Why do we cremate?

[puzzled]

Why do we cremate?  A Christian girl asked me that and i didn't know the answer!   in Christianity fire represents Hell.

I said we cremate so we become dust and part of earth     mitti  ਮਿੱਟੀ ?   thats what we are made of after all?     and she said Ok that makes sense 

I once read that Hindus cremate because that releases the soul,  that dont make sense to me   some even smash the skull with the club! 

[Redoptics]

Its clean, we dont have attachment,  space etc

[MisterrSingh]

Some Mahapurash use to request a sea "burial", i.e. releasing the body to the elements and allowing wildlife in the water to devour it. I'm not sure whether that's still happening.

[dallysingh101]

17 hours ago, puzzled said:

Why do we cremate?  A Christian girl asked me that and i didn't know the answer!   in Christianity fire represents Hell.

I said we cremate so we become dust and part of earth     mitti  ਮਿੱਟੀ ?   thats what we are made of after all?     and she said Ok that makes sense 

I once read that Hindus cremate because that releases the soul,  that dont make sense to me   some even smash the skull with the club! 

A heavy part of Indic dharam seems to be a separation of the eternal (paraatma), from the impermanent (maya), so maybe that's why they don't really value the actual vessel? Plus it being a hot region, those bodys would start to decompose really quickly. 

Maybe that plays a part? I don't think our bodies being cremated or buried really plays that big a deal on what subsequently happens according to Sikhi. It's not like say Islam where a body being burnt has significant impact according to beliefs - where having no physical remnants means that they will be unable to rise again on judgement day as per their prophecies.  

[pavitarsk]

7 hours ago, Redoptics said:

Its clean, we dont have attachment,  space etc

100 % correct but the Vedas recommend burial not cremation! The practice was introduced by the Dravidians which spread all over Hindustan. Sikhs just followed suit!  No big deal.

[GuestSingh12345]

plus with burial the body rots,it's more respectful to burn the body even though it's soul lacking 

[puzzled]

Apart from Guru Nanak ji and Guru Arjan ji all the gurus were cremated. Even Guru Gobind Singh ji asked the Singhs to set up a funeral pyre and then guru ji walked into it.   When Guru Tegh Bhadur was executed lakhi shah vanjara took guru jis body into his house and then set his house on fire to cremate gurus jis body.   

[Guest]

I have always thought abrahamic religions like muslim/christian/jewish have a benefit over us in this sense, because atleast on superficial level , they can visit their dead loved ones by visiting the grave and feeling their dead ones are still with them. 

In Punjab, people still have a concept of 'mitti kaddna' , wherein your surname will have some random samadh which no one surely knows of LOL in some remote part of some farm in punjab and you go there and pull some soil and put some sweets . What utter rubbish I witnessed as a ritual next day after my marriage. And ofcourse , brahmin women still leading our wedding rituals. What was the point of sikhism when the vast majority of people in punjab still continue to live in such utter ignorance, but this is topic for other thread

[GurjantGnostic]

8 hours ago, AjeetSingh2019 said:

I have always thought abrahamic religions like muslim/christian/jewish have a benefit over us in this sense, because atleast on superficial level , they can visit their dead loved ones by visiting the grave and feeling their dead ones are still with them.

In Japan they kind of do both. They cremate but they have very space efficient "cemetaries" where a remebrance of each person is placed usually with remains of their family group. 

[GurjantGnostic]

I know this jumps threads, but somebody suggested setting up a sikh community in japan. In many ways it would be perfect...except the japanese are so nationalistic they don't give anyone citizenship really. Japan is for the japanese and they are dead set on that.