Water, purification and ritual baths in hindu dharma: a brief enquiry in to the sacred and the secret by Gopal Gopinath Why do Hindus take a bath after a funeral? This article is an attempt to answer this question in particular and to speculate on the role of water in our rituals in general. Introduction It is a common knowledge that hindus consider bathing a part of religious rituals, purificatory and basis for eligibility to participate in rituals either as the doer or as a mere audience. In fact, it is not just in Hindu religion, but water is a common instrument for purification in many other religions too: Mikeveh in Judaism is both a tub or source of water and a ritual bath; various types of Ghusl in Islam signify cleansing with water for different impurities accrued in life and death; baptism in Christianity the re-birth of the Spirit in human that involves sprinkling or total immersion preferably in cold water - are some of such instances where water is used for purification. Let us examine this water in Hindu thought in detail. How is water used in Hindu rituals: a brief overview Water is an essential part of all auspicious and other kriya karmas protocols of rituals in Hindu religion. Punyahvachanam and Udakha shanthi rituals have as their core veda mantras invoking the Divine Energies of many deities in water. The yajamanas (or the host for the rituals) get sprinkled with with or bathed in this sanctified water in preparation for other rituals as a common practice. It may appear that water is construed by our rishis as a good receiver and discharger of mantra shakthi. Thus, by invoking the ancient rivers starting as imam me gange (rig veda10:75), the mantras call upon the rivers Ganga, Yamuna, Saraswathi, Sutudri, Parushni, Marudvridha, Ashwini, Arjikiya, Soma and Vidasta to establish the powers of their presiding deities in the water to be sanctified for rituals. In all these preparatory rituals, the driving force is the charging of waters with vedic mantras to be used as a sole sanctifying agent as part of a larger ritual. A question arises whether water in itself has some special qualities to be used as a medium in these sacred occasions. One may also wonder about the role of water in other rituals involving cleansing from impurties accrued by natural processes. In particular, bathing after visiting a funeral is widely practiced and supposed to serve other purposes in addition to hygiene: 1) symbolic: washing away our sadness connected with the event; beginning fresh where the loss is only a memory; washing away the connection with the last trace of mortal remnant of the person 2) religious: a) all shaastraa-s or scriptures strongly advise ritualistic bath after visiting a funeral, cremation ground (even not for a funeral), b) Usually a purificatory bath needs to be accompanied by shlokas invoking Ganga, Saraswathi, Godavari and other holy rivers. That the waters of these rivers have a purificatory power and that power is invoked even in the tap or well water is the idea behind this action. Hindus of today usually
do not make this as a practice but that is the advice given by the shaastraa-s. The rivers, oceans, certain lakes and ponds are described to be presided by specific Devathaa-s (Ganga ma, Sarasvathi) or as abodes of Narayana, Shiva ( Pushkarini, Manasa sarovar etc). One is supposed to take bath even as the news of death of a friend or a relative is received. But there is a gradation or the closeness of the relationship by birth, by marriage, by friendship or other forms of relationship determine whether the deceased has this snaana praapthi : being fortunate to have someone close enough by relation or by affection to take a purificatory bath for the deceased. Now it becomes interesting: taking a bath in memory of someone on the news of his/her death is heard is not same as purificatory bath after participating in a funeral or a death ritual.. This should lead us to infer that there is more to bathing or cleansing with waters. Water is also the common link in most religious rituals things that are not for cleaning or hygiene. We will try to understand the role of water and the purpose of the hindu rituals that involve water in general for washing away impurities accrued by the soul and the body. A soul s journey as per Hindu scriptures Living beings, particularly higher animals and human, are considered to be of three levels of life: physical, subtle and causal. We will ignore causal aspect for this discussion. We all start at the beginning with our Jiva-s or Jivathman (Individualized Atman) that take up this physical bodies from conception. Jiva-s can be described as Atman wrapped in bundles of seemingly unlimited layers that are made of what we would call as Naturestuff. These wraps are woven with threads of karma and Nature s attributes accumulated through many lives that the Jiva has taken in its journey towards the ultimate goal. Upon death, the physical layer of the wrap is left back to be returned to the elemental nature by fire (cremation) or earth (slower, by burial) or other forces of nature. A truly selfrealized saint, a jnani, a yogi would have burned these layers of wraps by their tapas so that they are always conscious of their Atma swaroopa their intimate and perennial awareness of their