What Happens when We Die

Ātmagatividyā and Punarjanma

 © Vishal Agarwal (vishalsagarwal@yahoo.com)

These notes were compiled as a result of the author’s personal study. Permission is granted to reproduce them for non-commercial purposes and for promoting an understanding of Hindu Dharma.

Rev. A: 20 April 2022

Rev. B: 20 June 2022 [Revised as a result of feedback from several reviewers, with addition of more details to the sections on the process of death and the six possible destinations].

Table of Contents

1.0 Death, the Inevitable Truth of our Life ................................................................................................... 7

1.1 The Greatest Marvel in this world ...................................................................................................... 7

1.2 Accepting the Inevitable ..................................................................................................................... 7

1.3 Why do we have to Die? ..................................................................................................................... 9

1.4 Death belongs to the Physical Body, the Ātmā is Eternal ................................................................. 10

1.5 Is After-life Interest due to a Fear of Death? .................................................................................... 12

2.0 Living each day of our Lives Purposefully ........................................................................................... 12

3.0 Medical versus Hindu Perspectives on Death ....................................................................................... 16

4.0 What Happens when We Die? The Dominant Viewpoints ................................................................... 16

4.1. The Atheist Viewpoint ..................................................................................................................... 17

4.2 Abrahamic Viewpoint ....................................................................................................................... 19

4.3 The Dhārmic Viewpoint.................................................................................................................... 21

4.3.1 Implications of the Doctrine of Rebirth to a Hindu ................................................................... 23

4.4 Doctrine of Rebirth in Other (Non Dhārmic) Traditions .................................................................. 27

4.5 Distinction between Hindu-Sikh and Other Concepts of Rebirth ..................................................... 30

5.0 Preparing for Death - the Hindu Way ................................................................................................... 35

5.1 Portents of Death ............................................................................................................................... 35

5.2 Our own Duty ................................................................................................................................... 35

5.3 Duties of Family and Friends ............................................................................................................ 38

6.0 The Process of Dying according to Hindu Dharma .............................................................................. 39

6.1 The Sense Organ Functions merge in the Mind ................................................................................ 39

6.2 The Mind Merges in the Prāṇas ........................................................................................................ 39

6.3 The Prāṇas Merge with the Jīvātmā .................................................................................................. 40

6.4 Jīvātmā merges with Tanmātrās ........................................................................................................ 41

6.5 Puryaṣhṭaka Moves to the Heart ....................................................................................................... 41

6.5 The ātmā and Puryaṣhṭaka prepare to leave the Body ...................................................................... 42

6.6 Last Thoughts of the Dying Person and Aperture of Departure ....................................................... 42

6.7 Preta State ......................................................................................................................................... 47

6.8 Pitṛ State ............................................................................................................................................ 47

6.9 Rebirth............................................................................................................................................... 47

6.10 The Trauma of Death ...................................................................................................................... 47

7.0 Possible Pathways of the Soul after Death - The Hindu Explanation ................................................... 49

7.1 The Different Realms of Existence ................................................................................................... 49

7.2 The Six Possible Journeys of ātmā after Physical Death .................................................................. 50

7.2.1 Tiryak-yoni: Repeated Rebirth into Lower Lifeforms ............................................................... 50

7.2.2 Naraka-yoni: Rebirth into Hell or a lower lifeform ................................................................... 51

7.2.3 Pitṛyāna: Rebirth as a Human Being .......................................................................................... 52

7.2.4 Devayāna or Ūrdhvagati: Rebirth as a Deva in heaven or a Super-human form ....................... 53

7.2.5 Preta-Yoni: Become a ‘Ghost’ for Some Time .......................................................................... 54

7.2.6 Moksha or Liberation from the Cycles of Births and Deaths .................................................... 56

7.3 How Great People Die ...................................................................................................................... 58

7.4 Destination as a Choice made by the Jīva ......................................................................................... 59

8.0 Causes of Rebirth .................................................................................................................................. 60

8.1 Karma ................................................................................................................................................ 61

8.2 Kāma or Desire ................................................................................................................................. 63

8.3 Avidyā or False Knowledge .............................................................................................................. 64

8.4 Ṛṇānubandhana – Bonds of Past Life Debts ..................................................................................... 64

8.5 To Continue Spiritual Progress ......................................................................................................... 65

8.6 Divine or Saintly Command ............................................................................................................. 66

8.7 Curse of a Rishi ................................................................................................................................. 66

9.0 Proofs of Rebirth upon Death ............................................................................................................... 66

9.1 Past Life Memories or Spontaneous Recall (‘Jātismara’) ................................................................. 68

9.1.1 Aids in Recollecting Past Lives ................................................................................................. 69

9.1.2 Why Don’t Most of Us Remember Our Past Lives? The Benefits of Forgetfulness ................. 70

9.1.3 Possible Objections Against Past Life Recollection .................................................................. 73

9.1.4 Children Recollecting Their Past Lives ..................................................................................... 80

9.2 Xenoglossy and Xenography ............................................................................................................ 82

9.3 Similarity Between Lives .................................................................................................................. 83

9.4 Past Life Regression ......................................................................................................................... 84

9.4.1 Objections against use of Hypnotism for Past Life Regression ................................................. 87

9.4.2 Benefits of Past-Life Regression: .............................................................................................. 88

9.4.3 Past Life Regression and Yogic Perspectives ............................................................................ 88

9.5 Soul Mates ........................................................................................................................................ 90

9.6 Phobias and Fears ............................................................................................................................. 90

9.7 Child Prodigies .................................................................................................................................. 91

9.8 Disparities and Peculiarities in Life .................................................................................................. 92

9.9 Emotions in the Newborn ................................................................................................................. 92

9.10 The Fear of Death ........................................................................................................................... 93

9.11 Déjà vu ............................................................................................................................................ 93

9.11.1 Arguments against and for Déjà vu .......................................................................................... 93

10.0 Past Life and Homosexuality/Transgenderism ................................................................................... 94

11.0 The Doctrine of Rebirth & the Spiritual Potential of Children ........................................................... 97

11.1 Perspectives from Hindu Medical Texts ......................................................................................... 98

11.2 Perinatal Spirituality and Recollection of Births ............................................................................ 98

11.3 Children on the Paths to Moksha .................................................................................................. 100

12.0 Old Souls ........................................................................................................................................... 102

13.0 Identical Twins, Complementary Souls and Group Reincarnation ................................................... 102

14.0 What shapes our Personality? ........................................................................................................... 103

14.1 Genetics ......................................................................................................................................... 104

14.2 Environment .................................................................................................................................. 107

14.3 Personal Effort .............................................................................................................................. 107

14.4 Effects of Previous Lives .............................................................................................................. 108

15.0 Benefits of Believing in the Doctrine of Rebirth .............................................................................. 112

16.0 Rebirth or Resurrection? Interfaith Perspectives .............................................................................. 116

16.1 Unanswered Questions in Abrahamic Paradigm ........................................................................... 116

16.2 Gateway to Evil and Ego .............................................................................................................. 119

16.3 Logical Inconsistencies and wrong assumptions .......................................................................... 119

16.4 A Whimsical Abrahamic God ....................................................................................................... 120

16.5 Opposed to Human Nature ............................................................................................................ 120

16.6 Opposed to the Notion of a Just God: No Abrahamic Explanation of Evil and Suffering ........... 121

16.7 Root of Religious Persecution and Fear Psychology of Abrahamic Religions ............................. 121

16.8 Based on a Geocentric theory of the Universe .............................................................................. 123

16.9 Non Verifiability of the Theory of Resurrection ........................................................................... 123

16.10 No Purpose served by an Eternal Hell ........................................................................................ 123

16.11 Frightening Prospects in Semitic Theology of Heaven ............................................................... 125

16.12 Resurrection is a Mind Deadening Philosophy ........................................................................... 126

17.0 Objections against the Rebirth Theory and Responses ..................................................................... 127

18.0 The Hindu Funeral Ceremony ........................................................................................................... 131

18.1 Antyeṣhṭi Saṃskāra ...................................................................................................................... 131

18.2 Major Steps in Cremation ............................................................................................................. 132

18.2.1 Preparing for Cremation ..................................................................................................... 132

18.2.2 Journey to the Cremation Grounds ................................................................................... 132

18.2.3 Pre Cremation Ceremonies ................................................................................................. 132

18.2.4 Preparing and Lighting the Pyre ........................................................................................ 132

18.2.5 Departing from the Cremation Ground ............................................................................. 133

18.2.6 Consolation of the Family Members .................................................................................. 133

18.2.7 Collecting the Funeral Remains .......................................................................................... 133

17.2.8 Post Cremation Immersion of Ashes .................................................................................. 133

18.2.9 Prayers for the Departed: .................................................................................................... 133

18.2.10 Post Cremation Ceremonies .............................................................................................. 134

18.2.11 Sapiṇdikaraṇa .................................................................................................................... 134

18.2.12 End of Mourning ................................................................................................................ 134

18.2.13 Alms Giving ........................................................................................................................ 135

18.2.14 One Year Remembrance and Ceremony ......................................................................... 135

18.2.15 Annual Remembrance ....................................................................................................... 135

18.3 Non-Typical Funeral Practices in the Hindu Society .................................................................... 136

19.0 Interfaith Perspectives: Funeral Practices in Different Religions ..................................................... 137

20.0 Between Death and Rebirth .............................................................................................................. 138

20.1 Memories of Life between two deaths: ......................................................................................... 138

20.2 Time taken for a Jīva to be reborn: ............................................................................................... 139

21.0 Death by Suicide and Euthanasia ...................................................................................................... 140

22.0 Bibliography ..................................................................................................................................... 143

1.0 Death, the Inevitable Truth of our Life

A common saying goes, “In this world, nothing is certain, except death and taxes.” Death is a great paradox of life that makes us realize that all relationships are transitory and will come to an end one day. For those who believe in the Divine Being, it is also a realization that only our relationship with Him is permanent. 

Bhagavān, You are my mother, father, husband, friend, son, teacher, brother, sister and my beloved. Throughout this vast universe, O Lord, I have not been trying to know the Reality but have not yet succeeded in my attempt. The worldly father, mother etc. are just temporary relations.

You are my only true eternal relation, my Lord. Garuda Purāṇa 3.19.53-54

And yet, we also nurture the pious hope that someday and somewhere, we will meet our loved ones whom death has snatched away from us.

Just as two pieces of wood, floating together in the ocean, separate and then come back together, only to separate again, in the same way, living beings in this world come together and separate from each other repeatedly. Mahābhārata 12.174.15

1.1 The Greatest Marvel in this world

Every day, we see creatures die and yet those who are living hope that they will live forever. What can be more astonishing than this? Mahābhārata 3.313.116 

In the Mahabharata, the Yaksha asks Yudhishthira – “What is the greatest wonder in this world?” Yudhishthira answers – 

Indeed, we have all witnessed the death of a loved one in our life, and yet we live in a state of denial. We live day to day, making imprudent or wrong choices, not caring for things that are truly everlasting. We hanker after ephemeral pleasures that really do not matter when the end is near.

Since the beginning of history, humans have been searching for the elixir of eternal life. But the fact is that whatever is created must perish one day. Nothing which is physical or material lasts forever. And therefore, even though we can prolong our lives by a few decades, death of the physical body one day is inevitable. Hindu scriptures emphasize that death is the greatest truth of our lives. Other things may happen or not happen after we are born, but all surely die one day. There are numerous sacred narratives of individuals performing austerities to please a Deity and ask them for the boon of immortality. But each of these stories show the Deity declining to grant that boon because everyone must die one day. No elixir can give us immortality. Saint Paltu remarks[1]-

The Divine Physician Dhanvantari too died, no one ever became immortal.

Hindu teachings declare:

The body (Sharīra) is so called because it decays (shīryate). Rigveda, Aitareya Āraṇyaka 2.1.4.11

To one who is born, death is certain. And for dead, there is certainly rebirth. Gita 2.27ab

None can transcend old age and death, even if he has traversed the entire earth to the very shore of the distant ocean. Mahābhārata 12.28.15

Old age and death are like two wolves that devour everyone – strong, weak, short and tall. Mahābhārata 12.28.14

Do not grieve, because all creatures are transitory and die one day. Instead, continue to practice Dharma, because Dharma alone accompanies us. Kātyāyana Smriti 22.4

When this world, the oceans, and even the gods will perish one day, then how come a human being can live eternally in this world of mortals? Kātyāyana Smriti 22.6

This body is made of five elements, and eventually merges into these five elements after performing its deeds. Then why should one grieve? Kātyāyana Smriti 22.7

As all accumulations eventually get dissipated, as all rise ends in a fall, and as all unions lead to separations, so do all lives lead to death. Kātyāyana Smriti 22.8

We are so lost in the present moment, in love with our family and friends or even with material things, that we forget the temporary nature of all our relationships. Therefore, the death of a near and dear one often comes as a shock to us and it takes time for the reality of death to sink in our minds. Grief at the death of one’s beloved is natural, but we forget that we came alone into this world and leave this world alone as well. A constant awareness of the ephemeral nature of all human relationships can certainly help one cope with the grief of loss much better. No one really belongs to another eternally. Hindu teachings remind us-

All these sons and relatives had appeared from an invisible place and have now returned to the same invisible abode. They did not belong to you, nor did you belong to them. Then why and for whom do you grieve? Mahābhārata 11.2.13

The Hindu doctrine of rebirth upon death, that we will discuss later, further emphasizes that we have different relationships in each lifetime. There is no guarantee that relationships in one lifetime (e.g., that of a husband and wife), will replicate identically in future lifetimes.

We have been reborn in this world repeatedly and have experienced the happiness of being with thousands of mothers, fathers, sons and wives. But to whom do they belong, and to whom do we belong today? Mahābhārata 11.2.21

Story: Gautama Buddha teaches Kisa Gautami to accept Death

A woman named Kisa Gautami, who lived at the same time as Buddha, lost her only son. She became very upset. She carried her dead boy from one house to another, begging people to revive him and make him alive again.

Everyone took pity on her, and they tried to reason with her that people who die do not come back to life. But she would not give up and cried even more. Then, someone suggested to her, “Why don’t you go and see Buddha. He is a great saint. Perhaps, he will do a miracle, and bring your dead son back to life.”

Kisa rushed to the Buddha, and said, “Master, I have heard great things about your spiritual powers. I had only one son, who was the joy of my life. But a cruel disease snatched him from us and now he is dead in my arms. Please take pity on me and bring him back to life. I will become your student for the rest of my life.”

The       Buddha            looked at          her       with compassion and said, “Your son can come back to life if we make an ointment with mustard seeds. But the mustard seeds

must be procured from a home in which the family has never experienced any death.”

Kisa suddenly saw a ray of hope. She was overjoyed. She immediately got up and started knocking one door after another. By evening, she had knocked at the door of every home in the city. But she could not find a single home where the residents had not had a single death in their family. Disappointed, she went back to Buddha and said, “Master, I have learned my lesson. Whosoever is born will die one day. No one lives forever. There is no one who has not seen or heard a dear one die. I was foolish to believe that my son will live forever or that he can come back to life. Now, I have no desire to revive him from death, because I have understood the true nature of life. I have realized that nothing is permanent in this world. We all must die one day.” Buddha smiled with compassion, and he invited her to become his disciple, which she accepted.

1.3 Why do we have to Die?

If death is inevitable, what is the point of even being born and alive? A Hindu Sage explains:

“Without birth and death, without the perpetual transmutation of all the forms of life, the world would be static, without rhythm, undancing, mummified. Every leaf must fall. If there is a deathless leaf it must be a plastic one. Do you want to live forever in an imitation plastic form of yourself? For what purpose? Death is necessary for the dynamic life to play in all its glory.” Swami Chinmayananda[2]

Death is in accordance with the laws of nature. Nothing that has a physical composition or is ‘material’ is ever eternal. It must undergo these six changes mentioned in Hindu texts like the Nirukta 1.1.2 of Sage Yāska: Birth, existence, growth, modification, decay and destruction.

1.4 Death belongs to the Physical Body, the Ātmā is Eternal

In reality, what we call death is only the perishing of the physical body. The eternal ātmā that makes the body alive never dies and is never born. Krishna teaches,

Numerous stories are narrated in the Hindu tradition to illustrate the truth that death is spoken of only with respect to the physical body, and that the real ‘I’, which is our ātmā, is everlasting, unborn, unchanged.

Story: The Children of Somadatta and Kañchanamālā-

During the time of Krishna in the city of Dwārakā lived a couple named Somadatta and Kanchanamālā. They had eight still-born children one after the other and were very grieved that they were still childless. Therefore, Somadatta performed a Vedic religious ceremony to ward off all evil in the hope that his and Kanchana’s next child will be born alive. But alas, the ninth child too was born dead.

The couple now decided to approach their ruler Krishna for help. They appealed to him, “We are really unfortunate that all are children are born dead. We even performed Vedic ceremonies in the hope that our next child will be born alive, but that did not help us either. Now our only hope is that as our King, you will suggest a solution by which we can become proud parents of a lovely child. You saved the child of Abhimanyu and Uttarā. Please save our next child too. Do not let him suffer by dying prematurely.”

Krishna replied, “What makes you think that your child suffered? It is in fact you both who are suffering, and this is all because of your previous bad karma.” Somadatta replied, “Now that was very insensitive of you to have said that. You are Bhagavān and you have the power to cancel bad Karma. Therefore, I want you to cancel our bad karma so that we can become parents.” But Krishna refused saying, “Your bad karma can be replaced only with good karma done by you both, or if a saint intercedes on your behalf.”

Somadatta left Krishna’s palace with his wife, hurling abuses at Krishna. When Arjuna overheard Somadatta abusing Krishna, he said to Somadatta, “It was wrong on your part to have cursed Krishna. He is always fair and just. If I promise to save your next child from death, will you apologize to Krishna?”

The couple agreed and apologized to Krishna for their misbehavior. When the couple was expecting their tenth child to be born and the wife went into labor, Arjuna stood guard at the door of their house, so that he could prevent Yamadoota (the messenger of Yama, Lord of Death) from entering it. But alas, soon after the birth of the child, Somadatta came out furious. He accused Arjuna, “Thanks to you, our child simply disappeared right after his birth. At least in the past, we could see the face of our baby. Is this how you had promised to help us?”

Arjuna felt very humiliated. He said, “As I have not been able to keep my vow, I will commit suicide.” Arjuna then lit a pyre and was about to enter it when Krishna suddenly appeared and said, “Do not take this rash decision Arjuna. I know that all the ten children are in Vaikuntha, the abode of Vishnu. Let me take you and Somadatta there.” They all alighted Krishna’s chariot and proceeded towards Vaikuntha.

When they reached the Divine Abode, Somadatta was thrilled to see that all of his ten children were playing at the feet of Vishnu and Lakshmi. Krishna said to him, “You have permission to take back your children with you.”

But as Somadatta went ahead and picked up the youngest child. But surprisingly, the child shrieked in pain and said, “Put me down, I do not want to leave my parents.” Somadatta said, “But I am your real father. I have come to take all of you back to Dwārakā where your mother is waiting for you.” The kids started running away from Somadatta. One of them said, “We might be little kids, but we surely know who our real parents are. They are Vishnu and Lakshmi, and they are our parents in all our lives.”

Somadatta        was      greatly disappointed and saddened. He

said to Krishna, “It appears that these children are wiser than I am. And they are happier here than they will ever be with me and Kanchanamāla. But I wish that they would come with me so that I could feel the joy of raising them. I now understand that Bhagavān entrusts the care of his own children to earthly parents for a while, and we should not start believing that we are their eternal parents.”

Krishna smiled with a look of compassion, and he played his divine flute. The music drew the children towards Krishna. Then, Krishna touched their foreheads with his loving hands. Immediately, the children looked at Somadatta and hugged him, calling him ‘Father’ lovingly.

Somadatta took the kids to his wife Kanchana, who was overjoyed to see them. She cried with joy. Both the parents fell at Krishna’s feet and asked him for His continued blessings. But before Krishna left, Somadatta could not help asking, “Why did the touch of your hand transform these kids? Why did they forsake Vishnu and Lakshmi and agreed to come with me to the earth?”

Krishna answered, “That was my touch of Māyā – the magical power of this physical world. All humans are under the spell of Māyā, which is why they forget their real Parent who is Bhagavān Himself. They forget that real joy is in being close to Bhagavān. But under Māyā’s spell, humans regard their earthly relationships as more important than their relationship with the Divine and are attracted towards material pleasures instead of the eternal and infinite joy of being with Bhagavān.” 

1.5 Is After-life Interest due to a Fear of Death?

Some people take the acceptance of death as an inevitable fact of life a bit too far to argue that others are obsessed with afterlife theories only because the latter are scared of death. But this is merely a stereotypical characterization, often coming from those who think of themselves as very ‘rational’, ‘scientifically inclined’, ‘possessing a critical attitude’.  An enquiry into afterlife is a very valid endeavor as a modern author states- 

“Many people have come to embrace contemporary science as the sold arbiter of truth, despite its rather dismal picture of human life as devoid of ultimate purpose and meaning. Some individuals in this camp, especially those who had unpleasant experiences with religion in their childhood, are harshly critical of anything that suggests that human being might be something more than a physical-chemical organism. In particular, belief in any kind of afterlife is dismissed as wishful thinking, motivated by fear of death.

This evaluation of afterlife beliefs as stemming from nothing more than fear of death is too simplistic to constitute anything close to a definitive explanation. For example, many people are raised in religious communities within which such ideas about the beyond are simply assumed. Also, many otherwise skeptical individuals have had “spiritual” experiences that have led them to accept the “reality” of a nonphysical realm. Thus, adherence to afterlife beliefs is not always connected with fear of death.”[3]

Knowledge of an afterlife is not merely a placebo, because life after death is a reality that is confirmed by numerous proofs. 

2.0 Living each day of our Lives Purposefully

Since death is a certainty, and it is uncertain when we will die, we must not waste even one day of our life –

Tomorrow’s tasks should be done today and afternoon’s tasks in the morning; for death will not wait for anyone whether the person has completed his task or not. Vishnu Dharma Sutra 20.41 Whether one’s mind is focused on his farmland, or traffic, or his house; or whether his mind is engrossed in some other object dear to himself; death comes suddenly and snatches him away just as a she-wolf grabs a lamb (without warning). Vishnu Dharma Sutra 20.42

No one is dear to Kāla (the all devouring time), and no one is its enemy. This body is obtained as a result of actions done in previous lives, and when its duration, and the effect of actions is over, Kāla snatches away this life. Vishnu Dharma Sutra 20.43

When the time of one’s death has not arrived, he will not die even if pierced by a hundred arrows.

And if the time of his death has come, he will die even if brushed by the blade of the kusha grass. Vishnu Dharma Sutra 20.44

Everyone becomes old, and he is sure to die one day. When a person’s time is up, no medicine, mantra, homa (Vedic fire rites) and no recitation of sacred prayers can save him. Vishnu Dharma Sutra 20.45

The awareness that death does not make an appointment, and that our lives might end at any moment without a warning, can change a person’s outlook towards life. Consequently, these people may change how they interact with others in the following ways:[4]

1.       We become less quarrelsome, more forgiving, more compassionate and helpful.

2.       We develop more empathy towards the sufferings of others.

3.       We try harder to achieve our personal goals and become a better person.

4.       We invest more in developing a deeper relationship with our dear family members and friends.

5.       We judge people not based in superficialities (like their looks or their possessions) but according to more substantial standards like character and knowledge.

6.       We take several things in our life for granted – a loving family, access to good education and food and so on. Realizing that death can snatch us away from all these at any moment helps us to appreciate and value them more. We tend to spend less time on superficial things that really do not matter (e.g., the latest model of your cell phone) and focus more on things that really matter in our lives (e.g., family, friends, charity).

7.       The understanding that we have a limited and an unpredictable length of time on this earth motivates us to improve our physical, mental and spiritual well-being constantly and steadily. We tend to waste less time and get into the habit of planning and prioritizing. 

8.       We become more cooperative and collaborative instead of competitive and confrontational. We focus more on collective than on individual good, and on commonalities between all of us rather than on differences.

The following beautiful story is narrated to illustrate how the knowledge of their impending death transforms the behavior of people-

Story: How a Man Overcame his Volatile Temperament with the help of Sant Tukaram

In the 17th cent. in the Indian state of Maharashtra, there lived a very renowned Sant named Tukaram. One day, a man approached him and asked, “Respect Sant Ji, I get angry very easily. I have tried a lot to tone down my temper tantrums but nothing seems to work. For no apparent reason, I become angry and abusive towards my spouse, children, other family members and friends. You are a very saintly person; please help me. Please suggest a remedy to make me a better person who does not lose his temper so easily.”

Sant Tukaram replied, “I could have helped you. But alas, this transformation takes time. And I can see that you have only seven days to live. When it is the last day of your life, I hope that you will come to see me.” The man was shocked beyond words. He had just a week more to live! But how could a saint, who can see the future, be wrong? He left the cottage of Sant Tukaram, sad, worried and disappointed.

A week passed, and the man showed up at Tukaram’s door again, and said, “Respected saint, today is the last day of my life, as you had predicted. Please bless me before I die, so that I might be reborn as a better human being.” Tukaram asked him, “Tell me, how many times did you get angry with those around you in the last seven days?” The man replied, “Sir, how could I get angry with anyone in these seven days? I knew that these were the last days of my life. I just wanted to leave this world on a happy note, with the good wishes of everyone, with love between me and others.”

Tukaram smiled and said, “I had lied to you that you will die today. But the fact of life is that every day that we live could really be the last day of our life. We must live each day with this awareness that whom we love today might not be with us tomorrow. I wanted you to realize this so that you did not get angry with anyone.” The man’s eyes were filled with tears. He fell at the feet of Sant Tukaram in gratitude and said, “What you have taught me is true. All relationships in this world can come to an end very abruptly. And therefore, we must value everyone at each moment, and use that as

our guiding light to shape our behavior towards all.”

In the Hindu tradition, there is an inspiring narrative of King Parīkshit who was cursed to die in seven days due to his misbehavior with Rishi Shamika. The King decided to spend his last week of life listening to the beautiful narratives of Bhagavān Vishnu, which are compiled in the celebrated scripture Bhāgavata Purāṇa.

We should spend every moment of our lives in the pursuit of Dharma and Moksha as our primary goals (and Artha and Kāma only as secondary goals):

Knowing God alone does one overcome death in this very life, there is no other way of becoming immortal. Rigveda 10.90.15

Time flies and man remains ignorant because of the pressure of work with which he is engrossed. People do not realize what is harmful or what is wholesome for them. They are deaf to their own interest. Garuda Purāṇa 2.49.27 

Seeing that collyrium and ink, used though very little every day, become exhausted after some time, and that the anthill flourishes in size day by day, one should be careful in not wasting one's time. One should engage oneself in activities of charity or study of scriptures. Garuda Purāṇa 1.113.8. 

In infancy one is extremely obsessed with one's parents; in youth with one's wife; later in life one becomes obsessed with one's sons and grandsons. Never is one obsessed with the ātmā. Garuda

Purāṇa 

Bodies are perishable, riches are transitory, death is ever present. Hence, Dharma should be accumulated. Garuda Purāṇa 2.47.24 

Whatever Karma-s we do in our lives decide where we are reborn after death. And this present life is not the only life we ever live. Therefore, it is never too late to perform good Karma. At the same time, we must not be complacent towards performing good karma or towards cultivating spiritual knowledge because it takes the effort of several lives to become enlightened. The time to do the right thing is now, and always. Therefore, we must live our entire lives with a higher purpose. The Vedas instruct:

From where speech returns along with the mind (thoughts), not able to grasp Brahman. But he who knows the Blissful Brahman does not fear anything at all. In the mind of that person, the thought, “Why did I not do the right thing? Why have I done evil deeds” does not create torment. He who knows this saves himself from these thoughts and protects himself from anxiety about good and evil. Yajurveda, Taittirīya Upanishad 2.7.1

Just as one who were about to die the next day guards himself against evil karma, so should one protect himself against evil karma every day till the time of his death. Samaveda, Jaiminīya Upanishad Brahmana 4.26.4

We should put things in the right perspective - which is that we are not the body, because this body is perishable and we have had many bodies in the past and will have many more in the future. We should try to identify ourselves with the ātmā, and lead a spiritually oriented life, in which physical and material pursuits are harmonized with or subordinated to spiritual pursuits. Living such a life helps us embrace death with lesser anxiety and ensures us a good afterlife. Upon death, we leave all our material possessions and relationships behind us. What really goes with us is our Karma, and our spiritual knowledge and understanding. The dead never return to us, but we who are left behind regret that we had spoken harshly to them, or were mean to them in other ways. Therefore, while others are alive, and while we are alive, we should try to stick to the good path of dharma and spirituality (adhyātma) rather than follow the path of Adharma and materialism and then repent later.

Is there hope then for someone who has lived a beastly life and is now at the verge of death? In Hindu scriptures, the Lord assures that even a dying man who has an unimpressive record of deeds should focus on Him alone at the time of death because this has beneficial results. Therefore, Hindus try to persuade a dying person to forget about all worldly worries and passions and focus only on the Divine.

People are afraid of the unknown, of uncertainties. Death is the greatest unknown, a great mystery and no one can be certain (in the ordinary sense of the word), about what happens to us after we die. However, placing one’s faith in the Divine, believing in the scriptural descriptions of death, of the purpose of life, the process of death etc., is very consoling because it tends to reduce the unknown factor. If we live a life, keeping in mind our higher purpose, death merely becomes a liberating moment, at which the little bird finally flies out of its nest and soars high in the sky. As the Vedas say:

Oh Lord Rudra Shiva, We worship and adore you, the Three-Eyed One (i.e., He who sees the past, the present and the future or who sees the three worlds). You are sweet gladness, the fragrance of life, one who nourishes us, restores our health, and inspires us to thrive. As the cucumber ripens and naturally frees from the vine, so also free us from the bondage of this world and guide us to the state of immortality. Rigveda 7.59.12

3.0 Medical versus Hindu Perspectives on Death

Death occurs in at least two stages: Clinical death, and Biological death. The medical definition as well as the analogous Hindu description of these two stages can be summarized in the table below:[5]

Name of Stage

Medical Definition

Hindu description

Clinical death

Cessation of heartbeat, breathing, followed by irreversible brain damage, dilation of pupils etc.

Failure of the Annamaya Kosha to continue performing its functions.

Biological death

Cellular level disintegration, stiffening of the body due to muscle breakdown, irreversible brain death.

The Prāṇamaya Kosha separates from the Annamaya Kosha.

If the heart stops pumping for more than 3-5 minutes, irreversible brain damage occurs from oxygen deprivation. Even if the heart is then revived and person is resuscitated, he will live with an impaired brain. However, this period of 3-5 minutes can be extended if the person is placed a low temperature environment, which slows down the chemical changes that occur during irreversible damage to the brain.

