Cremation, Caste, and Cosmogony in Karmic Traditions.

The pervasiveness of karma linking micro- and
macrocosm together must be stressed. In other words,
humans are at least partly responsible for the creation of
the world. The gods alone do not create new beings,
neither in the form of humans and animals nor ghosts;
the process of incarnating a soul into a new body is the
result of a complex interrelation between humans and
gods whereby each group of beings observe their strict
roles and functions. Thus, the creation of humans or any
other being is a process by which all the forces of the
universe partake, and consequently it is also a recreation
of cosmos – cosmogony. The karmic importance of this
understanding implies that a failure in participating in
the cosmological co-operation and process will
inevitably affect the universe as a whole. Participation in
funerals and observing the prescribed rites and taboos
are therefore of the uttermost importance for the
deceased, the individual, and cosmos in general. This is
a part of a person’s dharma, which might be described as
moral action and religious duty, or the duty of the
Householder. Although karmic consequences are
determined and religiously prescribed, performances of
rituals are done to change one’s life path and bettering
both this and future lives; hence it is possible to alter
one’s destiny (Wadley 1983:147). Therefore, karma is
not deterministic because the possibility to commit sins,
which deviates from the gods’ will, is a sign of free will
(Hertz 1996).
Different theories about karma do not necessarily
contradict each other because they do not always belong
to the same level of analysis (Hiebert 1983:122). Even
though karma is important in order to understand and
explain human fortunes, it is not the only or most
important way as far as everyday misfortunes are
concerned. Despite the ethicisation and rationalisation of
the rebirth doctrine, the logic of karma is not
straightforward. A difference between Hindu and
Buddhist hermeneutics is also found in the religious
texts. The Buddhist texts are more consistent through
time and space in their interpretation of the fundamental
dogmas whereas the Hindu texts are less consistent, and
therefore karmic ideas are more rational in Buddhism
than in Hinduism (Keyes 1983:12). Moreover, the
Tibetan Buddhists seem to concentrate more upon
karmic prospects than retrospects (Lichter & Epstein
1983). Buddhists see karma more as an impersonal force
than practising Hindus who believe that God has
“written” a person’s karmic destiny on one’s forehead at
birth (Keyes 1983:15). Karma in Buddhism has to be
understood in the light of the Noble Truths, and
especially that all is suffering. Even though Buddhists
believe in the good life and strive towards
improvements, all these goods are impermanent, and the
impermanence will eventually causes unhappiness
(Lichter & Epstein 1983: 225). Unhappiness and
suffering are consequences of actions. Today’s
occupation may therefore be an indication of future lives
because one will become what one does today. Tibetan
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Buddhists assume that blacksmiths and butchers in
particular are in a downward spiral regarding rebirth.
Due to previous sins they have already attained a low
birth; a birth which inevitably fosters further demerit
because the butcher kills and the blacksmith makes the
tools that kills (Mumford 1989:203). However, despite
scholarly and priestly interpretation of reincarnation,
there are a lot of uncertainties and ambiguities among
common people. When and how many times a person
will be incarnated is a matter of controversy, and most
people believe that good people go to heaven and bad
people to hell, and they think and hope they will go to
heaven.
Finally, the law of karma is not a closed system. More
precisely, a person’s karma is dependent upon other
people’s karma. The deceased’s destiny and further
rebirth is only partly dependent upon his own karma.
Previous deeds and acts are the point of departure for the
further incarnation, but the descendant’s performance of
the death rituals and the subsequent ancestral rites are of
the uttermost importance. The bardo in the Tibetan Book
of the Dead is the intermediate period by which the soul
is guided through the liminal phase, where it might be
led astray unless it is supervised by lamas. Funerals are
structured around men, and the importance of having a
son cannot be emphasised enough. The role of the sons
is explicitly stated in Hindu texts. In the Garuda Puranas
it is stressed; “There is no salvation for a man without a
son. He can never attain heaven without a son” (Garuda
Purana II, II.13.18 & III, II.29.4). “A man is released
from his debt to the manes on seeing his son’s face. A
man is released from three types of debts (to the sages,
gods and manes) on seeing his grandson. On seeing his
son, grandson, and great grandson he attains eternal or
celestial worlds” (Garuda Purana III, II.25.33-34). “Even
a man having sons, dying without the performance of
these rites, does not attain salvation. A man without son
by doing these rites beforehand shall have a happy
journey on the Great Highway” (Garuda Purana II,
II.14.14). The role and functions of ritual specialists and
relatives have to be emphasised in karmic traditions.
Death is life and life is death, a circle which stresses the
life-giving processes and principles governing the
transformations and changes from one sphere to another.
Pashupatinath: Cremation as cosmogony
The Pashupatinath temple is the holiest place in Nepal
for Shiva devotees. According to some Hindus, in the
whole world because Shiva’s head was born at this
place, and it is still present as the linga in the main
temple. Other parts of Shiva were born at various places,
but the head is the god’s most auspicious and vital
cosmogonic part, and hence, Pashupatinath is the most
sacred place for Shiva devotees. The river Bagmati is
mythological appearing from Shiva’s head, uniting life,
death, and water (fig. 1.3). Thus, this is the most