Cremation, Caste, and Cosmogony in Karmic Traditions.

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Fig. 8.1. A combined Kali and Saraswati temple in the sweepers’ para visualised by two posters, together with the ghata. 136
Hindus pray in temples and Muslims in mosques, and if one approaches the Muslim gods one has to pray in mosques. However, since there is only one God there is no need for praying to the Muslim counterpart if one has prayed to a Hindu divinity. According to both the Hindus and Muslims I interviewed, the reason why the gods correspond to each other in the respective religions is the fact that all Muslims were Hindus before they converted to Islam. The co-existence of the religions has continued, and the Hindu worldview is deeply rooted in the Muslims’ worldview. Even Muslims in their poverty and helpless state of despair seek help from Kali when their lives are in danger, and if Kali saves them, then they may sacrifice a goat in one of her temples. This does not mean that Kali is more powerful than Fatima, but only that in this particular case Kali was more sufficient and efficient as a problem solver. When Muslims make sacrifices in Kali temples they are not worshipping Fatima, but only the Kali manifestation of the divine power. If Muslims make commitments and promise penances to Kali, then they have to fulfil their wows. Thus, instead of giving their own lives in return to Kali, Muslims may give another life by sacrificing a goat. In one case, a Muslim man promised Kali that if his son recovered from a fatal sickness, then he would sacrifice a goat. The son recovered, and the Muslim provided the goat. Unfortunately, the goat died naturally in the temple the night before the sacrifice, but since it is the personal commitment to the goddess that matters, it was religiously interpreted and agreed upon that he had fulfilled his promises by the donation of the goat to the temple the day before the sacrifice. Outside Rajbari town, the neighbouring town of Faridpur, Muslims living by the riverside are also committed to the river. The pray and make sacrifices to Ganga trying to control the forthcoming flood, for the avoidance of diseases, and for the protection from winter storms when fishing. If Ganga saves them after they have prayed to the river goddess, then they may offer coconuts, salt, and rice in accordance with their promises. Only Muslims live on the south side of the river, whereas on the northern side there are Hindus too, and the Hindus may also sacrifice goats in the name of Ganga. The Muslims living along this part of the riverside do not give blood sacrifices to Ganga, and Kali is in general less important for these Muslims. According to them, when they pray and make offerings to Ganga, they follow the Muslim religious codex for worship. There are, however, great local and regional differences. Along other parts of Ganga’s riverside Muslims worship Kali as well, and it is their personal commitment and interpretation of the religious world that decide to which extent the Hindu Parthenon of Gods and Goddesses are included in the Muslim religion. The Muslim divine gallery and worldview are incorporated in accordance with both personal 137 experiences and motives. The work of culture (Obeyesekere 1990) is the process whereby symbolic forms existing on the cultural level get created and recreated through the minds of people. Obeyesekere limits psychoanalysis in cultural anthropology to understanding the interrelationship between deep motivation and culture (ibid:xix-xx). The importance is that Kali and Ganga are goddesses somehow irrespective of the labels “Hindu” and “Muslim” and they are incorporated into a shared Hindu-environmental culture, which is seen as unproblematic for both parts. In fact, the syncretism transcends the goddesses and may include other spheres of devotional paths. The Gopal Krishna Temple in Faridpur was established in 1965, and the ashram is a part of the worldwide Hare Krishna mission. Mohadheb Chakrabarti is a Hindu sadhu residing in the ashram, and he works as a healer due to his spiritual power. Chakrabarti has been working in the Krishna ashram for forty-five years, but he lives in his house in Madanga village six kilometres from the ashram. He got his spiritual powers ten years ago (around 1992), and now he is healing both Hindus and Muslims. The sadhu also blesses wealthy people since they believe it is auspicious and good for their business, although the majority of the devotees are poor and needy people. Everyone from the sweepers to Brahmans, magistrates, and policemen, take his services, blessings, and healing. Mohadheb Chakrabarti is renowned in the city for his powers, which he claims he received directly from Kali in particular and Shiva in general, to whom he prays to maintain his spiritual powers. Although he received his power from Kali, he resides in a Krishna ashram because Krishna appears in multiple forms, and Krishna is one of the forms of Kali. Worshipping in a Krishna temple is therefore the same as praying in a Kali temple. Everything is Kali. Kali gives him directions for what kind of medicine he shall use for a specific purpose and sickness, and he is only healing on Tuesdays and Saturdays. These are the days of Kali, and both Kali and Shiva are awake and available then. They do not sleep throughout the night, and the devotees may reach them by their prayers. Sundays and Thursdays are fruitless days and one may not expect anything from the goddesses, Wednesday is the day of Durga, and Monday is the day off for Kali and Shiva when they relax with each other, and nobody can be released from sin or diseases on this day. On Friday all the gods and goddesses are awake, but since it is the holiday for the Muslims, Chakrabarti also takes the day off and keeps the public holiday. As indicated, also Brahman priests acknowledge that Kali and Fatima are equal Mothers of the world for Hindus and Muslims respectively, and that their husbands are Shiva and Ali. This shared understanding of how the world is linked together might be an entrance to an understanding of why the role of Brahmans as
