The Religion and Philosophy of the Veda and Upanishads v2.c35.47

v2.c35.47

A still further rite is prescribed by the Çatapatha Brāhmaṇa ⁵ and mentioned in other texts, the raising of a memorial to the dead. This is to be done a long time after the death; when even the year is forgotten is a suitable time. The bones are gathered from the hole in the earth or from the tree roots, in which case a verse ⁶ is used which rather points to the idea of real burial, and may suggest that once the gathering of the bones and the putting away of them in a relic mound were done when the body had decayed after normal burial. If the bones cannot be found, the rite alluded to above takes place:⁷ a garment is spread on the water's edge: the dead is called by name, and any beast ⁸ that alights is treated as representing the bones: in the alternative, dust from the place is used. The night is spent in ceremonies: women beating their thighs with the right hand,⁹ with hair loosened, wailing, thrice in the course of the night dance thrice round the bones. Lutes are played, and—doubtless to scare away spirits—a noise made by the beating of an old shoe on an empty pot or in other ways.¹⁰ In the morning the bones are taken to the new place of rest, which must be out of sight from the village, in a place where there is abundance of plants, around whose roots the Fathers are said to creep,¹ but no thorns. A hole is made or furrow ploughed: seeds of all sorts are sowed and the bones deposited. The hole is then covered over with stones and earth to make a memorial mound: in it seeds are sown to feed the dead,² and pits are dug in it into which water and milk are poured to please the dead.³