Spiritual Aid for the Dead without Bonds in Hinduism

An Analysis of the Mantras for the Dead in Ancestral Rites in Gayā

Abstract

In the ancestral rite known as śrāddha, performed in the Hindu sacred place Gayā in northern India, a special set of mantras called “sixteen for men and women (purusa-sodaśī and strī-sodaśī)” is recited for the salvation of the unknown dead. After providing a Japanese translation of the mantras, which are described in the Gayāmāhātmya (about tenth to eleventh centuries CE), this paper analyzes them using the Japanese Buddhist concept of muen kuyō, which is defined as spiritual aid for the suffering dead who no longer have any living relatives to provide offerings for them. Muen kuyō also implies treating the unknown dead equally and without limitations. The mantras enumerate people who died unnaturally as well as whose suffering can be attributed to a lack of funeral rites (especially cremation). The mantras also provide aid for the dead who are in hells or are reborn in bad forms in this world because of their bad attitudes in their lifetimes. Additionally, the mantras describe the various relationships between the dead and the ritual performer, which indicate the effort not to fail to provide the necessary aid for the unknown dead, and to recite the mantras without discriminating.