Hindu death rites
SUGGESTED GUIDELINES Foreword Hindus generally observe many rites throughout their lives most are planned well ahead and plenty of guidance is available. However in this age of rapid changes and urban living and the breakdown of the extended family, most Hindus are ignorant of the customs associated with death. The last rites are extremely important and when death comes so suddenly, many people are totally unaware of or even know what has to be done. The Garuda Purana is the Authoritative text on death, dying and the post mortem rituals. The following is the gist of what should be done on the death of a loved one. Upon dying at home — or in a hospital. When a person is close to death the family members should inform the family priest (purohit) or find and appoint a purohit who will direct and conduct the final rites. Begin the chanting of the Vishnu Sahasranama Stotram or continuously play a CD of the same within the hearing the of dying one. If the Vishnu sahasranama Stotra cannot be recited then any other text or name of God should be recited or played. Other types of prayers or bhajans can also be sung but without emotion. Most hospices and hospitals in Australia will accommodate this practice in some way — don't be hesitant to discuss it with the palliative care nurse. When it is seen that death is very near — the dying person should be transferred to a new grass mat on the floor if the death occurs at home. They should not be allowed to die on a bed for 2 reasons (1) death should take place in the arms of Mother Earth and the dying person should remain conscious for as long as possible listening to the recitation of the name of God. (2) the bed needs to be discarded afterwards as no ne will sleep in it. Pour a few spoons of Ganges water/Tulasi water into the mouth either at the time of death or soon after a person is dead. A sesame oil lamp (with one wick only) and a single stick on incense are lit and kept near the head of the corpse. A photograph of deceased family's favourite deity may also be placed at the head side. Outside the house prepare a fire in an earthen pot using a few pieces of wood, charcoal and camphor. This fire should be kept alive all the time. Upon death taking place When it is ascertained that life has departed from the body, the son or person who inherits the property of the parent should take a bath. The chief mourner or KARTA in the case of the father it is the elder son and in the mother's case it is usually the youngest son. Daughters may be appointed by the dying person to perform their rites. If the karta is a male they are required to have their heads and facial hairs shaved. If a complete head shave is not possible then the least they should do is to have a number 1 buzz haircut. When a person is pronounced dead by the doctor, one needs to obtain the death certificate from the appropriate authorities. Contact the priest (not all Hindu priests perform funerals — this is a specialised field of study) and a funeral director and make arrangements for collecting the body and booking the crematorium. Since the coffin is to be burned — it is prudent to get the cheapest and most simple coffin available. No one will be in the mood to discuss the price of the coffin but one should not pay more than necessary. Understandably, the price varies from company to company. Some funeral directors will allow the body to be taken back to the home for the final rites. This of course is the preferable way and should be discussed beforehand. Preparing the body The funeral directors then collect the corpse and take it for washing and dressing. Most funeral directors will accommodate the family who wishes to wash the body themselves. The family members who can, should assist in this service and not leave it to strangers to do it. The body is given a sponge bath, then smeared with sandal-wood paste and oil. If the condition of the body permits, and the family desire it — it can be given a bath with abhishekam materials — milk, yoghurt, honey, ghee, sandal wood paste etc. Males and widows should be dressed in white. Married women and girls should be dressed in coloured garments orange, yellow or red. The big toes are tied together with a piece of string. Place the hands with the two thumbs tied together on the chest as if he or she is doing a namaskar. The whole procedure should be done without commotion and weeping. After the body has been dressed up, it should be placed for viewing in the coffin. For men and widows either vibuti or chandanam is used to decorate the forehead. For females the turmeric powder and kumkumam are used. A simple garland of flowers and tulasi leaves should be worn around its neck. Customs to be observed at the Home. The most appropriate place to perform the final rites is at home. When the coffin is brought back to the home it should be brought in head-first and placed on the floor with its head to the South. While the family members and friends sit around the coffin. Bhajans can be sung without musical accompaniment. It can be kept at home for as long as the family desire about an hour or so to allow for people to gather. Before the coffin is removed, the ladies should pay their last respects first the relatives follow suit followed by friends. N.B. Under no circumstances are tea, coffee and refreshment to be served to those that come to mourn with the family. Nor should any member of the congregation eat or drink anything in the house of mourning until 10 days after death. Final Rites at Home At the home the priest will perform a purification ceremony and a small havan. Some prayers will be chanted for the welfare of the deceased and to ease their journey. The offering of 5 Pindas. Before the coffin is removed a rice ball (Pinda) is offered at the place where the person died or where the coffin has been. The coffin is taken out of the house with the legs first. As it is taken out of the house another rice ball is offered on the threshold The coffin is placed in the hearse and driven to the crematorium. Two persons should accompany the body; the Karta who performs the rites and one other who could be an elder in the family. The Karta should carry the earthen pot with the fire in it. Those that remain at home will thoroughly clean the house and wash the floors etc. All them take a bath after rinsing the clothes they were wearing and other things used. Discard the bed, mat or any other spread on which the body was lying. Final cleansing. Those that remain at home will thoroughly clean the house and wash the floors etc. All them take a bath after rinsing the clothes they were wearing and other things used. Discard the bed, mat or any other spread on which the body was lying. CREMATION Guidelines for Mourners. 