Note 92 — B (continued 3)

When a Brāhman is on the point of death, he is removed from his bed, and laid on the floor. If there is any fear of the day being a danishtapanchami (inauspicious), the dying man is taken out of the house, and placed in the court-yard or pial (raised verandah). Some prayers are uttered, and a cow is presented (gōdhanam). These are intended to render the passage of life through the various parts of the body as easy as possible. The spirit is supposed to escape through one of the nine orifices of the body, according to the character of the individual concerned. That of a good man leaves the body through the brahmarandhra (top of the skull), and that of a bad man through the anus. Immediately after death, the body is washed, religious marks are made on the forehead, and parched paddy and betel are scattered over and around it by the son. As a Brāhman is supposed always to have his fire with him, the sacred fire is lighted. At this stage, certain purificatory ceremonies are performed, if death has taken place on a day or hour of evil omen, or at midnight. Next, a little cooked rice is cooked in a new earthen pot, and a new cloth is thrown over the corpse, which is roused by the recitation of mantrams. Four bearers, to each of whom dharbha grass is given in token of his office, are selected to carry the corpse to the burning-ground. The eldest son, who is the funeral celebrant, and his brothers are shaved. On ordinary occasions, brothers should not be shaved on the same day, as this would be inauspicious. They are only shaved on the same day on the occasion of the death of their father or mother. The widow of the deceased, and female relations, go three times round the corpse, before it is placed on the bier. Very often, at this stage, all the women present set up a loud lamentation, and repeat the death songs.92 If the dead person was a respected elder, special professional women, trained as mourners, are engaged. I am informed that, in the Coimbatore district, and amongst the Sathyamangalam Brahacharanams, there are certain widows who are professional mourners. As soon as they hear of the death of an elder, they repair to the house, and worry the bereaved family into engaging them for a small fee. The space, which intervenes between the dead man’s house and the burning-ground, is divided into four parts. When the end of the first of these is reached, the corpse is placed on the ground, and the sons and nephews go round it, repeating mantrams. They untie their kudumis (hair knot), leaving part thereof loose, tie up the rest into a small bunch, and keep on slapping their thighs. [When children at play have their kudumi partially tied, and slap their thighs, they are invariably scolded, owing to the association with funerals.] A little cooked rice is offered to the path as a pathi bali (wayside offering), to propitiate evil spirits, or bhūthas. The same ceremonial should, strictly speaking, be performed at two other spots, but now-a-days it is the custom to place the corpse on the ground near the funeral pyre, moving its position three times, while the circumambulation and pathi bali are gone through only once. As soon as the corpse has reached the spot where the pyre is, the celebrant of the rites sprinkles water thereon, and throws a quarter of an anna on it as the equivalent of purchase of the ground for cremation. The sacred fire is lighted, and the right palm of the corpse is touched with a gold coin. The nine orifices of the body are then smeared with ghī, and rice is thrown over the corpse, and placed in its mouth. The son takes a burning brand from the sacred fire, lights the pyre, and looks at the sun. He then carries a pot filled with water, having a hole at the bottom through which the water trickles out, on his shoulders three times round the corpse, and, at the end of the third round, throws it down. Then he, and all the relations of the deceased, squat on the ground, facing east, take up some dharbha grass, and, cutting it into small fragments with their nails, scatter them in the air, while repeating some Vēdic verses, which are chanted very loudly and slowly, especially at the funeral of a respected elder. The celebrant then pours a little water on a stone, and sprinkles himself with it. This is also done by the other relations, and they pass beneath a bundle of dharbha grass and twigs of Ficus glomerata held by the purōhit (officiating priest), and gaze for a moment at the sun. Once more they sprinkle themselves with water, and proceed to a tank, where they bathe. When they return home, two rites, called nagna (naked) srādh, and pāshāna sthāpanam (stone-fixing), are celebrated. The disembodied spirit is supposed to be naked after the body has been cremated. To clothe it, offerings of water, with balls of cooked rice, are made, and a cloth, lamp, and money are given to a Brāhman. Then two stones are set up, one in the house and the other on the bank of a tank, to represent the spirit of the deceased. For ten days, libations of water mixed with gingelly seeds, called tīlothakam, and a ball of cooked rice, must be offered to the stones. The ball of rice is left for crows to eat. The number of libations must be seventy-five, commencing with three on the first day, and increasing the number daily by one. In addition, three further libations are made daily by dipping a piece of cloth from the winding-sheet, and rinsing it over the stone (vasothakam). On the day after cremation, the relations assemble at the burning-ground, and