Inability to do Asthi Visarjan (Ash Scattering)! Alternative ways!
A devotee (Name hidden) asked like this:
“Hare Krishna Prabhu. Hope you’re keep well after all this challenging time in the world.
One of my close relative’s mother passed away in heart attack in 2019 December. They have still kept her ashes at home. The 5 siblings of this mother lives in different countries and they all want to do the last ritual of ashes together in India only. But due to the pandemic they couldn’t get to gather till now. I am curious to know how karma affects to the elder boy of the family. How bad is it to keep the ashes at home for these many years. Pranam.”
REPLY:
As per the Hindu traditions, Cremation should be finished within 24 or atleast 48 hours.
Until we cremate the body, the departing soul may still be feeling the attachment with the body in which it was living before death.
So, we should allow the soul to prepare to leave the place of living to undergo the further processes of judgement and getting other worlds or next birth or to attain mukti/ moksha.
(Asthi Visarjan (or) Ash immersion ceremony and Its importance! READ HERE!)
After the Cremation of the body, the ashes are handed over to the family by the cremation center workers.
It is said that the soul will still try to find any element of the deceased body to keep its attachments alive.
So, even after death, the soul may have attachment to the body.
Even after the cremation of the body, the soul may keep its attachment alive using the cremated ashes.
That ash should be added in the river water or sea PREFERABLY WITHIN 10 DAYS of the death of the person.
(Why should the family follow Sutak (Grief) Rituals for a dead person for one year? READ HERE!)
If every kartha persons are present, it is usually cremated on the same day or next day of cremation.
In case the son or other karthas are not present, but may come after a few days or months, some extra Shraddha rituals have to be done by the purohits.
But, in exceptional situations, there is no need for the son to mix the ashes to the Ganga or other rivers. Instead, the son or kartha can send the ashes through Post to his friend in India. That friend can entrust the rituals to a Vedic brahmana on the river bed. That brahmana will perform special shraddha rituals for the delayed visarjan (immersion) and add the ashes into the water of Ganga or any other river.
In India, there are a few ash scattering services are functioning on the banks of Ganga, Yamuna, in Kasi, Allahabad, Gaya, etc. You can get the services of one such Ash Scattering Servcies.
Or, many individual purohits too do this service. You can send the ash to them and get it added to the Ganga river with rituals.
Or, if you have ganga water pot in your house, you can mix the ash with that and then add in the river or sea in your country itself. The mix of Ganga water and the water of all the holy rivers is sold in the ISKCON centers in India. You may get one bottle and use for the ashes.
If it is not available in the ISKCON centers in your country, you can order online in Amazon India thru our site’s Link HERE.
Do this as early as possible.
If you make too much of delay, the departed soul may not remain peaceful as it may be still having attachments with the previously resided body.
If the elder son follows the above advices including the rituals for delayed Visarjan, he can escape from Pitru dosha.
The solutions in a nutshell are:
(1) If possible, visit India earlier and do the rituals including the rituals for the delayed visarjan.
(2) If it is not possible, send the asthi to your friend or relative in India who can find and entrust it to the Ash Scattering Services or Purohits.
(3) If this is also not possible, use the Ganga water pot in your house. If it is not available, order from Amazon and mix the ash with it and add to the river or sea in your place.
Hope these tips have helped you to know what to do during the inability to do Asthi Visarjan (Ash Scattering).
(The result of not performing death rituals by the sons of deceased! READ HERE!)