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Bhagavadgita gives the qualities of the Atma as one that cannot be cut by weapons, nor burnt by the fire, nor gets moist by water, and so does the wind not dry it. It is the [[Upadhi (उपाधिः)|Upadhi]] or body that contains the Jivatma and later undergoes the Antyeshti samskara.

Bhagavadgita gives the qualities of the Atma as one that cannot be cut by weapons, nor burnt by the fire, nor gets moist by water, and so does the wind not dry it. It is the [[Upadhi (उपाधिः)|Upadhi]] or body that contains the Jivatma and later undergoes the Antyeshti samskara.

== Different Kinds of Disposal of the Body ==

== Different Kinds of Funerals ==

The earliest literary mention of the funeral ceremonies is found in the Rigveda and the Atharvaveda. The mode of the disposal of the dead depends on the religious belief of the people concerned and their general culture. The society presented in the Vedic texts is sufficiently advanced, with cremation established as the way to dispose the corpse. Cannibalism or eating away of the dead by the survivors cannot be traced in the Vedas.  There are no records of cave burial also in the funeral ceremonies in India. Water burial or flinging the dead body into a sea or river was noted in the case of slaves or common people in various places living close to the water bodies. It is one of the formal ways accorded to small children and to realized medicants, ascetics who have no familial ties. Inhumation or burial is almost absent in the present day Indian funerals except in the case of great saints and very small children. In the Grhyasutras the burial of the dead is not mentioned, though we find it in ancient tradition in the form of burying ashes and bones after cremation.<ref name=":12" />

The earliest literary mention of the funeral ceremonies is found in the Rigveda and the Atharvaveda. The mode of the disposal of the dead depends on the religious belief of the people concerned and their general culture. The society presented in the Vedic texts is sufficiently advanced, with cremation established as the way to dispose the corpse. Cannibalism or eating away of the dead by the survivors cannot be traced in the Vedas.  There are no records of cave burial also in the funeral ceremonies in India. Water burial or flinging the dead body into a sea or river was noted in the case of slaves or common people in various places living close to the water bodies. It is one of the formal ways accorded to small children and to realized medicants, ascetics who have no familial ties. Inhumation or burial is almost absent in the present day Indian funerals except in the case of great saints and very small children. In the Grhyasutras the burial of the dead is not mentioned, though we find it in ancient tradition in the form of burying ashes and bones after cremation.<ref name=":12" />

Preserving the dead body in the house with or without previous desiccation or mummification is not mentioned at all in the ancient Indian texts. However, we find an instance of preserving the body of Dasharatha in a vessel full of oil, after his death, until the arrival of Bharata to perform cremation. Thus the process of preservation was not unknown though it was not widely used. People did not believe in preserving the body once the Atma departed from it.<ref name=":12" /><blockquote>उद्धृतम् तैल सम्क्लेदात् स तु भूमौ निवेशितम् | आपीत वर्ण वदनम् प्रसुप्तम् इव भूमिपम् || २-७६-४ (Ramayana. 2.76.4)</blockquote>Raising the body of king Dasaratha, from the vessel where it had been immersed in oil, seeming as it were asleep with face in the color of gold, that son Bharata placed it in a magnificent couch.<ref>Ramayana ([https://www.valmikiramayan.net/utf8/ayodhya/sarga76/ayodhya_76_frame.htm Ayodhya Kanda Sarga 76])</ref>

Preserving the dead body in the house with or without previous desiccation or mummification is not mentioned at all in the ancient Indian texts. However, we find an instance of preserving the body of Dasharatha in a vessel full of oil, after his death, until the arrival of Bharata to perform cremation. Thus the process of preservation was not unknown though it was not widely used. People did not believe in preserving the body once the Atma departed from it.<ref name=":12" /><blockquote>उद्धृतम् तैल सम्क्लेदात् स तु भूमौ निवेशितम् | आपीत वर्ण वदनम् प्रसुप्तम् इव भूमिपम् || २-७६-४ (Ramayana. 2.76.4)</blockquote>Raising the body of king Dasaratha, from the vessel where it had been immersed in oil, seeming as it were asleep with face in the color of gold, that son Bharata placed it in a magnificent couch.<ref>Ramayana ([https://www.valmikiramayan.net/utf8/ayodhya/sarga76/ayodhya_76_frame.htm Ayodhya Kanda Sarga 76])</ref>

=== Possible Reasons for Adopting Mode of Cremation ===

=== Possible Reasons for Adopting Mode of Cremation ===

According to Dr. Rajbali Pandey, there are many causes which might have operated in bringing the practice into existence.

According to Dr. Rajbali Pandey, there are many causes which might have operated in bringing the practice into existence.<ref name=":12" />

# Tribes without a settled abode may have found it convenient way to dispose their dead and carry the remnants if desired.

# Tribes without a settled abode may have found it convenient way to dispose their dead and carry the remnants if desired.

# Desire to be quit of the ghost was another strong reason for such mode of disposal. The body once destroyed by fire drives away the Preta from its abode.

# Desire to be quit of the ghost was another strong reason for such mode of disposal. The body once destroyed by fire drives away the Preta from its abode.

# Fire which was able to consume the forest, dry leaves and timbers, refuses of animals, might have suggested its utility in burning the dead also.

# Agni (fire) which was able to consume the forest, dry leaves and timbers, grass and refuses of animals, might have suggested its utility in burning the dead also.

 

 

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