SMASHANA
When we hear the terms Smashana, body, burning, we associate them to death. But a body can burn in the Smashana while alive... The Smashana here is not a physical place, while the body isn't the physical body, that intense burning isn't a physical fire.
Physical Smashana
Once someone is declared dead, the body is taken to the Smashana and set on fire. The burning corpse is left alone after sometime. Nobody stays with the burning body till it's completely burnt and becomes ashes... They come in the upcoming days to complete the rituals, and then collect the ashes.
When the departing soul sees everyone leaving, it cries, it cries that "I have done so much to them, but they left me alone while I'm burning". The soul feels depressed. The pain of the soul is unimaginable. Even the body that the soul lived in, is burning in front of its eyes. The soul sees himself burning in the funeral pyre.
The soul feels helplessness, helplessness as it cannot contact anyone, can't speak to anyone, it cannot tell anyone how it feels, at the same time nobody is there to listen.
The very soul when it was in the body, it was cared for by people so much, but now, none of them care. It's identity is completely lost, they wouldn't say "we brought Mr. XXXX", they'd simply say, "we brought the body".
This is where actual detachment for the soul begins.
After a few days, they will be forgotten, they will be replaced, replaced everywhere, job, duties, responsibilities, work, everything related to them is lost. By this time, the soul must have transcended to a different plane or must have reincarnated. The soul is completely detached, must have forgotten all the past life memories. But the pain it went through, is unexplainable and unimaginable...
Throughout this whole journey of the body's death to the soul reincarnation or transcending, only Smashana deities be with the soul, assuring that they are with you, no matter what.
Spiritual Smashana
Just like the physical Smashana, when you touch the phase of spiritual Smashana, you burn, you burn while being alive. While you burn, you're left alone, to burn completely and become ashes.
You see everyone leaving, you cry and cry, but you cannot complain. You get that feeling "I've done so much, I have given so much to these people, yet they left me all alone while I'm burning", yet you don't get to complain. You feel depressed, your pain is unimaginable, yet you don't get to complain. You can see yourself burning, burning alive on the funeral pyre, yet you don't get to complain.
You feel helplessness, as you cannot express your feelings to anyone, you cannot contact anyone, you'll feel nobody listens to you, nor anybody understands you, yet you don't get to complain.
Everyone who absolutely loved you and adored you before this phase in your life, doesn't care for you now, yet you don't get to complain. Your identity is completely burnt, nobody recognises you, nor you recognise or identify yourself, yet you don't get to complain.
You will be forgotten, you will be replaced, whatever you have identified yourself with, be it your job, duties, responsibilities, work, everything you associate yourself with will be replaced, yet you don't get to complain.
This is where vairagya sets in, does that mean you have no pain? NO! The pain you go through can never be understood by anyone, you cry, you burn, you feel the pain, you take the pain, you detach from it and you raise higher. You transcend, may not be physically, but you'll definitely go a step towards your Karana Sharira.
The key here is, you don't get to complain, you just need to burn, burn and burn until you turn into ashes. Ash doesn't have any identity, when the costliest wood and cheapest wood are burnt, they are finally left with the same ash, they don't have any identity.
Once you become ash, everyone comes back to you, to collect that ash, now that ash becomes the gyana you got in the phase of Smashana.
In this whole journey, whom do you have? Just you and your deity. Only your deity gives you assurance that "I'm there for you, no matter what", while no physical being can give you this assurance, even if they give, they can't keep up the promise. It's not the person's mistake, it's the phase that won't allow anyone to be around you... Because ONLY YOU HAVE TO BURN ALONE...
BURN, BURN, AND BURN
BhairavaKaalikeNamosthute
Jai Maa AdyaMahaKali
Jai Khyapa Parampara
-Burnt identity
- By Ramya Shisya of Gurudev Shri Praveen Radhakrishnan