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