The following summary description of Biological Death may be given here-

“Today, where a definition of death is required, doctors and coroners usually turn to ‘brain death’ or ‘biological death’. People are considered dead when the electrical activity in their brain ceases (persistent vegetative state). It is presumed that the stoppage of electrical activity indicates the end of consciousness.

However, suspension of consciousness must be permanent, and not transient, as occurs during sleep, especially a coma. In the case of sleep, EEG’s can easily tell the difference. Courts have ruled that ‘It appears that once brain death has been determined....no criminal or civil liability will result from disconnecting the life-support devices.’

Even by ‘whole-brain’ criteria, the determination of brain death can be complicated. EEG’s can detect spurious electrical impulses, while certain drugs, hypoglycemia, hypoxia or hypothermia can suppress or even stop brain activity on a temporary basis. Because of this, hospitals have protocols for determining brain death involving EEG’s at widely separated intervals under defined conditions.

A person is not to be assumed dead unless there are clear and obvious indications that death has occurred. These indications include decapitation, rigor mortis, livor mortis (blood pooling in the part of the body at least elevation), decomposition and other bodily damage that is clearly inconsistent with life.

In the case of electrocution, cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) for an hour or longer can allow stunned nerves to recover, allowing an apparently dead person to survive. Likewise, people found unconscious under icy water may survive if their faces are left continuously cold until they arrive at an emergency room....”[6]

4.0 What Happens when We Die? The Dominant Viewpoints

There are three dominant views on what happens to us after we die.

4.1. The Atheist Viewpoint 

Atheists believe that the human being is simply an agglomerate of material substances. Consciousness itself is a product of specific combinations of chemicals. Therefore, when a person’s chemistry is somehow altered irreversibly, ‘death’ results. There is no after-life after death because nothing survives after death. In other words, there is no ‘imperishable’ portion in a dead body that is still alive after death. Therefore, there is only one life to live.

Criticism of Atheist/Rationalist Position: A modern philosopher critiques this position-

“What does happen when we die?....The rationalist answers this query by proclaiming that since we are nothing more than a collection of cells and our brains are simply tissue encased with a mantle of bone, nothing can happen to us when we die. The essence, personality, mind – or whatever we wish to call our consciousness- ceases to exist, endowing our time on this planet with no more meaning than that which we choose to give it during our brief sojourn here. This is, of course the position of the atheist, which is what makes atheism, in my opinion, so easy. It requires nothing because it offers nothing, which strikes me as a fair trade.”[7]

“To most people, however, this answer is unsatisfactory. It suggests that we are little more than some great cosmic accident and that, consequently, our life has no ultimate purpose. No matter how powerful or famous or wealthy we become, for most of us, after a few generations, our name will be at best but a footnote in history, forcing us to contemplate an existence without meaning in a universe that, despite all its beauty and splendor, has no significance – or ultimate permanence- than a flower that briefly blooms in the spring only to wither and die after a few days of vibrant life.”[8]

“I suppose there are people for whom such a prospect is acceptable. It does, after all, tidy things up and make life simply a little game we sentient beings like to play for no particularly good reason other than because we have no choice. Yet something deep within the human heart knows better. We instinctively understand that we are more than the sum of our parts, which is why most people believe their personality will survive their physical demise in some form and will continue on long after their bones have turned to dust.”[9]

From a Hindu perspective, there are two other flaws of the atheist viewpoint. First, the notion that we live only one life, and that there are no consequences of our life’s actions that must be faced later, if they are not faced in one’s present life, can lead one down a spiral of evil deeds and hedonism (unbridled enjoyment of sensual pleasures) even at the cost of the happiness of others. Therefore, the belief in an afterlife is the very basis of Dharma, as the Hindu sacred texts declare -

If the ātmā is born when the body is born, and dies when the body dies, then the individual perishes completely upon his death. If that be the case, then the entire Vedic teaching of Karma will be redundant. Mahābhārata 12.13.7

In fact, the word ‘nāstika’ in the Hindu texts means not just one who does not believe in the existence of a Divine, but also one who does not believe in an afterlife subsequent to death.

The second Dhārmic objection to the ‘no imperishable soul’ doctrine of the atheists can lead to pessimism about the very purpose of life. In this regard, there is an instructive story in the Hindu sacred tradition-

Story: Brahmā’s Teaching to Indra

“The ātmā which is free from evil, free from old age, free from death, free from grief, free from hunger, free from thirst, which desires the Truth and has resolved to obtain the Truth – that ātmā should be sought. Him, one should desire to understand. He who has discovered and has understood that ātmā obtains all the worlds and desires.” Chhāndogya Upanishad

8.7.1

When the Asuras and Devas heard the above words from Prajāpati Brahmā, they wished to know more about this ātmā. Therefore, they sent their Kings, Virochana and Indra respectively to Brahmā to find out the details of this ātmā. The two arrived at the same time at Brahmā’s abode. After spending several years as his student, they asked Brahmā to teach them about the ātmā.

our bodies. So let us adorn it with clothing and ornaments. Let us make it happy with food and drink. He who pleases his body here, indeed makes the ātmā happy too.” The foolish Asuras believed in Virochana’s immature understanding of what the ātmā is. They began indulging in materialistic and physical pleasures with even greater gusto. They had no concern with giving charity, performing Yajnas and had no faith. All they cared for was adorning their body, which they had now equated to ātmā. And when someone amongst them died, they buried clothing, ornaments, perfumes and so on in the hope that the deceased asura will continue to enjoy them even after his death!

Meanwhile, Indra stopped on his way back to the Devas, and reflected, “If my body is the same as ātmā, then my ātmā will also become blind, lame, crippled and dead when my body becomes blind, lame, crippled and dead. Therefore, I do not see how this view of ātmā can give any hope to me.”

He went back to Brahmā and served him once again as a student, and then he taught the following about ātmā, “The being that sees dreams while asleep is the ātmā.” Indra felt satisfied and started to return to the Devas. But again, doubts entered his mind and he thought, “In the dream, I see myself flying, or drowning, or become blind, rich, or poor and so on. But when I wake up, the dream ends. And nothing had really changed in my real life. How then, the person that I see in my dream be the ātmā?” So, he went back to Brahmā, served him once again as a student for many years, and asked him again, “Please teach me more about the ātmā.”

Now, Brahmā said, “When you are in deep sleep, you do not experience anything. There is no dream, and you sleep peacefully and serene.  That is how the ātmā is.” Again, Indra thought, “How can the deep sleep be a representation of the ātmā? When I am sleeping sound, I have no sensation. It appears that I do not exist at all when I am in deep sleep.” So, he went back to Brahmā once again and said, “I see no use of this explanation of what the ātmā is like. It is like saying that when we find out ātmā which is like deep sleep, then we cease to exist. It seems to be a very hopeless doctrine. Who would want to go from existence to non-existence?”

Brahmā smiled and said, “Indeed, you have thought about it well. I wish Virochana and the Asuras too had given more thought like you have. But instead, they were satisfied with a materialistic life, and concluded that their lifestyle is the best one can aspire for. The truth is that the body is merely an abode for the ātmā. The body and all of its organs are perishable. The ātmā, on the other hand, has no form, and is merely connected to the body just as a horse is connected to the chariot. But the ātmā can hear, see, smell etc., with its own powers once it is freed from association with the body. That entity, which brings life to the body, which never perishes, and which experiences all the contacts that the lifeless senses have with their objects – that entity is the ātmā. And you are that ātmā, not the body.” 

Now, Indra understood the ātmā completely, and was at peace with himself. He had hope because he knew that there is something more in life beyond our mundane existence. He felt fearless, because he knew that he would continue to exist even when his body became old, diseased and dead, because he was the ātmā, and not the body.

4.2 Abrahamic Viewpoint

Semitic or Abrahamic faiths (Christianity, Islam and Judaism) offer a very divergent answer on what happens after we die. They state that we have only one life.[10] After we die, our souls go into a state of limbo, till a day called the Day of Judgment. On this day, God looks at the relative balance between our good and bad deeds and also whether the person subscribed to correct beliefs or not. He then revives/resurrects the soul’s body (that had been buried in the grave), unites it with corresponding soul, and awards them with either an everlasting hell or everlasting bliss in heaven. In case of Christianity, correct belief means believing that Jesus Christ is the Only Son of God and that he alone can deliver us from sins. In Islam, it is the belief that there is only one God and that Muhammad is the last messenger of God. In fact, having the ‘right belief’ can even over-ride an overall stock of evil deeds. Conversely, even a virtuous ‘non-believer’ is condemned to an eternal hell despite his sterling character.[11]

The entire process of resurrection is very mundane. When a person dies, his soul is put to sleep and awaits the Day of Judgement, which will come suddenly and without any forewarning. An ‘Anti-Christ’ will appear on that day and will slaughter all the living creatures, human or non-human, who exist at that time. Therefore, the ‘believers’ are asked to ‘repent’ and accept the ‘right belief’ (in Jesus or in Muhammad etc.) sooner than later lest they die in ‘ignorance’. Some souls however go to ‘heaven’ immediately upon death – like those of religious martyrs, religious warriors (e.g., those who died while engaged in a Jihad against Kafirs), saints, Popes and so on. These exceptional souls are not put to sleep, but enter the gates of heaven immediately upon death to enjoy the pleasures of food and drink in that realm.

For the other, ordinary souls however, when the Day of Judgement arrives, the Archangel Gabriel blows a trumpet.[12] The graves overturn and the bodies of the dead are all resurrected from the remains, or specifically, from the tail bone in the Islamic tradition.

Angels come to take these resurrected human beings up towards a place of judgment where everyone is eventually sent either to an eternal heaven, or to an          eternal hell.      Due   to         the        fundamental importance            of         the   belief    in         resurrection, Abrahamic religions have insisted on burial of the dead. They believed that if the body were destroyed, such as through cremation, the dead person’s soul did not have any chance to resurrect and lost his chance to an eternal life (or damnation).[13] 

In this eternal heaven, they enjoy various kinds of pleasure for all time to come. Christianity gives some descriptions of a heaven with pearly gates of entrances to admit the true believers. The description makes it appear that heaven is like a theme park with various pleasures for its inhabitants. The Islamic heaven, per the Koran, is a garden with underground watering streams, over-ground rivers of wine, fruit laden trees, couches to recline and huge teams of pretty female attendants and handsome male attendants. This would have really enticed the Arabs who lived their entire lives in bleak deserts. Post Koranic Islamic literature takes the objectification of the female attendants to erotic, even pornographic levels. Each Muslim male in heaven enjoys sex with 72 Houries, while being served with wine etc. by handsome young men. On the other hand, Muslim women do not have these privileges, but are stuck with their earthy husband, who now has unlimited sexual prowess to please the Houries and also his wives(s) who in turn get to lord over these sexual female attendants of their husband. Essentially, the Islamic heaven permits what is forbidden on this earth. What is sin here is a Divine reward in heaven.

In the hell, the ‘sinners’ who were non-believers during their worldly existence are made to serve endless brutal tortures like being skinned, roasted over a fire, broiled in boiling water and so on.[14] In Islamic belief, even believers who have committed certain sins like suicide are damned to an eternal hell. In fact, if a Muslim were to have committed suicide by stabbing himself, he is condemned to stabbing himself eternally in hell after the day of judgement.

A Christian Saint even wrote that one of the rewards of a believer will be watching the unbelievers being tortured in hell, and feel glad that he had not erred like them. Numerous church hymnals right down to our times have the worshippers sing how blessed they were to believe in the only true god and how damned the infidels and pagans were.

Similar statements are found in hundreds in the Koran, wherein ‘idol-worshippers’ and those who ‘reject’ Allah and his prophets are condemned to everlasting hell where they will be roasted perpetually in an oven along with their ‘stones’ (=idols) and forced to consume the bitter fruit from the tree of Zakkhum there.  Allah has condemned the ‘unbelievers’ not only after their death, but has also exhorted Muslims to persecute and slaughter them even in this world. ‘Infidels’ are prevented by the Koran from even entering or passing through the holy cities of Mecca and Medina because the ‘polytheists are unclean’ (Surah 9 of the Koran)– divinely ordained untouchability, so to speak.

4.3 The Dhārmic Viewpoint

On the other hand, Hindus[15] believe that the individual is composed of the i) physical or the gross body, ii) the subtle body and iii) the Atman or the soul. When a person dies, it is only the first that perishes. The last two entities take rebirth, i.e., acquire a new body depending upon the actions, desires and the state of spiritual attainment of the individual. A person with a good record of actions in his previous births takes rebirth in a handsome body and in a rich or a noble household, or even in a life form that is superior to human being. Conversely, a person with too many bad deeds in his record is born as an insect, a plant and so on. This cycle of birth and death (Samsāra) continues indefinitely till the individual attains Liberation (Moksha). In the state of Moksha, even the subtle body perishes and only the soul survives, in blissful communion with God—the Universal Ātmā. 

Further, Hindus add that good actions and right belief are not sufficient for obtaining salvation. These merely make him fit to embark upon the path of realization of spiritual truths (Yogas). And when the Supreme Truth is realized, Liberation (called Moksha) is at hand. In short, Hindus subscribe to the theory of Karma and Rebirth, Yoga and Moksha.

Just as dwelling inside this body, the same embodied (soul or Jīva) passes through the states of childhood, youth and old age; likewise, it also does pass into another body. Therefore, wise people do not grieve over death. Gita 2.13

Just as a man discards his worn out clothes and puts on new ones; so, does this embodied soul leave worn out bodies and enters others which are new. Gita 2.22

An eternal portion of Myself, having become the Jīva in the world of living beings, draws to itself the five senses with the mind for sixth which are derived from Prakriti. When the Jīva, which is the master, acquires a body and when he leaves it, he takes with him and goes on his way, just as the wind carries the

fragrances from their abiding places. Presiding over the organs of touch, taste, sight, hearing and taste and also the mind, the Jīva experiences the sense-objects. The deluded do not perceive this Jīva when he departs from the body or dwells in it, when he experiences the objects of the senses or when he is united with the guṇas. But they, who have the eye of wisdom, perceive him. Gita 15.7-10 

The Jīva of a dead person keeps on moving, by its inherent power, from one mortal body to another. Rigveda 1.164.30

He is eternal. He becomes new again and again. Atharvaveda (Shaunakīya) 10.8.23

You are woman, and also man. You are a young man, and also a young woman. As an old person, you walk with a stick. And when you are born anew, you see it all again. Atharvaveda (Shaunakīya) 10.8.27

You are their father, and their son. You are the elder among them, and also the younger one. Having entered the mind, you alone are the Deva. He that was born in the past – that same one has entered the womb again. Atharvaveda (Shaunakīya) 10.8.28

After a man dies and is cremated, he comes into existence again and is reborn. Yajurveda,

Shatapatha Brahmana 11.2.1.1

Upon becoming old, he leaves this world and is then reborn. Aitareya Upanishad 4.4

Like grain, a mortal ripens. Like grain, he is born again. Katha Upanishad 1.1.6

Then he said, those who, verily, depart from this world, they all, in truth, go to the moon. In the earlier (bright half), it (the moon) thrives on their breathing spirits, in the latter (dark) half, it causes them to be born (again). The moon, verily, is the door of the world of heaven. Whoever answers it (properly), him it sets free (to go to the higher worlds). But whoever answers it not, him having become rain, it rains down here. Either as a worm, or as an insect or as a fish or as a bird, or as a lion, or as a boar, or as a snake, or as a tiger, or as a person or as some other in this or that condition he is born again according to his deeds, according to his knowledge; when he comes thither, he asks him; who are you? He should answer- From the far-shining, O ye Seasons, the seed was gathered, produced from the fifteenfold from the home of the fathers (the ancestors) sent me in a man as an agent and with a man as an agent, placed me in a mother. So was I born, being born in the twelfth or thirteenth month united to a father of twelve or thirteen months; for the knowledge of this was I, for the knowledge of the opposite of this. Therefore, O ye seasons, bring me on to immortality by this truth, by this austerity I am (like) a season. I am connected with the seasons. Who are you? (the sage asks again) "I am you," he replies. Then he sets him free. Kaushitaki-Brahmana Upanishad 1.2

Just as a goldsmith, having taken a piece of gold, fashions it into another form that is new and more beautiful, in a similar way, the Ātmā, having forsaken its present body and its Avidyā, makes itself another and more beautiful form. Brihadāraṇyaka Upanishad 4.4.4 

As a caterpillar reaching the end of the straw, contracts itself and takes hold of another straw at the moment of leaving the first, so also this soul after reaching the end of this body takes hold of another resort. Brihadāraṇyaka Upanishad 4.4.3

Just as a traveler abandons his boat when the latter gets dilapidated, and travels further on another boat, likewise the soul abandons its body at the time of death, and then takes on a new one. Mahābhārata 12.331.22

A man’s latent tendencies (mental impressions) have been created by his past thoughts and actions. These tendencies will bear fruits, both in this life and in future lives. Yoga Sutra of Patanjali 2.12

So long as the cause exists, it will bear fruits, such as rebirth, a long or short lifespan, and various experiences of pleasure or pain. Yoga Sutra of Patanjali 2.13

To summarize, the atheists believe in only one life. The Abrahamics believe in two lives – a temporary one on this earth and an eternal one thereafter in hell or heaven. Hindus believe in an infinite number of lives till Moksha is achieved through spiritual enlightenment.[16]

4.3.1 Implications of the Doctrine of Rebirth to a Hindu

For a traditional Hindu, the conviction that we are reborn upon death and that our perishable body is merely a temporary garment or house that is replaced by another in the next life, has many implications. 

The first is that we become more accepting of death as a fact of life. We may of course grieve at the death of a loved one, but not excessively.

The wise people do not grieve excessively over those whose life breath is gone or those who are living. Gita 2.11cd

Story: Ma Sharada Devi feels the constant presence of Swami Ramakrishna Paramahamsa after his Death

 “In 1885, Ramakrishna developed cancer of the throat, and steadily grew worse. On August 15 of the following year, realizing that his end was near, Ramakrishna assured his wife, Sharada Devi, that she would be all right and that his young disciples would take care of her as they had of him. He died the next day. In his last days, he addressed himself saying, “O mind, do not worry about the body . Let the body and its pain take care of each other. Think of the Holy Mother [Sharada Devi] and be happy.

After the cremation of his body, Sharada was removing her jewelry, as Hindu widows do, when Ramakrishna appeared to her. In the vision, he told her not to remove her jewelry, assuring her that he had not gone away but had only passed from one room to another. Confident of his continual presence with her, the Holy Mother, as she

was known to her devotees, committed herself to teaching and guiding the young disciples who had been left in her care.”[17]

The second implication is the awareness that the only constant in life is change, and death is also one such change that the eternal, changeless ātmā experiences. All these ‘changes’ really pertain only to the body and not to the ātmā.

Just as the embodied (ātmā) within this body goes through childhood, tough and old age; in the same way, it takes on another body (after death). Therefore, the firm and wise person is not deluded by this. Gita 2.13

In fact, our entire life is transitory, like a dream. In relation to the eternal reality of the ātmā, our bodily existence is temporary and false.

The Dream of King Janaka: A beautiful story is narrated traditionally to demonstrate that relative to eternity of our ātmā, even our entire physical life in a body is inconsequential and unreal- 

“His Majesty King Janaka, the ruler of Mithila, once had a dream. In his dream he was a starving beggar. For seven days he had gone without food. He went to Delhi and begged, “Please, will someone give me a morsel to eat?” He had no money. He asked if there was an almshouse nearby. “Yes, there’s one where they give free rice to eat,” someone guided him.

He found the almshouse but the man in charge was quick tempered. He ordered, “Bring your own bowl for food.” King Janaka had nothing with him and so searched for a potter. After a while, he came to a potter’s house but he abused him with foul language and closed his doors. Hopeless and depressed, Janaka turned to the garbage heaps, looked through litter and found a broken clay vessel. He got his share of food and moved to a small corner to sit and quietly eat. Just then, two bulls which had run loose, came near him and started a furious duel. Scared, Janaka got up, and as he tried to save himself, his portion of food fell. He was shocked and paralyzed with fear.

Just then his eyes opened. The dream abruptly ended. He shook himself out of his sleep and heard his guards sound the trumpets and call, ‘Victory to His majesty, the noble king of the city of Mithila.”

He was in his richly ornamented bed in his royal bedroom. He was lost in deep thought, “Which is real? The dream or this kingdom?” He approached his guru Aṣhṭāvakra. “O Guruji, in my dream I could not even eat a morsel, such was my fear; and now I walk supreme as a king. Which is real out of the two?”

Aṣhṭāvakra replied, “Neither! Even this life is a dream. That was a short dream and this life is perhaps a sixty, seventy or eighty year-long dream!”

The things of this world are short-lived, only temporary.”[18]

Third, just as death is inevitable for creatures,

so is rebirth inevitable for the dead (unless they attain Moksha). In their next life, they might not be present with us in the form and through the relationship we had known them, but they manifest in another form unknown to us. This may be explained with the example of passengers travelling in a train. At every station, some passengers alight, others depart. Each passenger has different co-passengers sitting next to him from time to time during his journey. He talks to these different passengers, shares food with them. The co-passengers had never met before they came together in the train and may not get together again after they depart. This world is also similar – we come together for some time and then depart. We do not know where our relatives and friends were before this life, and where they will be after their current life.[19]

Death is indeed certain for them who are born; and rebirth is certain for the dead. Therefore, over the inevitable, you should not grieve. Gita 2.27

What we call life, is a manifestation of the formless ātmā in a physical form. Over multiple lifetimes, the ātmā passes through a series of non-manifest and manifest states alternately. The Gita says-

Bhārata, beings are un-manifest in their beginning, manifest in their middle, and then un-manifest again in their end. Then, what is there in this for lamentation? Gita 2.28

For this reason, it is important not to get excessively attached to our loved ones. And when they die, we must not grieve excessively and should rather focus on acting in ways that smoothen the onward journey of the departed. The following story illustrates this teaching-

Chitraketu’s son refuses to become ‘alive’: The Bhāgavata Purāṇa narrates the following story -

Although King Chitraketu had many queens, none of them bore him a child. He was very depressed, and worried about who will become the next king after him. Fortunately, due to the blessings of Rishi Angirasa, one of his queens gave birth to a Prince. The King was overjoyed. However, the other queens became very jealous. They were worried that the Prince’s mother will henceforth become the Chief Queen and the favorite of the King. Therefore, they conspired together and poisoned the infant Prince to death.

King Chitraketu’s grief knew no bounds, and he lamented over the dead body of his son. Rishi Angirasa happened to stop by along with Rishi Nārada. The King served him with respect and begged the Rishi, “Respected Sir, through your spiritual powers, you can bring my dead son back to life. I beg you, please revive him. He is the greatest joy of my life, the heir to my kingdom.”

Rishi Angirasa tried to explain to the King, ‘Everyone who is born has to die one day. Some die at an old age, some die young. It is against the rules of nature to revive a dead person. Let go off your attachments and accept the reality of death, no matter how dear you son is to you.” Rishi Nārada also counselled him saying, “This world is like an ocean and we humans are like the infinite number of sandgrains on its shore. Two grains come together for some time, only to be separated by waves eventually. And these same two grains might come together again in the future. Dear King, accept this fact of life – that all relationships eventually come to an end.”  But King Chitraketu and his Queen would not let go their grief, and they begged piteously again and again. Out of compassion, Rishi Nārada revived the dead boy. King Chitraketu and his Queen were overjoyed. But a surprise awaited them.  

The boy spoke to his parents like a spiritually realized adult. He said, “I did not go anywhere. When I left my body, I recollected all of my past lives through the grace of Rishi Angirasa. I have lived in many bodies before this one. I have had many fathers and many mothers. Therefore, who is my real father and who is real mother? I have never died, and I was never born. It was merely my bodies that died and took birth. I performed numerous karmas in each live, and was reborn to reap the results of my deeds. I have realized that I am, in reality, the eternal, unchanging, pure and free Atman.”

Saying this, the boy died once again, because he did not want to get attached to his parents. King Chitraketu and his Queen understood the purport of their son’s words. Their attachments disappeared when they realized that all relationships are temporary and end one day. It is only our soul that is permanent. The only permanent relationship that we have is with the Divine, and He is our goal. Swami Sivananda explains the principle of this story with the help of another example from our daily lives: 

“Life is like a manuscript, and each individual person is an author of that manuscript. In this manuscript of life, some of the pages are missing – the beginning and end have been misplaced, and one cannot recollect what he has written in them. He has only the middle portion with him, and that portion tells what he is in this present life. He knows he is here, but he does not know from where he has come, why he has come, or where he will go.”

Another analogy is that our successive lives are like individual frames in a continuous reel of film that depicts a story without a beginning or an end (unless Moksha is achieved).

Hindu funeral ceremonies are therefore focused on enabling the departed ātmā sever its attachment to the loved ones it has left behind and take rebirth into a better state (than its past physical life) or better still – attain Moksha.

Some other implications of the Hindu model of Ātmagati – or the journey of ātmā upon physical death are: 

•       First, it is an extremely comprehensive model that weaves all living creatures in the wheel of Samsāra (births and rebirths).    It          accounts           for        the phenomenon           of         ghosts and       also includes the notions of Heavens and

Hells. 

•       The second noteworthy feature of this model, which contrasts it with Abrahamic notions, is that there isn’t just one heaven and one hell – rather there are many enumerated in Dharmic traditions. Furthermore, the Dharmic heaven and hell is not a permanent post-death abode of any ātmā, it is only a temporary abode. Which is why, Hindu scriptures emphasize that we must not aspire merely to reach a heaven. Heaven is not our final goal. In fact, the Deva-s (‘gods’) dwelling in heaven can get too attached to the pleasures of their world and this can lead to their spiritual downfall. For this reason, Hindu scriptures revel in narrating stories of Indra and other residents of heaven like Nahuṣha becoming arrogant, undisciplined and hedonists, and eventually getting reborn as lower life-forms. 

4.4 Doctrine of Rebirth in Other (Non Dhārmic) Traditions[20] 

However, not only the Dharmic traditions but other numerous traditional cultures have subscribed to versions of rebirth and reincarnation. In modern times, the rapidly expanding community of New Agers and many other groups adhere to it as a core tenet. Below is a list of communities and individuals from non-Dharmic traditions who have believed in rebirth and reincarnation:[21] Some famous non-Dharmic tradition followers who subscribed to rebirth and reincarnation are:

Greek Civilization:

•       Orpheus: Greek musician, poet and prophet of the Orphic mystery religions, who preceded Pythagoras in time. He advocated that the soul becomes a prisoner in one body after another and attains freedom after reincarnating many times.

•       Pythagoras (Greek philosopher-mathematician c. 580 – 500 BCE): He likened the soul to wax and said that just as wax assumes the form of the impression stamped on it, loses the form when melted and then acquires a new form of the new impression stamped, the soul too transmigrates from one body to another, assuming successively the forms of the bodies that it animates. 

•       Socrates (Greek Philosopher, ~470-399 BCE): Socrates is quoted repeatedly by his student Plato to the effect that we have a soul that has multiple lives.

•       Plato (Greek Philosopher, 428 – 347 BCE): The idea of Reincarnation occurs repeatedly in Plato’s many works. He was a student of Socrates. Biographies of Plato also declared that he had claimed to recall a few of his past lives. Plato also believed that souls could transition from human births to animal bodies.

Roman Civilization: Roman philosophers were influenced by earlier Greek philosophers like Pythagoras and Plato.

•       Cicero (Roman Statesman and Orator, 106-43BCE): In his Scipio’s Dream, he echoes the view of the Bhagavad Gita that bodies which are perishable are made alive by an inner abiding soul which is imperishable, and that one’s personality is due to the soul and not the body.

•       Ovid (Roman poet, 43 BCE – 17 CE): He advocated the view that the soul transmigrates from one body to another, and that eventually the souls of animals also assume a human body.

•       Plontius (Roman Philosopher of Neo-Platonism, 205-270 CE): He argued that inequalities from birth are due to acts committed in previous lives, just as Hindu scriptures declare as well.

Druids:

•       Their fearlessness as warriors was attributed to their belief in rebirth. Druids also borrowed money with the promise to replay it in the next life to the creditor.

Chinese Civilization:

•       Pre-Buddhist Chinese philosophers like Lao-Tze (~600 BCE) taught their inner circle of disciples the doctrine of an eternal soul. Chinese records declare that Lao Tze appeared on this earth over many lifetimes, indicating reincarnation. His followers and other Chinese philosophers in the subsequent centuries also continued to advocate these doctrines.

Extinct Eurasian Religions:

•       Manicheans believed in rebirth of the dead.

African Cultures:

•       In several African cultures, a newborn child is examined for signs that he or she is a reincarnation of a departed ancestor. In Sub-Saharan Africa, before the spread of Abrahamic religions, the belief in rebirth and reincarnation appears to have been widespread amongst numerous peoples in Africa like the Yoruba, Nandi and Betsileo.

Indigenous South East Asian Cultures:

•       Dayaks of Borneo subscribe to reincarnation.

Australasian Cultures:

•       Researchers have noted that amongst Australian aboriginal tribes, belief in rebirth and reincarnation was widely accepted.

•       Pacific Islanders like the Trobriand Islanders also subscribe to a version of reincarnation.

Native American/Inuit Cultures

•       Several groups of Native Americans in the United States subscribed to reincarnation, and this reflected in their funeral customs, their modes of expressions etc. Furthermore, they believed that souls of humans could assume the body of an animal after death and vice versa, which is consistent with the Hindu belief as well.

Jewish Traditions

•       Although the mainstream Jewish traditions do not subscribe to rebirth and reincarnation, several scholars of its Kabbalah tradition, from 12th cent. C.E. onwards, acknowledge and advocate this doctrine. This includes several Kabbalists who were also influential in mainstream Judaism. 

Christian Traditions

•       Early Christian Traditions accepted reincarnation but subsequently, after mid sixth-century, it became unacceptable by Papal decrees. No mainstream Church has accepted reincarnation for the last 15 centuries in Christendom. 

•       Some Gnostic Christian traditions like Cathars from the 11th-14th century CE.

Due to the widespread acceptance of the doctrine of rebirth/reincarnation in modern western world amongst non-Dhārmics, attempts are made by numerous authors to declare that the Bible too affirms it and its exclusion from Christian creed is a later and an erroneous development.[22] However, other scholars reject these claims with much justification -

“It is apparent from a careful study of the scripture that the Bible has next to nothing to say on the subject of reincarnation. Beyond the suggestion that some Jews of Jesus’ day seemed to hold to reincarnation or preexistent beliefs of some kind and some word play around Elijah being John the Baptist, it is clear that scripture simply doesn’t deal with the subject. What also seems abundantly evident is that Jesus did not openly, clearly, and unequivocally teach the concept. It simply isn’t there. Jesus seems far more concerned with redemption and resurrection than with reincarnation, and that is how he teaches. As such, efforts by reincarnationists to use the Bible in support of their beliefs are tenuous at best and positively dishonest at worst.”[23]

Islamic Traditions:

•       Reincarnation is vehemently rejected in mainstream Islam, but some Sufis (the mystical fringe of Muslim society) accept it. 

