Why are sannyāsīs and saints given samādhi instead of being cremated?

a sannyāsī has already performed his own last rites at initiation, so the body is buried or immersed, not cremated.

When a person takes sannyāsa, he renounces the household fires and, in many orders, performs his own śrāddha as part of the initiation. He is considered already beyond the world. So at death there is no cremation, no sūtak in the usual sense, and no preta rites; the body is seated in meditation posture in a samādhi pit (bhū-samādhi) or, in some traditions, given to a sacred river (jala-samādhi).

The samādhi place often becomes a site of reverence, and disciples observe the anniversary as an ārādhanā with bhajans and feeding.

If a family member had taken formal sannyāsa, the monastery or guru-paramparā usually guides everything. Some householders who lived very spiritual lives are still cremated normally — the samādhi custom applies to formal renunciates and certain saint traditions, and practices differ among sampradāyas.

Source: Dharmasindhu; sannyāsa traditions

Dharma Q&A — family & life events · Ask a Jyotishi your own question