sannyasins, pollution, death.

[jayabarathi]

At 02:08 PM 5/4/98 PDT, you wrote:
>Allen W Thrasher <athr at LOC.GOV> wrote:
>
>>Vidyasankar said:
>
>
>Yes, indeed. Usually, a ritual SrAddha is held before a person becomes a
>sannyAsin, but the nearest male relative does have a role in the rituals
>of internment of the sannyAsin's body. As for the death itself not
>creating any impurity, the oldest textual source for this is the
>bRhadAraNyaka passage, where the prANas of the desire-less man are said
>not to depart. That is part of the reason why cremation is not done.
>
>Vidyasankar
>

        There was also a peculiar practice in Tamilnadu. In some of the
        cases of Sannyasis and Siddhas, after the bodily physiological
        activities cease, a coconut was broken on the top of the head.
        This was called , the "kapAla mOksha"  among the
        Tamils. This was done in order to release the soul from
        the body. After that the remains were buried.
        Regards

        Jayabarathi




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