•       The only Muslim community in which reincarnation plays an important role is the Druze, found in Lebanon, Jordan and Syria. However, the Druze are considered heretics (or even non-Muslims) by mainstream Muslims.

•       Ismaili, a subsect of Shias and often from converted Hindu backgrounds sometimes subscribe to this doctrine. Sometimes, it is claimed that Alevi, another sect of Shias in Anatolia, subscribe to it secretly.

European Philosophers, Poets, Intellectuals in Modern Times:

•       Giordano Bruno (Italian philosopher, 1548 – 1600)

•       Francois Voltaire (French philosopher, 1694 – 1778)

•       Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (German poet and dramatist, 1749-1832)

•       William Wordsworth (English poet, 1770-1850)

•       Richard Wagner (German composer, 1813-1883)

•       Leo Tolstoy (Russian novelist and social critic, 1828-1910)

•       George Bernard Shaw (British writer, 1856-1950)

•       Rudyard Kipling (English writer, 1865-1936)

•       W. Somerset Maugham (English writer, 1874-1965)

•       Carl Jung (Swiss psychiatrist and psychologist, 1875-1961)

•       Robert Browning (English poet, 1812-1889)

American Intellectuals

•       Benjamin Franklin (US statesman, philosopher, and inventor, 1706 – 1790)

•       John Adams (US President, 1735-1826)

•       Ralph Waldo Emerson (US philosopher and writer, 1803-1882)

•       Henry David Thoreau (US social critic, writer, and philosopher, 1817-1862)

•       Walt Whitman (US poet, 1819-1892)

•       Mark Twain (US writer, 1835-1910)

•       Henry Ford (US automobile pioneer, 1863-1947)

•       Isaac Bashevis Singer (US novelist and short-story writer, 1904-1991)

4.5 Distinction between Hindu-Sikh and Other Concepts of Rebirth

Three words – Rebirth, Reincarnation and Transmigration, are often used interchangeably although they mean somewhat different. Reincarnation can often mean rebirth only at the same or higher level but Dharmic traditions declare that rebirth can result in a human becoming an animal as well. The ability to reincarnate or take rebirth in sub-human species is called ‘transmigration’.[24] In Dharmic contexts therefore, the proper term to use is ‘rebirth’ because it includes both ‘reincarnation’ as well as ‘transmigration’. 

The First difference between the Hindu-Sikh and New Ager notions of Rebirth is that whereas the former accept transmigration as well as reincarnation, the latter accept only reincarnation. The Hindu tradition and other allied Dharmic traditions teach that the atman does not have a gender, or genus, or color. In other words, the ātmā of a human being is the same as that of a plant or an animal. The differences between these life forms are not due to the differences between their ātmās, but due to their dissimilar minds and bodies. Therefore, the ātmā can be a human in one life, a plant in the next, and an animal in another. More specifically, a human being who does very evil Karma can be reborn as a plant or an animal for one or several next lives. From the beginning of the creation of this Universe, the different ātmās have been ascending the ladder of life forms gradually from plant to animal to the human life form.

But, evil Karma done in a human life can reverse this progression, and the soul can go down the ladder of these life forms.

Some ātmā-s enter into a womb for embodiment; others enter stationary objects according to their deeds and according to their thoughts. Katha Upanishad 2.2.7

If the embodied ātmā-s meets with death when Sattva prevails, it goes to the blemishless realms of those who know the Highest. If it meets with death when Rajas Guṇa prevails, it is born among those who are attached to action (i.e., humans). And it if meets with death when Tamas, it is born in the wombs of creatures devoid of reason (i.e., plants and animals). Gita 14.14-15

A Hindu teacher in modern times explains-

“The idea of transmigration of souls is also present in Hinduism. Generally speaking, a human soul goes on evolving from incarnation to incarnation. It is normal for a human soul to be born again and again only in human bodies until he is liberated. But there may be rare exceptions. In these exceptional cases a human soul may be born once or twice in a subhuman body to work out very bad Karma. When the bad Karma is worked out, the soul incarnates again in a human body and goes through the process of gradual spiritual evolution.”[25]

In fact, it is consistent with the agency and free-will of humans that they can be reborn as animals or plants.

“It is true that the evolution of the soul through the lower sub-human species is usually upwards. But things change when the soul gets a human body. Why? Because the human body allows the soul to express its free will substantially. If the soul uses this free will prudently and capitalizes on the human faculty for metaphysical enquiry, then it can move onwards in its spiritual evolution towards eternity. However, the soul may misuse its free will and desire those bodily indulgences that can be better enjoyed in a sub-human body than in a human body. In such cases, nature facilitates that soul’s desire by providing it the corresponding sub-human body. For example, if a human being desires to eat meat inordinately, then nature may provide that soul a lion’s body to facilitate that meat-eating desire.

The very presence of free will in humans requires the presence of bodily facilities for executing that free will. This in turn necessitates that the soul be able to go down to sub-human species if it so desires. That’s why from the human form the soul’s subsequent journey is not automatically upward. It may be downward, wayward, or upward depending on the kind of desires it cultivates.”[26]

Another modern scholar explains how the concepts of Karma and Rebirth are related to the existence of different lifeforms in the Hindu traditions:

“According to the Vedic scriptures, there are 8,400,000 different species of life throughout the material realm. 8,000,000 are sub-human, while 400,000 are varieties of human beings [According to other Hindu traditions however, the second number also includes lifeforms that are superior to humans]…..Once the atomic particle of eternal consciousness [ātmā] enters into matter, it starts at the bottom of the evolutionary hierarchy and takes on a body. In that sense, the Vedas agree with Darwin that we do indeed evolve but our evolution is not from matter, but rather within matter, an evolution of consciousness. Our eternal soul climbs up the staircase of life, experiencing every species as a kind of learning by being and doing. From the smallest microbe up to insects, plants, birds, and mammals, we ascend the ladder of the species until we finally reach the lowest rung of human consciousness.”[27]

New Agers however believe that plants, animals and humans have fundamentally different souls. A plant or an animal soul can never be reborn as a human soul, and likewise, a human soul cannot be reborn in a plant or in an animal body. New Agers find the very notion of humans being reborn as plants or animals as ridiculous and scary, and as demeaning to human intelligence. Also, they criticize the Dharmic theory by saying that it blames the animals and plants for having done something wrong in their previous human life. Some Hindu scholars say that Hindu Dharma does not reject evolution, but its emphasis is on

‘involution’, or on our inner evolution to ascend and go beyond the Samsāra.

The New Age hesitation in accepting transmigration stems from western notions of history and other branches of knowledge-

“The Western tradition of spiritualism and theosophy has emphasized reincarnation’s progressive nature, where a soul evolves and progresses from one lifetime to the next in a linear upward progression. This reflects the Newtonian and Darwinian linear model of science that dominated science for several centuries until recently and had certainly permeated the culture when Madame Blavatsky was formulating her ideas on reincarnation.

This contrasts with Eastern ideas of reincarnation. Hindus and Buddhists believe in cycles of death and rebirth and have no notion of linear progression leading to moksha, escape from the cycles. The idea of ever upward, ever onward, ever forward seems to be uniquely Western in nature. Indeed, in David’s experience as a psychologist and past life therapist, there does not seem to be a linear progression linking one lifetime to the next. The view from his practice is much closer to Eastern notions of cycles of rebirth.”[28]

New Agers and followers of Abrahamic religions see an insurmountable gap between the mental and spiritual abilities of the human beings versus animals, and argue that this disproves the Dharmic view of the ātmā changing species between births,

“For the major western religions, transmigration puts too much emphasis on humanity’s physical existence on earth and lessens the significance of its primarily spiritual nature. Western religions view humans as the only species with the gift of an indivisible, indestructible, rational soul, which can ponder over the mysteries of the universe, build civilizations, and come to know and worship its creator. All other life-forms on earth are seen as devoid of these capacities, and these religions see no historical evidence to suggest that these unique human characteristics have ever transmigration to any other form of life on earth.”[29]

Once we are human, we are no longer passive experiencers and learners of whatever comes our way in life. Now, we can make moral and intelligent choices to choose our karma-s, and thereby tailor our existing experiences. However, with this special ability also comes a liability. Before we were human, we had been largely ascending up the ladder of lifeforms. But now, we can descend, stay lateral, or ascend, depending on the choices that we make. In other words, we can now undergo devolution, stay same or go through an evolution. Using the analogy of a school and an amusement park, the scholar further says:[30]

“Just like in school, you can go forward and skip grades or flunk out of the human class and go backward, that is to say downward, for some time. Thus, the Vedic theory of karma does not lend itself to a New Age interpretation, in which the soul only moves upward, learning lesson after lesson. Devolution instead of evolution is also possible. If a human acts like an animal, he or she can slide back into an animal body for some time before going further forward. After all, once we are humans, we start flying our own airplanes through choice and then reap the results of our choices. If we choose to act like an animal, the message we send to Nature is: “Put me in an animal body.” If you were the owner of a huge amusement park, your job would be to see to it that the park ran smoothly as well as to provide a good time for the customers. In the park of Material Nature [Prakriti], there are rules that govern the operation of the park and those rules are mandatory for all visitors.”[31]

In a few cases, humans even recall having been an animal in a previous life. However, these instances are extremely rare. Ian Stevenson could document only 30 such cases out of the thousands that he studied.[32]  Indian newspapers have reported instances like one of a girl who remembered being a cow in her previous life, and a schoolmaster before that (Hindustan, Delhi edition, 8 February 1966).33 Here’s a detailed description of her case-

“…A nine-year old girl, Chanchala Kumari, born in Golaparvapura Village told her mother fantastic things of her past life. She said she had been a school-teacher at the Panipat school and that her name was Krishna Lal. She remembered her father of the past life, Ramapyara Nagapal. As a man his marriage was fixed but he died before the ceremony due to some severe stomach trouble. In her recollection, she also narrated some unbelievable things. “After death as a teacher, I entered into a cow’s womb and as a cow I was taken by a Muslim family of the Shahdara district of Lahore. Unfortunately, the cruel man of the family killed me for not yielding much milk. And now, I am born as a girl, Chanchala Kumari.”….The places and addresses that the child gave were found to all be true for she was taken to Panipat where she herself found the school building and inquired about her family people. She found that they had left the place, but the surrounding people gave the information that a few years previously, a teacher named Krishna Lal had died of some stomach disorder. The child was taken to her present home and after a few years, her memory began to fade.”[33]

During a few past-life regressions, some people do report having been animals in a past life.[34] These instances confirm the Hindu belief and falsify the more restrictive viewpoint of the New Agers.

The second difference is that the New-Age version believes that the human society is moving only in one direction with time – towards spiritual progress of all souls. They believe that each life is a learning experience, and therefore with every life, each soul learns something that makes it more advanced spiritually. Christian critics dismiss this view as being merely a philosophical concept that has no basis in historical evidence.[35] The Hindu theory does not advocate a continuous linear advancement of souls. Rather, souls can either advance or even take a backward step of they do virtuous or evil Karma, and depending on whether they try to advance spiritually or not. In fact, Hindu Dharma often teaches that with time, the practice of Dharma can decline, till a new cycle of four ages starts in which Dharma rises and then declines. Some distinguished, non-New Ager Hindus also subscribe to the views of evolutionary or progressive rebirth, like Sri Aurobindo, Sarvapalli Radhakrishnan and the Theosophists.[36]

The third difference is that most Hindu-Sikh viewpoints teach that we are reborn into an appropriate form on the basis of our Karma done in the present life, and that it is a Divine Being who witnesses our Karma, judges us and gives us the appropriate result accordingly (i.e., Evil Karma has a bad result, and virtuous karma has a good result). 

The one Deva, hidden in all beings, all-pervading, the inner ātmā of all beings, the overseer of all karma, who dwells in all beings, the witness, the knower, the only one who is not tainted by the Guṇas. Yajurveda, Shvetāshvatara Upanishad 6.11

The fruit of our Karma comes from Brahman because that possibility alone is the logical one. Brahmasūtra 3.2.38

Īshvara, the Dispenser, is the One who gives happiness and sorrows, and what is dear and what is not dear to all creatures on the basis of their past Karmas. Īshvara indeed is the Lord of everyone. Mahābhārata 3.30.22

Just as space is all-pervading, Īshvara too pervades all creatures (as a witness) and determines their measure of happiness and sorrows depending in their Karmas. Mahābhārata 3.30.24

New Agers (and also followers of Buddhist and Jain Dharmic traditions) often do not see the need for a God to give the correct results of our Karma in our present or a future life. They assume the doctrine of Karma to be self-operating, and producing results on its own without the help of God.[37]

Many critics, such as Hindus and Christians39, point to this flaw in the atheistic or agnostic versions of the Karma and Rebirth theory in which there is no place for God. They point out that in these versions, there is no perfect standard by which we can decide what is right and what is wrong, because there is no God who sets the rules or the standards against which everything is judged. So how can the Law of Karma even operate when there is no standard to judge whether the Karma is good or bad? These Christian criticisms do not apply to the Hindu-Sikh viewpoint because in these two Dharmic traditions as well, is the Divine who oversees the Law of Karma and its consequence of an appropriate rebirth.

5.0 Preparing for Death - the Hindu Way

5.1 Portents of Death

Hindu scriptures list numerous portents (termed as ‘ariṣhṭa-s’) of death that, if properly understood, make one aware that his death will happen in the near future. Vyāsa’s commentary on Yogasūtra 3.22 lists the following portents by which the Yogī can determine that his death is near:

1.       He does not hear any sound within his body even when he shuts his ears.

2.       He does not see any inner light when his eyes are shut.

3.       He sees the messengers of Yama.40

4.       He sees his dead ancestors: This is reminiscent of NDEs where people who died for a short period of time (but then became alive again) saw their departed ancestors while they were ‘dead’.

5.       He sees the Siddhas, or spiritually enlightened beings of past ages.

6.       He encounters sights that are totally opposite to what he has seen his entire life.

In some cases, it is seen that those who are extremely ill, suddenly become radiant in appearance and well, a few days before they die. The analogy is that of an earthen lamp whose flame suddenly waxes before blowing out. It is as if the vital forces and other aspects of the subtle body fire-back and make a last attempt to gather together before going out of the body before the person dies.

5.2 Our own Duty 

Towards the end of one’s life, one must gather courage and give up all fear of death. One must give up attachment to one’s body, and everything that relates to it, and forsake all desires that are associated with it as well. Bhāgavata Purāṇa 2.1.15

When death is imminent, we can progressively sever our temporary connections with the world and strengthen our permanent connections with the Supreme Being. This can be done by spending more time in worship and prayer, and in reading religious books, listening to sermons and so on. If the dying person is unable to worship himself, his close family members and friends gather around him and sing religious hymns. Hindu scriptures allow a dying person to undergo a ritual to become an ascetic/monk, as a result of which he formally severs all ties to his family and friends, and retains only his ties with Bhagavān At the instant of death, the person should try to focus his mind on Bhagavān alone. The various views on why our last thoughts are important are summarized below-

39                     John Snyder (1984), pp. 21-22

40                     Perhaps referring to this portent, the Veda says- If one dreams of a black person or a person with black teeth, that person will cause his death. Rigveda, Aitareya Āraṇyaka 3.2.4.17. See also Shāṇkhāyana Āraṇyaka 11.3-4 for similar descriptions of the portents, although these are not specifically related to the Yogī-s, and ritual remedies are then discussed to ward off impending death.

“The last thoughts and the level of consciousness you have at the time of death is extremely important. It should be positive and peaceful. Otherwise, the mind can take the dying person to its next destination, and if the mind is unbalanced, or focused on worldly attachments or affairs, then that is likely to be the nature of the next existence. If the image or thought pattern in the mind of a person who leaves his or her body is strong enough, the mind can get stuck in that pattern for indefinite lengths of time. This is especially the case when a person dies in battle during a war, or in something like a car accident, or in an unbalanced emotional state. The person may even become a ghost that is continuously reliving a particular incident or state of affairs for years. This also highlights the importance of not committing suicide which is often a result of reaching an intensely low vibration or emotional state of mind. A person may become stuck in that hellish state for many years before realizing the reason for it and how to remedy the situation.”[38]

Sometimes, to feel closer to Bhagavān, aged or dying Hindus may choose to move to a holy city such as Varanasi, that is a center of religious pilgrimage, and stay there till they die. They may want to sip waters of holy rivers such as the Ganges, on whose banks Hindu saints and sages have lived throughout our history, and whose banks are lined with temples. The dying person is also helped by placing sacred icons and divine images in his field of vision.

 The dying person also often performs acts of charity, giving alms to the poor and Brahmins, and gifting cherished possessions to one’s relatives and friends, in the hope of earning good karma. They may also confess to their sins, ask for forgiveness from others. He may also decide to devote the remaining days of his life in studying spiritual scriptures or devote himself to acts of worship, chanting holy hymns and mantras. The following celebrated example is from the Bhāgavata Purāṇa-

Story: How King Parīkshit Spent the Last Week of his Life

About 3500 years ago in India, a great war was fought between two groups of cousins – the five Pāṇdava brothers, and 100 Kaurava brothers. The war was fought with 4 million soldiers in a place called Kurukshetra, about 100 miles north of New Delhi, the capital of India. The Pāṇdavas won the war, but all their children were killed. Only their grandson Parīkshit, who was born right after the war, survived. The Pāṇdava brothers took great care that Parīkshit grew up to be a wise, educated and a virtuous Prince.

Yudhishthira, who was the eldest Pāṇdava brother, ruled for more than 30 years. Thereafter, all the five brothers decided to hand over their kingdom to Parīkshit, and they went to heaven.

Parīkshit became the Emperor of India after the Pāṇdava princes retired. He was a very fair and just ruler. He made sure that there were no thieves and murderers in his kingdom. No one in his country went hungry. The rains came on time. He gave lots of donations to learned men and fed the poor. Everyone was happy in his kingdom and they thanked Bhagavān for making Parīkshit their king.

One day, on a hot summer day, Parīkshit went for hunting. After pursuing wild deer for several hours, he became very tired and searched for some water. Suddenly, he saw a small hut. He thought that the owner of the hut might have some water. When he entered the hut, he saw Rishi Shamika inside. The Rishi was meditating, with his eyes shut and his mind thinking of Bhagavān. Obviously, Shamika did not notice the king arrive.

Parīkshit asked Rishi Shamika for some water. But the Rishi was lost deep in meditation and did not hear him. Parīkshit felt insulted and he became very angry. He said, “How dare you ignore your own King? I will teach you a lesson!” Parīkshit looked around and found a dead snake in the grass. He picked the snake with his bow, and put it around the neck of Shamika, who was still meditating. Some students of the Rishi who were playing outside the hut saw this. They were shocked. They rushed to Shringi, the son of Shamika, and told him everything. Meanwhile, Parīkshit left for his palace.

When Shringi arrived and saw the dead snake around his father’s neck, he too became very angry. Now, Shringi was also a great Rishi. The words of a Rishi always come true. Therefore, he now cursed Parīkshit, “Seven days from now, a flying snake will bite you to death.” After a few moments, Rishi Shamika came out of his meditation. When he heard what his son had done, he scolded him, “Shringi, what was the need to curse a great king like Parīkshit? He did not do anything that hurt me or harmed me. Rishis should learn to control their anger. What you did was very wrong.” Rishi Shringi now felt very guilty, but he could not take back the curse.

Meanwhile, Parīkshit felt very sorry about what he had done to Rishi Shamika. He thought, “I have always loved everyone. I have always respected Rishis and Pundits. Why did I do such a wicked deed today? Maybe I was irritated because I was thirsty. But even then, I should not have gotten angry at Rishi Shamika. I am sure he did not hear me because he in deep meditation. Now, what can I do to get punishment for my evil deed, which I did because I did not control my anger?”

Shamika sent a messenger to Parīkshit to inform him that his son had cursed the king to die after seven days of a snake-bite. When Parīkshit heard of this, he sent his apologies to Sage Shamika. Then he thought, “I do deserve this punishment. It serves me right. I will now leave my palace and go to the banks of river Ganga. There, I will spend the remaining seven days of my life in worshipping Bhagavān Vishnu and will wait for my death.” 

Parīkshit listened to stories of Vishnu for seven days from Rishi Shuka. Then, a snake came and bit him, and he died. But having listened to the inspiring story of Vishnu, he embraced death with a smile. Because, he knew that his death would lead him to immortality. The story of Parīkshit shows how even good people can behave very badly when they get angry. Therefore, we should try to control our anger at every time. 

Hindu texts prescribe the ‘ātura sannyāsa’ wherein a person on his deathbed is formally inducted into asceticism and thereby severs all his worldly ties. Transcending all attachments mentally and formally, the individual then focuses completely on the Divine in the hope of transcending the cycle of births and deaths and attain Moksha. Following is a famous example of a Hindu saint who became an ascetic at his apparent last moments of death-

Story: How Shankaracharya became an Ascetic

Shankaracharya was a child prodigy. By the age of eight, he had mastered the Vedas and many other Hindu scriptures. A great dispassion for the mundane world entered his mind and he wanted to forsake it and become an ascetic. But he was the only child of his widowed mother. Whenever he asked her to permit him to become an ascetic, she refused. One day, as he went to take a bath in a river close to his house, a crocodile grasped his leg. Shankaracharya called out for his mother. As she arrived on the shore, watching the crocodile drag her son into the water, Shankaracharya begged, “Mother, you have never given me the permission to become a Sadhu. Now that I am dying, please grant me that permission so that I may die with total detachment to the world and thereby attain Moksha.”

The grieving mother instantly granted him permission, and broke down in tears. But surprisingly, as soon as she had granted Shankaracharya the permission to become an ascetic, the crocodile let go of his leg and swam into the deaths of the river. Shankaracharya now declared, “As I have taken

Sannyasa, I am now an ascetic with my mother’s blessing.” His mother was

happy to see her son alive, but sad to see him go. She said, “When I die, who will light my pyre?” Shankaracharya promised to be at her deathbed and perform her cremation when the moment came – a promise that he fulfilled several years later. 

5.3 Duties of Family and Friends

Upon death, the ātmā of the dead person passes through the trauma of leaving the body that it had inhabited for so many years, and of being separated from one’s near and dear ones. It is the duty of the relatives to perform funeral rites to give peace and happiness to the ātmā of the dead person. These funeral rites involve recitation of scriptural passages that emphasize the eternal nature of the ātmā, the perishable nature of the body and the world, the temporariness of all relationships, and the notion that only Bhagavān and our relationship with him is permanent and that we can overcome death and become immortal only by approaching Him. It is believed that as a result of these acts, the soul finally overcomes its grief and attachments and proceeds onward in its journey to its next abode.

The family members should also fulfill the last wishes of the dead person and fulfill any duties and obligations that he may have left unfulfilled. This relieves the soul of any guilt and remorse. Many Hindus also believe that River Ganga has the power to grant Moksha. Therefore, when a person is dying, his close relatives might pour a little water from Ganga into his mouth (or do so immediately after his death).

When someone meets a traumatic or violent death, he may not have time to prepare for his onward journey to the afterlife. It is then the duty of his children to offer worship on his behalf, give alms, and organize recitations of scriptures in the hope that the departed soul will derive comfort from these actions, till it finally proceeds onward.

6.0 The Process of Dying according to Hindu Dharma

The process of death is described vividly in Hindu scriptures like the Brihadāraṇyaka Upanishad,[39] Kaushitaki Upanishad and so on. Death involves a separation of the Prāṇamaya, Manomaya and the Vijnānamaya Koshas from the body or the Annamaya Kosha. These three envelope the Purusḥa or the ātmā and they collectively move out of the physical body. The Upanishads describe various aspects of the process of dying for spiritually enlightened and non-enlightened individuals and these teachings are harmonized in the second section of the fourth chapter of the Brahmasūtras. Following the commentary of Shankarāchārya and Rāmānujāchārya on the Brahmasūtras,[40] we may now describe the process of dying below during a natural death:

6.1 The Sense Organ Functions merge in the Mind 

The Sense of Speech merges (i.e., the power of speech withdraws from the tongue and other organs and reposes) with the mind and the dying person is no longer able to speak physically. He weakens physically and becomes listless.

Speech combines with the mind because it is so seen and also there are scriptural statements to that effect. Brahmasūtra 4.2.1

When a person departs from here, his speech reaches the mind….Chhāndogya Upanishad 6.8.6

And for the same reason, all other sense organs follow speech. Brahmasūtra 4.2.2

Therefore, with the bodily heat extinguished, he goes for rebirth, with his senses resting in the mind. Prashna Upanishad 3.9

Each sense of knowledge and action, one after the other likewise loses its physical function and is now confined to the mental realm.[41] Typically, the sense of hearing is last to cease functioning. Therefore, when a person is breathing his last, his friends and relatives gather around him to talk to him, sing devotional hymns and chant mantras.45 In a similar way, the other four subtle organs of action (speech, grasping, locomotion, reproduction, and excretion) also merge with the mind and cease function.

It should be noted that the subtle senses faculties are separate from the physical organs (tongue, ears, skin, eyes, nose) and it is former that withdraw from the later and then coalesce around the mind. 

6.2 The Mind Merges in the Prāṇas

A dying person sees hallucinations or unnatural phenomena and stops hearing, seeing etc., before he passes out completely.46 While this is happening, the memories start receding from the conscious mind (Manas) to the subconscious mine (chitta) and the dying person could experience this as a Panoramic Life Review. Sometimes, when the death is sudden, as by beheading, the memories are not transferred completely due to which upon rebirth, that person has a higher chance of recollecting his past life. As the person is dying a normal death due to old age or sickness, he can have a ‘life-review’ in which his entire life flashes in his mind in a few minutes or seconds. This is true especially in cases such as drowning, where death takes a few sounds or even a few minutes to occur. In the Vedas, this process of ‘life-review’ is apparently alluded to:

Now my breath and soul go to the Immortal and this body ends in ashes. Om! O Mind!

Remember. Remember the deeds. Remember the karma-s. Yajurveda, Īshopaniṣhad 15

While this is happening, the effects/residues (saṃskāras) of the Karma-s performed by the person get stored in the mind. The subtle mind, which is different from the physical organ brain, then stops functioning and now coalesces with the vital functions (Prāṇas).

That mind reaches the Prāṇa-s because of the subsequent passage. Brahmasūtra 4.2.3

When a person departs from here…The mind reaches the Prāṇa. Chhāndogya Upanishad 6.8.6

6.3 The Prāṇas Merge with the Jīvātmā

The Prāṇa is merged in the ruler (Jīvātmā) on account of statements expressing the approach to that. Brahmasūtra 4.2.4

All the Prāṇa-s approach the departing man at the time of death. Brihadāraṇyaka Upanishad

4.3.38

In the state of deep sleep, a person’s mind is non-functional but his vital functions like heartbeat, breathing etc., continue. Likewise, in the case of the dying person, these functions continue for some time even after the conscious mind ceases its function, and eventually, these functions coalesce around the Jīvātmā because of which the person stops breathing, his digestive organs stop their functions, the heart stops beating and so on. In a nutshell, in all these stages, as the person is dying, the person’s senses, mind and vital functions have withdrawn themselves from the extremities of the body and have coalesced around the Jīvātmā. As explained below,

“The simple way to know of birth and death is through the presence or the total absence of prana, the vital air. Many yogis can retain their breath for a number of days or months, through the technique of kumbhaka and pranayama, but as long as bodily warmth, the heartbeat and consciousness are present, the retained breath can be brought back. In normal cases, though the body dies mainly due to the absence of prana. A many might be dumb, deaf, blind or lame, yet he could live if the life principle, prana, subsists. This life principle is therefore the subtlest vehicle of the soul; if one departs, the other just follows. Whether a man is unconscious, swooning, sleeping or in yogic samadhi by retaining the breath or even stopping the heartbeat at will, or has entered into another’s body temporarily through yogic methods, as long as the most subtle pranic vibrations are present in all cases life definitely returns to that body.”[42]

As an illustration of this explanation, one can cite the following example from the first half of the 19th century that was witnessed by a Britisher named Sir Claude Wade. A Yogī named Hari Dās had been sealed airtight within a box, covered by a cloth sack and then placed in an air-tight, sealed and guarded building next to Maharaja Ranjeet Singh’s palace in Lahore for a considerable period (6 weeks) per his instructions, to demonstrate the powers of Yoga. When the chamber was opened, and the body in the lotus position was exposed to Maharaja and Sir Claude Wade with the help of a servant of the Yogī, it appeared shriveled and lifeless. The nostrils of the Hari Dās had been sealed with wax and cotton and his mouth was firmly shut, with the tongued rolled back. It was completely cold and rigid, except for a region on the skull which exhibited some warmth. There was no heartbeat, no breathing, no dilation of pupils and no other sign of life. The servant of the Yogī poured warm water on his master, applied warm wheat dough on the head and followed other steps of a procedure till the Yogī’s body suddenly shook and started breathing, the heart beat resumed, and the pupils became normal like that of a living person. Within a couple of hours, the Yogī was able to get up and walk with the Maharaja and the Britisher, demonstrating that he had exhibited the power of Yoga and had been a state of Samādhi all along.[43]

The departure of the Prāṇas upon death has a caveat: The five major Prāṇas leave the dying body but a portion of one of the minor Prāṇas (‘Dhananjaya’) stays back and causes the body to decompose. In fact, the Dharmaputrikā Saṃhitā,[44] and ancient Yoga scripture that is based on the Hairaṇyagarbha Yogashāstra of Sanaka, the primeval treatise on Yoga, describes the role of the different minor Prāṇa-s in in the processs of dying in the following words-

When a foreshadowing of death is perceived, the abandonment of one’s body is undertaken. First, the five prāṇa-s called nāga, kṛkara, kūrma, Devadatta, and dhanaṃjaya are altered: a strong breath is the sign of the alternation, or more particularly degradation, of nāga; following the piercing of the vital points (marman), the leaving of prāṇa-s from all joints one by one indicates the alteration of kūrma; a rale in the throat while the body is immobile indicates the alteration of Devadatta; finally, when dhanaṃjaya is altered, the Jīva attains the other world after it has abandoned the body.

6.4 Jīvātmā merges with Tanmātrās 

The five Tanmātrās are subtle states of the five elements, and they serve as seeds of the future five gross elements (space, earth, water, fire and air) in the next body. These subtle elements now encase the Jīva as well.

