Monuments to the Dead in Ancient North India∗
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Monuments to the Dead in Ancient North India∗ Preamble The scope of this study is limited to funerary practices within the brahmini- cal (Hindu) fold of the ancient period, i.e. North India from the Vedic Age to the reign of King Hars.avardhana (7th century). Funerary practices in South India, Dravida country, and Southeast Asia seem to have differed significantly from those in North India. 1 They deserve a study of their own. In late me- dieval North India new forms of commemoration (sam¯adhis, chatar¯ıs) emerged, possibly under Islamic influence. 2 The funerary monument in Sanskrit literature We possess a moving literary description of what the death of a king—great in the eyes of his contemporaries—brought about, how it was experienced by the court, and which ritual and ceremonies were performed to cope with the calamity. B¯an. a in Hars.acarita 5 tells us that, even before the actual demise of Hars.a’s father, Prabh¯akaravardhana, the latter’s first wife, Queen Ya´sovat¯ı, was so overwhelmed by grief and the prospect of widowhood that she, against the express wish of her son, committed herself to the flames (i.e. became a sat¯ı), while her husband was still alive. After the death of his mother Hars.a goes to his dying father and clasps his feet in dispair. The latter comforts him, recommends him to his royal duties, and utters his last words: ‘enemies should be exterminated’. 3 The body is brought to the bank of the Sarasvat¯ıon a bier, a funeral pyre is built and the cremation ritual is performed at dusk. It is suggested that the remaining ladies of the king’s harem also commit sat¯ı. Hars.a keeps a vigil and next morning goes to the Sarasvat¯ıto bathe, offers an oblation of water to his father, and goes home in distress (p. 293). A brahmin eats the first pin. d. as offered to the ghost (preta) and the period of impurity passes. The deceased king’s paraphernalia are given to the brahmins; the collected bones are brought to holy places. Then it is said that a ‘stab of pain’ is set up ∗ The first version of this article was published in Indo-Iranian Journal 50.1 (2007), 11–47. 1 See below, n. 23 on p. 410, n. 27 on p. 411, and n. 84 on p. 431. 2 Cf. below, n. 84 on p. 431. 3 Hars.acarita (HC* 5 p. 288): nirava´ses.at¯am. ´satravo ney¯ah. 405 Hans Teye Bakker - 9789004412071 Downloaded from Brill.com09/23/2021 01:32:18PM via free access 406 Hans Bakker in the form of a monument at (the place of) the funeral pyre made of a mass of bricks. 4 Finally the royal elephant is set loose and gradually the lamentations subside. The metaphor used by B¯an. a, ‘a stab of pain’ (´soka´salya)—the primary meaning of ´salya being ‘dart’—suggests that the monument had the form of a needle. 5 Such a monument seems to be known from the Sanskrit literature, viz. the Vis.n. udharmottarapur¯an. a’s chapter on the so-called aid. ¯uka. The aid. ¯ukaof the Vis.n. udharmottarapur¯an. a 6 Vis.n. udharmottara 3.84.1–15 describes the aid. ¯ukar¯upa as follows. A structure is built of three (receding) square platforms (bhadrap¯ıt.ha), with steps on four sides. On the third platform a li˙ngar¯upa is erected, but one not decorated with lines (rekh¯a, i.e. without the brahmas¯utra and the p¯ar´svas¯utra). In the middle of this li˙ngar¯upa an immovable square column (yas..ti) is fixed. On that thirteen bh¯umik¯as are made. 7 On top of this is an ¯amalas¯araka (=¯amalaka?) and on that again a round column, yas..ti, is fixed. This col- umn is decorated with a medallion (candraka). 8 In between the bh¯umik¯as and the li˙nga (i.e. on the square column?) the four Lokap¯alasare situated, Vir¯ud. ha, Dhr.tar¯as.t.ra, Vir¯up¯aks.a, and Kubera, with lances (´s¯ula) in their hands, wear- 9 ing armour and ornaments. It is said that in this construction Vir¯ud. ha is Sakra,´ Dhr.tar¯as.t.ra is Yama, Vir¯up¯aks.a is Varun. a, and Kubera is R¯ajar¯aja. This aid. ¯uka is named ‘Praj¯ahita’;men who worship it obtain happiness and heaven after death. Shah in her commentary emphasizes that this Aid. ¯ukastructure is not a particular deity but is designed to embody the whole universe. As to the names of the Lokap¯alasshe remarks: ‘These are known to Buddhist mythology as the 10 four Buddhist Yaks.as who do the work of the Lokap¯alas.’ Shah assumes that 4 Hars.acarita (HC* 6 p. 300): kalpita´soka´salyesudh¯anicayacite cit¯acaityacihne, which Sam´ . kara glosses: cit¯ay¯am. caityacihnas tad¯ak¯aram. cihnam, ´sma´s¯anadevagr.ham. v ¯a | 5 Cf. A ˙nguttara-Nik¯aya III, 62, Sokasallaharan. a, name of the discourse (dhammapariy¯aya) that takes away the grieve of bereavement, taught to king Mun. d. a. 6 For the Sanskrit text of VDhP 3.84.1–15 see Appendix. 7 It is unclear whereon exactly, the li ˙ngar¯upa or the yas..ti; li ˙ngar¯upa is neuter, yas..ti feminine. tasyoparis..t¯a t (84.5c) refers to the li ˙ngar¯upa, unless we assume double sandhi. A similar sloppy construction is seen in 6a. Shah cites Kramrish, who interprets the bh¯umik¯as as ‘steps’. 8 I read sam¯ardhacandra◦ instead of sam¯arkacandra◦, meaning that the medallion is situ- ated in the middle of the horizontal (sama) crescent moon. The thirteen bh¯umik¯as and the ¯amalas¯araka are said to represent the 14 bhuvanas. The li ˙nga represents Mahe´svara, the round column Pit¯amahaand the square column Jan¯ardana. The three platforms represent the three gun. as. 9 In accordance with the oldest MS C, I take ‘the apparel of the sun (S¯urya)’ in 12b singular, corresponding with Kubera. 10 See Barhut Inscriptions (CII II, pt. ii), p.73: As Kupira (Kubera) and Virud. aka (Vir¯ud. haka) are the guardians of the Northern and Southern region respectively we can assume with certainty that on the lost corner pillars of both the quadrants Vir¯upakkhaand Dhatarat.t.ha, the guardians of the West and East, were represented, each one with two companions. Vogel, Indian Serpent- Hans Teye Bakker - 9789004412071 Downloaded from Brill.com09/23/2021 01:32:18PM via free access 21 / Monuments to the Dead in Ancient North India 407 the aid. ¯uka of the VDhP is without ashes or bones and is therefore acceptable to be worshipped, whereas originally such monuments would have contained bones or relics. This plausible assumption as well as the naming of the four Buddhist Lokap¯alasstrongly suggest that Buddhist examples lie at the root of 11 the Pur¯an. a’s description of the aid. ¯uka. We may add that the use of the word aid. ¯uka, instead of ed. ¯uka, could also point to this, meaning ‘derived from/related to/of the nature of the ed. ¯uka’, not the original (Buddhist) ‘ossuary’. The view that sees in the aid. ¯uka an appropriation by the author of the VDhP of a Buddhist architectural tradition finds support in the outcome of Gustav Roth’s investigation into the Symbolism of the Buddhist St¯upa. 12 The ed. ¯uka We have some more literary evidence regarding the ed. ¯uka. The Mah¯avastu refers to an anticipated funerary monument of Princess Sudar´san¯a,who tells her mother: Mother, when the seven Ks.atriyas, after fighting one another, shall have caused my death, then, after having performed the cremation rite and collected the bones, you should next erect for me a monument (el¯uk¯a). And at the entrance of that monument you should plant a karn. ik¯aratree. Thereupon, when the first month of the rainy season has come after the hot season, that karn. ik¯aratree will be wrapped in a golden colour as it is covered abundantly by blossoms. Then you shall remember me, thinking to yourself: ‘I had a daughter whose complexion was beautiful (sudar´san¯a) like this’. 13 Lore, p. 212, is of the opinion that the names of the four world-guardians do not occur in the older P¯alitexts, but they are given in the Mah¯asamayasutta (D II, 257–258) and in the At¯.¯an¯at.iyasutta (D III, 197 ff.) in accordance with their fixed distribution in the four directions. In the Aid. ¯ukaconstruction it seems that Vir¯ud. ha represents the East (= Sakra)´ and Dhr.tar¯as.t.ra the South (= Yama). This would make a pradaks.in. ¯a : Vir¯ud. ha East, Dhr.tar¯as.t.ra South, Vir¯up¯aks.a West, Kubera North. This is a deviation from the stand- ard Buddhist doctrine; cf. Banerjea 1956, 521 f.: In Buddhist mythology too we find a group of four divine beings associated with the four principal quarters, and the Sanskrit Buddhist texts give us a stereotyped list of four; they are Dhr.tar¯as.t.ra, the Gandharva king (east), Vir¯ud. haka, the king of the Kumbh¯an. d. as (south), Vir¯up¯aks.a, the N¯aga monarch (west) and Vai´sravan. a, the Yaks.a king (north). They are the Catur-mah¯ar¯ajasof some Buddhist texts, and P¯an.