In this section the governing principles of the universe - desire and destiny - are analyzed.
In the Upanishad, a young boy called Nachiketa asks Yama, the god of death, what happens after death. Yama at first hesitates to answer the question. For even the gods are not sure. He then gives an answer which forms the foundation of Hindu understanding of life and death.
Yama states that the body has two parts: soul and flesh, atma and sharer. The atma is immortal. Only the sharer can die. The soul is surrounded by three shariras:
1. Sthula-sharira or the flesh
2. Sukshma-sharira or the mind
3. Karana-sharira or the casual body, memory of deeds
Death happens when Yama's messengers, known as Yamadutas, drag mind out of the flesh. When this happens, the flesh becomes insensitive and unresponsive to all worldly stimuli. It starts to decay. The flesh needs to be cremated and the skull cracked open to that the soul and the casual body can scape. During funeral ceremonies that follow, the survivors encourage the soul wrapped in the casual body do travel across Vaitarni to the land of the dead, where Yama rules and the Pitr reside.
Pitr are the ancestors, the dead awaiting rebirth, subjects of Yama. They have no flesh, hence no gender. They have no mind, hence no ego. But they have a soul and a casual body. In this form they stand before Yama. He determines their fate. Before pronouncing his judgment, Yama always consults Chitragupta, his accountant, who meticulously maintains a record of a jive's actions in its lifetime. The casual body is essentially Chitragupta's accounts book, a record of past deeds.
Being an accountant, Chitragupta classifies these deeds as debt or equity. Selfish actions that make demands of the world and indulge the ego are debt-incurring actions. Selfless actions where ego sacrifices its pleasure for the sake of the world are equity-earning actions. If there are debts that a Pitr has to repay, Yama ties him with a noose and fetters him to the world, forcing him to be reborn. If there are no debts to repay, Yama lets the Pitr go, liberated from the obligation of rebirth. Thus rebirth and release are the two possible destinations for the dead.
Hindu funeral rites involve the use of both fire and water. The body is cremated and the bones and ashes cast into the river. Fire represents the fire of moksha or release. The river represents samsara, the realm of rebirths. The two possible destinations of the soul are thus symbolically acknowledged. Yama, who determines the journey the soul will take, is therefore not merely god of death but also god of destiny.
myth = mythya
A Handbook of Hindu Mythology
Dr Devdutt Pattanaik