1. Dress-code. In Hindu tradition one dresses down for a funeral. The traditional colour of mourning is white so one should attend a cremation dressed in simple white clothes — the close female relatives should have their hair loose — not tied back. 2. Impurity. Everything associated with death and dying is ritually polluting therefore one should if possible wash one's hands and feet and sprinkle water on one's head before leaving the cemetery. One should have a shower immediately upon returning home and the clothes that were worn to the cremation are immediately washed. 3. No food or drink is consumed until the post cremation bathing has taken place. 4. Those attending a Hindu funeral should not bring flowers or anything else with them — one comes empty-handed. 5. One should not exchange greetings with the official mourners, one can nod in sympathy, hug or touch but not ask after their wellbeing — the least said the better. 6. One bids farewell to the deceased by either offering flowers into the open coffin (sraddhanjali) or pouring some grains of rice over the mouth of the deceased. 7. The coffin is circumambulated in an anti-clockwise direction 8. If one is younger than the deceased then one should prostrate. 9. After the cremation one usually goes to either the bank of a river or the sea-shore and sits in silence for a while before going home. At the Crematorium At the crematorium, the coffin is carried from the vehicle to the platform with legs pointing South first. It is preferable to keep the coffin in such a way that the leg faces the incineration chamber. In case it is not in this direction (e.g. facing the gathering), please ensure that it is carried with the legs first when entering the incineration chamber After placing the coffin on the platform with its feet to the south, the performer of the funeral rites should sit, along with the other mourners, facing the south. The offering of 3 pindas should be performed. Another pinda should be placed in the hand of the deceased. The eyes, mouth ears and nostrils are covered with drops of ghee and wood chips are placed in the coffin. Last prayers This is the time to recite the prayers which can be either mantras, slokas from the Bhagavad Gita, the Upanishads, Bhajans etc. Eulogies are not really part of the cremation process and can be reserved for the memorial service. Sraddhanjali All the mourners are now invited to pay their final respects. Taking a handful of flower petals they circumambulate the coffin in an anticlockwise manner and offer the flowers into the coffin. Breaking of the Pot Finally the Karta or the wife of the deceased, carries a clay pot of water on the left shoulder and walks around the coffin anti-clockwise three times. At the third round, the pot is taken outside and dropped behind the person carrying it. He or she walks away without turning back or looking at the body. Post Cremation Rites After leaving the crematorium the Karta offers three libations of water with sesame seeds. The Karta should abstain from shedding tears while giving the post cremation libations, because the deceased has to consume all the tears and snot that is shed. Whatever things that were brought from the home should be left behind or discarded and are not to be taken back home. Keep the place clean. The mourners should then all go for bath in a river or the sea chanting some bhajans or kirtans, with the youth walking ahead. The chief mourner should shave his head. If the sea bath is not possible then all the mourners should at least visit the beach, spend some time there and then return home. At the door of their houses they should chew neem leaves, rinse their mouths with water and touching black sesame seeds, lawn grass, or any other auspicious thing and touching their feet lightly on a stone should enter the house and take a shower immediately with their clothes on. In the evening of the day of cremation When the sun is setting the chief mourner should light a lamp of sesame oil and place it under a tree out of the draft [If this is not possible then the lamp should be lit in a corner of the house and kept burning for ten days or until the completion of the mourning rituals. At the time of lighting the lamp recite the following prayer and then pour water around the lamp. om andhakaara mahaa ghore mahattaa tamas-aavrute; tamo nivaaran arthaaya imam deepam dadaamyaham "O deceased one, surrounded by a terrible darkness, encompassed by the mode of nescience, for the removal of that darkness, I offer this lamp to you" If possible a learned person should be invited in the evening to give a discourse on the ephemeral nature of time and the unsubstantial nature of the universe. One should tell discuss about the emptiness of life and the futility of searching for susbtantiality in the human body which resembles the trunk of a banana tree. The body is constituted of five elements and if it returns to the elements through natural causes what is there to grieve over? The earth, ocean and even deities are bound to be destroyed. The same fate awaits the entire universe which has arisen like a bubble. How it can escape destruction? Thus, one should speak to mourners about the transient nature of life. Rules for Mourning We Hindus have a formal structure for dealing with the loss of a loved one and for managing the grieving process. The actual customs, rules and obligations differ from community to community but all have the same goal in mind. To formally, with the support of family and community enter into the grieving process, to acknowledge our loss and to remember all the good that transpired between the dead and the living and also to forgive any offences and bad feelings we may have harboured towards the deceased. The time period lasts from 3 days to 40 days depending upon the family and clan customs. Nowadays most people observe the formalities for 3 days and terminate the rituals on the 12th and 13th days. Others perform them on the 16th or 40th day.
