Why We Should Cremate the Dead

The Vedic Viewpoint and Other Spiritual Perspectives

First of all we have to understand that we are not these bodies. We are eternal spirit souls, part and parcel of the Supreme Soul, also known as Krishna, Jehovah, Allah, Vishnu, etc. We never die, only the body dies.

The subtle body consists of the soul, false ego, mind and intelligence or lack of it. That is what goes with us when we so-call die.

The Bhagavad-Gita, which is the essence of all Vedic literature and the spiritual "how to book" for all time, says; "What ever one contemplates at the time of death, they are sure to attain." At the time of death, generally one is thinking of their own body and how much pain they are in. People are much attached to their material bodies, even though it is only a vehicle for the soul within this material world. At the time of death, if one is very attached to their body, in most cases, they do not leave this world until the body is cremated. As long as the material body is intact, they remain near by or continue entering in and out of it. When the body is cremated, the soul then generally leaves to their next destination, unless of course they had committed suicide or died abruptly, by; murder, or some type of accident. They may also remain if they are very attached to another person or a place.

Another reason we should have our dead bodies cremated is because it pollutes the environment. Just think of all the waste we are making by putting all these bodies in big boxes in the ground. Everyone is going to leave their body, that's a fact, so just think- we are going to have a place in the ground for every person's body from now until the end of time. This makes no sense, not even materially. There are so many other practical things we can do with the land. It just shows our lack of intelligence in this age.

There are innumerable disembodied souls hanging around because no one performed a very simple ceremony that could have been done after their death. (Cremation) Burning the body after death could help that situation immensely.

In the Vedic culture it was unheard of to preserve someone's body unless they were a pure saint or King. The reason was, that their lives where supposed to be pure and used in service of God, so it did not need to be burned, and persons could go and pray to them in the tomb and get their blessings. But most of the kings were not pure and they would even put their family members' dead bodies in the same tombs, which was against the scriptural injunctions. As time went on more and more people started having tombs instead of the scriptural recommended cremation.

Even in the Bible it is stated, "Ashes to ashes, dust to dust." The airtight boxes we are putting in the ground today will never become ashes or dust. Believe me; no one is going to "rest in peace" in that box. What a silly saying that is- as if when someone dies they just go to sleep in their box.

People are worrying whether they will be buried next to some loved one or in a suitable place like the Bahamas. How ludicrous is this. If that person did things right in their life they are long gone from that body, and if not, they had better have that body burned so they can move on.

Let's give up our mundane attachment to these nasty bodies which are just made of mucus, bile, blood, air, bones and waste. Let's get spiritual America and realize we and our friends and relatives are not these dead bodies. Ok- you don't have to throw it to the wolves, you can have a respectable ceremony for the soul who once resided in it, then burn it and throw the ashes in a river or ocean. The Ganges River is the most recommended place to put them.

Let's stop polluting Mother Earth and wasting land space with all these silly caskets and tombstones. There are better ways of honoring the souls who have passed on other than worshiping their dead carcasses with flowers at some grave site.

By Jayasri Radha

For more information on this topic and Vedic Culture go to harekrishnatemple.com

Read Bhagavad-Gita As it is translated with commentaries by Bhaktivedanta Prabhupada.