What is the meaning behind burning the dead body in Hindu mythology?

“Antyesti” the right name for the entire method. we have a tendency to believe that souls once living within the body for this while, gets connected to the body and if left to rot on its own or buried, can linger upon the neck of the woods. So, burning the body makes the soul depart to its rightful place ahead of burial. So, sadhus (enlightened persons) and youngsters aren't cremated, rather buried as a result of the soul of a Hindoo is already enlightened and therefore the souls of youngsters aren't absolute to the body too long to urge connected to the body.

Agni contains a special standing among the Pancha Mahabhootas (Five Elements) in being the purest of pure. All the remaining Mahabhootas become impure once they're used for cleanup. for example, Water once being employed to wash filth, itself becomes impure and can't be used; Air once being inhaled becomes CO2 and can't support life. Similar things hold for Earth and Ether. Fire is the sole exception. Fire, even once being employed to burn and purify, remains pure and potent. therefore the construct of Agni Pareeksha, Agni Saakshi, etc.

Fire is employed to liberate the body back to its origins within the Pancha Mahabhootas: each jiva is formed of 5 Mahabhootas, namely, Dhara (Earth), Nabh(Ether), Vayu(Air), Varuna(Water), Agni(Fire). once death, the body is meant to disintegrate into these several Mahabharata.

Cremation of the body reminds us that the body isn't vital however the Atman is. Body perishes however Atman exists everlastingly. this can be in distinction with say Christianity wherever individuals would head to kingdom of heaven in their material bodies and thus do burial to 'put the bodies to rest' until Day of Judgement. In Hinduism, it is the atman that might attain Moksha and not the body. Body represents ego/Shankar and burning it's like material possession go. this can be the philosophical basis of incineration that several sects adhere to.

To be precise, Hinduism may be a mixture of Sociology, Science and Theology.

Hinduism(Sanathana Dharma) is especially a culture than a faith that is followed in Asian countries. The culture of 1 region relies on it region's climate and nature. incineration of bodies may be a real example of this truth. Soil in Asian country is wet type(compared Gulf countries and European countries) and have a lot of water in it. If dead bodies area unit buried below the soil, the biodegradation present itself and body fluids start off. Since the soil is wet enough, it's substantially certain that those fluids can misunderstanding with the water in the soil and thus the drinking sources like wells and rivers can get impure. this may cause diseases. conjointly incineration helps in not wasting the land. once cremating the bodies, there's follow during which some grains(Nava days,i.e nine-grain seeds) area unit place within the place of cremation(It remains followed in Southern a part of Asian country, undecided concerning different parts). This follow may be a simple manner in mentioning the importance of agriculture in Hinduism(or in Indian culture). this can be practiced to form certain that the agricultural land isn't wasted. identical land is once more used for agricultural functions. thus during this culture, there aren't any cemeteries, identical land once more used for farming.

All these area units written within the Smrithies(example for Smriti is Manusmrithi and that I do not know during which specific smrithi this follow is mentioned.), that contains the code of conduct to be followed by individuals following a culture. every Smrithi is followed in a very region for a specific amount in step with its nature and climate.. Smithies area unit allowed to edit as needed(according to variations in weather, living vogue, etc.) so suggests that the rituals and habits may well be modified in step with Hindu culture.

Also, it'll be useful to refer to sixteen samskaras to be followed in one person's life. From Wikipedia: The samskāra (sanskaar) area unit a series of sacraments, sacrifices, and rituals that function rites of passage and mark the assorted stages of the human life and to indicate entry to a specific Ashrama (i.e. stage of life).

According to Hindu Tradition, a specific region or country will adopt its manner of concealment in step with the character and climate. this can be creating a decent sense. In {middle east|Middle East|Mideast|Near East|geographical area unita|geographic area|geographical region|geographic region} countries/gulf most of the components are deserts. thus the faith originated from there, i.e. Islam follows this technique of concealment that is appropriate for his or her nature. Similar conditions would have affected the follow of concealment among Christians. thus the last burning of the body might not be necessary for different countries' supported climate. however as Asian country has its sets of weather options, our ancestor's created a collection of rules that suits for the country. They were conjointly no-hit in implementing their ideas by forming specific customs that hide scientific facts behind them (As mentioned higher than, Antyeshti among Shodasa Sansakara is one in every of them). The burning of dead bodies is one in every of the simplest example of this.