Traditional belief in life after death among the Kabuis

By:- Dr Budha Kamei *

The general concept of life after death may be understood in the language of M Horam who says, "Like all other members of the greatest human family, these wild Nagas believed in-the existence of a better world and adored, under different names, gods, the creators of the universe.............Their notions were in general simple and philosophical" (M Horam, Nagas : Old ways and New trends).

Among the Kabuis, death of a man is believed to be the leaving of soul called Buh permanently from the body for its journey to the land of the dead. (Frank Byron Jevons, The History of Religion). Thus, death is not an end of human soul, but it is just a change of way of life of the soul (Fustel De Coulanges, The Ancient city : A study on the Religion, Laws and institutions Of Greece and Rome).

The rites and ceremonies of the death are to ensure for safety and joyful trip of the soul to the land of the dead where the soul of its ancestors are leading a life of themselves. Sherlock says, "We call it death to leave this world, but were we once out of it and enstated into the happiness of the next, we should think it were dying indeed to come back to it again" (Tryon Edward, World greatest quotations : an encyclopeadia quotations).

Buh (soul) : The word soul in its primary meaning designates an entity conceived as the cause or vehicle of the body life and psychical activities of the individual person. The soul is assumed to exist as a spiritual substance, in rather sharp antithesis material substances, thus giving form to the contrast of soul and body (as constituents of man) and the assumption of their separability (James Hastings, Enyclopaedia of Religion and Ethics).

The New Encyclopaedia Britannica defines soul as an immortal principle and aspect with the body constitute the human person. Such principle has always been attributed to all the living things to the universe as a whole and even inanimate object which is regarded as ordinary. It is the every essence of a thing and not a mere part of it. It is the core of a bodily life, function and highest mental activity.

Plato defines soul in the manner that soul exists in pure state only when it is released from its prison house in the body. According to Oxford advance learner's Dictionary, soul is none material part of a person believed to exist after death.

The term soul is called Buh in local dialect. Soul is the immortal spiritual substance of human person. It is the animating substance of individual life. The structure of the composition of soul and body is known as a living being and is further termed mortal (Introduction to Phylosophy Readings in Epistemology, Emtaphysics, Ethics, Philosophy of Religion). "Soul is not born and does not die" (Ibid), since it comes from Tingkao Ragwang, the supreme god who is the source of soul and life (Tingkao Ragwang Chapriak, Theilon Khatni Ringlon).

The belief of the existence of a soul from the Paleolithic age may be explained that "the hole frequently found chiseled in the transverse slab of the megalithic monuments or barrows belonging to the Neolithic age was meant to provide the soul (it is often called the soul hole) even if only temporarily, with a way of escape from the grave" (Carl Clemen, The Religion of the world Their Nature and Their History). According to the traditional belief, the physical form of life is enshrouded by transitoriness, having definite span of existence or duration. The physical body is nothing but a shell or cover of the Buh. Human body is the home of the soul.

The man is alive so long it resides in the human person and the moment when the man dies, it departs permanently from the body. The life and death of man is indicated by the presence or absence of Buh. The soul is believed to be pure since it comes out of Tingkao Ragwang and the final goal of the Buh is to move to Heaven, Tingkao Kaidai (Gangmumei Kamei, The Zeliangrong Primordial Religion).

But it depends on the actions of man done in the human world since the soul resides in the body of man. Montgomery says, "The soul, of origin divine God's glorious image, freed from clay, in heaven's eternal sphere shall shine, a star of day! The sun is but a spark of fire, a transient meteor in the sky; the soul immortal as its sire shall never die". (Tryon Edward, Op.cit)

The Kabuis believe on the subject of life here after and the land of death called Taroilam. Belief in a future life is a main principle their traditional religion.(George Rawlinson, The Religion of the Ancient world) To Emile Durhkeim, "While the body no longer exists and no visible traces of it remain, the soul continues to live: it leads an autonomous existence in another world".(The Elementary forms 6f the Religious life). It is believed that in the human body there lives a soul, which on being released from its mortal covering, goes its way to Taroilam, the abode of souls and there he will lead an; other life (Tingkao Ragwang ChapRiak, Op.cit). As for instance, they bury the dead along with articles such as a Laogai (a small spade), weaving equipements and foodstuff packets for his or her use in the land of the dead which gives an idea that there is life after death.

Means of approach to the afterworld : Like in many other religions, the Kabuis also believe that the dead has to make a journey to the other world, to which they actually belong. In this faith, they make necessary arrangements (funeral rituals) for his travel, such as cleansing the dead, adornment the dead with traditional cloths, seven foodstuff packets to eat and drink on different places through which he will pass his travel to the land of the dead : the first packet is for eating at the Karangbahg which means beyond the village gate; the second packet at the Bamdondai, meaning the big resting place; the third, near the Kanung river; the fourth packet is for giving to them who receive him at Taroilam; the fifth packet to his parents and grand parents (those elders who died ahead of the person); the sixth packet is for feeding the dog of the Taroilam and the seventh is for giving to the khanana, the evil spirits of the Taroilam.

"The idea that the dead had to cross some barrier that divided the land of the living from that of the dead also occurs in many religions : the Greeks and Romans believed that the dead were ferried across an infernal river, the Acheron or Styx, by a demonic boatman called Charon, for whose payment a coin was placed in the mouth of the deceased; in Zoroastrianism, the dead cross the Bridge of the Requiter(Cinvato Paratu); bridges figure also in Muslim and Scandinavian eschatologies (speculations concerning the end of the world and the afterlife)—the Sirat bridge and the bridge over the Gjoll River (Gjallarbru). (The New Encyclopaedia Britannica vol.v)

Similarly, the Kabuis also put a coin in the mouth of the dead which is supposed to pay to the ferry for crossing the Kanungdui, a mythical river which divides the living and the dead. (Arnold Van Gennep, The Rites of Passage). The ancient Greeks and Romans provided with honey cake for the dead which is intended to feed Cerberus, the fearsome dog that guarded the entrance to Hades. (Ibid) The sixth foodstuff packet mentioned above is meant for the dog of Taroigwang.

