Why do Hindus cremate ? Request you all to shed some info on this.

This is a huge topic , if one understands this process he/ she is a gifted soul. The process of death is clearly stated in the Garuda purana. This is the king of knowledge " Raja Vidhya " it is also the topmost secret " Raja Guhyam" . Let me give a glimpse of this in this thread

1. The basic knowledge in Sanatana Dharma is that , we are not this body, we are spirit soul. We were there before, we are there now & we will be there after . Like we change dress after taking bath, our soul changes body after death.

2. The proof of the presence of the soul is the presence of consciousness. Consciousness is not soul but energy of the soul. Its like ones voice. Voice is not the person but energy of the person. Another example is, light & heat are energies of fire, light is not fire.

3. We have two types of bodies

1. Gross body (made of pancha boothas - land, water, fire ,sky & air )
2. Subtle body ( mind , ego & intelligence)

4. Our shastras say that there are upto 164 dimensions in the spiritual world. Here we are awestruck at 4 D itself, imagine 164 D. Narada muni travels at 164 D.They can go back & forth in time. They can travel at the speed of your mind.These things are beyond material preceptions

5. There are 14 planetary systems
Seven heavenly planets above are
1.Bhu
2.bhuvar
3.svar
4.Mahar
5.jana
6.Tapa
7. Satya loka
Each is 7 times bigger than the previous one

6. There are seven Hellish planets below they are
1. Atala
2.Vitala
3.Sutala
4.Talatala
5.Mahatala
6.Rasatala &
7. Paathala

7. So a soul after death can either go up or down. If one does good thing in this life he goes to heavenly planets above. If one does bad things he goes to Hellish planets below. Its like bank balance, in in all these planets there is one thing common " death " none can escape

8. at death two types of messengers arrive to take the soul to its destination.
1. Vishnu dhoothas ( messengers of Vishnu )
2. Yama dhoothas. ( messengers of Yama )

If one chants the name of the Lord at death Vishnu dhoothas arrive
Anything else Yama dhoothas take charge

There are 14 naadis in our body

1.Sushumna
2. Ida
3. Pingala
4. Gandhari
5. Hastajihva
6. Kuhu
7. Saraswati
8. Pusha
9. Sankhini
10. Payasvini
11. Varuni
12. Alambusha
13. Vishvodhara
14. Yasasvini

At the time of death ones soul is seperated from the gross body. This is a painful process, there is a churning of the spinal chord , it's extremely painful & there is fearsome darkness , the soul is terribly afraid of this kind of darkness. That's when Paramatma steps in

Paramatma (God ) always resides in ones heart & keeps watching & records whatever the atma does during the life time. Its the chip that keeps tracking every move of ours. We can't cheat Him. No at the time of death Paramatma takes out the balance sheet of the soul.

Based on the balance sheet Paramatma decides who takes charge of the soul.
Vishnu dhoothas or
Yama dhoothas
If it's Vishnu dhoothas they come in a celestial vehicle in a four hand for & take the soul straight to the kingdom of God

If it's yama dhoothas the soul has a grind

Now at the time of death the soul which is in fearsome darkness is afraid, now Paramatma appears as a bright light , the soul is so happy to see the light & follows it. Based on the karma of the soul in this life,the Paramatma moves through one of the 14 naadis & the soul follows

Now the soul moves out of the gross body & yama dhoothas take charge of the soul. They drag it out of the gross body , now the soul enters a different dimension. When the soul moves out of the gross body it's not alone, it's surrounded by its subtle body, (linga sharira)

Subtle body means mind, ego and intelligence, is still there , consciousness is still there, so the soul can see all that's going on around its body. It tries to speak to every one around there ,but none can here, it tries to touch everyone, but none can feel. Its painful.

The soul (subtle body) tries to shout, talk, cry, none listen, only the yama dhoothas can talk to the soul. They try to tell the soul " you are not this body, you are spirit soul, you will be allotted a new body now, it's time to proceed, but the soul never listens.

The soul says, my son is there my wife is there, my daughter is there etc., who will take care of them, why are they garlanding my body, why is everyone crying etc., yama dhoothas try to pacify the soul, but it never listens. Its attached to that body.

It's only when the body is burnt, the soul get back to its sense , only then the soul starts to move on its next journey. Until then it's attached to the body & never moves. Even while burning it shouts " don't burn , don't burn" none listens. Only when the ashes are immersed ..

The soul understands the reality. And agrees to move on. This is the reason that the body is burnt as at the earliest possible time after death, reason
1. reduce pain on the soul
2. Help it progress in its next journey.

Since the soul after death enters a different dimension, the time zone differs, one month for us here is just one day for the departed soul. That's why we do monthly maasik, pinda Shradda.The departed soul ,passes through 16 cities in one year & at the end of it gets a new body

It is the duty of the son to ensure that his departed parent gets a befitting farewell. He performs monthly maasik & at the end of one year does varshardha & helps his departed parent get a suitable new body. I have tried my best to condense & collate a vast info in this thread

The path taken by the soul after death & the hurdles it crosses is another ocean in itself. It requires a seperate thread. Each topic mentioned here is an ocean in itself . Impossible to type.

Thank you all for reading this thread