DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.636#0308
296 Death, Funeral Rites, and Ancestor-worship.
administer to his comfort, are known to resort to artificial
means, whereby death is accelerated. They unscrupulously
pour the unwholesome, muddy water of the river down his
already choked throat, and in some cases suffocate him to
death V
Of course the Ganges is of all rivers held to be the most
divine and the most potent in its efficacy. If simply looked
upon during the death-agony, the messengers of Yama, who
are eager to seize and bind the soul, are powerless to harm it.
But neither the Ganges nor any other sacred stream is
always to be reached. In such cases various other preventive
measures calculated to keep the officers of Yama at bay or
force them to retire may be resorted to, according to the
practice believed to be most efficacious in different localities.
For example, in many families it is thought enough to
scatter Sesamum seed and Kusa grass around the sick man's
couch or to encircle it with a kind of cordon of cow-dung; or
a Salagrama stone (see p. 69) is brought and placed on a
stand close to the dying man's side, while at the same time
a TulasT plant is deposited near him. Or again, a sprig of
that sacred plant is wound round his head; or its leaves are
placed in his mouth2; or a piece of gold3 is inserted between
the teeth; or a little mud from a sacred stream may be
brought from a distance and plastered on his forehead; or
Ganges water may be poured down his throat. Then not
unfrequently a cow duly decorated is brought close to the
moribund man's bed, and he is made to grasp its tail, under
1 ' The Hindoos as they are,' p. 252.
2 According to the Garuda-purana (IX. 7, 8), 'The house in which
there is a single sprig of the Tufasi is like a holy place of pilgrimage.
Yama's messengers cannot enter it. Yama cannot look upon the man
who dies with the Tulasi in contact with his body, even though he may
have committed hundreds of crimes.' In verse 11 the same efficacy is
ascribed to Kusa grass, which is said to be pervaded by Brahma, Vishnu,
and Siva.
3 To secure the presence of gold in the mouth at death, a healthy man
will sometimes have it inserted in his teeth.
administer to his comfort, are known to resort to artificial
means, whereby death is accelerated. They unscrupulously
pour the unwholesome, muddy water of the river down his
already choked throat, and in some cases suffocate him to
death V
Of course the Ganges is of all rivers held to be the most
divine and the most potent in its efficacy. If simply looked
upon during the death-agony, the messengers of Yama, who
are eager to seize and bind the soul, are powerless to harm it.
But neither the Ganges nor any other sacred stream is
always to be reached. In such cases various other preventive
measures calculated to keep the officers of Yama at bay or
force them to retire may be resorted to, according to the
practice believed to be most efficacious in different localities.
For example, in many families it is thought enough to
scatter Sesamum seed and Kusa grass around the sick man's
couch or to encircle it with a kind of cordon of cow-dung; or
a Salagrama stone (see p. 69) is brought and placed on a
stand close to the dying man's side, while at the same time
a TulasT plant is deposited near him. Or again, a sprig of
that sacred plant is wound round his head; or its leaves are
placed in his mouth2; or a piece of gold3 is inserted between
the teeth; or a little mud from a sacred stream may be
brought from a distance and plastered on his forehead; or
Ganges water may be poured down his throat. Then not
unfrequently a cow duly decorated is brought close to the
moribund man's bed, and he is made to grasp its tail, under
1 ' The Hindoos as they are,' p. 252.
2 According to the Garuda-purana (IX. 7, 8), 'The house in which
there is a single sprig of the Tufasi is like a holy place of pilgrimage.
Yama's messengers cannot enter it. Yama cannot look upon the man
who dies with the Tulasi in contact with his body, even though he may
have committed hundreds of crimes.' In verse 11 the same efficacy is
ascribed to Kusa grass, which is said to be pervaded by Brahma, Vishnu,
and Siva.
3 To secure the presence of gold in the mouth at death, a healthy man
will sometimes have it inserted in his teeth.