The living and the dead : social dimensions of death in South Asian religions

224 Pages·2003·7.432 MB·English

by  Wilson, Liz

Wilson Front Matter 7/10/03 8:57 AM Page i
The Living and the Dead
Wilson Front Matter 7/10/03 8:57 AM Page ii
SUNYseries in Hindu Studies
Wendy Doniger, Editor
Wilson Front Matter 7/10/03 8:57 AM Page iii
The Living and the Dead
Social Dimensions of Death
in South Asian Religions
EDITED BY
Liz Wilson
State University of New York Press
Wilson Front Matter 7/10/03 8:57 AM Page iv
Published by
State University of New York Press, Albany
©2003 State University of New York
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America
No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written
permission. No part of this book may be stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or
by any means including electronic, electrostatic, magnetic tape, mechanical, photocopying, record-
ing, or otherwise without the prior permission in writing of the publisher.
Cover photo courtesy of the author; the Hindu Destroyer God Shiva and an undead sidekick.
For information, address State University of New York Press,
90 State Street, Suite 700, Albany, N.Y., 12207
Production by Diane Ganeles
Marketing by Anne M. Valentine
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
The living and the dead : social dimensions of death in South Asian religions / Liz Wilson, editor.
p. cm. — (Suny series in Hindu studies)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-7914-5677-3 (alk. paper) —ISBN 0-7914-5678-1 (pbk. : alk. paper)
1. Death—Religious aspects 2. Funeral rites and ceremonies—South Asia. 3. South
Asia—Religious life and customs. I. Wilson, Liz. II. Series.
BL504 .L58 2003
291.2'3—dc21
2002067042
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Wilson Front Matter 7/10/03 8:57 AM Page v
Contents
List of Illustrations vii
Acknowledgments ix
Note on Transliteration and Transcription xi
Introduction: Passing On: The Social Life of Death in
South Asian Religions 1
Liz Wilson
1. Ashes to Nectar: Death and Regeneration among the Rasa Siddhas
and Nåth Siddhas 13
David Gordon White
2. Human Torches of Enlightenment: Autocremation and Spontaneous
Combustion as Marks of Sanctity in South Asian Buddhism 29
Liz Wilson
3. When a Wife Dies First: The M¥sivåyanamand a Female Brahman
Ritualist in Coastal Andhra 51
David M. Knipe
4. Return to Tears: Musical Mourning, Emotion, and Religious Reform
in Two South Asian Minority Communities 95
Richard K. Wolf
5. Deanimating and Reanimating the Dead in Rural Sri Lanka 113
Jonathan S. Walters
6. The Suppression of Nuns and the Ritual Murder of Their Special
Dead in Two Buddhist Monastic Texts 127
Gregory Schopen
v
Wilson Front Matter 7/10/03 8:57 AM Page vi
vi Contents
7. AFuneral to Part with the Living: ATamil Countersorcery Ritual 159
Isabelle Nabokov
8. Dead Healers and Living Identities: Narratives of a Hindu Ghost
and a Muslim Sufi in a Shared Village 177
Peter Gottschalk
List of Contributors 201
Index 203
Wilson Front Matter 7/10/03 8:57 AM Page vii
Illustrations
1. At the beginning of the m¥sivåyanam ritual five auspicious mar-
ried women relatives of the deceased bathe the brahma-muttaiduva
ritualistat the river’s edge as she seats herself on two three-legged
stools. 59
2. Reseated on the two stools on the riverbank, the brahma-muttai-
duvais decorated and anointed in preparation for the arrival of the
disembodied spirit (preta)of the deceased wife. Resting on her toes
and ontwo altars of seedbed earth are two våyanams, “closed win-
nowing baskets of offerings.” At leftis the family purøhita. 60
3. The two sets of baskets are uncovered to reveal their contents on
beds of rice: a green coconut, a pumpkin, a new sari and blouse-
piece, a packet containing turmeric and kunkum powders, sandal
paste, a mirror, a comb, black beads, turmeric-root tåli$, silver toe
rings, bangles, and other items. In the foreground are the two altars
with betel leaves and akßintulu(reddened rice grains)on top. 61
4. The deceased has now become the goddess Gaur•. Each attend-
ing auspicious married woman (muttaiduva, suvåsin•) receives an
open winnowing basket containing items similar to those given the
deceased for her journey to Gaur•-loka.Despite the evident grief on
the faces of these close relatives, no crying is indulged. An uncle of
the deceased looks on. 63
5. The full assembly of forty women takes pråsadahome from the
offerings to the deceased. 66
vii
Wilson Front Matter 7/10/03 8:57 AM Page viii
Wilson Front Matter 7/10/03 8:57 AM Page ix
Acknowledgments
The editor would like to thank Mary Denney and Ryan Siney for their help in
preparing the manuscript for this volume. The Miami University Office of
Research and Scholarship provided funding needed for the preparation of this
volume.
ix
Wilson Front Matter 7/10/03 8:57 AM Page x