Cremation, Caste, and Cosmogony in Karmic Traditions.

(Skt. Dakini) come to distribute the food throughout the
tree world of the cosmos, while chanted mantras
multiply the amount of flesh, blood, and bones so that it
“never ends”. As the corpse is distributed it takes on a
variety of forms to meet every conceivable need, as well
as pay back every debt that…has [been] accumulated
from the past” (ibid).
One of the lamas expressed the reason and the meaning
of the text in this way; “Imagine that your corpse has
been turned into healing medicines, fine clothes,
precious jewels, all kinds of grains, and domestic
animals: horses, cattle, elephants. Then it is transformed
into forests, flowers, and wealth of all kinds. Nothing is
lacking. Indeed, your corpse has been transformed into
the Wish-granting Tree itself, along with mansions,
gardens, gems, and all desirables to satisfy the five
senses” (ibid). The corpse is not merely a waste product
but a precious source for new life, and the immanent
powers reside in the flesh. “Cut pieces” of corpses were
also identified with the distribution of rice cakes to the
other villages in Gyasumdo. All realms and regions in
cosmos and the world receive their share, and nobody
must be excluded. The practice of air-burials renews the
wealth of the world and everyone that lives within it.
The direct image of this process is that both invited and
uninvited guests come and devour the flesh, which is
visualised as food on a banquet. The renounced body is
the one that is distributed; “Since I must die anyway, I
give my body to all the guests. All come, I’ll feed you!
Those who like meat, take my flesh. Those who like
blood, take my blood. Those who like bones, take my
bones. Those who like skin to wear, take my skin. Take
it all, I don’t need it!” (ibid:206-207). After the disposal
the process of the guidance of the soul starts, which is
dealt with particularly in the Tibetan Book of the Dead.
Kaligandaki River Valley and Nire ghat in
Baglung
Kaligandaki River is one of the most holy and sacred
rivers in Nepal and has an important religious function
all over Western Nepal, and she is named after the
goddess Kali. There are several reasons why
Kaligandaki River has this special religious role. It
contains the ammonite fossils known to Hindus as
saligram. From a geological point of view an ammonite
fossil is the remains of an aquatic animal that is
preserved in rock. In the Hindu religion, saligram is an
embodiment, a physical manifestation, or visible
incarnation of Vishnu. Kaligandaki River is the river
where almost all saligrams in Nepal are found, and the
river is also gold bearing. Gold is one of the purest and
most auspicious mediums in the Hindu religion.
Moreover, the river comes from the Himalayas, and it is
therefore seen as a god. In general, mountains are
perceived as gods, but in this area Dhaulagiri has a
special role. According to folk tales and beliefs
Dhaulagiri is the giver of waters to the rivers. The river
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leads as all Nepali rivers to Ganges and then to Varanasi,
the holy pilgrimage site where a cremation will end “the
round of birth and death” and the deceased will attain
salvation. But one of the most important reasons for
Kaligandaki River’s holiness is Muktinath.
The Muktinath temple with its 108 waterspouts is the
second most sacred Hindu place in Nepal. It is a holy
shrine for Hindus as well as Buddhists and here the two
religions co-exist together. The local Tibetan name of
Muktinath is Chu-mig-brgya–rtsa which literally means
a “hundred-odd springs”. The waterspouts are associated
with eighty-four Siddha or Great Magicians from the late
Indian Buddhist tradition, watched by the Serpent
divinity Gawo Jogpa known as Vishnu among the
Hindus (Snellgrove 1979:81-82). Buddhists who
worship here will be freed from all sins committed in
their lifetime, and they will be rewarded in the future by
reaching the state of Buddha. Muktinath is both a
process and a place; on the one hand it is a tirtha-yatra,
or an arduous, long-distance religious journey, and on
the other hand, a sacred chhetra, or holy zone
(Messerschmidt 1992:11). Water sources in the high
Himalayas have always had a particularly strong
attraction for pilgrims as sources of the holy Ganges
River, and they have been called “sin-destroying
localities”. The importance of water is underscored by
the Sanskrit term for pilgrimage: tirtha (river ford) or
tirtha-yatra (“journey to a river ford”) (ibid:16). Place
and water are interconnected. Lama Dorje collected
earth, water, and herbs from among other places
Milarepa’s cave in Nyeshang, and from Muktinath, and
he explained why: “In Muktinath the original fire burns
in water in harmony, and there the rocks and soil are as
they were at the beginning of time. We collect these and
bring them back so we can insert them in our Chortens
[stupas] and in the soil of the fields to delay
deterioration, restoring to some extent the qualities of the
good age” (Mumford 1989:97).
Muktinath used to be a quest only for the hardiest of
pilgrims, but nowadays rich pilgrims may rent
helicopters and land next to the temple. The more
common pilgrimage, apart from the old hard way, is by
an ordinary flight from Pokhara to Jomson from where it
is only a one-day climb to Muktinath, and the pilgrims
often combine pleasure, vacation, and pilgrimage.
Following the river from Muktinath where the Jhong
River joins the Kali Gandaki, Kagbeni is the main town
in the lower valley. Confluences are called beni in
Nepal, and they are sacred to Hindus. Many pilgrims
stop here on their way up to the valley of Muktinath to
perform the sacred rites of shraddha for their departed
kin people. Kagbeni is also the junction of four trade
routes from Manang and Muktinath to the east, from
Dolpo to the west, from Lo-Manthang (Mustang) and
Tibet to the north, and from the Nepali hills, Tarai
lowlands and north India to the south (Messerschmidt
1992:8). Thak was one of the many petty-kingdoms in
the higher mountains of Nepal until the Gorkha conquest