6.5 Puryaṣhṭaka Moves to the Heart

When this ātmā seems to have become devoid of strength and appears to have come to a state of unconsciousness, then these organs turn back and come to him (the ātmā). He, completely taking to himself these particles of resplendent energies of sense-organs, enters into the heart. When the person in the eye altogether turns back, then he becomes unconscious of forms. Brihadāraṇyaka Upanishad 4.4.1

(The eye) gets united, he does not see – thus (they) say. (The nose) gets united, he does not smell – thus (they) say. (The tongue) gets united, he does not taste – thus (they) say. (The speech) gets united), he does not speak – thus (they) say. (The ear) gets united, he does not hear – thus (they) say. (The mind) gets united, he does not think – thus (they) say. (The touch) gets united, he does not feel – thus (they) say. (The intellect) gets united, he does not feel – thus (they) say. The front end [sinoatrial node] of the heart becomes luminous….. Brihadāraṇyaka Upanishad 4.4.2

The Jīvātmā that is already surrounded by the subtle senses, the mind and the vital forces (Prāṇas) along with the Kārmic residues, now coalesces with the five subtle elements. This entire aggregate is called the Puryaṣhṭaka because the Jīvātmā is surrounded by these eight components:

(1)  The four parts of the manomaya kosha (manas, chitta, buddhi, ahamkāra), 

(2)  the group of five sense organs, 

(3)  the group of five motor organs, 

(4)  the group of five prāṇas, 

(5)  the five subtle elements, 

(6)  kāma or desires, 

(7)  karma, 

(8)  Jnāna/avidyā (the spiritual knowledge, wisdom and understanding acquired in previous lifetimes, or the lack of this knowledge).[45] 

This set of 8 entities is called ‘Puryaṣhṭaka’ or Aṣhtapura in Paingala Upanishad 2.6. All of them together, encasing the Jīvātmā, then converge in the heart, specifically in the sinoatrial node. 

6.5 The ātmā and Puryaṣhṭaka prepare to leave the Body 

The Jīvātmā has now separated from the physical body and dwells in the heart. At this point of time, although it has no connection with the external world, it is conscious nevertheless, just like a living person is conscious internally while dreaming even though dead to the external world. Just as the dreams of an alive person while he sleeps are determined and controlled by the Karma-s that have been performed, the Jīvātmā now imagines, depending on the Kārmic residues (vāsanā-s), the next body it will inhabit.  

Just as a leach, reaching the end of the blade of grass, catches hold of another support and withdraws itself (there), even so, this Jīvātmā, forsaking its dying body, having attained a state of unconsciousness, catches hold of another support (the new subtle body) and withdraws itself to this new support. Brihadāraṇyaka Upanishad 4.4.3

While the grieving friends and family cannot see the subtle body that the Vāsanā-s, shaped by the dying person’s Karma, knowledge/ignorance and desires, have created, this subtle form or body is seen by the departing Jīvātmā itself, and is also visible to spiritually enlightened Sants, Rishis and Mahātmās present in the vicinity. Hindu scriptures give several examples of how the Kārmic effects and residues shape our next existence. For example, if one has been an extremely violent human being, his Vāsanā-s guide him to construct a tiger’s (or another violent creature’s) subtle body and he is reborn in that species.

6.6 Last Thoughts of the Dying Person and Aperture of Departure 

The last thoughts in the mind of a dying person, dependent upon its vāsanā-s, are very important and they also determine to some extent the aperture from which the Jīvātmā, enveloped by the Puryaṣhṭaka leaves-

“For a master, death is not death but liberation. According to the Prashna Upanishad and many other Eastern scriptures, the aperture through which the soul leaves the body is what indicates the course of its journey after death. In yogic terms, one of the vital airs, the udāna prana, moves within the main subtle nerve channel and carries the soul to its appropriate exit. The soul of one who has become united with the supreme Consciousness in this life, or who is so completely focused on that direction that he will reach state after death, passes out through a tiny aperture in the crown of the head known as the brahmarandhra or vidritti. The Katha Upanishad states: ‘Going upward through that, one becomes immortal.” To exist through this aperture has been likened to trying to pass a thread through a very fine needle – if even one fiber of desire is sticking out, the thread can jam. To accomplish this task, one’s focus must be attuned by constant practice so that it is totally one-pointed.”[46]

Thus, the last thoughts of the dying person, shaped by his Vāsanā-s, give him an inkling of his next life and decide the vein from his heart by which the Jīvātmā encapsulated by the Puryaṣhṭaka, will move out, and the aperture from it will depart from the body.

….The front end (sinoatrial node) of the heart becomes luminous. By that luminosity does the Jīvātmā depart, either through the eye, or through the top of the head, or through other parts of the body. Following that outgoing viral force, all organs move out. The Jīvātmā becomes conscious and departs (in the light) of that consciousness. Knowledge and work, as also awareness of previous Kārmic residues, go with him. Brihadāraṇyaka Upanishad 4.4.2

However, the last thoughts in a person’s mind are not random – they are determined by the dominant note of his life – things that interested him, his nature, his deeds, his spiritual understanding and so on -

“The direction that the vital air, udana prana, takes is determined by the final thoughts a person has at the time of death. Our last moments of thought create the impetus and circumstances of our rebirth. The final thought, however, cannot simply be the result of a controlled act of will, or a whim. As the twelfth-century Indian poet-saint Jnaneshvar tell us: The longings that a person feels when alive, which remain fixed in his heart, Come to mind at the moment of death.”[47]

The Buddhist tradition also describes the same process in a bit more detail-

“The Buddha compared the last moments of thought to a herd of cows in a barn. When the barn door is opened, the strongest will go out first. If no cow is particularly strong, then the habitual leader will go out first. If no such cow exists, the one nearest to the door will go out first. In the absence of any of these, they will all try to get out at once.”[48]

“….dying does not occur at a precise moment in time: it is not a clear-cut event, but rather a process….The Tibetan Book of the Dead charts the basic experiences one has at the time of death and points out the signposts leading to different realms. At death, as in dreams, we inhabit a world composed of mental images. It is critical to understand that these realms are the creation of the mind. One whose spirit has acquired the agility of dispassion is able to recognize various experiences in the death state as aspects of his or her own consciousness, and this is able to navigate gracefully through the different situations as they manifest.”[49]

The Bhagavad Gita has the following verses regarding the importance of the last thoughts of a dying person-

For whatever object a man thinks of at the final moment, when he leaves his body -- that alone does he attain, O son of Kunti, being ever absorbed in the thought thereof. Gita 8.6

Therefore, at all times constantly remember me and fight. With your mind and understanding absorbed in Me, you will surely come to Me. Gita 8.7

These verses are often taken popularly to mean that by thinking of the Divine at the last moment, even an evil man can attain Moksha. This is a misinterpretation of the verses of Gita. It is the dominant thoughts or tendencies of our life that come to the mind at the time of death. Death is a process and it is not instantaneous. Therefore, during the last moments of death, irrespective of what we may try to think, we undergo a total life recall and the dominant nature comes to the fore as our last thoughts. This is the interpretation of all commentators of these verses even though the popular understanding takes them literally. In fact, the second verse itself says that one must remember the Lord at all times, and not just while dying, so that if the warrior were to die instantaneously due to beheading (for instance), he will only remember the Lord at the instant of his death due to his persistent habit of remembering Him while he was alive.

In the case of NDEs (Near Death Experiences), the resuscitated person often reports having seen visions consistent with his cultural or religious beliefs (e.g., a Christian sees Biblical heaven, a Muslim sees an Islamic heaven) for the simple reason that these are shaped by his vāsanā-s that he acquired while he was living. They do not necessarily indicate that the dying person is destined for the Biblical or the Koranic heaven.[50]

Likewise, the time of death is also said to be significant. The Gita says-

Fire, light, day, the bright half of the month, the six months of the northern path (of the Sun) – if leaving this body then, the yogi who knows the Brahman goes to Brahman. Gita 8.24

Smoke, night, the dark half of the moon, the six months of the southern path (of the sun); if leaving his body then, the yogi reaches the light of the moon and returns. Gita 8.25

These two paths of light and darkness of the world are deemed to be eternal; by following one (the yogi) does not return, by the other, he returns again. Gita 8.26

In the first verse, ‘Fire’ and ‘Light’ are not terms that are associated with time per se, but are described as such because of their association with the time of ‘day’, ‘bright half of the month’ and ‘six months of the northern path’. Also, this verse does not mean that the Yogi must due during the day during the bright half of the month and during the northward movement of the sun in order to go to Brahman. The Brahmasūtras 4.2.18-20 declare that what is meant by these terms are the Deities associated with Fire, light, day, bright half of the lunar month and the six months during which the sun moves northward; not these objects or times as such. This is also clear from the following Upanishad passages: Br Up 4.4.6;

6.2.15; Chhāndogya Up 4.15.5; 5.10.1-2; Prashna Upanishad 1.10.

In the verse 8.25, smoke is referred to as ‘time’ due to their association with the night etc. Again, as in the previous verse, it is not the actual time but the Deities associated with them that are meant. By ‘moon’, heaven is implied. See Prashna Upanishad 1.9, Br Up. 3.2.5.3, Chhāndogya Upanishad 5.20.4-5.

These verses are allegorical according to all traditional commentaries and the Brahmasūtras. Only popular opinion that takes them literally. Brahmasūtras 4.2.18-21 emphasize that there is no special time at which death results in going to a higher or a lower abode. Brahmasūtra 4.2.21 explains that these two times are specified only with respect to the Yogīs and those who follow Sāṃkhya Darshana.[51] These time restrictions do not apply literally to those who follow the path of Vedānta, according to Shankaracharya’s commentary on this Sūtra. Swami Chidbhavananda explains the absurdity of interpreting these stanzas (Gita 8.24-8.26) literally and supports the traditional allegorical explanation:[52] 

“What is contained in these stanzas is a matter for thought. The Jivatmas transmigrating through death pass along the two paths known as the devayāna and pitriyāna. They are described as the path of light and the path of smoke respectively. The former is bright and the latter dark. The one leads the soul to regions higher and the other keeps him lingering and lagging long behind. A literal meaning of these stanzas leads us into a ludicrous impossibility. Fire and light are held to take the departing soul upward. There is no difficulty in creating this favorable environment whatsoever to a dying soul. If this situation ensures and upward progress, ethical and spiritual endeavors become superfluous, which is absurd. It is further stated that he who dies in the daytime progresses and he who dies at night lags behind. But day-time can easily be created to a dying soul in these days with the help of an airplane. This means that man’s spiritual progress depends on the physical amenities he is able to command, which is also absurd. The northern path of the sun is held auspicious because of its warmth and brightness to those living in countries to the north of the equator. But by air transport to Australia and South America during the southern path of the sun, a dying man on the northern hemisphere can be placed in a favorable situation for his taking to the path of light. The dark half of the moon is the only natural event which man cannot counteract. But reason revolts against the belief that the exit of man from the earth during one fortnight aids his upward march and that the other hinders it. The attainments of the departing souls also do not warrant this position. Man having conquered time, space and causation to a great extent, these factors in nature cannot in any way contribute to his taking to the path of night or that of smoke.

The two paths mentioned here are the allegorical expressions of the paths of knowledge and ignorance. The soul pursuing the path of knowledge gets progressively into the brilliance of Atman. That other soul which is steeped in ignorance stagnates and deteriorates. Death is the indicator of the attainments of a soul in the span of a life. As a lamp brightens up just at the last moment of it becoming extinguished, a man pursuing the path of knowledge gets into the clarity of awareness while leaving the body. The intensity of the awareness is compared with fire, light, daytime, the bright half of the moon and the six months of the northern path of the sun or more accurately the brighter path of the sun. Contrary to it, the darkness of the ignorance in the other man becomes increasingly enshrouded as is mentioned herein. Blessed are they who pursue the path of light in their succeeding births, till the goal is reached.”

An alternate viewpoint is that they who die during the southward movement of the sun go to the Moon through Pitṛyāna and rest there without being reborn as humans. Once the sun starts its northward movement, these Jīvātmā-s then attain Moksha from the Chandraloka as per the Ātharvaṇa Mahānārāyaṇa Upanishad 25.1 because there is no reason for them to be reborn.[53]

Hindu scriptures describe the visions that the Jīvātmā, accompanied by the Puryaṣhṭaka experiences[54] while exiting the body along different arteries/veins/nerves-

On that path some say, the color is white, blue, yellow, green and red. This path is known by a Brahmana (knower of the Vedas). The knower of Brahman who is the doer of what is good and who is identified by the Light, goes by that (path of light). Brihadāraṇyaka Upanishad 4.4.3

Those who are evil/ignorant and deluded are enveloped by darkness. Therefore, they pass out of the body through dark arteries going towards lower apertures of the body, which is therefore described as the path of smoke, ‘downward movement of the sun’ and so on. Those who are virtuous and enlightened are full of light and therefore they pass out through brightly lit arteries having different colored lights as described in the text cited above, before they pass out of one of the upper apertures of the body. For this reason, the passage of virtuous and enlightened Jīvātmā-s is called the ‘path of light’, ‘upward motion of the sun’ and so on.

Those who are perfected spiritually and are destined for Moksha take the 101st artery (Suṣhumnā) and move upwards along it to exit the body from the cranial aperture (Brahmarandhra). No matter what the time of the year, month or day it is, this path is lit by the Lord himself, to guide that enlightened Jīvātmā towards Brahmarandhra and attain Moksha.

Owing to the power of meditation and owing to the meditation on the path, which is a part of that knowledge, the individual ātmā is blessed by the Lord who abides within the heart. His abode (i.e., the heart) becomes lit from above and having its passage (the Suṣhumnā) illuminated by the Lord, he goes through the hundred and first artery. Brahmasūtra 4.2.17

Numerous cases are noted in ancient and modern Hindu tradition, which illustrate the truth that the ātmā of great saints leaves from the upper apertures of their bodies. When Swami Vivekananda passed away, his disciples noticed dim flashes and bleeding from his mouth that indicated that his ātmā probably left from his mouth. The examples of Akkalkot Swami and Ramana Maharshi are given above. In more recent times, when Devraha Baba decided to leave his body on 19 June 1990, he sat in meditation and his disciples noticed the lower parts of his body gradually become pale and his upper part of the body turning red and hot as if he had a fever. Soon after he died, his disciple too his head in his lap and spontaneously, the Sage’s skull cracked on its own, splashing blood on the disciple. This indicated that

the ātmā of Devaraha Baba had left through the Brahmarandhra – the 10th aperture at the crown of his head, resulting in his Moksha.

6.7 Preta State 

The ātmā, enveloped with the subtle body etc. (Puryaṣhṭaka) is still attached to its body or its remains as well as its near-and dear ones, places where it has lived and so on. Eventually, it does overcome these attachments and moves on. Cremation and post-cremation Hindu ceremonies are designed to help the ātmā overcome these attachments sooner than on its own. The Garuda Purāṇa has elaborate descriptions of different kinds of Preta states.

6.8 Pitṛ State 

The Preta then meets with the ātmās of its departed ancestors who have not yet been reborn. The Hindu ceremony of sapiṇdikaraṇa is intended to facilitate this union with the loved ones who had predeceased him in death. Hindus also perform period ‘shrāddha’ ceremonies to honor and nourish their Pitars on a regular basis till they are reborn. The Smritis, Purāṇas and the Vedas discuss the different categories of Pitars very extensively.

Till this stage, everyone, whether good or evil, undergoes the process of death identically. The exception is that of the Jīvātmā which is achieving Moksha. Such a soul does not form the Puryaṣhṭaka and simply adopts the path of the Suṣhumnā artery and leaves through the crown of the head, alone.

6.9 Rebirth

Eventually, the ātmā leaves its Pitṛ state and is reborn through one of the several pathways and in one of the several possible destinations, except when it has attained Moksha, as described in the next section. In Hindu scriptures, it is often stated that Yama, the Deity of death, or one of his agents, comes with a noose to pull the Jīva out of the physical body and take him from the Preta or the Pitr state to Yama’s abode, or an assembly of Chitragupta. Yama appears terrifying to evil-doers but benevolent to the virtuous. Chitragupta or Yama then consider the deeds performed by that person in his lifetime and accordingly send him to one of the several possible destinations.

Refer to section 11.1 for more details from Hindu medical texts on the process of rebirth during pregnancy. 

6.10 The Trauma of Death

While dying, one experiences the following four types of pains according to Hindu teachers and scriptures:[55]

“The four excruciating pains are vishleshaja dukha, mohaja dukha, anutapaja dukha and āgāmī drishya darshaja dukha. 

The vishleshaja dukha is like trying to separate two papers glued together; sometimes it becomes so difficult that the papers tear off; similarly, an astral body may be so much attached to the gross body in which it is housed that it becomes extremely difficult when it is forcefully separated at the time of death. Conscious separation during the period of one’s life through the technique of spiritual meditation and devotion, therefore, is emphasized. When people take it very lightly and neglect spiritual enlightenment, then at the time of death, it is a must to suffer such crucifying pain for ‘me’ and ‘mine’ of the ego is the glue which holds the two together. The dual responsibility for its own and the gross body, then, both fall on the astral body which causes another pain as well as the fear of the unknown. All these are descriptive of the first kind of pain, vishleshaja dukha.”[56]

To alleviate this pain of the deceased person, cremation is performed as soon as possible, preferably before the next sunset, during the daytime, and embalming of the body is discouraged.

“The second type, mohaja dukha is where the husband weeps, “my dear, are you leaving me and our children here alone?” Or where the wife cries upon the husband’s death, “who is to there to take care of me? We never used to separate for even a moment; how can I live without you?” In this way the weeping mother, the crying children and the sobbing relatives all gather around the dying man. And due to deep attachment which the soul had for his relatives, wife and children, it causes him an untold misery and agony which has no comparison. Such pain includes not only the pain of leaving all that which he had materially earned but he takes with him not even a needle, only the sons which he has committed for the accumulation of worldly things.”[57]

It is to alleviate this sorrow that relatives are advised not to grieve excessively, to leave the cremation ground without looking back at the lit pyre, and to perform ceremonies and chant verses to remind the Jīvātmā that his deceased body will perish and there is no coming back – therefore he should move on to the next station of his eternal journey.

“In the third one, anutapaja dukha, the soul remembers all the wrongs which it has committed and worries, ‘I have spent my life for sinful, earthly enjoyments; never even once did I meditate on God or study any religious scriptures or do any good actions. I ridiculed all Godly ones, abusing everyone, thinking that this body and earthly existence itself was everything. I wasted my precious life which I am not sure of getting again. Now how shall I show my face to Yama, the God of Death, and what shall I say?” Such thoughts haunt the dying man.”[58]

The antidote to this pain of course is to perform Dharmic deeds when alive, and focus on our Dharmic and spiritual progress.

“In āgāmī drishya darshaja dukha he sees the terrible, red-eyed demons with horns who are the messengers of the God of Death. Some cry, others because of phlegm and bile stuck in their throat cannot cry, but out of fear, pass urine and excreta in the bed. They see the noose that is put to their soul by these servants of death. When they pull, there are two ways through which the soul can pass, either through the senses of perception or through the lower doors. The soul that passes through the lower apertures is really the very sinful one who suffers in various hellish fires, so that death itself shows how a man has lived his life and what is going to happen to him in the future – if one knows its correct reading and meaning. The soul of a man which goes through the upper apertures such as the eyes, nose, mouth or ears, is a soul of more merit but accompanied by sins too. Very great yogis, however, open the tenth niche of Brahman through which they pass and merge into Brahman or God. Then the fourth horrible pain and the soul feels various hellish sufferings and the Garuda Purana, the Book of the Death, says that the pain is something like thousands of scorpions biting. It is also said that the pain of birth, old age, and illness are not even a millionth part of that pain which the sinful man suffers due to his karma at the time of death.”[59]

Once again, the antidote for this pain is the same as that for the third type of pain experienced by the dying person. And therefore, it is a popular Hindu belief that a virtuous person does not undergo much pain while dying-

“It is significant to know that a pious soul never suffers any of these pains. Through his spiritual discipline he has already humbled his ego; therefore his astral body has already been separated while living, so the first pain cannot come to him. He has cut asunder all knots of attachment, therefore the second pain cannot reach him. He has planned his whole life to reach God and has done all meritorious and noble deeds, therefore he does not have the third pain. It is only the messengers of God with their aerial car who come to him, who, with full consciousness, smiling and blessing everyone and chanting the name of God, departs from the body.”[60]

7.0 Possible Pathways of the Soul after Death - The Hindu Explanation[61]

As noted above, the dominant Kārmic residues of the person determine the nerve or vein or artery through which the Jīvātmā will leave the heart, and the aperture through which it leaves the body. In general, when it leaves the body via ascending vessels and from the upper apertures of the body, it takes a superior pathway to one of the higher realm. Conversely, when the Jīvātmā leaves the heart along a descending vessel and then leaves the body through one of the lower bodily apertures, it takes a pathway leading to a lower realm.

7.1 The Different Realms of Existence

It is important to understand that in Hindu cosmology, the earth is not the only living planet, this universe is not the only one in existence and that there are infinite realms, cosmic bodies etc., where Jīvātmās are found. In the Hindu scriptures, there are numerous descriptions of the realms or states of existences that are full of Jīvas. In the most representative model, there are 14 ‘worlds’ which can be listed from the top (highest) to bottom (the lowest) in the following order:[62]

1.       Satya Loka

2.       Tapa Loka

3.       Jana Loka

4.       Maha Loka

5.       Swar Loka

6.       Bhur Loka

7.       Bhu Loka – the human world

8.       Atala Loka

9.       Vittala Loka

10.   Sutala Loka

11.   Talātala Loka

12.   Rasātala Loka 13. Mahātala Loka

14. Pātāla.

There are separate suns and moons illuminating these worlds. The last seven are the ‘hells’ and between each pair of these major Lokas lie numerous other realms and worlds like the Gandharva Loka, Siddha Loka, Sādhya Loka, Charana Loka, Kinnara Loka, Kiṃpuruṣha Loka and so on.[63] After death, a human can be reborn into these different realms or plants as well and is not necessarily restricted to being reborn here on this earth.

7.2 The Six Possible Journeys of ātmā after Physical Death

Hindu sacred texts describe six major paths taken by the ātmā after physical death. Or in other words, the Jīvātmā that has lived recently in a human body can be reborn in one of the following six ways below when the body dies.[64] The Puryaṣhṭaka accompanies the Jīvātmā in the first five. In the last, the Jīvātmā sheds even the Puryaṣhṭaka and lives as pure spiritual entity, without any combination of Prakriti or its evolutes.

7.2.1 Tiryak-yoni: Repeated Rebirth into Lower Lifeforms

Humans who lived an extremely vile life full of violence (e.g. Hitler), hatred, impurity and other negative characteristics must purge their manomaya kosha of heaps of evil (papa) before they are fit to become humans again. This is because if they get a human body again, their evil nature will make them cause a lot of harm to other humans (or other creatures) in their new life. Therefore, it is more appropriate that they are reborn multiple times into lower life-forms like plants, worms, insects or reptiles or are reborn multiple times in hells to exhaust their negative saṃskāras. After they are purged of a good amount of their evil, they are eventually reborn as human beings so that they can once again start their journey on the spiritual path.

Krishna said:

Pārtha, Pretentiousness, arrogance, excessive ego/pride, anger, cruelty, and ignorance – these are all found in those who are born with demonic wealth. Gita 16.4

The demonic do not know Pravritti (Karma done in a way of action that leads to rebirth) or the way of Nivritti (Karma performed in a way that leads to Moksha). Neither purity, nor proper conduct, nor truth is found in them. Gita 16.7

They say that the universe is untruth, without a foundation and without a Lord, nor brought about in a proper cause and effect sequence. How else, then? By lust alone. Gita 16.8

Clinging firmly to this view, those ruined souls, of small intelligence, and of cruel deeds, rise up as enemies of the world for its destruction. Gita 16.9

Giving themselves up to insatiable desires, full of hypocrisy, excessive pride and arrogance, having accepted wrong views due to delusion, they act with impure resolves. Gita 16.10 Clinging to innumerable anxiety which would end only with their death, looking upon the gratification of desires as their highest goal, convinced that this is all…Gita 16.11

Bound by a hundred snares of hope, devoted to desire and anger, they strive to collect hoards of wealth, by unjust means, for the gratification of their senses. Gita 16.12

“This has been obtained by me today, this desire I shall fulfill, this is mine, and this wealth also shall be mine….Gita 16.13

“This enemy has been slain by me and others also I shall slay. I am a lord, I am the enjoyer, I am successful, powerful, and happy…Gita 16.14

“…I am rich and high-born. Who else is equal to me? I shall perform yajnas, I shall give, I shall rejoice.” Thus say they who are deluded by ignorance. Gita 16.15

Led astray by many thoughts, entangled in the net of delusion, addicted to the gratification of desires, they fall into a foul hell. Gita 16.16

Self-conceited, obstinate, filled with the pride and arrogance of wealth, they perform yajnas which are so only in name, with ostentation and without regard to Vedic rules. Gita 16.17

Given over to egotism, power and pride, and also to lust and anger, these malicious ones despise Me dwelling in the bodies of themselves and others. Gita 16.18

These cruel haters, the worst of men, I hurl these evil doers constantly into the wombs of demons in the cycles of births and deaths. Gita 16.19

Having entered into the wombs of demons, these deluded beings, from birth to birth, do not attain

Me, son of Kunti, but from there they go down to the lowest state. Gita 16.20

The Jīvātmā and Puryaṣhṭaka of these evil individuals (and also in the next case) leaves through one of the lower apertures of the body like the anus. 

7.2.2 Naraka-yoni: Rebirth into Hell or a lower lifeform

People who have led a life dominated by evil karma and thoughts are reborn into hell or into a lower lifeform where they reap the fruit of their evil karma. Thereafter they are reborn as human beings and resume their spiritual progress from the point they had left it at in their previous human life. The difference between the first and this course is as follows: In the first case, the person was extremely vile that his manomaya kosha became grossly impure and had to be purified thoroughly (through births in lower lifeforms and hells) before he could be reborn as a human being to start his spiritual journey once again. In the second case, the purpose of rebirth into a lower lifeform or in a hell is to reap the fruit of evil karma or overcome attachments, and then resume the spiritual journey from where he had left it in his previous human birth.

But those who do not know these two ways (Devayāna and Pitṛyāna), become insects, moths and whatever there is here that bites. Brihadāraṇyaka Upanishad 6.2.16 

But on neither of these ways are those small creatures (which are) continually revolving (those of whom it is said), be born and die. Theirs is a third state. By this (it comes about) that that world becomes full. Therefore, let one seek to guard himself (from evil). To this end, there is this verse: He who steals gold, he who drinks wine, he who dishonors the teacher's bed, he who kills a Brahmana, these four do fall as also the fifth who consorts with them. Chhāndogya Upanishad 5.10.8-9 

Some souls enter a womb for embodiment; others enter stationary objects (plants) according to their deeds and according to their thoughts. Katha Upanishad 2.2.8 

Following are said to be the characteristics of persons who have been reborn on this earth after having lived in Naraka -

Criticizing others, lacking in gratitude towards benefactors, revealing the secrets of others, cruelty, harshness, committing adultery, violating the legitimate right of others, staying in an unclean and dirty state, being critical of Deva-s, use trickery and fraud to cheat others, being stingy (not giving charity), commit murders and indulge in other prohibited activities constantly are the characteristics of humans who are reborn here after having lived in hell. Mārkaṇdeya Purāṇa

15.39-41

According to Purāṇa-s, residents of hell are first reborn into lower life-forms like dogs and worms before they take birth as human beings.

These first two states are referred to collectively as ‘Adhogati’ or a descending movement of the ātmā. Hindu sacred literature gives numerous examples of humans being reborn as animals to exhaust their karma or attachments – for example, a Pandyan king who was reborn as Gajendra, or Emperor Bharata who was reborn as a deer and then as a Rishi. The important point to note is that Hindu tradition allows the possibility of an animal attaining Moksha upon their death without any conscious effort in its current life as a beast - which came into being solely to exhaust the last barrier of certain evil Karma or attachments from previous lives.

7.2.3 Pitṛyāna: Rebirth as a Human Being 

This path is called ‘Pitriyāna’ and means ‘path of our elders’ because the person is taken to the realm of departed ancestors (Pitṛloka) before rebirth. In this case, the individual had performed many pious acts and also impious acts due to which their karma was in general ‘mixed’, i.e. neither too bad nor too good. Furthermore, their karma was motivated by desire for fruit, and they were not aspiring for Moksha. In their new birth as a human being, they can again perform mixed karma with desires, or they can aspire for the next two paths.[65] 

Here are some inspired passages from the Upanishads:

When that passes away from them, they pass forth into this space, from space into air, from air into rain, from rain into the earth. Reaching the earth they become food. Again, they are offered in the fire of man. Thence they are born in the fire of woman with a view to going to other worlds. Thus do they rotate. Brihadāraṇyaka Upanishad 6.2.16 

Having dwelt there as long as there is residue (of good works) they return by that course by which they came to space, from space into air; and after having become the air they become the smoke; after having become smoke, they become mist.

After having become mist they become cloud, after having become cloud he rains down. They are born here as rice and barley, herbs and trees, as sesame plants and beans. From thence the release becomes extremely difficult for whoever eats the food and sows the seed he becomes like unto him. Chhāndogya Upanishad 5.10.5-6 

The Upanishads describe this path in great detail and the image above describes it according to them. It is believed that when being reborn as a human being again, the person prefers to return to familiar surroundings like the same larger household, community or country.

7.2.4 Devayāna or Ūrdhvagati: Rebirth as a Deva in heaven or a Super-human form

This path is called ‘Devayāna’ and is followed by those who have performed numerous wonderful karma (ritualistic or non-ritualistic) and had a very good character. They leave the dying body through one of the upper apertures (like the mouth), go to heaven and become a Deva because their karma was performed with the desire to obtain happiness. In heaven, they enjoy various kinds of pleasures. After the fruit of their good karma are exhausted, they are reborn as human beings in fortunate circumstances (in a wealthy or in a pious household). 

In the heavenly realm there is no fear at all, nor You (Yama, or death) are there and no one is scared of old age. Overcoming both hunger and thirst and free from grief, one rejoices in heaven. Katha Upanishad 1.12

But those who by sacrificial offerings, charity and austerity conquer the worlds, they pass into the smoke (of the cremation fire), from the smoke into the night, from the night into the half-month of the waning moon, from the half-month of the waning moon into the six months during which the sun travels southward, from these months into the world of the fathers, from the world of the fathers to the moon. Reaching the moon they become food. There the gods, as they say to king Soma, increase, decrease, even so feed upon them there. Brihadāraṇyaka Upanishad 6.2.16  But those, who in the village practice (a life of) sacrifice, (and perform) works of public utility and almsgiving they pass into the smoke, from smoke to night, from night to the latter (dark) half of the month, from the latter (dark) half of the month to the six months in which the sun moves southwards, but they do not reach the year. From those months to the world of the fathers, from the world of the fathers to space, from space to the moon. That is the king Soma. That is the food of the gods. That the gods eat. Having dwelt there as long as there is residue (of good works) they return again...Chhāndogya Upanishad 5.10.3-5 

These deluded me, regarding sacrifices and works of merits as most important, do not know any other good. having enjoyed in the high place of heaven won by good deeds, they enter again this world or a still lower one. Mundaka Upanishad 1.2.10 

After a person has exhausted the results (fruit) from the performance of yajnas and charitable acts (ishtāpūrta) in heaven, he has to be reborn. Yajurveda, Taittiriya Brahmana 3.11.8.10

The soul which possesses wisdom of the spirit, is pure, practices austerity, of a peaceful disposition, has control over the sense organs, devoted to Dharma, knowledgeable in the Vedas and is sāttvika – such a soul is reborn as a Deva in Heaven. Yājnavalkya Smriti 3.137

Those who go to realms like the moon and other realms also return to this world after experiencing the fruit of their karmas in these worlds. Sāṃkhyasūtra 6.36

In this new earthly birth, they resume their spiritual journey from where they had left earlier. Then, they can continue to perform mixed or good karma to follow the Pitriyāna or Devayāna. 

