I asked a learned friend the question (‘According to the Jain faith, which way should the body of the deceased face when it is brought home?’) because my grandfather passed away recently and we were given conflicting information about which was his body should face. It can be a stressful and emotional time. A time when some people don’t see the big deal with things like this. When others don’t want anything to go ‘wrong’. Some will not want to do anything wrong through fear that the soul will not be at peace and so on. Thus it is important to know what to do and how to do it.
I have asked quite a few questions surrounding death and the Jain rituals that follow.
According to the Jain faith, which way should the body of the deceased face when it is brought home?
In Jainism, the North-East is considered to be the most auspicious direction. This is based on the Jain Cosmology in which the region called Mahavideh Kshetra is in that direction. And Mahavideh Kshetra is auspicious because even at this present time, there are Tirthankars who are preaching in that region. Traditionally, when samaik and pratikraman are performed, this is the direction in which people should face.
In Vedic culture, EAST is considered to be the most auspicious direction because of sunrise.
