DEIVATHIN KURAL # 50 (Vol # 3) Dated 31 Jan 2009

DEIVATHIN KURAL # 50 (Vol # 3) Dated 31 Jan 2009
(These e-mails are translations of talks given by Periyaval of Kanchi Kamakoti Peetam, over a period of some 60 years while he was the pontiff in the earlier part of last century. These have been published by Vanadi Padippagam, Chennai, in seven volumes of a thousand pages each as Deivathin Kural. To day we are proceeding from page 217 of Vol 3 of the Tamil original. The readers are reminded that herein 'man' includes 'woman' too, mostly.)
(Note:- These e-mails are all available at http://advaitham.blogspot.com constantly updated.)
345. So, this wonderful equipment, facility, tool and machine that God has given us, should not be disposed off haphazardly. It should be offered in oblation to the 'Maha Smasanavasi Parameswara' (dweller of cremation grounds)! It should be returned to the one who gave us this body. All over the world, even tribals in deep inaccessible forests are aware of the importance of this human body and so have major ceremonies centered around proper disposal of the human body!
346. Even if you do not believe that divine elements are still attached to the various parts of the body after death, is it not that each individual soul, a small fraction of the supreme God Head, however infinitesimal it may be? Do not you agree that, where Easwara Chaitanya or God's Divinity, has resided for some little time, should be disposed off, with due respect?
347. If a person has done a lot of good to others through his body, you have to pay due respects to his body even when he has left! Even non-believer agnostics place garlands on dead bodies, don't they? Even if he had used his body for the wrong purposes and was not aware of the divinity in himself, we should still offer his body as an oblation to the fire God, to offset his life long sins! In Saiva Siddhantam, they say that it is Easwara who gives the Jeevan, the 'thanu, karana, bhuvana bhoga-s' i.e., body, senses and worldly enjoyments. They believe that this world is created and the Jeevan is given this body and senses in the body so as to enable him to enjoy this world, till he works out his Karma-s. So at the end, the body has to be returned with gratitude to the same Easwara.
348. There is one major difference. All other 'Ishti' Yagna-s, the Jeevan has to do himself. But when it comes to disposal of his own dead body, others have to do it for him! Whether he does all other Samskaara-s or not, the related merits and demerits of Paapa and Punya, are entirely his own. Others do not have any responsibility in it. But, disposal of his dead body is the responsibility of others only. If we do not do this properly, it is our sin!
349. 'Till a person is alive, we have to help him or her; after the death, as the soul will be somewhere, the Sraddha and such action is to be done; then having questioned ourselves as to why should we bother about the dead body of some Tim, Dick and Harry, we have come to realize that this wonderful gift of God, has to be handed over back to God with due respect and love! This responsibility entirely rests with us only! Not to do so, we realize is a big detestable default!
Un-claimed Cadaver.
350. Within relations, 'Apara Karyam', i.e., disposal of the dead body and related rituals, somehow gets done. There may be some short falls. But we are not failing to do the needful. We may not be doing the monthly Amavasya Tarpanam and such. But as per the accepted tradition in families, burial or cremation somehow gets done. But how about some of us with no known relative, totally orphaned destitute? When they die, how or who has to do the needful rituals? As per the Saastra-s, these are supposed to be taken care of by the society itself.
351. In this respect, the state of affairs amongst the Hindus, is rather pitiable. In some places some samaritan may come forward, but mostly the arrangement is only ad-hoc and not systematized! In a hospital or jail, when orphaned destitute dies, for his or her Preta Samskaaram, there is no set procedure. The hospital people may do post mortem, then the panchayat or municipality people take over. But it is stigma on the name of the Hindu society, that this is not catered for! Other religions are certainly better organized in this respect.
352. Without any co-operation or control, it is the Hindu society which is becoming liable for this disgrace and stigma! There is no one organization representing all of the Hindu-s! So this problem is literally 'a no-body's-baby'! Holding the exalted title of a 'Jagat Guru', it is me who is wholly responsible. But I am afraid that all Hindu people do not come under my control either. I really feel sad for this condition obtaining amongst our midst! Since I feel that you may listen to me, I am sharing this agony with you all. If you do some Sin, that Paapam will accrue to me only, as your Guru. You do prostrate before me, don't you? That means that you are entrusting to me the duty of removing your Paapam!
353. Destitute orphaned dead body be set aside. The whole of Hindu society is without a 'Naath' and so is orphaned! To make them 'cared for', it is my duty to exhort you to function as given in Saastra-s. To take care of 'uncared for dead bodies' of Hindus, in each city or town, we had started a 'Hindu Mata Jeevatma Kainkarya Sangam'. In many towns it is already functioning effectively. Especially in Kumbakonam this sangam is doing a very good job of it! There the sangam people are in constant touch with the staff of hospital, municipality, and jail, to be able to respond in quick time as and when required.
354. For this you do not need a separate organization. In each locality, the same set of people who normally participate in periodic devotional activities such as Satsang and Community singing of Bhajan-s, could do Paropakaaram activities as well as take care of the dead bodies of orphaned destitutes. When the need for this duty comes up, instead of doing this as a humdrum monotonous additional job, all other works should be set aside and this work taken up in full earnest!
This is Ashwa Medham.
355. Initially when I started this subject of Paropakaaram, I posed a question to all of you as to whether everybody could conduct an Ashwa Medha Yagnam? I also asked as to what is the need for it to be done? There is a name for Ambal as, "..hayamedha samarchitaa...", meaning 'specially venerated by Ashwamedha!' So I mentioned that to get the 'Anugraha' of Ambal, we should conduct Ashwa Medha Yagnam and that however it is not easily done in this Kali Yuga, since too many if's and but's and do's and don'ts are involved in conducting an Ashwa Medha Yagna!
356. Then I also said that amongst all the works of Paropakaaram, there is one which equivalent in its fruitfulness to an Ashwa Medha Yagna. Then I kept on talking about various works of social service and their relative value. But I never mentioned as to which of them all is as effective as conducting an Aswa Medha Yagna. Now let me tell you that, it is this disposal of the dead body of an uncared for, 'anaath', orphaned, destitute, without any relatives or friends to take care of! I quote the Saastra, "...anaata preta samskaaraat ashwa medha phalam labeth...!"
(To be continued.)
Sambhomahadeva.