But while they are in heaven, their actions do not bear any fruit because the heavenly abode is a ‘bhogayoni’ or a birth to reap the fruit of prior karma only.

...the scriptures do not proclaim any competence for acquiring fresh karma in heaven or hell or among lower creatures... Shankaracharya, Brahma-Sutra Bhāṣhya 3.1.8

But, another option exists for these individuals while they are still in heaven. Instead of continuing to revel in a life of pleasures in heaven, they can use their fortunate circumstances to make further progress along the path of Moksha, and then obtain Moksha straight from heaven (instead of having to reborn as a human being on earth).[66] 

Following are said to be the characteristics of persons who are reborn on this earth after having lived in heaven-

Compassion towards all creatures, truthful speech, act virtuously to attain a higher world upon death, adherence to truth, speak that which benefits others, firm conviction in the validity of the Vedas, being worshipful towards Guru, Rishi, Siddhas, keep company with virtuous people, engage in virtuous deeds always, being friendly towards others and indulge in all other activities that are virtuous – these are the characteristics of humans who have descended from heaven to be reborn here. Mārkaṇdeya Purāṇa 15.42-44

7.2.5 Preta-Yoni: Become a ‘Ghost’ for Some Time 

It is important to define the term ‘ghost’ first, as understood popularly-

“The first and probably the most commonly accepted definition of a ghost is the embodied energy of a deceased human being that appears not only self-aware, but quite capable of interacting the linear world of time and space. These interactions may include making itself visible to the naked eye, being able to communicate (either audibly or telepathically), and even being capable of touching and, on rare occasions, of being touched by the living. These types of manifestations have even been known to possess the ability to manufacture odors that were associated with their human host when they were alive (such as tobacco, perfume, or aftershave), making them apparent capable of operating within the full spectrum of our five natural human senses (and, potentially, even our sixth sense). Further, just as human beings are capable of displaying a wide range of emotions and temperaments, so too ghosts. Some may be playful and loving while others are dark and angry. Often they are exhibiting such very human emotions as rage, fear, and jealousy. As such, an encounter with such an entity may be either pleasant or frightening, depending upon the nature and temperament of the ghost and the circumstances of its manifestation (as well as the emotional state of the observer). In general, however, most interactive personalities are considered harmless and, in some cases, even beneficial and should be treated with the respect and dignity accorded to any human being, be they living or dead.”[67] 

According to Hindu sacred literature, all those who die pass through the stage of a ‘Preta’ temporarily[68] and then move onwards through one of the first four paths mentioned above. Ceremonies are conducted by family members of the dead person to ensure that this transition from the Preta form into the next one happens soon and without much hurt to the departed ātmā. But in some cases, the departed ātmā lingers on for a prolonged time, enveloped in its Puryaṣhṭaka and sometimes even enveloping itself in more subtle matter drawn from the surroundings, so as to appear as an astral figure at times. This form is called ‘Preta-Yoni’. The following Jīva-s tend to pass into the Preta-Yoni upon death[69]-

1.       They who have extreme hatred or attachment towards another individual or object while they had lived. Therefore, when death is close, we must forgive others who have hurt us, and conversely, try to overcome our worldly attachments.

2.       They whose post cremation funeral ceremonies have not been performed according to scriptural procedures.

3.       They who had worshipped Pretas, consumed filthy food and had a filthy and dirty lifestyle.

4.       They who had indulged in very evil acts like murders, dacoity etc.

5.       They who commit suicide.

6.       He who was murdered often lingers on as a Preta with the feeling of revenge towards his killer.

In many Hindu texts, the prolonged Preta Yoni is also regarded as a kind of Naraka or ‘adhogati’ or a cursed, downward rebirth:

Bhūta-s, Preta-s and Pishācha-s etc. are all a burden on this earth. Baudhāyana Grhya Parisheṣha Sūtra 5.4.2

What are the characteristics of individuals that pass onto the Preta-Yoni upon death? A modern teacher explains-

“The earthbound state [resulting in phenomenon like haunted houses] invariably occurs with individuals who have died under particularly violent, horrible or depressing circumstances. What happens is that the astral body clings to the actual physical location of the death…

…they stay there, they will not let go, they do not even know they are dead, in fact.

What happens is that the astral body slowly disintegrates. It disintegrates in the place where the person died instead of moving on to what in Hinduism, is called a loka or a plane. This disintegrating astral mind impregnates the walls of the building.

Just as cassette players have a magnetic tape that has been impregnated, so in a haunted house a recording of the dead person’s emotions licks into the structure of the building.

People may go on comfortably living in the house for years with no problems, when suddenly a new person moves in who becomes a catalyst without realizing it. He or she just walks into the place and….suddenly stuff starts happening. Some people have the ability to unconsciously manifest psychic traces, as if there is a hidden automatic tape recorder and they have activated the playback button.”[70]

The Pretakalpa portion of the Hindu scripture Garuda Purāņa describes the various forms of Preta-Yoni in great detail. A recital of this section is therefore often performed by a Pundit to induce the family members of the dead person to perform the necessary religious ceremonies and acts of philanthropy to free the ātmā of their departed relative and enable it to continue its onward journey.

In some cases of past life regression or spontaneous recall of a previous lifetime, people report has having spent several years in a state of limbo, where their ātmā dwelt on a tree or in a house before deciding to take rebirth.

7.2.6 Moksha or Liberation from the Cycles of Births and Deaths 

In the previous five cases, the Puryaṣhṭaka transmigrates with the Jīvātmā. But not so in this last case. Here, the individual is spiritually enlightened, and has eliminated his entire stock of fruit of karma through Jnāna, bhakti or through meditation. When this individual dies physically, his body as well as the Puryaṣhṭaka separate from the Jīvātmā to dissolve in Prakriti. There is no forcible rebirth for the Jīvātmā thereafter. As this Jīvātmā has escaped the repeated cycle of births and deaths, it is said to have achieved Liberation (‘Moksha’). The Jīvātmā follows the path of the Suṣhumnā artery and leaves the body through the crown of the head.

Now as for these arteries (channels) of the heart, they consist of a fine substance which is reddishbrown, white, blue, yellow, and red. Verily, the sun yonder is reddish-brown, he is white, he is blue, he is yellow, he is red.

Even as a great extending highway runs between two villages, this one and that yonder, even so these rays of the sun go to both these worlds, this one and that yonder. They start from the yonder sun and enter into these arteries. They start from these arteries and enter into yonder sun...

But when thus he departs from this body, then he goes upwards by these very rays or he goes up with the thought of aum. As his mind is failing, he goes to the sun. That, verily, is the gateway of the world, an entering in for the knowers a shutting out for the non-knowers.

On this there is this verse:

A hundred and one are the arteries of the heart, one of them leads up to the crown of the head. Going upward through that, one becomes immortal: the others serve for going in various other directions, for going in various other directions. Chhāndogya Upanishad 8.6.1-2, 5-6  

A hundred and one are the arteries of the heart; one of them leads up to the crown of the head. Going upward through that, one becomes immortal; the others serve for going to various other directions. Katha Upanishad 2.3.16 

Then Raikva asked thus: Venerable Sir, How and by what means does this self which is a mass of intelligence after leaving its seat and moving upward have its exit? To him he replied. In the center of the heart is a red mass of flesh. In it is the white lotus called the dahara which has bloomed like a red lotus with its petals spread in different directions. In the middle of it is an ocean. In the middle of the ocean is a sheath. In it are four nadis called Rama, Arama, Iccha and Apunarbhava. Of these, Rama leads (the practitioner of righteousness) through righteousness to the world of righteousness. Arama leads (the practitioner of unrighteousness) through unrighteousness to the world of the unrighteous. Through Iccha one attains whatever object of desire one recalls. Through Apunarbhava one breaks through the sheath. Having broken through the sheath one breaks through the shell of the crust (skull). Having broken through the skull, he breaks through the earth element. Having broken through the earth element he breaks through water. Having broken through water, he breaks through light. Having broken through light, he breaks through air. Having broken through air, he breaks through ether. Having broken through ether he breaks through mind. Having broken through mind, he breaks through the subtle elements. Having broken through the subtle elements, he breaks through the mahat tattva. Having broken through the mahat tattva he breaks through the Unmanifested. Having broken through the Unmanifested, he breaks through the imperishable. Having broken through the imperishable, he breaks through Death. Then Death becomes one with the Supreme. In the Supreme there is neither existence nor non-existence nor existence and non-existence. This is the doctrine leading to liberation. This is the doctrine of the Veda. This is the doctrine of the Veda. Subāla Upanishad 11.1 

Of the arteries, one stands above; (by it the knower goes) piercing the orb of the Sun and passing beyond the world of Brahmā, it reaches the supreme goal. Yājnavalkya Smriti 3.167

Now (about him) who does not desire, who is desireless, who is free from desire, whose desires have been fulfilled, who is desirous of the Ātmā, his Prāṇa-s do not depart from the body. He being Brahman alone, attains Brahman. Brihadāraṇyaka Upanishad 4.4.6

A modern Hindu teacher summarizes Moksha as the final goal that transcends the cycles of births and deaths-

“The goal of life, according to Sanatana Dharma, is to put an eventual end to the perpetual cycle (samsara) of births and deaths that form the process of reincarnation, along with the accompanying suffering that we experience as a result of our egoic attachment to the results of our activities, and to eventually transcend this cycle altogether through spiritual liberation (moksha).

In the ecstatic state of radical existential freedom known as moksha, we are no longer in illusion; therefore we do not act out of false ego; therefore we no longer produce karma; therefore we no longer need to reincarnate in a series of material forms designed as vehicles through which we can meet our ultimate spiritual purpose. At liberation, all material name and form (nama and rupa, respectively) has served its purpose and can be left behind as we joyfully commence our final journey toward our blissful and eternal spiritual Source.”[71]

In the Hindu tradition (scriptural as well as non-scriptural), the descriptions of the physical death of an enlightened person who is heading to Moksha often include sparks of light emanating from the crown of his head (Brahmarandhra aperture) or another aperture in the head. For instance, when Swami Vivekananda passed away, his fellow Sannyāsīs reported sparks coming from his mouth after which it started bleeding. Some other near contemporary cases are also discussed in the next section. 

It is not necessary for the liberated person to die in the bright half of the month, or during the day or during the northward movement of the sun. According to one view, these simply refer to guiding light within the body of the person, that the Jīvātmā follows as a guide to leave the body from the Brahmarandha. Whereas according to another view, even if such an individual leaves the body during the night, or the dark half of the lunar month, or during the southward movement of the sun, his Jīvātmā merely rests in the Moon realm or somewhere else till the time is favorable and then it attains Moksha. 

The Gita and other scriptures declare that the path of a knower of Brahman through Suṣhumnā and Brahmarandhra do not need the light of the day, sun, stars or any other source, because it is lit by the Lord Himself. 

The sun does not illuminate that (abode), nor the moon, or fire, to which, having gone, no one returns. That is My supreme abode. Gita 15.6[72]

Therefore, he who is uniting with Brahman can die at any time and reach the highest state.

7.3 How Great People Die

Ramana Maharshi merges with the Infinite upon his Death (1950 CE):

 “In 1947 Ramana Maharshi’s health began to fail. When the doctors suggested amputating his arm above a cancerous tumor, Ramana replied with a smile:

There is no need for alarm. The body is itself a disease. Let it have its natural end. Why mutilate it? A simple dressing on the affect part will do.

Two more operations had to be performed, but the tumor appeared again. Indigenous systems of medicine were tried, and homeopathy too, but the disease did not yield to treatment. The sage, supremely indifferent to suffering, was quite unconcerned. He sat as a spectator watching the disease waste the body; his eyes shone as bright as ever, and his grace flowed toward all beings. Ramana insisted that the crowds who came in large numbers should be allowed to have his darshan…..The devotees profoundly wished that the sage would cure his body by using the supernormal powers. Ramana had compassion for those who grieved over the suffering, and he sought to comfort them by reminding them of the truth that Bhagavan was not the body:

They take the body for Bhagavan and attribute suffering to him. What a pity! They are despondent that Bhagavan is going to leave them and go away, but where can he go and how?

The end came on April 14, 1950. That evening the sage gave darshan to all the devotees in the ashram. They started singing Ramana’s hymn to Arunachala, the name of the holy mountain the sage so loved. He asked his attendants to help him sit up, and opened his luminous eyes and gracious eyes for a brief while. There was a smile, a tear of bliss trickled down the outer corner of one of his eyes, and at 8:47 PM his breathing stopped. At that very moment, a comet moved slowly across the sky, passed over the summit of the holy hill, Arunachala, and disappeared behind it.”[73]

The Departure of Akkalkot Swami:

The following is the death scene of a saint Akkalkot Swami (d. 1878): 

“Then Akkalkot Swami sent for his favorite barber and had a clean shave and bath. Although he hadn’t taken food in a week, he looked quite cheerful. He greeted each of those around him with a solicitous look and inquired as to their welfare. Then, seated in the lotus position, he spoke his last words: “No one should weep – I shall be always present at all places. I shall respond to every call of the devotees.” With these words his eyes closed. The peace and radiance on his face increased, and three white sparks flashed from his mouth. Devotees thronged to the banyan tree [his favorite place] and

a mammoth procession assembled and went around the city in regal splendor……”[74]

For the spiritual enlightened individuals, death is not something to be feared because it is the gate leading to immortality.

7.4 Destination as a Choice made by the Jīva

As the Jīva assumes its next body due to prior Karma and so on, it might appear that it might be helpless during transmigration as to how and in which species or state it will be reborn. But in reality, life is about choices. What we call fate is nothing but an effect of our prior Karma-s, whether done in our present life, or in previous lifetimes.

The results of one’s actions result arise from both one’s fate as well as from the efforts of actions performed currently. Of these, fate is nothing but a manifestation of the fruit of actions performed in a previous embodied existence (i.e., previous life). Yājnavalkya Smriti 1.349

Some people believe that fruits (i.e., one’s current situation) is a result of fate, some blame luck or chance, some think that time (or circumstance) is the cause whereas others believe that it is due to one’s deeds. Some wise men think that a combination of these all (fate, luck or chance, time or circumstance and one’s previous deeds) are responsible for our current situation. Yājnavalkya Smriti 1.350

But just as a chariot cannot move with just one wheel, likewise fate cannot also result without a (prior) action. Yājnavalkya Smriti 1.351

Therefore, one cannot complain on being born in specific states and circumstances because our present body at the time of birth is a result of the choices that we made in our previous life. For this reason, the Upanishads often present rebirth into a body that the disembodied ātmā (enveloped with the Puryaṣhṭaka) chooses for itself-

The embodied ātmā (Jīvātmā), according to its own qualities, chooses many shapes – gross and subtle (upon rebirth). Having himself caused his union with these bodies, through the qualities of his acts and through the qualities of his bodies, he is seen as different from other jīvātmans. Shvetāshvatara Upanishad 5.12

The point of his heart becomes lighted up and by that light the self-departs either through the eye or the head or through other apertures of the body. And when he thus departs, life departs after him. And when life thus departs, all vital breaths depart after it. He becomes one with intelligence. What is intelligence departs with him. His knowledge and his work take hold of him as also his past experience.

Just as a leech (or caterpillar) when it has come to the end of a blade of grass, after having made another approach (to another blade), draws itself together towards it, so does this self, after having thrown away the body, and dispelled ignorance, after having another approach (to another body) draw itself together (for making the transition to another body).

And as a goldsmith, taking a piece of gold turns it into another, newer and more beautiful shape, even so does this self, after having thrown away this body and dispelled its ignorance, make unto himself another, new and more beautiful shape like that of the fathers or of the gandharvas, or of the gods or of Prajāpati or of Brahma or of other beings. Brihadāraṇyaka Upanishad 4.4.2 

As explained earlier, during the process of death, the Jīva gets an inkling of a future form that is fashioned by its Kārmic effects or Vāsanā-s before it leaves its dying body. This is explained by the analogy of the leech in the Upanishadic passage cited above. When this Jīva along with its Puryaṣhṭaka then enters a suitable fetus per these same Vāsanā-s, it starts molding the fetus as the latter grows into a form that the Jīva had foreseen during the death of its previous body. This is explained with the example of the goldsmith in this Upanishadic passage. 

In the later Purāṇic literature too, numerous suggestions are made regarding humans of different temperaments taking on bodies more suitable to their dominant nature in their next life. For example, an extremely violent and cruel person is said to be reborn in species like the tiger.

8.0 Causes of Rebirth

The Hindu tradition gives numerous reasons as to why we are reborn.[75] 

A man is born into the world that is made by him. Yajurveda, Mādhyandina Shatapatha Brahmana 6.2.2.27

One should meditate upon the Brahman who is Reality. The human being indeed possesses the power of great understanding and purpose. And depending on how complete his understanding is when he departs from this world upon death, he will be reborn into an appropriate world (existence) in his next life.  Yajurveda, Mādhyandina Shatapatha Brahmana 10.6.3.1

According to its karma, the embodied soul chooses various bodies repeatedly. Yajurveda, Shvetāshvatara Upanishad 5.11b

The embodied soul, according to its own qualities, chooses many shapes (bodies) – subtle and gross, and causes its union with different bodies depending on the nature of its karma and the nature of its mind. Yajurveda, Shvetāshvatara Upanishad 5.12

He who entertains desires, thinking of them, is born again here and there due to his desires. But he whose desires are fully satisfied, who is a perfected soul, all his desires vanish right here on earth (and he is not reborn). Atharvaveda, Mundaka Upanishad 3.2.2 

Panchashikhā said to King Janaka: Some people say that servitude to defects like ignorance (avidyā), actions (karma), thirst for desires (triṣhṇā), greed (lobha) and delusion (moha) is what results in rebirth. Mahābhārata 12.218.32

They say that ignorance is like the field, actions performed in the previous births are the seed, and desire is like water which collectively cause the germination of the sprout. These three are, in their viewpoint the causes of rebirth. Mahābhārata 12.218.33

8.1 Karma 

The first cause of rebirth is to reap the fruit of prior Karmas that had not ripened in the last life.  Hindu Dharma teaches that the Jīva is reborn to bear the consequences of its past karma. Ian Stevenson found that there was no evidence that a person who had led a moral life earlier was reborn into a better socioeconomic status, or that a person who had led an immoral life in the past was reborn into an inferior status. However, he admits the possibility that the effects of karma on the next life need not be external (e.g. on the socio-economic status), but instead, they can be internal, i.e., in terms of joys and sorrows experienced. He explains how this explanation provides hope to human existence:

“Although the cases provide no evidence for a process like retributive karma, this does not mean that conduct in one life cannot have effects in another. Such effects, however, would not occur externally in the material conditions of successive lives, but internally in the joys and sorrows experience. In this respect – and in it alone. I think – the cases provide hope for improvement in ourselves from one life to another. The subjects frequently demonstrate interests, aptitudes, and attitudes corresponding to those of the persons whose lives they remember. These similarities occur not only in matters of vocation but also in behavior towards other persons, that is, in the sphere of moral conduct. One child counts every rupee he can grasp, like the acquisitive businessman whose life he remembers; but another gives generously to beggars, just as the pious woman whose life she remembers did. One young boy aims a stick at passing policemen, as if to shoot them, as did the bandit whose life he remembers; but another solicitously offers medical help to his playmates in the manner of the doctor whose life he remembers.”[76]

In fact, Hindu Dharma considers the doctrine of rebirth as a corollary and a natural consequence of the doctrine of rebirth. Rebirth happens because we must reap the fruit of all our actions, and we see that one does not necessarily reap the fruit of all the actions performed in his present life.

Virtuous karma (punya) leads to virtuous world, and evil acts to a sinful world. Both of them (i.e., a mixture) leads to the world of men (i.e., to a human birth). Atharvaveda, Prashna Upanishad

3.7

The ātmā which is affected by the bright and dark fruits of karma enters a good or an evil womb. Yajurveda, Maitrāyaṇīya Upanishad 3.1 

According to his karma, the embodied ātmā successively assumes different forms in different places. Shvetāshvatara Upanishad 5.11b

Karma is the cause of the production of the body and therefore its union with the ātmā. Nyāyasūtra 3.2.70

Experiences of pleasure and of pain are the results of virtuous and evil actions respectively. Yoga Sūtra of Patanjali 2.14

He who performs binding karmas with his current body has to reap their results in a future birth. Just as one can infer the seed from its fruit, and the fruit from the seed. Charaka Samhitā, Sūtrasthāna 11.31

Evil as well as virtuous deeds indeed all bear fruit. That fruit does not get destroyed away even in a hundred lives till it is experienced by the doer. Nārada Purāņa 2.29.18

In this world, good and evil karmas do not get destroyed till they have reaped their fruit. The fruit of every karma depends on the karma (whether it is good or evil) and due to this, the soul assumes another body upon the death of its previous body so that it can reap the fruit of its karma done in the past. Anugita 3.1

Whichever good or evil Karmas a person does with his body in this life, he definitely has to reap their fruit in the future. Anugita 3.12

Man enjoys only the fruits of his previous actions; whatever he has done in the previous births has its reactions now. Garuda Purāņa 1.113.18 

The sinner is born again and again and dies again and again till he has exhausted his sin and acquired virtue. Garuda Purāņa 2.3.84  

Those who have reached heaven as a result of prior good karma eventually exhaust the fruit of their noble deeds and are then reborn as human beings to resume their spiritual journey.

After a person has exhausted the results (fruit) from the performance of yajnas and charitable acts (ishtāpūrta) in heaven, he has to be reborn. Yajurveda, Taittiriya Brahmana 3.11.8.10

Dwelling in manifold ignorance, these children gloat egotistically, “We have achieved our goals.” As these ritualists do not know (the truth) due to their attachment, they fall down (to earth) when their (heavenly) worlds obtained by performance of yajnas are exhausted and become miserable (again). Muṇdaka Upanishad 1.2.9

Krishna said:

The knowers of the threefold Vedas who drink the soma (juice), and are purified of evil, worshipping Me with yajnas, seek the goal of heaven. They reach the holy world of Indra and enjoy the celestial pleasures of the Devas in heaven. Gita 9.20

Having enjoyed the vast realm of heaven, they then enter the world of mortals when their merit is exhausted. Thus, conforming to the Dharmas of the threefold Vedas, desirous of enjoyments, they attain to the state of coming and going. Gita 9.21

The soul never gets eternal happiness anywhere, it is not able to stay permanently in any abode. No matter how exalted abodes the soul reaches after a lot of troublesome efforts, it eventually falls down from these abodes. Anugita 1.30

Even the dissolution of the current universe does not stop an ātmā from being reborn in the next cycle of creation and reap the fruit of its prior actions.

At the time of pralaya, the Devas who have not yet exhausted the fruit (= abode in heaven) of their good karmas are then reborn in heaven during the next cycle of creation. Whereas those Devas who had exhausted the fruit of their karma before the pralaya are then reborn as humans when the next cycle of creation starts. Mahābhārata 12.272.52

In the next creation, Bhagavān connects each Jīvātmā with the residual karma from the previous cycle of creation. The cycle of creation and destruction of the universe, and karma are both without a beginning. Brahmasūtra 2.1.35

All people bear the fruits of their own actions. The good and evil deeds do not disappear or abate even after the elapse of million kalpas (aeons). It is due to the influence of karmas that a being is born in the realm of Brahma, Indra and Surya; It is due to karma that a being is born among human beings and it is due to karmas that it takes birth as an animal etc. and due to karmas goes to hell and heaven. Due to one’s karmas, one becomes a great king or a servant. It is on account of karmas that a person becomes beautiful or diseased…Karma makes people rich and poor, karma causes a person to be born in a high family and it is due to karma that a person becomes a thornlike relation. It is due to one’s own karma that a person acquires an excellent wife and a good son and remains happy. It is due to one’s own karmas that a person is without a son, has an evil wife or is a widower. Brahmavaivarta Purāņa 3.11.19-24[77]

8.2 Kāma or Desire 

The second is to fulfill a strong desire in the new life because it was not fulfilled in a past life. Or a strong attachment, which caused him to be reborn into a body that will help them experience that attachment better. For example, the Shrimad Bhāgavata narrates the story of Bharata, whose attachment to his pet deer was so strong even at the time of his own death, that he was reborn as a deer. Another example would be that of a woman who dies during her first childbirth and with a strong desire to see her baby is reborn at a place close to her child. In a way, desire is what leads to Karma, which in turn leads to rebirth:

A person is comprised of his desires. As his desire is, so is his resolve. As his resolve is, so is his deed. And whatever his deed is, so will he reap. Brihadāraṇyaka Upanishad 4.4.5

Conversely, a person who does not have any desires will not perform any Karma with attachments and is not reborn-

A person who has overcome all attachments and desires is not reborn. Nyāya Sūtra 3.1.25

A modern Hindu saint also explains-

...Vedanta says that at the root of the source of the desires is your own Atman which is Truth personified. As such, all desires, good or bad, have got to be materialized. They must be true, because they emanate from Atman, the Truth incarnate. This very Atman, which is the source of all Power, is called God or Ishwara. Therefore, all his desires must indubitably be fulfilled.

Well! The question is that, if in the opinion of Vedanta, all the desires are to be fulfilled, how is it that they are not seen being fulfilled? Nobody sees his desires materialize all the time. Therefore, it may appear that the assertion of Vedanta is wrong. But Vedanta clears this doubt as well... Some have too many and also big desires within them... It is no wonder, if the cases of such persons (men of desires) may take two, three or even more adjournments (lives and rebirths etc.) for the final judgment (fulfillment of desires)... But it must be remembered that all desires are bound to be fulfilled in course of time. There can be no doubt about it. Therefore, if the desires of any man are not fulfilled early, it means that it is due to his own faults. If, however, they want to see their desires fulfilled early, they should have only a few simple and selfless desires...

Vedanta says that the desires, being innumerable, are often left unfulfilled at the time of the death of a man. To desire is also a sort of action. He, therefore, takes other birth or births to see his desires fulfilled. And, the materialization of these unfulfilled desires may be called destiny. That is why, our scriptures have mentioned that it is because of our own desires, hopes and aspirations that we take other birth or births after death.[78]

Ian Stevenson studied reasons as to why people who recollected their past lives, whether they had died a violent death, or a normal death, were reborn. He concluded: 

“We can see that…..their lives ended in a state of incompleteness. At the time of death they might all, for different reasons, have felt entitled to a longer life than the one they had had, and this in turn might have generated a craving for rebirth, perhaps leading to a quicker reincarnation than that among persons who died replete with life, so to speak, and at its natural end.”[79]

For this reason, it is observed that people are often reborn into locations or clans that were associated with their previous lives, due to their attachments to the same.

8.3 Avidyā or False Knowledge

Ignorance (delusion, false understanding) or a lack of complete understanding/ knowledge leads to desires, attachments, hatreds and so on, causing the Jīva to be reborn repeatedly. According to the Yoga Sūtras, Avidyā is the root of all mental afflictions that lead to rebirth and prevent one’s spiritual progress. According to Vedānta, even Karma that is performed to obtain a desired fruit is therefore a form of Avidyā. In fact, Avidyā, Kāma and Karma are said to be the three ‘granthis’ or ‘knots’ in the heart that are opened and freed by Vidyā or spiritual wisdom and understanding.

Either as a worm, or as an insect, or as a fish or as a bird, or as a lion, or as a boar, or as a snake, or as a tiger, or as a person (human), or in some other in this or that condition, he is reborn again according to his karmas, according to his knowledge. Rigveda, Kaushitaki Upanishad 1.2

8.4 Ṛṇānubandhana – Bonds of Past Life Debts[80] 

The third is to repay someone’s debt from a previous life. This is called ‘Ṛṇānubandhan.’ For example, sometimes, a person is grievously wronged against, e.g., get killed or betrayed. If that person dies with deep bitterness in his heart and with a strong desire for revenge, he might be reborn specifically for the purpose of taking revenge against those who had wronged him. Conversely, we are often reborn to pay back an unpaid debt taken in the last life, so the scales of justice even out. A popular belief is that pets arrive at our household to be served by us because we had owed them something in their previous and our current or previous lives.

The following two examples will illustrate this cause of rebirth:

Example 1: 

“In Life before Life, the past-life regression therapist Dr Helen Wambach confirms from the reports of people whom she had regressed, that some of them were born to their parents because of some karmic tie which had to be settled. She cites the case of a man who knew who his parents were going to be before birth. They had been his children in a past-life. In that life, he had deserted both of them when they were young. In this life, he experienced the feeling of abandonment by his parents because they had left him in an orphanage for adoption…”[81]

Example 2: 

“An interesting case of riṇānubandh in the Swaminarayan Samprādāya concerns Sevakaram, an aged sadhu who fell ill with dysentery on the way to Rameshwaram in south India. Bhagawan Swaminarayan, as Neelkanth, the teenage yogi, came across him and offered to serve him. Neelkanth nursed and fed him for two months after which Sevakram became fit and healthy. During this period, he did not offer Neelkanth any food which he cooked for the sadhu, leaving the yogi to either beg for alms or fast. After recovery, Sevakram still made Neelkanth carry his heavy belongings. Neelkanth then left him to continue his journey.

In his next birth, Sevakram was born as Khodabhai, a poor chief of the village of Zinzar in Saurashtra and a follower of Swaminarayan Samprādāya. Once Muktanand Swami, a senior sadhu asked Gopalanand Swami, a great yogi, as to why Khodabhai was so poor. Gopalanand Swami then revealed, “In his former birth, he was Sevakram and had made Bhagawan Swaminarayan serve him. However now let us pray that his status improves.” These blessings later eradicated Khodabhai’s poverty.

Two points emerge from this story. One is that although Sevakram treated Neelkanth unfairly, Neelkanth took mercy on him and granted him birth in the Samprādāya so that he would eventually attain better karmasamskaras for moksha. Second, by accepting Neelkanth’s seva, without giving him anything in return, Sevakram created a huge karmic debt - riṇānubandh – with Bhagwan, which he paid in his next birth as the poverty stricken Khodābhāi.”[82]

8.5 To Continue Spiritual Progress

The fourth is to complete one’s spiritual progress, that was not completed in one’s previous life. For example, the case of Yoga-bhrashtas, or Yogis who fell from the path of Yoga in their previous life are reborn so that they can resume their spiritual journey from where they had left it.

