Science behind cremation. Why cremation is better than burial
You may have seen cremation of your loved ones and may have questions like
What is the logic behind cremation?
Is there any scientific reasons behind cremation?
Why my loved ones should be burned?
Is cremation environment-friendly?
Why to prefer cremation over burial?
So, we will go through answers of all these questions in this video.
Check the below video for detailed graphical explanation of this article
Philosophical reason behind cremation
Human body is made of 5 elements- Bhumi(earth), Agni (fire), Varuna(water), Vayu(air)and Akash(Sky/Ether), collectively called as Panchamahabhootha or the "five great elements" in Hinduism. Whole procedure of hindu cremation ceremonies are directed towards returning the body back to these natural elements. Burning of body(Fire), Smoke goes upwards(air & ether), ash gets mixed in soil (Earth), Soul goes to sky (Ether), ash is thrown in river or sea(Water)
Cremation liberates the soul from physical body
Death in Hinduism means only “the end of physical body”, not the end of life. Hindus believe that the body is a temporary container for an immortal soul in the mortal realm.
On death, physical body dies but the soul lives on and continues its journey of birth & death in another body. This cycle of birth and death repeats until the soul is liberated i.e enlightenment.
After having inhabited the body for many years, soul becomes so much attached to the body that it may still want to remain in the physical body even after death. Women are kept away from ceremonial rites as they are more emotionally attached and seeing their emotional cry, soul may try to linger around the body. All this stops the progress of the soul in its spiritual journey for Salvation or reincarnation and therefore, it is advised by sages to perform all rituals including cremation to detach the soul from its material body as otherwise the soul will try to hover around the loved ones. Cremation ensures that there is no body left for the soul to exist and hence, it must move on to the next stage. Dispersing the ashes in the river is the final act of liberating the soul from its mortal attachments
Cremation protects you from dangerous diseases
Human being doesn’t die always from old age, they may also die due to diseases spread by harmful viruses. When the body dies, it becomes toxic in nature and attracts harmful micro-organisms, maggots, flesh eating insects etc.
These harmful microorganism may enter your body via drinking of groundwater or via eating of vegetables/animals grown near to burial sites.
Cremation is therefore considered as the safest & fastest way to dispose the body.
Cremation is environment friendly
Cremation is environment friendly as for every death, relatives & closed ones are asked to plant at-least three trees on special festivals like Makar sankranti, baisakhi, basant pachami etc so as to compensate for pollution and wood burning in pyre.
In tropical countries like India, soil is wet and have more water content in them. Burial in such places damages the fertility of the soil and such valuable earth spaces cannot be used for crops cultivation for decades/centuries. Moreover, burial also result in the spreading of diseases as explained before.
Burning in fire is the right way of disposing the body
In Hinduism, dead bodies of humans as well as animals are considered impure. Only fire is an element that is strong enough to destroy any kind of impurity as all the other elements becomes impure on mixing with impure things. For Ex: Water becomes impure & unhealthy if mixed with filth or garbage. Air/sky becomes impure and unhealthy when mixed with gases like nitrogen, carbon dioxide etc. Earth is impure with microorganisms, garbage etc. Only fire is pure and fit enough to destroy all impurities
On the other hand, burying is a very slow process of disintegrating the body back to the nature. Moreover, leaving the dead body to be consumed by animals and micro-organisms is considered as a disrespect of the dead. So, offering the body to the fire god is considered as an optimal way of performing the last rites
Why to throw ash in ganga river?
Ash when mixed in river is fit to be used in farm irrigation as all the salty minerals are dispersed along the lengthy stream of river. Since bones constituted of phosphates, the ashes dispersed in the rivers increase the phosphate content of the water that aids in better farm irrigation. This is why ancient sages advised throwing the ashes in river, especially Ganga as it is considered the holiest of all rivers.
Ancient sages knew the self-purifying properties of the river Ganga and so, they advised throwing the ashes in mother Ganga to liberate the soul for its journey towards the heaven.
Cremation avoid occult Mischief
This is another reason to disperse ashes. Bones are often dug and used for occult practices, believed to recall and control the deceased, and to gain superhuman powers. This occult practise is not possible in cremation as there are no bones and all ashes are dispersed in river
Cremation is easier and cheaper
Digging a grave is a laborious task and requires special implements for preserving the body. Cremation comparatively is easier, quicker and cheaper.
Conclusion
Cremation is prescribed in the Vedic texts, and is followed not only by Hindus and other Indic faiths like Jainism, Sikhism and Buddhism, but also by Christians, Jews and indigenous religions. It should also be noted that many intellectuals like Albert Einstein, Robert Oppenheimer, John F. Kennedy, Rudyard Kipling, George Bernard Shaw, George Harrison etc opted for Vedic Hindu cremation rites without caring about ex-communication by powerful churches. I hope that you have understood the importance of cremation and it will assist you in performing the last rites of your loved ones in a right way.
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