A WhatsApp Message
Words in the black have been added by me.
A very simple one that evoked a thousand responses in my mind. The whole cultural history of India come up before my mental eyes. I could see at once why we don't write history of men, howsoever Great they may be. We don't bury our dead. Instead cremate them. So no matter how great a personality is, we don't build a memorial for him / her.
We of course offer our prayers and respects by means of performing certain rituals as is the custom, or as has been instructed in the scriptures. We call this the shraaddha karma / श्राद्ध कर्म. This is very specific in the way, it is quite a family affair only. There are priests and the dead are offered through the priests and through others as well not even only the man, but the animals like cow and birds like the crow. Whatsoever that they may need in their onward journey after death. After they have left us. And of course this is also never compulsory which is clear from the name of this ritual itself. The word "shraaddha karma / श्राद्ध कर्म" implies that it is not an obligation on the part of those who perform this for the dead, but is out of the remembrance and the respect for them. It is symbolic only rather than a duty or responsibility. Just because of the natural well-wishing only.
The interesting part of this could be related to such a ritual when someone renounces the world, enters the संन्यास आश्रम / sannyasa ashram, the fourth stage of life, when he has to perform this ritual for himself!
This may look like a formal deed, and may be treated as a token-gesture also, but there is the deeper aspect and meaning to it.
Since how long we have learnt the practice of remembering and keeping the biography of the dead? May be, a thousand year or a few centuries ago.
Our Most sacred and the Greatest, the most important and the famous one scripture :
The Gita points out in no uncertain words :
Chapter 2, अध्याय २,
सञ्जय उवाच :
एवमुक्त्वा हृषीकेशं गुडाकेशः परंतप।।
न योत्स्य इति गोविन्दमुक्त्वा तूष्णीं भभूत ह।।९।।
तमुवाच हृषीकेशः प्रहसन्निव भारत।।
सेनयोरुभयोर्मध्ये विषीदन्तमिदं वचः।।१०।।
अशोच्यानन्वशोचस्त्वं प्रज्ञावादांश्च भाषसे।।
गतासूनगतासूँश्च नानुशोचन्ति पण्डिताः।। ११।।
A wise never grieves for the dead or those who are alive.
That being what is expected, how we should deal with death.
There are instances however when a Yogi voluntarily accepts and welcomes death as the purpose of the life has been fulfilled and he doesn't need any more this frame of the physical body because he thinks it would be much better, if it is discarded and disposed of before death claims it. There are however those Siddha who are indifferent if the body remains alive or dead. It's the same for them. But those others who have not attained this stage so far, the body of such a liberated one, either a Yogi or a Siddha, a Jnani or a Bhakta, is a temple of God, so shouldn't be cremated but instead buried, preserved in the form of samadhi. So this practice is observed in the case of any liberated (ब्रह्मीभूत / brahmibhuta) person, any spiritual or Godly man.
What about temples!
From time immemorial, India is well known for its temples. A temples is never a place for worshipping a man, but is meant only for a devata / Divine Entity, - say deity.
The word "deity" too may be a cognate of the Sanskrit word "दिति" and "अदिति". These two are supposed to be (divine) mothers of the conscious beings that have an ethereal body.
"दिति" is the mother of the earthly - दैत्य or the demons; while "अदिति" is of the mother of the celestial conscious beings who have a body such as an ethereal or luminous one.
अदिति / Aditi is the mother of Indra, Aditya, Yama, Varuna, vayu, Agni, Mitra. So when a person dies, the dead body is cremated so as to attain the abode of devata. This temporary abode where a dead one arrives after his or her death in this world, is called पितृलोक / the realm where the presiding devata is Aryama / अर्यमा. Accordingly at the time of cremation, of this dead body, we pray to all those sons of अदिति / Aditi :
अग्नि / Agni, यम / Yama, वायु / vAyu, पूषा / pUShA, पूषन् / pUShan / and अर्यमा / Aryama together so that his onward journey may be auspicious, and may not face troubles :
पूषन्नेकर्षे यम सूर्य प्राजापत्यव्यूह रश्मीन् समूह।।
तेजो यत्ते रूपं कल्याणतमं तत्ते पश्यामियो ऽसावसौ पुरुषः सोऽहमस्मि।।१६।।
वायुरनिलममृतमथेदं भस्मान्त्ँ शरीरम्।।
ॐ क्रतो स्मर कृत्ँ स्मर क्रतो स्मर कृतं स्मर।।१७।।
अग्ने नय सुपथा राये अस्मान् विश्वानि देव वयुनानि विद्वान।।
युयोध्यमस्मजुजुहुराणमेनो भूयिष्ठां ते नमउक्तिं विधेम।।१८।।
Thus concludes :
ईशावास्योपनिषद् / IShAvAsyopaniShat!
So the orientation of the mind of one who is rooted in सनातन धर्म Sanatana Dharma is like this, where the War is the festival of life and the death is an opportunity for the brave to attain the ultimate, the Supreme liberation / the मोक्ष .
Unfortunately, after the coming of Buddha, this whole approach to, how to live the life in a way so as to attain the four supreme goals (पुरुषार्थ : धर्म अर्थ काम मोक्ष) of life, was not only thought of as अधर्म / Adharma / violence and so decried but totally forgotten too.
We also failsd to notice that the Buddha's approach was basically for those bhikkhu / भिक्षु who have renounced the world in order to attain the मोक्ष / Liberation.
The way is only for the deserving and not for the rest. Even according to Veda, a ब्रह्मचारी / BrahmachAri too could become a monk if he has intense urge for finding out Brahman / ब्रह्म the synonym of सत्य / Truth. That is the way of practicing "ब्रह्मचर्य / Brahmacharya", which had now been relegated to "celibacy"!
Of course it could also be seen that the word "celibacy" itself too is cognate of the Sanskrit word "सलभ्य" having the sense and meaning "helpful".
That is the short history of how the Indian mind was subjected to and conditioned by the outside influences and we are now at the juncture where we just fail to see our rich heritage of Sanatana Dharma.
--
Inspired and prompted by a message from a friend on WhatsApp, I felt like writing this post.
The screenshot of the message with a little editing, with the words in black, is at the top, in the very beginning.
***
So, why we shouldn't remember, grieve the dead? Because that pulls them / their soul towards us, at the earthly level.
For example, there is such an incidence, in the biography of J. Krishnamurti, written by Pupul Jayakara, where she remembered and wanted to know what J. Krishnamurti might say about the Late Indira Gandhi, the former Prime Minister of India. He simply suggested that one shouldn't remember the dead, this attracts trouble for them. Because Pupul and Late Indira Gandhi Were fast friends of each-other, maybe she might have felt like asking this to him.
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