Arjuna said:

Krishna, he who cannot control himself even though he has faith, whose mind has wandered away from Yoga, failing to attain perfection in yoga, which way does he go? Gita 6.37

Might armed, is he not lost like a rent cloud, having fallen from both worlds, without any firm support, confused on the path that leads to Brahman? Gita 3.38

Krishna, you should quell this doubt of mine completely, because there is none other than you who can destroy this doubt. Gita 6.39 Krishna said:

Pārtha, my dear friend, neither in this life nor hereafter is there destruction for him. No one who does good beget misfortune. Gita 6.40

Attaining the worlds of the meritorious, having dwelt there for very many years, he who has fallen from yoga is then reborn in the house of such as are pure and prosperous. Gita 6.41

Or that person may be reborn in the family of wise yogis. Such a birth is indeed very difficult to attain in this world. Gita 6.42

Joy of the Kurus, there he regains the intellect that he had developed in his former body. And then with this as the starting point, he strives onward once again toward perfection. Gita 6.43

Due to his prior practice, he is carried on irresistibly. Indeed, he who wishes to know of yoga then transcends the sound-Brahman. Gita 6.44

Through persevering efforts and a controlled mind, the yogi, completely cleansed of all evil, and perfecting himself through many lives, then reaches the supreme goal. Gita 6.45

8.6 Divine or Saintly Command 

The fifth is the command of a saint or of Bhagavān to an ātmā to be reborn for a specific purpose. At the command of Bhagavān, saints take upon a physical form relinquishing their state of Moksha so that they can do good to humanity suffering in this Samsāra. For example, a Rishi Apantaratamas was born at the Divine command several thousand years ago to reveal the Vedas when they had been lost. Rishi Sanatkumāra was likewise reborn as Skanda.

8.7 Curse of a Rishi 

The last is the curse of a Rishi to a tormentor, who is then asked to be reborn multiple times and bear the results of his misdeeds towards the Rishi. For example, in the Purāṇas it is narrated that King Nahusha was reborn as a serpent due to the curse of a Rishi he had hit and abused.

Even logically speaking, Rebirth is preferable to living a single, eternal life; a single, finite life followed or not followed by a next life in heaven and hell. No matter how happy and contented one is in his present life, after several decades, he will be weary of living further and would like his existence to get extinguished. Furthermore, if there were no rebirth or after-life, fluke events can destroy life forever and demotivate those who’d like to keep progressing in life. Vinoba Bhawe once remarked[83]-

“If we do not believe in rebirth, life loses all charm. Suppose a snake bites me now and I die. This then means that whatever knowledge I have gained till today will be useless. If a low form of life without any intelligence such as a snake can destroy all my knowledge in one moment, then all my desires to gain more knowledge will perish. However, I have greater and greater desires to gain knowledge since I have faith in rebirth.”

9.0 Proofs of Rebirth upon Death

Texts from the Hindu tradition give numerous proofs of rebirth. The lay Hindu never questions this belief in rebirth as it is considered an axiomatic and a generally accepted truth. In fact, all the four Dharmic traditions (Hindu, Sikh, Bauddha and Jaina Dharmas) thriving today, and even ancient atheistic (e.g. Ājīvaka) traditions that have been extinct in the Indian subcontinent for centuries believed in rebirth upon death.[84] The Indian medical text Charaka Samhita[85] enumerates four means of knowing (Valid Testimony, Direct Perception, Inference and Logical Reasoning) and then lists the proofs of rebirth under each of these categories:

Scriptural testimony is based on the Vedas or other scriptural material in agreement with the Vedas, which is enunciated by the experts, approved by the virtuous and initiated with a view to bringing about happiness to the mankind. The scriptural testimony, as a source of knowledge, is derived from the words of authorities. It has been stated that charity, penance, sacred rituals, truthfulness, non-violence and brahmacharya are supposed to provide heaven and to help in liberation. (This establishes the theory of continuation of soul after death and thus of rebirth). Charaka Samhita Sūtrasthāna 11.27

Ancient Rishis, devoid of all human weaknesses, have clearly stated in the religious scriptures that those who have not been able to conquer their mental defects are not eligible for Moksha. (This shows that such persons are liable to be reborn). Charaka Samhita Sūtrasthāna 11.28

The theory of rebirth has been enunciated after careful observation by ancient sages endowed with divine faculty. These sages were devoted to the path of virtue; they were devoid of fear, attachment, hatred, greed, delusion and pride; they were devoted to Brahman; they were reliable par excellence and were conversant with the principles of ‘Karman’ or action; their mental and intellectual faculties were never tarnishes. So no one should doubt this theory. Charaka Samhita Sūtrasthāna 11.29

Even direct perception establishes the theory of rebirth. For example: birth of children dissimilar to their parents; parentage and other factors being the same, different in complexion, voice, shape, mind, intellect and fate; birth in high and low family; slavery and sovereignty; happy and miserable life; difference in the span of life; enjoyment of results without the corresponding action in this life; manifestation of actions like crying, sucking breast, laughing fear, etc., even without training (found in new born) appearance of marks in the body indicating good and bad fortunes; action being the same, difference in its results; intuitive interest in certain types of works in some persons and not in others; preservation in memory in some persons of previous life; appearance of persons being the same, their amicability and the like. Charaka Samhita Sūtrasthāna 11.30

Inference too leads to an acceptance of the theory or rebirth as follows – the action performed in previous life which is unavoidable, eternal and having continuity is known as fate. Its results are enjoyable in this life. Action performed in this life will bring about its results in its future life. The seed is from the fruit and the fruit is from the seed. Charaka Samhita Sūtrasthāna 11.31

Reasoning also supports this view. The embryo is formed out of a combination of six dhātus (five elements and the ātmā). Actions are manifested out of the combination of the agent (kartṛ) and the instrument (karaṇa); the results come out of the action performed. There can be no germination without a seed. The result is always corresponding to the action. A seed cannot bring out heterogeneous products. This is the logical reasoning. Charaka Samhita Sūtrasthāna 11.32

Let us look at some of these proofs below in more detail, combining Hindu and other perspectives drawn from medicine, parapsychology and philosophy.

9.1 Past Life Memories or Spontaneous Recall (‘Jātismara’)

Krishna said:

Numerous are my lives that have passed, and so also yours Arjuna. I know them all, but you do not know them, Scorcher of foes. Gita 4.5

There are numerous examples available in the Hindu tradition where the past lives of saints were remembered and listed as such. In a verse attributed to Sant Kabir, he says that in his previous life, he was a Brahmana who did evil deeds and forgot the worship of Rama, whereupon he was reborn and landed up in the house of a Muslim weaver. Guru Gobind Singh, in his autobiographical account named the ‘Bachittar Nātak’ also states that in his previous life, he performed great austerities to Lord Shiva and Mahākālikā, whereupon Hari commanded him to be reborn and found a flourishing (Khālsā) Panth.[86]

There is an abundance of literature listing and describing literally hundreds of cases of past life recall.[87] Let us look at a celebrated case below-

Shanti Devi: A very interesting case of spontaneous recall of past life was that of a girl named Shanti Devi who was born in the 1920s to a family in Delhi. She would insist from her childhood that she was a Brahmin (although her current family was not) and had a husband and son in Mathura. She described her house in Mathura (100 miles from Delhi) as having a yellow exterior, and would often speak to her present parents in a dialect that was prevalent in Mathura. Her case drew a lot of publicity, and Mahatma Gandhi intervened to set up a committee which took the girl to her ‘home’ in Mathura. Shanti Devi recognized all her family members correctly, pointed to the spot where there used to be a well (now sealed), the spot where her past life’s family hid their money and many other intimate details between her and her past husband. Her case was studied by a researcher from Sweden who subsequently published her story.[88] She also described to the researcher in great detail how she (her atman) left her body just before cremation, how she was able to keep consciousness of her surroundings due to her lifelong practice of chanting Krishna’s name with devotion, her experiences between two lives, and how she was reborn in the womb

of her mother in the present life. Shanti Devi could never overcome the attachments to her past life, and therefore she never married as her ‘husband’ were still alive, even though he had himself remarried after her death in the previous life. She spent her adult life in teaching about Hindu spirituality and the truth of the Dharmic doctrine of rebirth to audiences in Delhi till her death around the age of 60.

9.1.1 Aids in Recollecting Past Lives[89]

The Purāṇas and other Hindu scriptures give numerous examples of individuals recollecting their past lives, and this ability is taken for granted by followers of the Dhārmic traditions. Numerous factors can help one unearth our past life memories. For example, in the Bhavishyottara Purāņa, several vratas (religious ceremonies) that can result in past life recollection are described. The Mahābhārata mentions several holy places by visiting which (or bathing in their holy water ponds or rivers) one comes to recall past lives. Below are some passages that enumerate the numerous aids for spontaneous past-life recollection-

Through constant study of the Vedas, purity of mind and body, austerity and total lack of enmity (or ill-will) towards other creatures, one acquires the ability to recollect his past lives. Manusmriti 4.148[90]

At the time of death, if a person who is imbued with a pure intellect steadies his mind in God alone and yet does not attain liberation, he nevertheless comes to remember his previous lives (which him closer to Moksha). Yājnavalkya Smriti 3.161

When the Yogi is able to focus on the reservoir of Saṃskāras (impressions of past Karmas stored in the mind) and see them, he obtains the knowledge of his past lives. Yoga Sūtra 3.18

When one does not keep running after material objects and his thoughts become steady (in spiritual matters), he comes to recall incidents from previous lives. Yoga Sūtra 2.39

Standing below the pārijāta tree aids in recollection of past lives. Harivamsha Purāṇa 2.64.67

Performance of Shrāddha ceremonies result in recollection of past lives. Harivamsha Purāṇa 1.21.18

Studying the Purāṇas makes one recall his past lives. Brahma Purāṇa 245.32

Hearing the glories of teerthas (holy places) can result in past life recollection. Mahābhārata 3.85.103-104

Serving one’s elders and performance of shrāddha ceremonies dutifully and correctly results in past life recollection. Padma Purāṇa, Srishti Khanda 47.213

Worshipping Brāhmaṇas (Mahābhārata 13.117.27-27) and atithis (ibid. 13.117.30) results in past life recollection.

Death is a traumatic process that first results in a life-recall stage, and then a receding of these memories into the deeper parts of our subconscious minds. This means, that when a person undergoes a sudden death (as in a violent incident), his memories do not have sufficient time to recede and are more easily recalled or accessed in the next life, as explained below-

“As the subtle body moves along with the soul after death to the next body, the memories of the previous life are hypothetically available for the soul to recall in the next life. Normally however, the trauma caused by the momentous transitions of death and birth buries these memories so deep within the mind that, for most of us, they don’t seem to exist at all…

….Nonetheless, some individuals can, under special circumstances, recollect some details of their previous lives. Often, the memories of the past lives occur among individuals who died in ways that were sudden, or violent, or both. The abrupt nature of their death may not allow them to process the event of death properly; so when they acquire their next body the unprocessed memories of the event remain as a sort of hangover.”[91]

This explanation is supported by empirical evidence-

“In fact, one of the most prominent features of Stevenson’s cases is the high incidence of violent death among the previous personalities. In 725 cases from six different cultures, Stevenson and his colleagues found that 61 percent of subjects remembered lives that ended violently. This incidence far exceeds the rate of violent death in the countries in which these cases occurred.”[92]

Not surprisingly, this phenomenon observed in modern scientific studies is referred to in ancient Hindu texts as well-

People who lost their lives unexpectedly and suddenly (as in an accident) are then reborn quickly. In their new life, they initially retain some impressions and memories of their past life. Therefore, such individuals tend to remember instances from their past life in their childhood. But as they grow older, these memories of past life start disappearing, just as one tends to forget details of dreams with time. Instances like these are sufficient to convince even fools of the existence of an afterlife (but the wise do not need proofs like these). Mahābhārata (Southern Recension), Anushāsana Parva, chapter 9

Another example from traditional Hindu lore connecting violent death to the concept of rebirth is that in Brihadāraṇyaka and Chhāndogya Upanishads, a Pānchāla Kshatriya chief Pravāhana Jaivali says to his Brahmana student that the doctrine of transmigration was kept a secret by the Kshastriyas and he was the first Brahmana to receive it. Could it be that the higher incidence of violent deaths among Kshatriyas also resulted in a greater chance that members of Kshatriya families had a past life recollection? This is of course a pure speculation because one can find older references to rebirth in the non-Kshatriya origin portions of the Vedic literature.

9.1.2 Why Don’t Most of Us Remember Our Past Lives? The Benefits of Forgetfulness

As explained above, in most cases, memories recede into the subconscious mind (‘chitta’ as it is referred to in Vedānta) during the process of death and are not easily accessible to most individuals in their next life. Numerous arguments can be advanced to explain why we are unable to or must not recall our past lives[93]:

1.       Forgetfulness is inherent to our nature. We do not even remember everything from the previous day, let alone from earlier in this very life. As a modern author comments-

“The other reason we cannot recall our past lives is more prosaic: we are no more capable of remembering the precise details of a past life than we are of recalling many of the details of our present life with any clarity. In essence, human beings simply aren’t very good at retaining longterm memories; instead, the bulk of our life experiences are filed away on some dark recess of the brain where they can only be accessed through hypnosis or brought back to conscious recall by some external stimulus. Additionally, the further back in time the memory is, the more difficult it is to recall – especially with any degree of accuracy – until, in most people, it fades from the conscious mind entirely. If this is true of our present life, then, how much more so will it be true of an even more distant past life – especially if that life was rather ordinary and forgettable to begin with?”[94]

2.       Forgetfulness is beneficial to our mental well-being. That is how we overcome traumas that we have experienced. As a modern scholar explains-

“….consider for a moment how problematic past-life memories have proven to be to those who claim to experience them. Often the memories are so traumatic that such people require psychiatric counseling to overcome them, and they can even prove to be an impediment in other ways to those who suffer from a type of “post-rebirth syndrome.” This is why pre-incarnate or past-life memories are generally bad: they prevent one from moving toward spiritual maturity until and unless they first deal with their past-life trauma. By way of an example, imagine that a man who was brutally tortured and murdered in a previous incarnation is so traumatized by the event that he lives his present life in a perpetual state of fear. Terrified of people and unwilling to leave the safe confines of his home or interact with others in any meaningful way, he is incapable of moving on to other lessons he needs to learn in this lifetime in order to grow spiritually. If such a person is fortunate, he may receive therapy to deal with these fears, but it may take years before progress is made. Plus, of course, there are those who never seek help for their traumas at all and so are entirely stymied in their efforts to grown beyond their fears. In such cases, then, a past life memory has become a hindrance to the growth process and can, in fact, stop it completely if not purged from the conscious memory. The problem then, likes not in failing to recall past-life memories, but in failing to rid our psyche of all of them.”[95]

3.       Forgetting our past is often beneficial because it relieves us of the burden of useless memories and enables us to live in the present with complete mental engagement. A modern scholar explains-

“…The purpose of reincarnating is not to simply recall our past errors so that we might avoid making the same mistake again, but to grow spiritually – even if making the same mistakes over again are a part of that growth process. As such, it may be necessary for us to forget our past lives – along with both their mistakes and successes – so that we may once again acquire a platform upon which to experience life anew. Were we to recall our past lives in perfect clarity, we would not be experiencing a new life but merely continuing a previous incarnation in a new body. So it is important to process that each time we reincarnate, our memory and, for that matter, our previous personality in toto – with all its idiosyncrasies, quirks, mannerisms, knowledge, perceptions, and a lifetime of memories and experiences – disappear. Much like a chalkboard is erased at the end of each school day in order to prepare for the next day’s lessons, so too our “chalkboard” must be wiped clean so we may start our new lessons afresh.”[96]

The story of Shanti Devi mentioned above is a good example of how someone who remembered her past life was not able to live happily in her present life. Her speeches and writings indicate that she constantly dwelled in her past life, missed her previous family and could never reconcile mentally to the fact that she was now a different person and that her former husband and children were not hers now. Due to this baggage of memory, she never felt comfortable to marry and have her own new family in her present life.

An analogous and a more verifiable situation is that of certain individuals who have a condition called ‘Hyperthymesia’ or the ability to remember an extraordinary large number of incidents and experiences in their life in minute detail. Although such cases are rare, individuals with this condition often get exhausted mentally, burdened by excessive memories and their recall. They are unable to live in the present or in the future because they constantly dwell in the past.[97]

4.       Instances of past life recall are actually more numerous than are acknowledged. Most of us are prone to dismiss them as imagination, and some cultures reject reincarnation altogether. This dismissal ensures that cases of past life recall are ignored. In this regard, ‘pattern recognition’ plays an important role. Individuals belonging to cultures in which rebirth is a popular belief are more likely to recall their past lives. Contrarily, individuals belonging to cultures where rebirth is not widely understood or believed in are less likely to attribute their memories to events in a past life. This ‘pattern recognition’ factor is apparent in even mundane matters. For instance, in a society where ‘allergies’ are acknowledged and understood (e.g. in the developed world), individuals with allergies are more likely to realize that they have the same, and people around them are also more likely to understand that these individuals are suffering from allergies. Whereas in societies where allergies are not well understood, a person who is suffering from debilitating allergies is more likely to be characterized as a ‘lazy procrastinator’.

5.       Many past life memories might as well be useless at present due to changing times and technology. For instance,

“…While at first thought it would seem to be advantageous to retain the accumulated knowledge of a hundred past lives, it would be more likely that such a capacity would turn out to be a problem. For example, imagine how much more a modern doctor knows about medicine than did his nineteenth-century counterpart. As such, were his nineteenth century counterpart were to reincarnate in the twenty-first century with his medical knowledge intact, such knowledge – in being so out of date – might prove to be not only a hindrance to being a proficient modern doctor, but it might perhaps prove to be helpful, more likely is going to be detrimental, at least in the near term.”[98]

6.       Different people have different capacities to remember events of the past. In a similar way, only a few can remember incidents from their past lives while most of us do not.

7.       The retention of exact memories of incidents is not important. Rather, it is the lessons learned from those incidents that really matter.

“Finally, there is there is also the idea that while we may not retain conscious memories of a past life, we are still retaining the underlying lessons those past-life experiences taught us. For instance, we may not recall the process by which we acquired our patience, but we retain the benefit of that process in this lifetime. Past-life experiences – while absent from our current consciousness – are retained on a deeper “soul level,” where they can be carried over from one incarnation to another. While the specific details of each past-life may be lost, it’s only because they aren’t important….”[99]

A common life example is that we handle hot fluids like hot coffee carefully, knowing fully well that it can cause scalding if spilled on our skin. Hardly any of us remembers the precise incident when we learned of the dangers if mishandling hot fluids, but the lesson learned remains imprinted in our minds. In a similar way, we do not remember the events of past lives, but the lessons that we learned from them often remain in our inner consciousness and manifest as our natural tendencies, talents, phobias etc., in our present lives.

8.       Finally, a knowledge of our past lives might actually lead to harmful effects on our present karma and emotional make-up:

“Few people spontaneously remember their past lives. As we become aware of the implications of karma, it may seem strange that we do not have access, while on Earth, to our previous records. Yet to have that access would take away spontaneity and a great deal of individuality. Once we know where the pieces in a jigsaw puzzle fit, the puzzle may lose its interest! To know our past lives and our exact karmic debts might lead us to create more negative karma rather than less, since pride, false humility, escapism or over-compensation could so easily get in the way. It would be too easy for us to be little other than actors on a stage, cut off from the true immediacy of our deepest emotions, thoughts and interactions.”[100]

9.1.3 Possible Objections Against Past Life Recollection[101]

No.

Objection

Response

1

Retrocognition: It is wrong to assume that when someone has unexplained knowledge of persons, events, places or things from the past, then that knowledge must relate to his past life. In fact, we know of several cases where people know secret details about the lives of others that they could not have found out by any means. For example, Peter Hurkos, a Dutch gentleman could sometimes see perfect strangers and describe secret facts about their lives. In one example, when he was recovering in a hospital, he

Retrocognition is merely a psychic phenomenon that is very different from past-life recollection.

In retrocognition, the person remembers or learns facts about the lives of many different people, whereas in pastlife recollection, only a single person is involved in general. (Sometimes, as the Hindu tradition says, people can remember their multiple past lives too).

Moreover, it is often the case with retrocognition that the psychic learns facts about places, events, people etc. who exist not in the past, but in the present or even in the future. On the other hand, past-life recollection is always concerned with the past. For example, a 14 year old teenager named David in England visited the British Museum with his parents to see some newly arrived Mummies from Egypt. David commented correctly that there should be three initials on the underside of the

looked at a patient and declared that the man was a secret agent working for the British and that the agent would be killed soon. The prediction came true. He made many other predictions that were true more than 85% of the time. Clearly, he had some psychic powers. This phenomenon of knowing secret details without being told or without learning them from ordinary means is called Retrocognition. Could not the so called cases of past-life recollection also relate to some other persons’ lives, and not that of a past life of the person who remembered them? In other words, they could all be examples of

Retrocognition.[102]

sarcophagus, and that he knew this because he was an inspector of these coffins in his previous life.[103]

2

Obtain information from normal means or Guesswork

In many cases, the information is too intimate, or difficult to obtain (e.g. Xenoglossy). Therefore, this is not a valid objection.

3

Fraud by Subject: 

Sometimes, it is argued that people who claim to recollect past lives merely pretend to do so with ulterior motives. For e.g., they crave for more attention or fame, or want to claim that they were great individuals in previous lives. 

Many of the so-called cases

However, studies have shown that in practically all these cases, the subject had no discernible ulterior motive. Furthermore, there was either no great difference in the financial condition of the family of the subject in this life and the past life; or the person was actually poorer in his past life than in his present life.[104]

“Those who reject reincarnation in toto frequently explain away this phenomenon as being either an example of hoaxing (though confirmed cases are rare) or as a result of something called cryptomnesia (also known as lost or hidden memories) – the phenomenon by which a person recounts historical details under hypnosis gleaned not from a past life, but from a long forgotten book or movie that they may have seen. For the most part,

of past-life recollection can be outright fraud where the person found out the details through other means, and then claimed that he remembered them from a past life.[105]

however, most such memories have no easy explanation and remain among the most extensive evidence of the reality of past lives in existence.”[106]

“Unfortunately, while most of these cases prove to be imbued with enough detail to make them plausible as past-life memories, none has proven to be irrefutable proof of reincarnation. There are always a few erroneous details thrown in among the verifiable facts to cast doubt on their authenticity, and so while they remain good evidence for incarnation, they are likely to always remain just outside of the veil of being considered “proof” of reincarnation.”[107] 

“….the children in the best cases Stevenson has studied recounted extensive details – including the means of their own death (something children would be unlikely to fantasize) – long before meeting their prior family. In fact, it was usually through the wealth of information the children provided originally that locating the prior life family was even made possible.”[108]

4

Fraud by parents or family members of the Subject

In many cases, parents have no incentive to commit the fraud because there is no financial gain, or worldly fame to be had. In many cases, the discovery of reincarnation within their household actually runs counter to their own Abrahamic belief that reincarnation does not happen. Many parents are actually themselves skeptical about the statements made by their children. In other cases, reincarnation cases within the family actually bring embarrassment to the parents.[109]

5

Fraud by Investigators

This is unlikely because investigators like Ian Stevenson have followed a very rigorous methodology in their investigation, and so have others. The scientific rigor of their methodology has been acknowledged and appreciated in academic journals like the Journal of the American Medical Association, American Journal of Psychiatry, the

Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease etc.[110]

6

Cryptomnesia: Sometimes, we acquire some information from a person or from

The onus is on the doubter to prove that the person got this information from an explainable source. In fact in many cases of past-life recollection, no known source of the

another source, but then forget the source after some time. This phenomenon is called Cryptomnesia. This situation makes us feel that we must have got the information in some mysterious way, or that it is a recollection from a past life.[111] 

information could be determined. Moreover, the person recollecting his past life identifies very strongly with and feels very close to the individual that he was in his past life.

“It is difficult to prove cryptomnesia. How does one “prove” to others the books he or she read or the movies he or she watched as an eight-year old child? Since it is nearly impossible to locate the “source material” for most forgotten memories, the assumption that a past-life memory is based on a movie or book must remain purely speculative…”[112]

“The other problem with the theory is those cases in which there is no apparent source for the recalled details. Often the details are so obtuse or take place in such a largely unknown or foreign environment that it is impossible to locate a possible source for them. Then there is the problem of recounted past lives that prove to be mundane or commonplace. Even mediocre fiction, after all, usually has some interesting characters or curious plot twists to enliven the story; who writes epics about ordinary and largely uneventful lives?”[113]

“Additionally, we do not see past-life fantasies gleaned from other types of literature such as science fiction or fantasy? Undoubtedly many people have read H. G. Wells or J. R. R. Tolkien, yet I have never encountered a case in which a person recalled under hypnosis being a crewman onboard Captain Nemo’s Nautilus…..If cryptomnesia is the source for all past-life memories, we should find as many genres of false memories as there are genres of fiction, yet such is not the case…..”[114]

7

Genetic Memory: Our genes pass on memories from the lives of our ancestors into our minds.[115]

This can explain only those cases where the person is reborn into the same family in his next life. But in most cases, the person has no genetic relationship to person that he was in his past life.[116]

“The first and the biggest problem with this hypothesis is that there is no scientific evidence that memories can be passed along genetically and no known mechanism that might explain how it could happen. Additionally, even if such were theoretically possible, it should only affect one’s direct descendants, yet very

few people have past-life memories in which they recall having been a direct family ancestor….”[117]

“Further, if such past-life memories were indeed imbedded within a DNA strand, one would expect those memories to surface in one’s biological siblings and other close relatives as well….Certainly this would do much to confirm the theory, and yet there has never been a case of siblings recalling the same or similar past lives.”[118]

“The second problem with genetic memories is that in many cases subjects recall their own deaths in their previous lives – often with great clarity. However, for a genetic memory to be transferred to one’s offspring, only those memories that had been acquired up to the time of conception should, by all rights, make it into genetic coding. Any events – and, especially, one’s own death – that occur after conception could not be passed on for obvious reasons, theoretically making any genetically-induced memory of a prior death impossible.”[119]

8

ESP                (Extra-sensory

Perception): Many people seem to have a ‘sixth-sense’ because they are able to describe events, places, people etc. from the present, past or future even though they had no means of knowing these facts.

Retrocognition main relates to the past, whereas ESP mainly relates to the future. ESP is also therefore a kind of psychic ability. 

This objection states that all the so called cases of past-life recollection are actually instances of ESP.[120]

Carter (2012a: 67-68) gives several reasons why this explanation of past life recollection is untenable:[121]

“….there are several things wrong with telepathy or clairvoyance as an explanation of past-life cases. First of all, the errors made by the subjects are far more consistent with the characteristics of memory than ESP. For instance, ESP cannot explain why subjects have difficulty recognizing persons or places that have changed since the death of the previous personality, and cannot explain why the subjects are unaware of changes in the previous personality’s environment they have not yet seen.

Second, information acquired clairvoyantly or telepathically is not typically experienced as something remembered. Also, the best clairvoyants and telepaths make a predictable number of mistakes, but we have seen that Swarnlata and Bishen Chand made virtually no errors.

Third, the ESP hypothesis would predict that we would occasionally find more than one child claiming to remember the life of a certain deceased person, and making statements about the deceased person’s life that, upon checking, turn out to be

accurate. But we have not found cases with more than one child making such claims.

Fourth, while ESP can explain the acquisition of knowledge, it cannot explain the acquisition of skills requiring a great deal of practice. That is, ESP can explain know that something is true, but cannot explain knowing how to do something. But we have seen two cases in which the subjects exhibited the skills that they did not have the opportunity to learn: Bishen Chand apparently knew how to skillfully play the tabla without being taught, and Swarnlata knew how to perform complicated songs and dances, in a language neither she nor her parents spoke.

Fifth, in most cases, the operation of ESP appears to be goaldirected, operating to satisfy some desire or need of the experience. But in many cases of the reincarnation type, we can find no plausible motion on the child’s part to imitate the deceased person. On the contrary, the child’s statements and behavior frequently cause the child trouble with his or her family.

Sixth, there is simply no evidence, apart from these cases, of young children having the ability to impersonate a person they have never met….

Finally, the ad hoc nature of this explanation is apparent when we consider the fact that we have no evidence of ESP abilities in most of these children apart from their claimed memories of a previous life…”

9

Spirit Possession: This refers to instances where the soul of a dead person enters within and possesses the body of a living person (called the ‘medium’). It is possible that in all these cases of past-life recollection, a dead person’s soul has entered the recollector’s body and has taken possession of it. As a result, this recollector is then able to narrate events from the past that he has not been told about, and it appears to

Mediums behave in a very different way than people who recollect their past lives. In the latter case, the recollector narrates the event in a very matter-of-factly way, very casually. He does not appear possessed, not does he have to undergo some psychological process like hypnotism in all cases (although deep hypnotism can also bring forth past life memories).

the listener that he is talking about a past life.[122]

10

Cultural Fantasy: Some critics of past life recollection research argue that it is a cultural fantasy, i.e. people who are born in cultures where rebirth upon death is accepted widely will display a tendency to claim that they remember their past lives.

There are several objections against this criticism:[123]

1.       Numerous people in western cultures have reported past life recollection, which is contrary to the dominant opinion in their society that death results in resurrection on the Day of Judgment (and not rebirth).

2.       Many individuals who recollected their past lives also showed birth marks corresponding to injuries that they had sustained in their previous life.

3.       Most subject start recollecting their past life when they are between the ages of 2 and 5, when the chances of cultural indoctrination are much less than for adults.

4.       If past life recollection results from cultural indoctrination or fantasy, then such cases would show greater occurrence of the Hindu-Buddhist beliefs that animals and plants can be reborn as humans, or that one suffers the consequences of karma performed in previous lives. In fact, there are very few cases of individuals recollecting their past lives as animals, and there is very little evidence that prior karma shaped the external circumstances (e.g. wealth or poverty) in the subject’s current life. 

11

Spontaneous Past Life Recall cases are a product of an over-active imagination, and are fantasies.

“….even if a small percentage of past-life memories turn out to be entirely fallacious and the product of an overactive imagination, that should be no reason to dismiss the entire concept in toto. Every religious, philosophical, or political movement has its “fringe” element, and the occasional colorful character who claims to be the reincarnation of Napoleon no more disproves reincarnation than the psychotic who claims to be Jesus Christ disproves Christianity. The object researcher looks at the best cases of previous-life recall to determine the validity of reincarnationist claims, not the most questionable ones.”[124]

12

Paramnesia: “This refers to the possibility that after the

Following is a counter to this objection:

two families concerned have met, the adults attribute to the child many more correct statements about his previous personality than he actually made before the families

met.”[125]

“Dr. Stevenson’s exhaustive cross-examination of witnesses is aimed at uncovering such weak cases. Paramnesia cannot apply, says Stevenson, to those cases in which someone made a written record of what the subject said about the previous life before the two families met. Nor would it apply where the investigator has come on the scene and received an advanced report before the families met…..