Geography of the afterlife : The term Taroilam literally means land of the dead; (Taroi= dead, lam = land). Taroilam is supposed to be the land of death but no one exactly knows or gives idea about where is it. Burial is the mode of disposing of dead has long been universally known and practiced, and no one doubts that it is the burial of bodies underground which has given rise to the belief that the abode of the dead is underground. (Frank Byron Jevons, Op.cit).

The mortuary cults of many people give indication that the dead were imagined as actually living in their graves and able to receive the offerings of food and drink made to them eg some graves in ancient Crete and Ugarit were equipped with pottery conduits, from the surface, for libiations (Britannica Encyclopaedia of World Religions). However the grave has been often thought of as a door to a vast subterranean or underground abode of the dead. (The New Encyclopaedia Britannicavol, Op.cit) Taroilam is believed to be within the bowel of earth.

The belief is widely spread : "Among the Karens a rude Asiatic tribe, the land of the dead is held to be below the earth. The Aryan people undoubtedly held the same view; the Roman Orcus and the Greek Hades are underground. The Babylonians placed 'the land whence none return', as it was termed by them, in name both for the grave and for the subterranean abode of the departed". (Frank Byron Jevons, Op.cit).

According to Emile Durkheim, it is existed side by side in the same society but nobody can see them. "After death the souls descend to an underground world, where they are met by the shades of their ancestors, who introduce them into their new habitation; the life they lead in the underground world is an exact counterpart of what they led in this- the rich, remain rich, the poor, poor". (R Brown, Statistical Account of Manipur)

"Sometimes, it is ruled by an awful monarch, such as the Mesopotamian god NERGAL or the Greek god Hades, or Pluto or the Yama of Hindu and Buddhist eschatoloty". (The New Encyclopaedia Britannica, Op.cit) Taroilam is ruled by a god named Taroigwang, the king of dead who is an agent of Tingkao Ragwang, the supreme god to take care of the affairs of the kingdom. (Chaoba Kamson, Ra Pari).

George Rawlinson says, the fate after death would depend on his conduct during his life on earth, and especially on his observance of the moral law and performance of his various duties. In the land of death, all the souls will be faced judgment made by the Taroigwang based on their past actions, commitment of sins, worship of Tingkao Ragwang while living in the human world.

According to the view of human nature and destiny held in a particular religion, this underworld may be a gloomy, joyless place were the shades of all the dead merely survive or it may be a place of awful torments where the damned suffer for their misdeeds. In those religions in which the under world has been conceived as a place of post mortem retribution, the idea of a separate abode of the blessed dead generally became necessary. Such an abode has various locations.

In most religions it is imagined as being in the sky or in a divine realm beyond the sky (eg in Ghosticism, Hinduism, and Buddhism); sometimes it has been conceived as the "Isles of the Blessed" (eg in later Greek and Celtic mythology) or as a beautiful garden or paradise such as the al-firdaws of Islam. The ten hells of Chinese Buddhist eschatology may be considered as purgatories, for in them the dead expiated their sins before being incarnated once more in this world. (The New Encyclopaedia Britannica, Op.cit)

In the opinion of George Rawlinson, "After death the souls of men, both good and bad, preceded together along an appointed path to the "bridge of the gatherer". This was a narrow road conducting to heaven, or paradise, over which the souls of the good alone could pass, while the wicked fell from it into the gulf below, where they found themselves in the place of punishment. The pious soul was assisted across the bridge by the angel". (Op.cit)

Evans-Pritchard writes, "Life comes from God and to him it returns". (Evans-Pritchard, The Neur Religion). The Kabuis also believe that after death the soul will go to Tingkao Ragwang, the Supreme God from whom it comes. But it depends on the deeds performed by a man in his last birth. The judgments of Taroigwang may be classified into the followings : (Gangmumei Kamei, Op.cit)

Those souls who are not committed sins and who have performed all duties towards Tingkao Ragwang and who have performed the prescribed sacrifices and ceremonies are good doers will be sent to Heaven. Those who do more good and less bad will be permitted to live in the land of the dead. Those who are evil doers and sinners will be punished. After that they will be sent to the land of the living to born according to his bad or good action.

Those who are sinners and evil doers who are born again and again and who die again and again and who are beyond redemption will be sent to Thuntadijang which is a stage of degenerated form of life almost equivalent to the extinction of life. According to R. Brown, "After their return living thus over again, they return to the upper world, and are born, live and die, unconscious of their former state; the bad however are annihilated". (R. Brown, Op.cit)

In Kabui society, there is a dream-diviner called Mangtatmei who may be either sex. The diviner is a person who has many dreams, and is liable to work himself into more or less of a trance, when he is purported to commune with the deities and with the departed souls and to see things not revealed to ordinarily mortals. In time of crisis, he or she is consulted to find out the exact cause of it and its remedy.

In this way, they maintain a relation with the land of the dead through the medium of shaman priests and dream diviners. It is believed that the ancestors or souls of Taroilam look after the safety and wellbeing of their living descendents. In return, the living descendents worship their dead ancestors and honour them. Thus, belief in life after death is an essential feature of the traditional religion of the Kabui.