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Death and Life-Giving Waters Cremat
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Preface Contents List of figures In
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The origin of Pashupatinath and the
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Fig. 5.1 Map of Bangladesh with Far
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In karmic traditions, death and lif
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constructions, it has often been ap
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Part 1: Cremating Death - Creating
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ethically conditioned (fig 1.2). Th
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The pervasiveness of karma linking
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Fig. 1.3. Pashupatinath temple and
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Fig. 1.5. Cremation priest lighting
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Fig. 1.7. Ghat management and servi
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theories of castes as an organisati
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Fig. 1.9. The sons collected the as
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highly polluted that the people wou
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24 Fig. 1.12. Durga Prasad Sapkota
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problematic (Levinson 1982:198), es
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(seeds, food). In life a person bec
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Fig. 2.1. Manikarnika Ghat, Varanas
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the dead, (they shall eat) their fo
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Fig. 2.6. The representation of cas
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degrees of purity and pollution. En
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Fig. 2.8. Caste structure according
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Nevertheless, it is preferable to b
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the sacrifier is the sacrifice. Thu
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partly a process by which the gods
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Chapter 3: Meditation upon death an
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Being a part of a religious elite i
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The dangers of social interaction S
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Third party observing and legitimat
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Fig. 3.4. Tyaginath sitting next to
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57 Top: Fig. 3.6. The grave of Nara
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the Mahabrahmans mostly consume the
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Religion and ritual Studies of deat
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purest in common sense is not alway
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Fig. 4.3. Modes of fleshly incarnat
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e reincarnated into regarding spiri
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Fig. 4.5. Hocart’s and Dumont’s
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impure and still treated as a Brahm
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Part 2: The Sisters Kali and Ganga
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Ganga Brahmaputra • Faridpur Bay
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Fig. 5.4. Ambikapur Shashan Ghat. F
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Fig. 5.6. Channel from the pyre whe
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The head is always supposed to be d
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Hinduism. She is employed as a care
Page 98 and 99: Only Hindus are cremated at the cem
Page 100 and 101: According to Hazera, Badol cremated
Page 102 and 103: Fig. 6.1. Statue of Jagadbandhu. 90
Page 104 and 105: Fig. 6.2. Rajani receives the bless
Page 106 and 107: His disciples are like missionaries
Page 108 and 109: In the Ashram all the expenses are
Page 110 and 111: Fig. 6.7. Burial in coffin. 98
Page 112 and 113: Fig. 6.8. Private Kali temple in Ba
Page 114 and 115: Fig. 6.9. Jagadbandhu temple in Ban
Page 116 and 117: The importance of the priest in rit
Page 118 and 119: the rituals, and they have differen
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Page 122 and 123: Fig. 7.1. The mighty Ganga. Fig. 7.