It would be a mistake to imagine that both families in such a situation find being united an occasion of cordial fraternization and mutually joyful exchange of memories. When a child claims to have formerly lived in a wealthy family or one of higher caste, it does not reflect credit on such a family that their child has been “demoted” in his new incarnation. Nor is such a family likely to welcome the child or his new parents with open arms, any more than families in this life welcome poor relations into the bosom of their home life. The same conflict occurs, but in a reverse sense, when the child is reborn into a “superior” state. The new family does not relish hobnobbing with a poor or lowcaste previous family, nor does it enjoy thinking that its child had such an ancestry.

But in either case, or in cases where both families are of equal status, the present parents may understandably be fearful that the previous father and mother may claim the child, or that the child himself will prefer the prior parents and insist on living with them. There also may be anxiety, on the part of the former relatives, that the child may reveal old family secrets. In one case, a former relative “fainted dead away” when the reborn child disclosed such private information….”[126]

9.1.4 Children Recollecting Their Past Lives

An interesting evidence suggestive of past life recollection occurs from children who seem to remember skills or events that preceded their physical birth or even conception-

“Perhaps the strongest and best-documented evidence in support of reincarnation is conscious past-life memory recall in children. More specifically, this is the phenomenon by which children as young as two years are able to recall having lived past lives and are able to recall those lives complete with names, dates, and often the names of the villages in which they believe they previously lived. In some of the better cases, children have even visited their former homes only to be able to instantly identify members of their “former” family and provide personal details of their previous lives with uncanny accuracy. Many even recounted how they had died in that previous lifetime with a degree of certainty and knowledge inexplicable for a child.”132

In a very interesting book, Hardo (2005) has documented dozens of instances of children all over the world who recollected their past lives. Some children were reborn in the same families (as the one of which they were a part of in their previous lives), they were reborn with the same gender or a different one, they showed peculiar birth marks or birth deformities that were reflective of the karma they had done in their previous lives, suffered panic attacks due to incidents in their past lives, or could even speak in a foreign language that they had never been taught and had never been exposed to.

The instances of children recollecting their past lives are rarer than those of adults, but this is because we often dismiss their descriptions as childish prattle, especially when these children do not live in cultures where the belief in rebirth is widespread-

 “The incidence of children remembering their past lives may well be the same among all nations of the world, yet among those who believe in reincarnation, the people take more notice of their

accepted……these memories from children often cause unease in ‘Western’ adults, who then dismiss their children’s statements about people, places and situations from past lives as fantasy, without giving them much thought. This is why these cases appear to be relatively rare in Europe and in the United States….”134

Why is the evidence of kids in recollecting their past lives more important than adults doing the same?

Professor Ian Stevenson gives the following reasons:

“1. Due to their age, children are closer to their previous earth life and therefore find it easier to remember it.

2.  Children’s minds are not as yet full of knowledge of the past, since they have heard little or nothing about these things and have certainly not read about them either….

3.  Children are not afraid to be ridiculed or seen as stupid.

4.  Adults may get real past-life memories mixed up or distorted over a period of time, especially due to wishful thinking.

133                   Trutz Hardo (2005), p. 37

134                   Trutz Hardo (2005), p. 51

5. Science cannot reject childish statements as being lies or as having been invented.”[127]

The next few sections will give some examples of childhood past-life recall. In most cases, as the children grow up, they lose their past-life memories. Perhaps, this happens, because these memories have by then sunk from their conscious mind (manas) to the subconscious mind (chitta) and therefore are no longer easily accessible by that person.

9.2 Xenoglossy and Xenography

Xenoglossy refers to speaking in foreign languages, and Xenography means writing in a foreign script, when one has neither heard nor ever learned these languages of scripts. Numerous cases have been recorded in even children who suddenly started speaking in these foreign languages, and point towards them having learned these languages in a past life. A case of two of adults even speaking languages long dead have been observed. However, the examples of xenoglossia are very rare, limiting its use as a proof for reincarnation.

One example is that of a five-year old American boy named Robin who had not started going to school yet and spoke in a dialect of the Tibetan language. His mother grew concerned and contacted a Professor of Asian Languages. The Professor identified the dialect, and gained the confidence of the boy. Thereafter, the boy was able to recollect his past life as a Tibetan monk, and even described his school (or monastery), his fellow monks, the environment etc. The Professor was very intrigued and decided to travel all the way to Tibet, where he was able to locate Robin’s monastery in the Kuen Lun Mountains![128] There was another case of a six year old girl in Illinois who spoke French in her sleep. Her parents were alarmed and tape-recorded her talking to get it deciphered by a French teacher. It turned out that the girl was talking about looking for her mother in a village in France that was raided by an army of invading German soldiers.[129]

A book named Life Between Life, describes a young American named Harold Jaworski, who under hypnosis, recalled being a Viking. He jotted down several words from the Old Norse dialect that was spoken from 700-1300 CE. These words were from older forms of different languages like Serbian, Russian etc., just as one would expect sea-faring Vikings to have spoken at that time. In another session of hypnotism, he claimed to be a resident of Mesopotamia. He scribbled words in a mysterious script that was curly looking. After several experts were consulted, it was determined that his doodles were actually words in the Sassanian Pahlavi script that was used in Mesopotamia between 226 – 651 CE.[130]

Skeptics and followers of Abrahamic religions (e.g. Christianity) dismiss Xenoglossy and Xenography with two arguments:[131]

No.

Criticism of Xenoglossy

Response to Criticism

1

Unknown to the parents or the teachers, the child may have heard these foreign languages at some

The objection is pure speculation that does not address the specifics of the individual

point of time, and the words heard by him have probably got embedded in his subconscious mind. Later, these words come to the surface of the mind, and the child blurts them out. 

cases. While the child could possibly repeat a few words in a foreign language unconsciously at a later time, it seems too implausible that children exhibiting such case can actually speak the language that they never learned earlier.

2

Possession: Children can get possessed by the souls of dead people who spoke a different language. As a proof, they point to séance sessions in which a medium allows himself to be possessed by the soul of a dead person, and then that medium speaks in a different accent, even with a different voice totally different from his normal speech.

There is no proof that the children involved were possessed by the spirit of long dead people.

Bhikkhu Analayo (2018) makes an extensive record of a Sri Lankan boy who, as a child, could chant significant sections of the Pali Tripitaka and had recalled being a member in the team of the noted Indian Buddhist scholar Buddhaghosa who lived in the fifth cent. C.E. The boy had not be tutored in Pali or in Buddhist scriptures, his style of recitation was not Sri Lankan and his text had significant textual variants that reflected an archaic Tripitaka recension slightly different from all commonly available Sri Lankan and other versions. The boy forgot these recitations as he grew older but Bhikkhu Analayo extensively analyzed the recordings of the boy’s chants made earlier by the latter’s father and made a convincing case for their archaic and authentic nature. 

9.3 Similarity Between Lives

Extensive research of people who have recollected their past life or lives also yielded some cases where the unique physical characteristics (like birth marks or deformities) of the individual in his current life had an eerie connection to their experiences in the past life. For example, a person with a deep scar on the side of his abdomen was perhaps stabbed at the same spot in his past life (and previous body). Some cases have also had phobias (e.g. fear of loud sounds) which was explained, upon research, to be due to the fact that they died due to a loud gunfire. Ian Stevenson’s massive research describes,

“…examples of correlating birthmarks offering physical evidence of past lives include an Indian boy who recalled being killed by a shotgun blast to his chest. On this little boy’s chest was an array of birthmarks that matched the pattern and location of the fatal wounds as verified by the autopsy report. Another shotgun victim was hit at a point-blank range on the right side of the head as confirmed the hospital report. The Turkish boy who remembered this life was born with a malformed ear and an under-development of the right side of his face.”[132]

How do we explain this phenomenon through Hindu spiritual wisdom? A modern scholar comments - 

“Another mysterious feature of past-life memories cases is that some children have birthmarks and birth defects at the same precise locations where the person they remember being had fatal wounds or other distinct bodily marks. How might this happen? Many scientifically documented reports have shown that mental impressions can express themselves as bodily marks……The Vedic model can help us understand how the same principle can be extended from the body of one lifetime to the body of the next lifetime.

….during reincarnation, the mind that is the bearer of mental impressions goes along with the soul from the previous gross body to the next gross body. So when the previous gross body was inflicted with the fatal wounds, the impressions of that wound were created on the mind. And when the mind along with the soul enters into the next body, it causes those impressions to get expressed as birthmarks or birth defects at the corresponding bodily locations.”[133]

9.4 Past Life Regression

Past Life Regression (PLR) is a special case of past life recollection in that the individual does not recall his past life simultaneously, but rather does so only under deep hypnotism. The reason for the recollection of past lives under these conditions is that, 

“The deeply relaxed hypnotic state facilitates a calm but clear state of mind that results in less mental chatter. Quieting the brain’s frenetic analysis and worrying apparently allows awareness of other information not usually accessible in the waking state.”[134]

Several psychologists in modern times use regression therapies in which the patient is hypnotized and is able to recall incidents from his past life. These incidents then explain the patient’s phobias in current life, and help him overcome them. For example in a documented case, a little boy named Chase got panic attacks upon hearing loud sounds, and also had a patch of incurable eczema on his hand that he itched continuously leading to a wound. Chase’s mother brought him to a regression therapy session, during which he was made to relive the time and place when something had happened to his hand with the eczema patch. It turned out that the boy in his previous life had engaged in a battle in which he had heard loud noises like those from gunshots and cannons (hence his fear of loud noises) and had been shot with a bullet at exactly the same spot on his hand where he had an eczema patch in his current life. Luckily, the boy had survived the battle, but the fear of gunshots and the memory of the gun-wound on his hand had lingered on to his present life. But now that he re-lived his old memory and fears, they no longer bothered him after the regression therapy session. In

fact, even the eczema patch mysteriously disappeared soon thereafter.[135]

The most extensive research on past-life regression was carried out by Dr. Helen Wambach, who was a psychologist in a medical institution in New Jersey. She engaged over a thousand volunteers who were regressed and then answered questionnaires in that state. The findings were quite interesting, and can be explained adequately only by accepting rebirth:

“When Wambach’s results were analyzed, they revealed distinct and unexpected patterns. For example, it was found that although the volunteer participants were allowed to regress to any one of the ten given historical periods from the last 4,000 years, the graphs of the periods chosen replicated the graph of population densities during these periods. In other words, more people were found to have regressed to periods of higher population than to periods of lower, although no details of population densities were given to them before the experiment. Another interesting finding was that although more people usually claim, when asked, that they would prefer to be male than female if they had a choice, the balance of the sexes along the regressed lives showed only a very small preponderance of male incarnations over female (50.3 per cent as opposed to 49.7 per cent, much as in real life). Many males regressed to lives as females and vice versa. Among other important findings was that, contrary to popular misconceptions, very few people claimed to have regressed to lives of any consequence or even particularly happy lives, and no one claimed to have been a known historical figure. In the overwhelming majority of cases, the lives concerned were reported as obscure or even humble (70 percent reported lives in lower classes, 23 percent in the middle classes, and only 7 percent in the upper classes). In addition, the details given of such things as clothing, footwear, architecture, food, domestic utensils and climate were found to be accurate for the historical periods involved, even though of the 1,088 participants, only 11 produced results that showed discrepancies with the known historical facts.”[136]

Dr. Wambach regressed 750 individuals to their pre-birth or birth period. The findings were quite interesting and confirm the ancient teachings of Hindu scriptures, which however still contain more details and granularity than modern scientific studies on this matter.[137]

“Choosing Rebirth: Apparently, people were not eager to come back to earth: Eighty-one percent said they chose to come back, 19 percent said they were not aware of making this choice, and only 26 percent were enthusiastic; while 68 percent reported resistance, and 8 percent did not respond. Those who were enthusiastic also generally reported careful planning with counselors and hope of achieving their planned goals. Many reported consulting with counselors before birth, and 59 percent of those who had help planned with more than one. Wambach’s research found that 10 percent had someone in their current life help them in the prebirth phase.”[138]

The above parallels narratives in Hindu texts, like that of the dead son of King Chitraketu who refused to come back into his dead body and bring it back to life, despite much pleading by his parents.

Another interesting fact that emerged from his study was that people tended to reborn in familiar surroundings-

“Karmic ties: Fully 80 percent of Wambach’s research participants knew people in their current life from both previous lives and the interlife. People came back both with those they loved and with those they hated and feared. Clearly, there were lessons to be learned through karmic relationships.”[139]

Why does this happen? People want to come back to familiar surroundings, just as we self-select in our lives to be around people we know the most, in places that we are most familiar with, even if such associations are not necessarily pleasant-

“….when a Hindu dies, his or her soul may be most comfortable reincarnating as a Hindu once again – perhaps even within the same general geographic area – simply because that particular soul finds doing so to be “easier” than starting over in a new and alien culture.....We as a species tend toward the path of least resistance; why should it be any different in the spiritual realm?[140]”

The story of Sant Bahinābāī (17th cent. CE) is illustrative in this regard. At the age of 72 years, Bahinābāī was finally at her deathbed. She summoned her son, saying that she will attain Moksha in 5 days’ time.

She also said to him, 

 “In my last twelve births, I have been striving to attain Moksha without success, but this time I will be united with Bhagavān. You have been associated with me in some way or the other in all of these 12 births. In the first three of these 12 births, I was born in the homes of Vaishya families. However, in all the cases, my family was advised not to marry me and let me be devoted to Bhagavān. I lived to the ages 13, 28 and 24 in these three lives. In the next four births, I was born in the families of milkmen. Again, I was very devoted to Bhagavān. In the last of these (viz. seventh lifetime), a Sadhu came to my family and declared that I was a Yogabhrashta – a person who was spiritually very advanced but not yet united with Bhagavān. As a result, my family asked the Sadhu to take me away. I advanced spiritually under the guidance of my Guru, and lived to the age of 63. In my lives 8-12, I was born in Brahmana families. In my 8th birth, I was married and also became a widow very early. But I too died at the age of 18. In my 9th birth, I lived only till the age of 9 years. In my 10th lifetime, I lived till the age of 42. And you, my son, were my eldest son in that life. In my 11th lifetime, I was married at the young age of 7 years. Fortunately, my husband was a yogi and he also became My Guru. I lived to the age of 43 years in that life. In my previous or the 12th life, I was born in the home of a very pious and religious couple. They married me to a man who was also very spiritual. Together, we advanced spiritually till I died at the age of 36. Now in this life, I have already seen how I will die. When my breath stops, my soul will depart and unite with Brahman – the Supreme Being. I will not be reborn thereafter. Just like the waters of a river merge with ocean, I will merge with Bhagavān. When the water puddle dries up, no one talks of reflection of a pot in it. Likewise, of what use is the body when my soul has united with Brahman? I am crossing this physical and material world, and will pass over into the infinite joy of Brahman!”[141]

Did these study subjects feel that their physical body was separate from their ātmā? Once again, the

Hindu viewpoint of the distinction between the body and the ātmā was vindicated-

“Soul entering the fetus. The 750 participants were almost unanimous on the point that their consciousness was separate from the fetus, and 89 percent stated that they didn’t become part of the fetus until the sixth month of pregnancy or later, with 33 percent joining the fetus just before and during the birth. Many reported being aware of their mother’s thoughts and feelings.”[142]

This timeline to somewhat corresponds with what the Hindu scriptures say, in greater detail, regarding conception and the subsequently union of the Jīva with the fertilized embryo/fetus. See section 11.1 below.

Finally, the respondents also confirmed the Hindu belief that the ātmā really has no gender-

Soul and the gender: “How important is the choice of sex? Again those responding to the question about choice, 24 percent said it made no difference. Interestingly, no one in her survey said the “inner self” was either male or female. Apparently, sex makes a difference to society but not to the soul, except for learning purposes.”[143]

Past Life Regression and Genus: PLR studies have also noted instances of human subjects recollecting past lives as animals and plants. For instance-

“In Exploring Reincarnation, Hans TenDam cites an example. Two men visited a town in Prussia for the first time in their lives. One of them was familiar with every house, street and tree in that town. Then he came across a house with a dog kennel and then remembered living there as a dog named Pitzky. A woman living nearby confirmed that such a dog had died there about 28 years previously. TenDam cites another case of a man who, during regression, remembered past lives as a moss, lava rock, frog, seal, monkey and then many lives as a human on various continents.”[144]

Each Jīva is assigned a subtle body which remains with it for the entire duration of the universe (or till it attains Moksha). This subtle body retains memories in the form of impressions from even non-human existences like animals or plants.[145]

9.4.1 Objections against use of Hypnotism for Past Life Regression 

Some object that hypnotism involves auto-suggestion to the subject by the hypnotist and therefore what the subject says is really the mental projection of the hypnotist. Secondly, some individuals are naturally prone to fantasizing and hypnotism could be merely enhancing their tendency to imagine things. However, these objections do not explain why under hypnosis, the subject recalls minute details from past life that turn out to be completely true.154

Many critics dismiss PLRs as hoaxes in which the hypnotist is himself involved. But the evidence to the contrary is simply overwhelming. People who have had undergone PLRs have been able to describe cities they have never visited, and have used their new found information to track down their own ‘graves’ (of the previous body), or their names in government records of cities they have never lived in. The descriptions of places and life revealed in these PLRs more often than not matches what historians know about these places in the remote past. Moreover, a researcher, 

“…found that 49 percent of past lives were lived as women, while 51 percent were those of men – just about what one would expect in a random distribution, not a hoax.”[146] 

The researcher, 

“….also found that the number of lives reported around 400 A.D. was half that reported around 1600 and that this number doubled once more around 1850 – duplicating exactly the actual increase in the population of the world.”156 

Under deep hypnotism, subjects have been able to speak ancient languages that are long extinct, and that [147]they have never learned; or have been able to write in ancient scripts that are no longer in use.[148]

9.4.2 Benefits of Past-Life Regression:[149]

In recent decades, PLRs have been put to therapeutic uses. For instance, people with medical conditions (e.g. persistent back ache) undergo a PLR to recall a previous life when they broke their back in an accident. The recollection of the cause of the backache then tends to have a beneficial effect on the alleviation of the backache. In one instance, a gentleman Bruce Kelly had a phobia of closed spaces. During a PLR, it was learned that he had died during WWII when the submarine he was in was sunk by a Japanese torpedo. The PLR cured him of this phobia.[150]

Some of the benefits claimed for PLR are:

1.       Emotional Healing: Latent emotions like anger, sadness and hatred etc., resulting from incidents in the past lives are exposed to the surface during PLR and released. This then leads to emotional healing.

2.       Physical Healing: Past life injuries can lead to unexplained physical discomfort. By reliving the cause of the pain during a PLR, the patient experiences immediate relief.

3.       Overcoming fears and phobias: A lot of people have unexplained phobias and fears of heights, loud sounds. During a PLR, the subject sees for himself the cause of these phobias and fears, and this revelation helps him overcome them.

4.       Mending personal relationships: People related in past lives might be reborn in close proximity to each other in their present lives too. Unfortunately, their past interactions with each other can cloud their personal feelings towards each other in their present lives. By reliving their past lives in a PLR, people understand the cause of the success or failures of their interpersonal relationships and they can accordingly make an informed choice on whether to mend them or to break them for their own good.

5.       Resurrection of skills acquired in past lives: For instance, if one were a sculptor in a previous life, a PLR can assist him to bring those skills back to the surface, leading him to improve his sculpting skills in the present life. 

9.4.3 Past Life Regression and Yogic Perspectives

The Yoga texts teach about meditation, during which the practitioner regulates his mental activities and eventually brings his mind into a state of non-activity and tranquility. In this deep state called Samādhi, the ātmā no longer experiences the world through the prism of the mind and instead exists as a pure, unconstrained conscious witness (Yoga Sūtras 1.2-3). This state enables the ātmā to take a more dispassionate and a detached as well as a longer view of its existence-

“From the witness position, where you review your life from a detached perspective, you can move to a place of healing and understanding in the interlife by focusing on the lessons you l[151]earned in that lifetime. These lessons are extremely meaningful in your soul’s development and are necessary for you to understand and integrate into your current life.”160

In several intermediate states of meditation, the outer layers of our mind first cease their activity and the mind then recedes into its inner or subconscious levels that store past life memories and their impressions. The Yogasūtras of Sage Patanjali describe how the witnessing ātmā then accesses these ancient memories and impressions dispassionately and clears them out of the system effectively. In fact, long time practitioners of Yoga frequently report being able to recall their previous lives. Likewise, the Buddhist tradition too acknowledges that prolonged practice of meditation can lead to past-life recollection-

“….according to early Buddhist doctrine residual memories from past lives, even though usually not remembered in the normal waking state, can be retrieved through the cultivation of deep states of meditation. Such ability to recollect one’s own past lives features as one of the insights gained by the Buddha on the night of his awakening.

A case documenting such recall has been reported from Thailand by Ian Stevenson. A Buddhist nun of about twenty years of age while meditating unexpectedly experienced memories of two past lives as an infant. For the most recent of these two lives, she was apparently able to give information about the names of the parents of the previous person and the location where they lived. She described that the father had a hole in one tooth and that he had regularly played a musical instrument to soothe the infant, and that the mother had a scar on her face and was holding the infant in her arms when it died, whereas the father at that time was out of the house trying to get medicine. According to Stevenson’s report, as far as he had been able to ascertain the nun had no prior contact with the family in question, yet all these details turned out to be correct.”[152]

Parable: Sage Jaigishavya Recalls his Past Lives[153]

Through intense meditation, Sage Jaigishavya came to see all of his past lives, across billions of years. He saw that in some lives, he was human, in others, he was animal, and yet in others, he lived in heaven. But, nothing seemed permanent. He discovered that he had lived in multiple universes and had been born again, and had died millions of times. Sometimes, he had been happy, at other times, he was sad. But none of these states was permanent. However, his soul stayed the same in all these lives. Therefore, he realized that there was not much gain in getting excited over little things, or in getting upset over temporary setbacks. Instead, one must continue to make progress in their entire life despite temporary setbacks.

Another Sage named Avātya asked him, “So what will you consider the greatest source of happiness in all your lives?” Jaigishavya replied – “True happiness results not from indulging in all kinds of temporary pleasures, but by being a balanced person and being contented. And even greater happiness is being one with Brahman, because that alone brings complete and eternal joy.”

The fact that meditation assists in past life recall is confirmed by modern studies as well-

“In David’s clinical experience, those clients who have the easiest access to past life recall tend to be people who have a regular meditation practice. They have strengthened their mind and opened up the channels between their conscious mind and their inner selves.”[154]

9.5 Soul Mates

Sometimes we come across total strangers and feel and instant and deep connection with them. There is no logical explanation for why people living far away and unknown to each other develop a close bond together, bypassing thousands of other individuals that they have known for a long time in their respective proximities. The discovery of soul mates is often attributed to some relationship with them in our previous lives-

“Imagine a tree, then the forest where it stands; then many other forests of trees. The twigs, leaves and fruits that spring from the same branch are soul families. The tree, with all its branches and offshoots, is a soul group. The forest containing the trees is a wider soul group. In life, we meet those who are from the same branch as ourselves, those who are from the same tree and those who are from the same forest, as well as those who are from completely different forests. When we meet close members of our soul family we often recognize them joyfully, as soul mates, feeling ourselves to be of similar ‘substance’ with them. Members of our genetic family may or may not be members of our close soul family.”[155]

Analogous to the concept of soul-mates is that of complementary schools discussed in section 13.0 below.

9.6 Phobias and Fears

Psychologists often use techniques like hypnotism to regress a person suffering from a phobia to recall an earlier incident in his life that that created and long lasting fear of certain situations and objects in his mind. Such healing sessions can result in catharsis but in many cases, no such incidence from one’s present life can be unearthed and past-life regression is then resorted to. It is often seen that one’s phobias and fears have an origin of what one experienced not in the present but in a past life, 

“Stevenson offers other examples of sensory association between objects that were significant in a claimed previous life, such as the case of a young Turkish boy who said he remembered a previous life that ended when a van in which he was riding crashed against the abutment of a narrow bridge. He displayed a phobia of automobiles and also a marked phobia of the bridge where the accident had occurred, which was not far from his birthplace. Another Turkish case involved a child drowned in a river, which flowed near the subject’s village. It was noticed that he avoided going near the part of the river where the drowning had occurred. An Indian child remembered a previous life in which he had been murdered near a temple by a barber and a washerman. In this life, he had a generalized fear of all barbers and washermen, and he showed marked fear when taken to the area of the temple where the murder had occurred.”[156]

Like other Past-Life Regression therapies, the recollection of the real or imagined root-cause incident that created the mental fright has a therapeutic value-

“….the cases involving phobias apparently linked to past life events form just one avenue of exploration for researchers attempting to provide proof that reincarnation is a reality. For those whose lives have been blighted by the fear that phobias introduce onto their lives, recalling an apparent past-life event that rationalizes their mental distress – whether real or imagined – has a remarkable therapeutic value, regardless of whether or not they believe in reincarnation.”[157]

9.7 Child Prodigies

We encounter several kids who are amazingly talented in certain areas like painting, music, mathematics etc. even though receive the same education as the other kids. It seems that these children are naturally gifted from birth in their talents, and do not have to struggle as much as other kids to become master of certain skills. We call these naturally gifted kids as child prodigies.

It is said that Shri Madhvāchārya (1197-1273 CE), who grew to become one of the greatest teachers of the Vedanta philosophy of Hinduism, used to master his lessons in Hindu scriptures without the slightest efforts. His teachers would get upset seeing him play all the time, and scold him to pay more attention to studies. But Madhva always replied, “I think it is a waste of time to keep repeating the scriptures like a parrot, because I mastered them as soon as you taught me.” When the teachers asked Madhva to repeat his lesson, the child would recite entire chapters of Sanskrit lessons from memory, much to the astonishment of his teachers as well as his friends! And he also came first in all sports like running, swimming and wrestling. 

Similarly           Shankaracharya            (~700   CE)      wrote    his        famous commentaries on Vedantic scriptures by the age of sixteen years. Jnāneshvar wrote his famous commentary on the Bhagavad Gita at the age of seventeen. In the western world, the famous musician Wolfgang Mozart played the piano at the age of three, the violin at the age of four and composed his first full-length opera at the age of seven.

An argument against child prodigies resulting from past life influences is, 

“….if previous knowledge can be brought into a fresh incarnation, why doesn’t it happen more often? As there are many people who possessed great knowledge and skills in the past, child prodigies should be reasonably common, yet in reality such gifted children are rare, which seems to suggest other, more prosaic reasons for such early ability.”[158]

A potential response would be, 

“…It should be recognized that only recently have there been such large numbers of scientists, musicians, artists, and academicians on the planet; in past centuries such people were comparatively rare. As such, there would have been a very small “pool” of highly knowledgeable (or academic) souls out there looking to incarnate, making prodigies uncommon. Additionally, some prodigies may be born into a third-world culture in which such innate skills lie dormant and undiscovered, and it is even possible that only some souls are capable of transferring knowledge gained in one lifetime into the next or that it may be done only in special cases for specific reasons.

While child prodigies are rare, however, gifted children are not. Everyone knows children who are especially quick learners and seem to operate on a higher academic level than their peers. Could it be that those children we consider gifted or especially bright were actually educated individuals in a past life who, while no longer retaining the specific knowledge they held in that earlier incarnation, still retain the habit of learning they acquired then? The knowledge itself may not survive, but perhaps simply the desire to learn is the residual echo of an educated past life. Could that explain the apparent disparity we see in our educational system, where some students seem to excel while others struggle to drop out entirely?”[159]

Several critics however attribute to the development of child prodigies to genetics or to conditioning.

However, this does not seem to be a very satisfactory solution:

“Genetic inheritance fails to provide an answer to childhood genius. Moreover the children of a genius rarely turn out to be like their parents. This leaves two more possibilities. One is the environmental conditioning. Yet, how much conditioning can be instilled in three to four-year old children? Therefore the only satisfactory explanation for the above to attain mastery in their respective fields at a young age is the karmasamskāras [impressions of past karmas] of collective efforts in their past births.”[160]

An interesting and related concept to child-prodigies is that of ‘old-souls’ which we shall see later in Section 12.0. See also section 11.0 that discusses the explanatory value of the doctrine of Rebirth for the phenomenon of childhood spirituality.

9.8 Disparities and Peculiarities in Life

Examples of this proof include 1) genius child born to mediocre parents, 2) two identical twins having totally different character and abilities 3) unexplained causes of phobias that people have since their childhood. Past life regression can uncover the causes of these phobias in the present life. These are referred to in more detail above and below.

9.9 Emotions in the Newborn

Children learn to show emotions like fear, hate, love, grief, anger etc. only after observing these and learning them from others. Therefore, newborn children who have not been exposed to these emotions cannot exhibit them.

“A newborn child manifests marks of joy, fear and grief. This is inexplicable unless we suppose that the child, perceiving certain things in this life, remembers the corresponding things of the past life. The things which used to excite joy, fear and grief in the past life, continue to do so in this life. The memory of the past proves the previous birth, as well as the existence of the soul.”[161]

A newborn baby exhibits feelings of joy, fear and grief. This can only result from recollection of incidents in his past lives. Nyāya Sūtra 3.1.19

Suckling of his mother by the newborn without having been taught is another proof of a learned skill from a previous life-

“A child, just born, drinks the breast of its mother through the remembrance that it did so in the previous life, as a means of satisfying hunger. The child’s desire for milk in this life is caused by the remembrance of its experience in the previous life. This proves that the child’s soul, though it has abandoned a previous body and has taken on a new one, remembers the experiences of the previous body.

You do not come into the world in total forgetfulness and in utter darkness. You are born with certain memories and habits acquired in the previous birth. Desires take their origin from previous experiences. We find that none is born without desire. Every being is born with some desires which are associated with the things enjoyed by him in the past life. The desires prove the existence of his soul in previous lives.”[162]

As noted above, this proof of rebirth is stated in Hindu texts like the Charaka Samhita.

9.10 The Fear of Death 

The fear of death is also used as an argument to prove reincarnation.[163] If everyone is afraid of death although they have not experienced it in their present life, then it must be memories of deaths in past lives that makes people afraid of dying in their present life. All living creatures react to threats for the sake of self-preservation (referred to as ‘abhinivesha’ in the Yoga Sūtras), for the love of their life and due to the fear of death.

9.11 Déjà vu 

This is a merely a suggestive or low evidentiary phenomenon that points towards the validity of reincarnation-

“This French phrase means ‘already seen’ – a feeling of having been to a place before. Many people experience this when visiting a certain place for the first time in their lives…..instance of this is of the poet Percy Bysshe Shelley. Once while strolling with friends in the British countryside he remarked to the person next to him, “Over that hill there is a windmill.” As they reached the hilltop, the group saw the windmill and Shelley passed out, overcome by emotion….Hence, déjà vu also offers evidence supporting reincarnation.”[164]

9.11.1 Arguments against and for Déjà vu

Due to its subjective nature and a lack of specificity, Déjà vu has low evidentiary value, even when evaluated cursorily-

“Science insists that what we call déjà vu is simply a coincidental similarity between a present experience and a similar but forgotten past experience. For example, someone may feel a special familiarity with a house he has never before visited, not because he lived there in a previous life but because he has at one time or another visited a similar home that unconsciously reminds him of this one. And how many of us have not from time to time had a conversation that we’ve long since forgotten that is inadvertently repeated in the present? Memory is a tricky affair that is capable of playing all sorts of pranks on us.