Atman/Self. They are said to be liberated. One recent example of such a phenomenon was seen in the life Sri Ramana Maharishi. We mortals are mere labels of personalities on the cargo called Jiva-s which shuttle from one birth to the other acquiring new identities. The Jiva upon leaving one body still has a long way to go and is said to have a map to its next destination. But this journey does not commences so easily. Departed Jiva in transition It is said that even after death, the Jiva still has attachments to its recent physical form for a very long time and continues to live with a virtual personality as it was in the physical body that kind of living is in a subtle body or sookshma shareera. Subtle because, it is not physical but is more in the realms of finer Nature-stuff, thoughts and different planes of consciousness bound by threads of vaasanas or traces of experiential memory over the lives. In this subtle level, the Jiva exists but does not express explicitly. It does not want to or cannot leave the subtle and fine connections to its now-deceased-existence in the lost physical body. There are some layers of wrap it needs to shed or lose to go to its destination. The departed Jiva needs to erase its memory of its recently lost body and prepare to take up new data file of identity. Only when these subtle sookshma or subtle connections are dissolved, then the Jiva with its cabin handbags and check-in luggage of karma goes on the cycle of samsara to its next destination. Until then, the departed Jiva-s are said to hang-out somewhere in between in their sukshma or subtle bodies. The length of this intermediate period generally
depends on the spiritual quality of its recent life. What happens in this transition/intermediate stage after death? The rishi of Kathopanishad captures the quandary of Yama the Lord of Death when Nachiketas a mortal compelled an answer to this question from him. Yama pleads to no avail: Even the gods wonder about this, and have never come to an understanding. Subtle is this truth, so subtle that no answer would be adequate to it.3 But the shaastraas of all flavors agree on one thing: the connections / layers binding the departed Jiva to its corporeal existence need to be broken and dissolved. And this can be done not by the Jiva because it does not have any physical means to do so. The living things to which the Jiva had formed its connections while in the physical body as an individual have to do it. That is the standard explanation for conducting annual death anniversary ritual and tarpanams during Amavasya, eclipses etc. The very offering of black sesame with water with the purpose of satisfying or quenching the desires of the departed Jiva-s is said to minimize their burden of connections by loosening the wraps binding them. The words tarpana, tarpayaami, trupyantu used in the shraaddha rituals for our forefathers are all derived from a Samskritam root trup to satisfy. It is also mentioned that when a Jiva leaves its physical body, its existence in sookshma shareera oscillates between making connections to our world and its own worlds until stabilizing over a period of time. A funeral of a relative or a friend, a site of death and our responses to incidence of deaths are opportunities, according to our shaastraa-s, where the subtle life forces of the departed Jiva-s are more prone to attempt to delve back into our worlds. Our associations with these subtle life forces need to be carefully reduced to zero to maintain the harmony and assist the departed Jiva-s to find the proper path to their next destination. Hence, some established means are given to annul such associations/traces acquired through our visits to funerals or sites related to death etc. The same holds for relegating or decreasing the load of connections that may burden the Jiva-s, when we hear the news of the departed. Bathing with correct attitude is one of the means given for such remedies. Why would water have that purificatory power, though? Fire and Water: Divine Agents in Hindu religion To offer or receive, for an exchange with gods, Agni or fire is recommended. We can only receive boons from gods, and for that we can only offer that which could be consumed by Agni. Agni is the symbol of purification, universal and individual (vaishvaanara as in sense of hunger, Will power etc.), lives in different forms as in lightening (electric), Agni is in water (as in electricity), in objects ( as some form of energy) etc. So the reach of Agni is supra-physical above and beyond the realms of physical domain as it would destroy whatever is physical when coming in contact with it. We cannot use Agni for purification when a living being or day-today living is considered for obvious reasons. Agni generates a form by dissolving another; Fire purifies and creates by consumption, a mode of constructive destruction. So, to deal with anything living (in physical or in subtle forms), water is considered. For offering, for taking a vow, for doing charity etc. a few drops of water always accompanies the verbal samkalpam. Water is for human affairs what Agni is for gods. The other 3 elements of the pancha maha bhootha five primal elements do not fit the bill. earth is limited, air is not visible to be manipulated and space is not containable.
