranian practice of casting out the dead to be devoured by beasts, and that the latter refers to the old who are exposed when helpless.⁵ Whitney⁶ refers the latter expression to the exposure of the dead body on a raised platform of some sort.