Shloka 1
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 said: “For those ascetic sages who are liberated, no funerary rite of cremation is prescribed. I have heard that, when their body falls in death, that body is to be buried.”
Vāmadeva
Tattva Level: pashu
Shiva Form: Vāmadeva
FAQs
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.