मुक्तयतिदेहसंस्काररहस्यं — The Esoteric Rites for the Bodies of Liberated Ascetics
वामदेव उवाच । ये मुक्ता यतयस्तेषां दाहकर्म्म न विद्यते । मृते शरीरे खननं तद्देहस्य श्रुतं मया
vāmadeva uvāca | ye muktā yatayasteṣāṃ dāhakarmma na vidyate | mṛte śarīre khananaṃ taddehasya śrutaṃ mayā
Vāmadeva sprach: „Für die befreiten Asketen ist kein Totenritus der Verbrennung vorgeschrieben. Ich habe gehört, dass, wenn ihr Körper im Tod niederfällt, dieser Leib in der Erde bestattet werden soll.“
Vāmadeva
Tattva Level: pashu
Shiva Form: Vāmadeva
It teaches that for a truly liberated renunciant, identity with the body and social ritual obligation has ended; the soul’s bondage (pāśa) is cut, so elaborate post-death rites like cremation are not required.
In Shaiva understanding, devotion to Saguna Shiva (Linga worship) purifies and matures the seeker toward realization; once liberation is attained, external rites—including funerary rites—become secondary because the liberated one abides in Shiva-consciousness.
The implied practice is renunciation rooted in Shiva-yoga—steady meditation and detachment—supported by Shaiva disciplines such as japa of the Panchakshara (Om Namaḥ Śivāya) and living as a yati focused on liberation rather than ritual display.