the son, after extinguishing the burning embers, removes the fragments of bones from the ashes. The ceremony is called sanchyanam (gathering). Cooked food is offered. The bones are thrown into some sacred river, or buried in the ground. On the tenth day after death, a large quantity of cooked rice (prabhūthabali) is offered to the spirit of the dead person, which is believed to grow very hungry on that day. The food is heaped up on plantain leaves, and all the near relations go round them, crying and beating their breasts. It is mostly females who perform this rite, males standing aloof. The food is taken to a tank, and the widow, decorated and dressed up, is conducted thither. The food is thrown into the water, and, if the widow is an elderly orthodox woman, her tāli is removed. On the same day, her head is clean shaved. A widow is not allowed to adorn herself with jewels and finery except on this day, when all her close relations come and see her. If this is not done, pregnant women may not see her for a year. All the agnates should be present on the tenth day, and perform tharpana (oblations of water). Until this day they are under pollution, and, after prabhūthabali, they bathe, and hōmam is performed. Some ashes from the sacred fire are mixed with ghī, and a mark is made on the foreheads of those who are under pollution, to remove it. During the period of pollution, a Sri Vaishnava will have only a white mark without the red streak on his forehead; a Mādhva will not have the black dot; and Smarthas avoid having marks altogether. The tenth day ceremony is called Dasāham. On the eleventh day, a ceremony called Ēkodishtam (eleventh day ceremony) is performed. A Brāhman is seated to represent the prētha or dead person, and fed after going through srādh rites. As a rule, the man is a close relation of the deceased. But, amongst certain classes of Brāhmans, an outsider is engaged, and well remunerated. On the twelfth day, the Sapindikaranam (sapinda, kinsman) ceremony, which is just like the ordinary srādh, is performed. At the close thereof, six balls of cooked rice are offered to three ancestors, male and female (three balls for males, and three for females). These balls are arranged in two rows, with a space between them. An elongated mass of food is placed between the rows, and divided with blades of dharbha grass into three portions, which are arranged close to the balls of rice. This is regarded as uniting the dead man with the pitris (ancestors). A cow is usually presented just before the union takes place, and the gift is believed to render the crossing of the river Vaitarani (river of death) easy for the departed soul. The Sapindikaranam is a very important ceremony. When there is a dispute concerning division of property on the death of an individual, the ceremony is not performed until the parties come to an agreement. For instance, if a married man dies without issue, and his widow’s brothers-in-law cannot come to terms as regards the partition of the property, the widow may refuse to allow the performance of the ceremony. The Sapindikaranam should, according to the shāstras, be performed a year after death, i.e., on the completion of all the Māsikas (monthly srādhs). But, at the present day, a ceremony called Shōdasam (the sixteen) is performed just before the Sapindikaranam on the twelfth day. In the course of the year, twelve monthly and four quarterly srādhs should be performed. The Shōdasam ceremony, which is carried out in lieu thereof, consists in giving presents of money and vessels to sixteen Brāhmans. On the twelfth day, a feast is held, and domestic worship is carried out on a large scale. At the close thereof, a slōka called Charma slōka, in praise of the deceased, is composed and repeated by some one versed in Sanskrit. Every month, for a year after a death in a family, srādh should, as indicated, be performed. This corresponds in detail with the annual srādh, which is regularly performed, unless a visit is paid to Gaya, which renders further performance of the rite not obligatory. For the performance of this ceremony by the nearest agnate of the deceased (eldest son or other), three Brāhmans should be called in, to represent respectively Vishnu, the Dēvatas, and the ancestors. Sometimes two Brāhmans are made to suffice, and Vishnu is represented by a sālagrāma stone. In extreme cases, only one Brāhman assists at the ceremony, the two others being represented by dharbha grass. The sacred fire is lighted, and ghī, a small quantity of raw and cooked rice, and vegetables are offered up in the fire. The Brāhmans then wash their feet, and are fed. Before they enter the space set apart for the meal, water, gingelly, and rice are sprinkled about it, to keep off evil spirits. As soon as the meal is finished, a ball of rice, called vāyasa pindam (crow’s food), is offered to the pithru dēvatas (ancestors of three generations), and thrown to the crows. If they do not eat the rice, the omens are considered to be unfavourable. The Brāhmans receive betel and money in payment for their services. On one occasion my assistant was in camp at Kodaikānal on the Palni hills, the higher altitudes of which are uninhabited by crows, and he had perforce to march down to the plains, in order to perform the annual ceremony for his deceased father. The recurring annual srādh (Pratyābdhika) need not of necessity be performed. It is, however, regarded as an important ceremony, and, should an individual neglect it, he would run the risk of being excommunicated.