Page 124 and 125: Fig. 7.3. Tara. Fig. 7.4. Tripur-Su
Page 126 and 127: Fig. 7.11. Chinnamasta. 114
Page 128 and 129: immediate divine access and godly g
Page 130 and 131: Fig. 7.12. Pot-maker in front by th
Page 132 and 133: Fig. 7.14. The making of Durga. 120
Page 134 and 135: This image is the most important pa
Page 136 and 137: Fig. 7.17. Replacement of Shashan K
Page 138 and 139: Fig. 7.18. The Baishanti Durga puja
Page 140 and 141: tradition. The Bhaishanti Durga sta
Page 142 and 143: enlightenment and achieve liberatio
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Page 146 and 147: cloth. Although the Hindus in Farid
Page 150 and 151: high-caste and priests as religious
Page 152 and 153: 1979:115-118). As seen in Faridpur
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Page 156 and 157: 144
Page 158 and 159: Fig. 9. 1. Map of Nepal. Kaligandak
Page 160 and 161: The opposite approach is the histor
Page 162 and 163: Fig. 9.2. Manang and Gangapurna gla
Page 164 and 165: Fig. 9.5. Bone grinding. 152
Page 166 and 167: Only 20-25 years ago air-burials we
Page 168 and 169: was completed by the end of the 18
Page 170 and 171: As a cultural construct water is al
Page 172 and 173: These sacrifices rebuild the deceas
Page 174 and 175: giving mother. A “spirit” is
Page 176 and 177: Gorakhnath promised the Nepalese th
Page 178 and 179: “Shiva, the god of eroticism, is
Page 180 and 181: Fig. 10. 3. Dagbatti - the lighting
Page 182 and 183: Fig. 10.4. Sexual engravings at the
Page 184 and 185: priori”, Jung argues; “The repr
Page 186 and 187: 174
Page 188 and 189: are there in a quite objective sens
Page 190 and 191: Purana, “those who recite them wi
Page 192 and 193: forms of colour, 4) water with the
Page 194 and 195: Fig. 11.2. The spot where humans we
Page 196 and 197: Fig. 11.4. Bagmati originating from
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186
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Fig. 12.1. Sadhu fasting for Nepali
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If the river could not cleanse itse
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The trust is not directly involved
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Fig. 12.6. The outlet of treated wa
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As an example, once a complete drun
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Fig. 12.10. Bagmati River with clea
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positive or negative feedback upon
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this process happens slowly and pro
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Fig. 13.1. Decaying corpse at Nire
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achievement of a wanted state or co
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while unmarried girls and boys with
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Logic of sin and pollution Cosmogon
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212
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214
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less “true”, unimportant, or in
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From the present to the past, urban
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Dating traditions - the development
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The Muluki Ain aimed to arrange all
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spiritual fold took them to the upp
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choose one’s own path because onl
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esult of a variety of combinations
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practice, common people are ignoran
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procured for the people. The import
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Fig. 15.1. Gundestrup cauldron with
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236
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took place, at some time in history
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Fig. 16.1. Maneckji Seti Agiary in
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stony desert. The polluted body was
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Fig. 16.3. Zoroastrian ossuary from
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Fig. 16.4. Zarathushtra and fire-te
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Fig. 16.6. Inside a Tower of Silenc
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Fig. 16.7. Zarathushtra. 250
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meaningfully constituted and situat
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creative act in world-history - unl
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Alexander there offered sacrifices
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therefore concentrate on his docume
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Marshall suggested that the height
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Fig. 17.5. Dharmarajika: plan of re
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Fig. 17.6. Buddha from Building L n
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Fig. 17.8. The “smaller” Buddha
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is always explaining, instructing,
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Pakistan Fig. 17.9. Mohenjo-daro an
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Fig. 17.10. The Great Bath. From Ma
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This is problematic for several rea
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As mentioned before, Schutz has mad
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278
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of birth and death. The soul is ete
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constructions are applied and mater
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many possibilities such an approach
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follows her husband purifies the th
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improper performances of funerals.
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290
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292
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kept perpetually ablaze for over a
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Gange Farid million people. Muslim
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Manosha The patron saint of serpent
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Ratnasambhava The third dhyanibuddh
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Tirtha Spiritual ford, crossing pla
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304
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very nice. The last son (or husband
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y putting faces on people who other
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Hence, I have a feeling that I am o
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Fig. 18.3. Ram Mani Gyawali, author
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314
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When it again closes then Shiva bec
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or the opposite? Is the Aghori capa
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A man, after taking a bath in the P
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Vishnu said: Obeisance to you, O de
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The linga is pure, auspicious and i
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326
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Cambridge. Barth, F. 1990. The Guru
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Art, Religion & Culture: 184-191. M
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Priest. Cambridge University Press.
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Insoll, T. 1999b. Introduction. Res
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Lahiri, N. 2000. Archaeology and id
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Ahmedabad. Mirza, H. K. 2002. Liter
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Gandhi National Centre for the Arts
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(eds.). Representing Hinduism: 51-8
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