When one starts to look at the universe as different forms originating from or manifesting Brahman as in Sarvam kalvidam Brahman All this is verily Brahman, then one would come to an intrinsic understanding that all the material and not-so-obvious things of the world should be connected with each other and with the underlying Truth. In this continuum of existence, the devataa-s and other primary components of the universe like the pancha mahaa bhootaa-s act as pratheeka-s or facets of One Divinity in different planes of existence. Thus Agni, a Devata of the Heavens 1 reaches down to act as a conduit between the mortals and the gods; is hidden as the Divine Will or Samkalpa in all the realms of the universe; and quite fittingly, is symbolized as the elemental fire in this material world. Rig vedic rishis describe water as the powers of Truth and Bliss (sat, ananda) that flow from the supreme ocean of consciousness (maho arnah: vastness, chit) 2. The divine waters, Apo devih, Apo divyah, are the waters of the Truth and Bliss that flow from the supreme ocean (Infinite Consciousness) They are, in other words, the waters of the Vast Truth, ritam bruhat. 2 The powers that flow from the Supreme Divine, para brahman, symbolized as elemental water establish for men the supreme good and the supreme good is felicity, the bliss of divine existence. 2 As the elemental pratheeka of divine powers originating from incorruptible, always true (satyam), unlimited (bruhat) supreme Consciousness, chit water remains as the symbol or the instrument of transaction and purification beholding in it the powers to purify, lead the mortals to a higher station. Thus the rig vedic rishis they declared that yaasu raajo varuno yaasu somo vishwedevo vaishvaanaro agnih pravishta (in these waters) Varuna, Soma, Vishwedevas, vaishwaanara agni all have entered and stationed.1 Apart from physical healing and increasing vitality, the rishis also pray for, as in RV 10:9- Divine waters, Urje dadhaanana give us strength; mahe ranaaya chakshase (for us) to see the Supreme. 4 In that sukta, they continue to call in the powers of the divine waters to carry away ill effects in me arising out of wrongs done by me, cursing or falsehood spoken by me idam aapah pravahata yat kim ca duritam mayee 4 Water as a transforming agent in human transactions Water is thus considered in our lives to carry that power of Truth that dissolves everything that is not real. Water when used appropriately helps to dissolve the subtle, binding connections of the departed Jiva with its previous earthly existence. By using water, we wash away our connections / binding relationships, bondages, that are subtle and finer than the finest hair. By using water, we make our transactions or exercise of will, pure and clean with a touch of Truth. Water is used in all our transactions involving vows, human relationships etc. so that our lives get more refined and purer to think of Ishvara. It is an agent that dissolves the wraps of samsaara without destroying anything. Thus we take bath in holy rivers considered to be the forms of devathaa-s flowing as waters. We give tarpanam during amavasya or death anniversary of a relative with water. We give away our daughters or receive that of others kanyadaanam during weddings with water. We give charity daanam with water. We take vows or make samkalpam with water. We offer water to Gods argiyam. All the rituals that involve water are always purificatory and cleansing our inner selves because that is what water as one of the primal elements represents. Water being a symbol of subtle powers of supreme Consciousness is used as the agent for these purposeful transactions within the human
domain for purification just as Agni is used for transactions in the godly domains. Right attitude for using water in rituals All that water does in these rituals is to purify, cleanse our inner selves, but with a condition as seen below. It is clear that our shaastraa-s unambiguously indicate that the baths are purificatory only when accompanied with proper intentions and attitudes in us. In all these things, the actions using waters always accompany with proper, focused and openlyuttered purposes: I am giving away $1000 for the good of this person or temple, I am giving away my daughter to you so that you both live happily, let this sesame (tila) seeds that colors red as blood when put in water, be my offering to bring peace to the departed Jiva so that it may go on its next destination, I will do this or that vratha for 1 year these samkalpaa-s or vows or our declarations have purpose and tend to move us forward in our journey. Conclusion So, taking a bath after a funeral may be symbolic or for hygiene. But if it is done out of respect, love and affection to a dead person, it should accompany with aspiration that the 1) waters I am taking bath be the holy waters of Ganges, Yamuna, Saraswathi, Godavari 2) holy waters wash away any traces of relationship of the deceased with me so that Jiva can get some peace and go on its way to next destination in the cycle samsaara 3) let these waters wash away the dirt of bondage and free up a strand of wrap around my own self that I move towards Sri Hari. Only then the bath after a funeral or news-ofdeath becomes purificatory. Any other way, it is indeed symbolic, a mere shell of more profound but forgotten aspect of these nobler actions and just a dip or shower. That is why saints like Sri Ramakrishna caution us not to become like the clueless frogs and fish inhabiting holy rivers when we are hoping to absolve our karmas by mere ritualistic dips in Ganges. References: 1) Rig Veda 2) Secrets of Veda: Sri Aurobindo 3) Kathopanishad: Commentary by Swami Krishnanda of Shivananda Ashram 4) Gleanings from Rig Veda When Science Was Religion: Choudury Satyanarayana Moorthy