After Death Rituals

Brief points to note for body /organ donation.

Ø In India we have rules /regulations for different states that is governed by the state govt. However the rules are more or less same.
Ø
Ø In India the person can make a declaration of his/her desire to offer

v Whole body for medical research
v For organ donation the person has to be alive so normally brain dead individuals are considered .hence one can make a declaration when in normal health.
v Also one can declare their wish that their life need not be prolonged on life support systems.In which case while sinking action could be taken ,however this is a bit tricmky and not fully accepted in India.

Ø For all of the above declaration the following are mandatory

v Acceptance from all family members & legal heirs so there are no litigations at a later date..

Ø All the declarations (both self /family members /legal heirs ) need to be attested by 2 witnesses.
Ø Self declaration also to state that person is not under any duress/ sane and fit both mentally and healthwise.

Normally in US all these are not required only individual’s declaration.
In India it has become necessary as family members raise hue & cry .Yes the medical fraternity needs this for purposes of research and not for any motive of self accruals.

Ø Once this document is ready it has to be registered with Govt Medical college or other medical college.
Ø Private is preferred because better facilitating factors like

v Body pick up
v Kept in ice for 72 hrs
v Body kept for viewing of family close relatives for 72 hrs.
v Eyes are taken first for transplant soon after death
v The family is given 5 -6 contact details to inform when the person dies
v On death only eyes can be used for transplant , all else is only for research.
v All is done free of cost
v A person from organisation will be deputed to talk to family regarding the importance of this activity etc.
Hope all this information is sufficient I shall try to send a written document later.

 

Going for a condolence today. The funeral was yesterday. So technically what was "ashuddham" due to disease and microbes has been cremated.

These are some concepts I don't understand. I used to ask questions about why one needs to have a bath after coming back from a condolence. It was explained that death involves disease and decay and the person could have died of a bad infection etc. and therefore it was necessary to have a bath immediately after coming back home. By extension, going to a crematorium - a place where several such dead bodies come - means one should have a bath for the sake of simple hygiene. Now not all bodies die of infection. It could be of a heart attack - a sudden death and a quick cremation. Let us accept for the sake of argument that a dead body starts decaying at the point of death and so this ritual is essential.

Now my question is this. In this case, the body is gone yesterday. The house has been washed with water. Why should anyone visiting until the 13th day still go back and have a bath? I have been told that the spirit hovers around till the shuddhi pooja on the 13th day and that spirits are 'unholy'. :spin :confused2: Wasn't the dead body 'ashuddh". Now why is the spirit, liberated of that which was 'jada' and 'ashuddh' also be ashuddh? If it is, then what is 'shuddh'? Nothingness meaning free of body and soul? Sorry about this. There is no intention to run down any practices, rather an attempt to understand certain concepts or to understand that they are illogical - one way or the other. As for the bath, that is fine. But to connect it with these concepts ...... :bang

 

Dear Satchi,
yes earlier days deaths were mostly due to infections ,though today death could be due to a variety of reasons.
It is a fact that the minute life ceases decomposition begins and it may not be perceivable but yes it does begin .and the dead body becomes a source for microbes and pathogens to spread among the visitors.
Normally many organisms are in the air however when we are out in the open , there is a dilution factor that is operative, hence risk of infection are greater in closed areas, crowded areas etc this is why during breakouts of epidemics Public health dept asks us not to crowd .
Further as normal individuals we wade off most microbes it is only when the delicate balance trips we end up with infection.
Pregnant women/elderly /small children /women menstruating have lower immunity ,they are immuno compromised hence are more prone to succumb to infection.
Now coming back to the dead ,even if they died due to ailments other than infection
the minute they die the scores of microorganisms ( bacteria, fungi,viruses )floating in the air find the dead body and go over to enjoy a rich meal .some bacteria multiply in less than 10 mins some take longer time the longest is Tb where it takes about 10-15 days.I am just citing an eg and not going over a detailed class as its not feasible here.
coming back to the point of a bath on return from visiting the family and seeing the body : A bath is advocated so you do not carry the microorganism and by 13th day even the slow growers do surface. after that
13 days simply to allow for the slow growing organisms.
Initially the reasoning may have been there but over time it has a become a blind belief.
At the hospital/ during surgery or otherwise we do wear protective clothing both to protect env & personell. we wear sterile gloves etc.
we tell no visitors are allowed yet today both drs /adm/ all concerned have become lax and visitors come and disturb the patient /dr/treatment env etc.
so coming back to your point it is just hygeine and the so called atma may have meant the microbial load floating in the vicinity which gets diluted over time and gaseous exchange.
I follow this more out of hygeine.
i have a bath as soon as I go home from work though I wear my aprons,mask and footwear that is disposed at site of work . I never carry infants till I have had a bath changed into fresh clothing washed my hands well .
To go a step further when we work with unknown organisms we assume they are dangerous .so we are provided with sterile inner wear too. we have a shower before we enter the work area and after work when we exit .so we shower 2 x right at lab site.
I hope I have given some clarity to you.
may be I will write about path ,thet,echal etc in one word we call it cross contamination.
so long
gita

 

@Jayasala42 --- Waiting for your response on query regarding girls attaining puberty and the events that follow??