The Religion and Philosophy of the Veda and Upanishads v2.c35.7

v2.c35.7

Other modes of disposal of the dead are referred to in the Rigveda ⁵ and the Atharvaveda.⁶ The dead might be cast away (*paroptāḥ*), or they might be exposed (*uddhitāḥ*). The latter expression seems to mean exposed on trees, a practice which was known in later India, and which is referred to in the Çatapatha Brāhmaṇa,⁷ being prescribed as the expiation, in the case in which a cow is slaughtered and found to be in calf, as regards the disposal of beasts to devour (Zimmer, *Altindisches Leben*, p. 402), or merely to depositing dead bodies in cemeteries, as recognized in Buddhist tales; *Buddhist India*, pp. 78 f.; below, p. 424, n. 6.