Vedic Index of Names and Subjects v1.c3.128

v1.c3.128

Burning was, however, equally usual, and it grew steadily in frequency, for in the Chāndogya Upaniṣad¹¹ the adornment of the body of the dead with curd (Āmikṣā), clothes, and ornaments, in order to win the next world, is referred to as something erroneous and wrong, and in the funeral Mantras of the Vājasaneyi Saṃhitā¹² only burning seems to be contemplated; the verses which refer to burial here really alluding to the burial of the ashes in the burying-ground (śmaśāna).¹³ The body was wrapped in fat,¹⁴ as we learn from the funeral hymn in the Rigveda, a goat being apparently burned with it,¹⁵ to act as a guide on the way to the next world. According to the Atharvaveda¹⁶ a draft-ox was burned presumably for the dead to ride with in the next world. It was expected that the dead would revive with his whole body and all his limbs (sarva-tanūḥ sāṅgaḥ),¹⁷ although it is also said¹⁸ that the eye goes to the sun, the breath to the wind, and so forth.