Dispersal or Burial of the Ashes On the 3rd, or 7th day after cremation the ashes are collected from the crematorium. There is a formal ceremony that is done with the assistance and guidance of a trained funeral priest when the ashes are taken for burial or dispersal in a river or the sea. Some people take the ashes to India for immersion in the Ganges in which case they should not be kept in the house itself but rather outside in the garden shed or on the veranda. If there is no priest available then one can collect the ashes from the crematorium on the 3rd day and then proceed directly to a river or ocean. The ashes will be delivered in a box from the crematorium. Transfer the ashes to a clay pot (some milk can be poured into the box first for easier transference) and gently mix some rose petals with the ashes and then chanting the Maha Mantra or Gayatri mantra or any other mantra that you know, pour the ashes into the water. Spend some time thinking about your loved one and in your heart bid him/her farewell and imagine that they are now on a long journey and acknowledge that you will never meet again. POST MOURNING RITUALS On the 10th , 11th, 12th, and 13th day after the death, rituals are performed in order to mark the termination of the social isolation of mourning and the returning to normal life. Some communities hold these rites on the 16th or the 30 or 40th day after death. These rites and rituals differ from community to community but the main differences are between North India and South India. SOUTH INDIAN RITES These rituals consist of: -- 1. Punyaha vachanam — A purification ceremony 2. Shanti Homa — a fire-ritual for peace of mind for the family and for the departed one. 3. Ananda Homa — for inviting a return to joyous living and severance with death and mourning. 4. Sapindi-karana — a rite to mark the transition of the deceased and a merging with the ancestors. 5. Shubha-svikrana — done on the 13th day – offerings are made to the 9 planets and all the mourners bathe and wear new cloths. In the evening all the relatives and friends are invited for a feast. 6. Danam — giving gifts in charity. These are a minimum of five (1) sesame seeds (2) clothing (3) gold (4) a water vessel (5) coconut representing a cow and the price thereof. According to the wishes of the family a further 10 items may be given or even 16. If 10 items are to be given they are: (1) Bhumi (potting mix) (2) sesame seeds (3) gold (4) ghee (5) clothing (6) rice (7) Jaggery (8) salt (9) silver (10) go-danam — a coconut and the price of a cow. NORTH INDIAN RITES These rituals consist of: -- 10th day – Dasa Gatra Pinda Dan — 10 rice balls are offered and a purification ceremony is done after which the mourning period officially comes to an end. 11th day —
13th Day — Shubha svikarana — return to auspiciousness. The principle activity on this day is the Gayatri Havan and the providing of a feast for all the relatives. The family all wear new clothes. This day is also marked by giving gifts in charity. These are a minimum of five (1) sesame seeds (2) clothing (3) gold (4) a water vessel (5) coconut representing a cow and the price thereof. According to the wishes of the family a further 10 items may be given or even 16. If 10 items are to be given they are: (1) Bhumi (potting mix) (2) sesame seeds (3) gold (coin) (4) ghee (5) clothing (6) rice (7) Jaggery (8) salt (9) silver (coin) (10) go-danam — a coconut and the price of a cow. |
Scattering of Ashes
in the Ganga For those who wish to send their loved one's ashes to India for immersion in the Ganges, arrangements can be made through the website www.pitradev.com 
|