However, this possible solution does little to explain the sheer amount of detail that is sometimes recalled in the best cases of déjà vu. Even a similarity of places or events cannot explain, for instance, how a man can correctly describe a maze of streets that lie just ahead in a small village he is visiting for the first time, nor does it seem to comfortably account for how a woman can recall with unerring exactitude the precise layout of a home she had never seen before, A similarity with places or things experienced in the past can only go so far; at some point, the odds against correctly guessing the street layout of a city or the location of various rooms within a sprawling mansion becomes astronomical.”[165]

10.0 Past Life and Homosexuality/Transgenderism 

The ātmā itself has no gender, which is determined by one’s physical body. In certain species, distinction between the two genders is not very distinct even in their physical body. In current times, there is an enhanced awareness of one’s sexual identity as a mental choice, preference or a construct. This consideration on the role of mind - which is the storehouse of one’s emotions and choices, memories of post life and the effects of karmas done in the past (whether in this life or the next) in determining one’s gender, beyond the binary (male-female) of physical construction, is very relevant in the context of a discussion on rebirth. PLR and other studies have shown that subjects recognize that their soul lacks a gender, and that they have switched genders randomly from one life to the next,

“…What if the underlying cause of homosexuality is neither environmental nor genetic, but is instead the result of a previous opposite-sex incarnation? Since regression therapists frequently encounter cases of men remembering that they were women in their immediate past life – and of women remembering they were men – could cross-gender reincarnation have a more profound impact than might seem immediately evident? In essence, are homosexuals (and bisexuals and transgender individuals, in general) “trapped” in the wrong body, as some have actually complained?”[166]

As the process of gender change does not happen systematically but at random, it is possible that the ātmā inhabits the same gendered bodies (say ‘male’) for several (say ‘20’) lifetimes before switching to the opposite gender (‘female’) in its next lifetime. As a result, the accumulated mental impressions from the string of same-sex (‘male’) lifetimes will linger on in the mind even during the next/new lifetime (‘female’, physically speaking). Therefore, even though this person has changed his physical gender, his mind has not. In other words, the person, despite being a ‘female’ from a purely physical standpoint in the present life, will continue to feel attracted towards other ‘females’ as in the previous ‘20’ ‘male’ lifetimes and thereby exhibit ‘homosexual/lesbian’ tendencies.

“But what then of bisexuality and those who change sexual orientation? If a man reincarnates as a woman but as a result of retaining a strong identification with that previous gender remains attracted to other women, what are we to make of those who seem to be attracted to both sexes equally? Doesn’t this also seem to challenge the idea of cross-gender reincarnation?

Possibly, but then the entire issue of human sexuality is a complex one. Is it possible that some bisexual tendencies are the result of a partially successful gender shift, but not a completely successful one? In other words, when souls move from one gender to the other, it is possible that the new personality the soul has generated may take some time to reacquaint itself to its new sexuality, and that the process of gender confusion is a part of that reorientation process? If one has lived several incarnations as a man and was suddenly reincarnated as a woman, one might be forgiven for imagining the process to be something less than simple. While some souls might make the transition easily, others may have to struggle to fit in to their new gender, producing a period of uncertainty in terms of sexual identity….In fact, it may take more than one incarnation into the same gender for a soul to accept its new sexual orientation (which is why a homosexual man may still recall a past life as a man, even though he still demonstrates transgender proclivities in his present life).

This is not to suggest that homosexuals or bisexuals are “flawed” in some way, or that experiencing life from the perspective of a homosexual/bisexual person may not possess certain benefits in terms of spiritual growth; it is simply to suggest that reincarnating may not be an easy or effortless process….”[167]

As seen in our normal lives, some people do not simply exhibit homosexual tendencies. They might exhibit other preferences like wearing ‘gender inappropriate’ (per social conventions) clothing, or showing ‘gender inappropriate’ mannerisms against the norms of the society around them. Some might even insist on undergoing expensive, painful and extensive surgical procedures to change their physical gender to align with their mental gender.

“Canadian psychologist and Theosophist Charles Lazenby offered a revision to Leadbeater’s theory of having up to seven incarnations before changing gender. He believed the soul experienced six lives as the same sex, to varying degrees, and for the seventh incarnation it would “take on the coloring” of the opposite sex before living six lives in that gender. He described this transitional phase as an “intermediate sex” in which individuals’ physical bodies belonged to one sex but their thoughts and desires belonged to the other. Today, the expression “being in touch with one’s masculine or feminine side” is an acknowledgement that our sexual nature is far more complex and perhaps less defined than previously thought, at least in those cultures where homosexuality is now socially acceptable and where transgender individuals can receive psychological and surgical support to help them deal with the conflict they perceive between their minds and anatomy. “I’ve been born in the wrong body” is a statement of fact frequently made by the latter, who make that assertion without any belief in a past life or the possibility that reincarnation may have influenced the way they feel. But that’s a possibility that Ian Stevenson was very aware of when he researched cases suggestive of reincarnation, particularly where the remembered life was in the opposite gender. In such cases, it is not uncommon for a child to insist on wearing clothes that would normally be worn by the opposite sex or to play games that would be associated with that sexual identity. He describes them as “sex change” cases, by which he means they have changed sex from one life to the next not that they have had surgery.”[168]

Homosexuality is excoriated unequivocally in Abrahamic religions. The Bible and the Koran describe incidents of God destroying entire cities because some or all of their residents were homosexuals. Orthodox Christians and Muslims believe that homosexuals are committing great sins by their actions and are condemned to eternal hell hereafter. But perhaps because of the core belief of rebirth in Hindu and other Dhārmic traditions, there is a lack of widespread or sweeping condemnation of homosexuals. There is no Hindu history of persecution or lynching of homosexuals. Beyond the binary of ‘male’ and ‘female’ genders, Hindu sacred literature acknowledges a ‘third’ nature that includes all other sexual orientations. Furthermore, in tune with the Hindu belief that the Divine abides equally in all creatures, all have an identical and eternal spark of the Divine within themselves, it is also declared that members of the third gender are also equally Divine-

I am all, whether eunuchs, men or women. Yajurveda, Taittirīya Āraṇyaka 1.11.10

This does not mean that Hindu Dharma condones or promotes homosexuality. It does expect individuals to reconcile with and accept the physical gender that they received due to their rebirth. Homosexual acts, especially among those who are married, are considered evil and abhorrent. But Hindus also abhor violence against homosexuals and do not hate them like the Abrahamics, nor do them condemn homosexuals to an everlasting hell hereafter. And the highest spiritual goal for any Hindu – make, female or of the third category, is to overcome sexuality or sexual distinctions to become merged in the Divine who is devoid of any gender. The story of a Hindu saint, originally from a Muslim community, is very instructive in this regard-

The Devotion of Raskhān: A beautiful story is narrated in Vaishnava hagiographies about Sant Raskhan, a Muslim Pathan who was born close to the town of Amroha in Uttar Pradesh in northern India in 1548 CE. His original name was Sayyad Ibrahim. He had homosexual leanings, and was infatuated with a Baniyā (trader) Hindu boy. Some Vaishnavas discussed amongst themselves, “If he can fall so deeply in love with a human being, how wonderful it would be if he were to fall in love with Krishna, the most handsome one? Falling in love with Bhagavān would lead Raskhan to Moksha, whereas falling in love with a human being will not take him anywhere.” They conspired with a local vendor who sold ‘paan’ (betel leaves wrapped around some condiments) to divert Raskhan towards a love for Krishna.

When Raskhan went to buy a paan from the vendor, the latter wrapped it in a piece of paper and gave it to his customer. When Raskhan unwrapped the paan, he was pleasantly surprised to see the picture of handsome Bhagavān Krishna. He asked the vendor whose picture it was. The vendor said, “Don’t you know of Krishna, our Lord, the most handsome

One. His mūrtis are in temples in Vrindavan.”

Raskhan decided to buy a green shawl and take it as a present for Krishna to the temple in Vrindavan. But, the priests stopped him at the entrance and said, “You cannot enter the Mandir, and we will also not accept your offering because this is a Hindu shrine, and you are a Muslim. Moreover, it is afternoon and the Mandir will be closed for the Lord to take his siesta. Please go away.”

Disappointed, Raskhan went away. After a few hours, when the priests unlocked the Mandir, they were shocked to see a green shawl wrapped around the shoulders of Krishna’s mūrtis, even though they had refused to accept that as a gift from Raskhan. The priests interpreted the miracle to mean that Raskhan was a true Bhakta of Krishna, and the Lord had Himself accepted the gift from the Muslim Bhakta. The priests went in search of Raskhan and found him singing bhajans in praise of Krishna on the banks of the Yamuna River nearby.

Raskhan was honored by the Vaishnavas of Vrindavan, and he chose to settle down in that area. For the rest of his life, he composed numerous verses in praise of Krishna. He also translated the Bhāgavata Purāņa into Persian, and also wrote verses in praise of Shiva and Durga. When he died, he was given a respectable funeral by the Vaishnava Hindus. The site of his funeral is marked by a monument that is still visited for pilgrimage by Hindus today.

The example of Raskhan showed how his pure love and devotion was accepted by Krishna, although Raskhan was a homosexual. Hindu tradition acknowledges this fact, and regards Raskhan as a

Hindu Vaishnava saint, whose songs are sung

reverentially by Hindus to the present day.

It might be noted that homosexuality is observed amongst animals as well and the same explanation as above applies in their case too.

11.0 The Doctrine of Rebirth & the Spiritual Potential of Children

The doctrine of rebirth helps Hindus to appreciate and accept the manifestation of spirituality in little children from a philosophical perspective.[169] The net result of such core beliefs and traditions is that childhood and adolescent spirituality is considered something ‘natural’ or explainable by ordinary Hindus. This acceptance manifests as the presence of numerous child or teenage ‘Gurus’, ‘Acharyas’ (teachers) and ‘Yogis’ in the Hindu society. However, acceptance of child and adolescent spirituality also implies that parents often get concerned when their loved child shows overt spiritual inclinations. Instead of considering them mentally ill, they try to bring him/her ‘back to the world’ via premature marriage, or through material comforts. Anandamayi Ma, A Hindu girl born in 1896 in Kheora (Bangladesh) was married off at the age of 13, but her husband soon discovered to his dismay that she was always engrossed in spiritual matters. He became her first disciple, and she herself rose to become one of the most celebrated Hindu mystics of modern India.[170] Likewise, the influential and affluent parents of Sri Ma in Assam launched a frantic search to recover their sixteen-year old daughter when she left her home to pursue her spiritual quests, but were unsuccessful.[171] 

11.1 Perspectives from Hindu Medical Texts 

Interestingly, the embryology and parturition sections of ancient Hindu medical (‘Ayurvedic’) texts[172] also argue in favor of the philosophy of rebirth from various perspectives[173] and then give a more ‘material’ or concrete basis for the development of and ‘retention’ of spiritual traits in infants and children. According to these texts, life commences immediately after conception, when the soul enveloped by a ‘subtle body’ (that includes mind and subtle forms of sense organs, and impressions of karma of previous lives) enters the fertilized egg[174]. In the third or the fourth month, the embryo actually becomes ‘alive’ or ‘conscious’ but is not an individual yet because its own experiences and feelings are dependent on that of the mother (and vice versa to some extent)[175]. The exchange of emotions between the mother and the embryo takes place through the umbilical cord, which is why the texts urge that all the wishes and cravings of a pregnant woman must be fulfilled. In the fifth month, the fetus is endowed with mind, in the sixth with sense of cognition[176]. In other words, the personality of a child starts developing (over and above the personality inherited from prior births) in the embryonic state itself and he does not have to wait for his physical birth to experience the sensations of the outer world. Popular Hinduism advocates that the expectant mother must listen to recitations of sacred texts and of religious hymns to enhance virtue and spirituality in the growing embryo. 

11.2 Perinatal Spirituality and Recollection of Births

Karma and Rebirth- Perspectives from the Spiritual Scriptures (Adhyātma Shāstras): Rebirth upon death is considered an axiomatic truth in all streams of Hindu tradition as stated earlier. In a spiritual text Garbha Upanishad[177] 3-4, a startling claim is made that in the ninth (lunar) month of pregnancy, the fetus is mature enough to recall its prior births –

“....then he remembers his earlier births and has a knowledge of his good and bad deeds: 

After I had thousands of times before lived in the mother’s womb, I enjoyed many kinds of food, And drunk many a mother’s breast. Born was I, died again and was continually born anew. 

What I did for my fellow-creatures, Work, good or bad. For that I must suffer alone; Those who enjoyed it, are gone. Alas! Sunk in the ocean of grief, I see no remedy.....If once I escape from mother’s womb. I shall meditate on the Supreme Being.

But then, when reaching at the opening of the genital organs, ... he is

hardly born,... then touched by the Vaishnava wind, [i.e. the wind of the outer world as against the wind in the body,] he can no more remember his births and deaths and has no knowledge any more of good and bad deeds.” Garbha Upanishad 3-4 (Bedekar and Palsule 1995, vol. 1, pp. 642-643, adapted slightly).

To paraphrase - While the baby is still in its womb, it is said to have memories of its previous lives. But as soon as the baby is born and it takes its first gulp of air and starts to breathe with its lungs, it loses its memories of past lives. The reason for this is that as soon as the baby starts to use its own lungs, a power called the Vaishṇavī Shakti comes into play and it jolts the brain and the subtle body, causing the child to lose its memories of past lives. It takes the subtle body and the soul a few years to connect to the physical brain completely, and this is why we do not remember much from the first 3-4 years of our lives. However, these memories are nevertheless stored in that portion of the subtle body called the Karmāshaya. 

According to a modern psychiatrist Stanislov Grof, 

“During a period that begins a month before birth and extends through birth, an intense physical experience occurs that can trigger your past life dramas and your past life     death      experiences.          There      is             a heightened intensity of experiences and a fluidity of consciousness that is similar to the death experience.

In this stage, your karmic memory is activated along with karmic patterns that are imprinted during the birth cycle. With this in mind, it’s easy to see that current life patterns and issues activated at birth, and regressing to the birth cycle gives you an opportunity to both understand and rework those patterns.”[178]

It is held that if the impressions from previous lives due to engagement in religious and spiritual matters are very strong, individuals may manifest very strong spiritual urges at a very young age even without being motivated by external factors such as influence of religious friends, elders or teachers. If the fetus can remember its prior births, and if it has already reaped the fruit of all his karma, can it achieve spiritual realization while still in the

womb? Hindu scriptures seem to answer in the affirmative. A canonical Hindu text narrates –

“ ‘While I was in the womb, I knew all the births of the gods. A hundred strongholds made of steel guarded me. I burst out of it, with the swiftness of a hawk.’ Vamadeva spoke this verse even when he was lying in the womb.

He, knowing thus and springing upward, when the body is dissolved, enjoyed all desires in that world of heaven and became immortal, yea, became (immortal).” Aitareya Upanishad 2.5-6 

Sage Vamadeva of course took birth and lived as a liberated human being, attaining final deliverance when his mortal body died.

11.3 Children on the Paths to Moksha

Hinduism has traditionally advocated three major overlapping Yogas, or paths that lead to Liberation

(moksha) from the cycle of births and deaths, in which emphasis is placed on one of the three major aspects of Hindu philosophy. Children and teenagers figure in all these three traditions as enlightened souls and Gurus, more prominently in the first two for reasons discussed below.

Bhakti Yoga: This path entails loving devotion towards a Personal God worshipped typically as Vishnu or Shiva through prayers,188 repetition of His holy names and ritual worship. Philosophical acumen and proficiency in meditation, which take time, are less important. Famous examples of Prahlad and Markaṇdeya, Jnānasambandhār, etc. in this tradition may be cited as those of child Bhaktas. These stories exalt innocent devotion to God above everything else, and make liberation accessible to even children and teenagers. Even today, it is not uncommon to come across spiritually gifted children189 leading congregational chanting of hymns. Several prayers and hymns190 occurring in Hindu texts are ascribed to children. Jnaneshvari, the oldest surviving commentary on the Gita in an Indian vernacular and also one of the most

influential one, was completed by its author Sant Jnaneshvar in the year 1290, when he was merely nineteen years old. He and his siblings showed saintly qualities even as children, and are today revered by millions of members of the Warkari sect of Hindus.191 Numerous block-buster movies have been made on his life, and he is conventionally portrayed as a teenager with an angelic smile. 

Jnana Yoga: This path emphasizes that moksha results through adherence to spiritual philosophies combined with a renunciation of a world life, and practice of meditation.  Jnana-Yogis focus on texts such as Gita, Upanishads and Brahmasūtras. It would appear that the emphasis on mastery of abstruse philosophy and theology would prevent youngsters from becoming Jnana-Yogis. But, counter-intuitively, some of the greatest exponents of this path have been teenagers. The epic Mahabharata 3.132-134 narrates the story of Ashṭāvakra, who while still in his mother’s womb, spoke up to correct the errors in

188  The fact that many devotional traditions worship Bhagavān as a child (e.g. Ganesha, child Krishna etc.) is also relevant here. Hindus often like to compare these Devatas manifest with their children.

189

 A Hindu nun and a prominent contemporary politician named Uma Bharati owes her success in Politics in no small measure to her reputation of a charismatic preacher of the Hindu devotional text Bhāgavata Purāņa in her childhood.  190  An example of such a prayer supposedly composed by children is the Bālakrita Krishnastotra occurring in the

Brahmavaivarta           Purāņa.          The           prayer           in          Sanskrit           is           available          online           at

<http://sanskrit.gde.to/all_pdf/baalakrishnastotra.pdf> 29 November 2004

191  V G Pradhan (1967), p. 13 sqq.

his father’s recitation of Hindu scriptures. Enraged, his father Kahor cursed that he would be born with several physical deformities. Kahor himself however was defeated in a philosophical debate by Vandin, the court philosopher of King Janaka, and was therefore banished to the subterranean realm of Lord Varuṇa. When Ashṭāvakra turned twelve, he proceeded to the court of Janaka and defeated Vandin in a philosophical debate, freeing his father. The scintillating spiritual discourse on mystical intuition and the nature of Reality given by the boy Ashṭāvakra to Janaka is recorded in a famous spiritual text named Ashṭāvakra Gita.[179] 

The very revival of Hindu spiritual philosophy of Vedanta after setbacks caused by the rise of Buddhism in India is attributed to Adi Shankaracharya, a dynamic Hindu monk who lived only for a brief thirty-two years in the 7th–8th century CE.[180] Tradition states that his brilliant commentary on Brahmasūtras was completed by the age of sixteen.[181] For the rest of his life, he toured the entire Indian subcontinent, defeating rival scholars in philosophical debates and founding four major monasteries, which exist to this day. Three of these four monasteries recruit only life-long celibates to succeed the reigning pontiffs. And typically, the pontiff uses his spiritual intuition to nominate a spiritually inclined boy for grooming to this post. Therefore, it is not uncommon even in modern times for these institutions to be headed by teenage monks, to whom millions of Hindus bow in respect[182]. Significantly, the classical formulation of the four stages of life of a Hindu often assumes that one must pass through studentship, householder and hermit stages before proceeding to become a monk or an ascetic. But followers of this path who renounced the world as children or teenagers do not fail to cite the few scriptural passages that permit a young student to skip the marriage and hermit stages before becoming wandering monks to follow the path of Jnana-Yoga. The influential school of Advaita Vedanta of Shankaracharya rejects the older notion that an intensive study of ritual treatises and performance of Vedic rites as a student or householder are a pre-requisite for acquiring spiritual knowledge. This idea has also promoted the practice of initiating children and teenagers into monk-hood in Hindu communities. 

Karma Yoga and Rājayoga: This path combines the eightlimbed system of Rajayoga196 (meditation, spiritual exercises etc.) together with the performance of rituals and worldly duties with a goal but without expectation of any reward from the Supreme Being. Celibacy is a very important component of the Rajayoga practice, and the loss of one’s procreating fluids is said to result in spiritual impoverishment, and in degradation of one’s physical health and intellect. Conversely, adherence to celibacy ensures a youthful vitality even though the follower of this path may be quite advanced in age. Naturally then, tradition

considers the renowned practitioners of this path as ever-young celibates (‘kumāra’ or ‘kumārī’ for men and women respectively) who do not wither with age, and always maintain a youthful appearance of adolescents. This applies to forms of the Divine, such as Skanda mentioned above, and to Sages and Seers as well. Prominent examples of the latter are the perpetually teenaged four sons of Brahma (‘Brahmakumāras’), each of whom is credited with religious texts[183] or teachings recorded in texts authored by others.

12.0 Old Souls 

Children who exhibit great maturity and spiritual inclinations are often referred to as ‘old souls’. So are adults whose character shows great refinement and development. Why do old-souls come into being?

Using the analogy of a theme park, a modern Hindu teacher explains,

“Even though all souls are eternal, if a soul has many desires to fulfill within matter, it is likely to be a relatively young or new to the park. If they are bored with the park and ready to move on, then chances are that they are older souls who have been around for many [human] lifetimes. “Been there, done that” would be their motto and you would see them looking for the exit of the park rather than lining up for the next ride. In other words, humans are here in the park to collect a certain amount of experience, just as the soul had previously done previously by taking birth in the lower species.”[184]

The existence of old souls among us is often taken as another proof for the theory of rebirth,

“Aside from simply being more mature souls, old souls serve a vital function on a macroscopic scale as well, for they are the impetus behind every great forward stride humanity has taken toward its collective enlightenment. For example, the abolition of slavery may not have been possible until enough old souls jointly decided that slavery was no longer an acceptable way to treat human beings and, through the sheer force of their will alone, were able to convince enough young souls to follow them and abolish the hated practice. As such, some of the greatest abolitionists in history may have been old souls (despite their shortcomings in other areas). Human rights activists, peacemakers, political dissidents, spiritual teachers, civil rights leaders, freeranging physicians and caretakers along with a whole host of those who strive to make a more peaceful, just, and compassionate world are often old souls who are determined to make a difference and alter the face of society. Many may give their lives in the process; others will sacrifice careers, family, wealth, and even safety in the effort to drag society a little further along the road toward enlightenment. Old souls do not look to escape the brutalities of this world but instead seek to change the world so that brutality disappears from its face. Though old souls often fail and are sometimes crushed beneath the heel of a dictator’s boot, their capacity to shape the direction of the society – while frequently imperceptible – is relentless and inexorable, and is frequently seen only in hindsight many centuries after the fact. But their effects are felt and will continue to be appreciated in the coming centuries as humanity strives to pull itself out of darkness and into the light of its own divinity. That is only one of the positive products of reincarnation, but one of its most important.”[185]

13.0 Identical Twins, Complementary Souls and Group Reincarnation 

In most cases, twins exhibit different behaviors, abilities, temperaments and likes. However, in rare cases, twins exhibit similar tastes with regard to hobbies, likes and dislikes, behaviors and so on. Does this mean that a single soul inhabits their different bodies? Or did a single soul split into two and animated their different bodies? These two options are rejected by Hindu scriptures, and even logically, a different explanation might be offered, reminding one of the Ashvins (the twin divine physicians) or the pair of Nara-Nārāyaṇa mentioned in the Hindu scriptures (in the second case, the two are not biological twins but inseparable pair of men who are closely associated with each other over several lifetimes, working together for their spiritual progress:

 “It is also possible there is such a thing as “complementary souls” – souls so close in temperament and personality as to be almost carbon copies of each other – that choose to travel together through multiple incarnations, always manifesting through sets of identical twins (or even triplets). Considering the almost unlimited combinations of soul and body experiences possible in the spiritual realm, right down to the souls that travel like a pack of wolves – not in an effort to hunt down and destroy, but in an effort to facilitate and participate in each other’s spiritual evolution.”[186]

The concept of ‘complementary souls’ is reminiscent of ‘soul-mates’ discussed above. Twins (even conjoined Siamese twins) who are raised under identical conditions and have the same genetic heritage nevertheless tend to show very different personalities. For e.g., the first pair of Siamese twins (Chang and Eng) showed very different personalities. One was sober, the other an alcoholic. One was aggressive whereas the other had a very docile personality. Likewise, there are numerous cases of triplets, quintuplets etc. where individuals with the same genetic inheritance had totally different personalities and came to live totally different lives.[187] 

Another interesting situation is that of Group Reincarnation, in which members of the same group or community are reborn collectively, close to each other. The following example may be cited[188]-

“Compelling cases of group reincarnation are also cited by regression therapists Janet Cunningham in her book A Tribe Returned (1994) and Marge Reider in Mission to Millboro (1993). In the former, Cunningham herself is also a member of a group of Native Indians known as the Oglala tribe in the Dakotas, who were massacred by white soldiers. They took birth in the 20th century in order to heal themselves of their past suffering. Incredibly, the soldiers also reincarnated and married members of the Oglala tribe to work out their guilt!

Marge Reider cites the story of people in a town named Millboro in the state of Virginia during the American Civil War, who reincarnated and were related to each other.

Rabbi Yonassan Gershom in his book Beyond the Ashes (1992), describes Jews who died in the Holocaust who have reincarnated in the US.”

14.0 What shapes our Personality?

Personality is referred to by words like ‘svabhāva’, ‘prakṛti’ and ‘pravṛtti’ in Hindu sacred literature. As in modern times, these ancient texts mention several alternative and complementary views regarding what determines one’s personality. One’s intrinsic nature determines character traits like aptitude, inner values, preferences and so on. The Gita declares that it is indeed very difficult to overcome one’s nature – 

Even the man of knowledge acts according to his own nature (Prakriti). All creatures follow their own nature. What can repression accomplish? Gita 3.33

This verse is treated as a hyperbole traditionally because it is possible to improve upon one’s natural flaws and defects although it takes considerable determination, effort, faith and wisdom. Moreover, the verse emphasizes the futility of attempts to be in a state of total inaction (unless in deep meditation) because the Guṇas of Prakriti impel one to act at every moment, in some way or the other. The following four factors are enumerated in Hindu texts as determinants of one’s nature or personality. Most of these factors are also recognized in modern behavioral sciences.

14.1 Genetics

In traditional cultures, one’s genetic lineage was considered a very important determinant of one’s personality because cultural and ethnic values were passed down within families from generation to generation and the communities was more static and insular compared to modern times. But this factor as a determinant of one’s personality tends to be undermined or even ignored in modern times because of increased intermixing and interactions between communities, a pervasive and standardized modern system of education and so on. Historically, equating the nature of individuals or even entire races to their genetic heritage has led to great crimes like the Jewish holocaust in Europe or the practice of untouchability in the Indian subcontinent. It often leads to demeaning stereotypes and prevents individuals from developing and displaying their full potential in the society and in their professions because the assumption is that ‘he is supposed to behave like this because of his heredity’.

Manu’s code of Dharma declares -

A man cut off from his class, who is unknown, of impure origin, and although not of noble lineage, has the appearance of the noble class, would be identified by his actions. Manusmriti 10.57

Dishonorable behavior, coarseness, cruelty, and neglect of prescribed duties reveal a man of impure origin in this world. Manusmriti 10.58

Whether he has the character of either his father or his mother, or both, a man of low origin can never conceal his own nature. Manusmriti 10.59

Even though born in an eminent family, if a man’s birth results from a mixture of classes, he acquires that very character to a lesser or greater extent. Manusmriti 10.60

One model in Hindu tradition for explaining how genetic lineage impacts one’s behavior is that of the four varṇas or social classes. This is evident from the verses cited above as well. The Gita too remarks –

Scorcher of enemies! The duties of the Brahmins, the Kshatriyas, the Vaishyas and of the Shudras are allocated according the guṇas born of their nature. Gita 18.41

Serenity, self-control, austerity, purity, forbearance, and uprightness, wisdom, knowledge and faith in afterlife – these are the duties of the Brāhmaṇas, born of their nature. Gita 18.42

Valor, majesty, steadfastness, resourcefulness, not fleeing even in a battle, charity and leadership, these are the duties of Kshatriya born of their nature. Gita 18.43

Agriculture, cattle-rearing, and trade are the duties of a Vaishya born of his nature. The work comprising of service is the duty of a Shudra, born of his nature. Gita 18.44

The Gita nowhere explicitly states that birth determines one’s varṇa and instead ties it to one’s Guṇas (Sattva, Rajas, Tamas) and duties in verse 4.13.

The system of four varṇas was created by Me according to the division of Guṇas and Karmas. Gita 4.13ab

In the Shudras there is a preponderance of Tamoguṇa, of Rajoguṇa in the Kshatriyas and of Sattvaguṇa in the Brāhmaṇas. In this way, the three Gunas predominate in these three varṇas. Anugita 23.11

The Upanishad also states that one’s Karma in previous life determine rebirth in specific varṇas and a clear hierarchy by is thereby implied:

Those whose conduct here has been good will quickly attain a good birth (literally womb), the birth of a Brahmin, the birth of a Kshatriya, or the birth of a Vaisya. But those whose conduct here has been evil, will quickly attain an evil birth, the birth of a dog, the birth of a hog or the birth of a Chandāla. Chhāndogya Upanishad 5.10.7

What one fails to forget, while criticizing these passages is that birth is only one determinant of one’s varṇa. In numerous passages in Hindu scriptures, it has been stated that the character of a person is the true determinant of one’s varṇa and it overrules even one’s parentage –

If a man shows characteristics of a Varṇa different from that of his birth, then he should be designated by the former, and not by the Varṇa of his birth. Bhāgavata Purāņa 7.9.35

No one is a Brahmana, a Kshatriya, a Vaishya, a Shudra or a Mleccha (barbarian) by birth. Qualities and deeds alone decide division of humans into these categories. Shukranītisāra 1.38

All humans have originated from Brahmā, but are all of them called Brāhmaṇas? (This shows that)

Varna and parentage do not automatically give Brahmatejas (spiritual splendor) to anyone. Shukranītisāra 1.39

Yudhishthira said: O Snake, in my opinion, all human beings in this world have an admixture of Varnas in them. Therefore, it is very difficult to determine their true Varna from their lineage. Mahabharata 3.177.26

I see that men of all Varnas beget children from women of all Varnas. Speech, sex, birth and death – these are common to all human beings. Mahabharata 3.177.27

‘May we sacrifice to the Devas, whoever we are’ – through the force of this Vedic statement, all humans perform Vedic yajnas. Therefore, the wise consider character alone as the primary factor (in deciding one’s Varna). Mahabharata 3.177.28

If, even after the performance of the sacred rites of passage (saṃskāras), an absence of good character is seen in a person, then consider an admixture of castes to be the strongest cause (of why that person does not conform to the nature of his Varna). Mahabharata 3.177.31

Therefore, he who is cultured and has a good character alone has been described by me as a Brahmana. Mahabharata 3.177.32

Sage Bhrigu said: He who has been purified by Jātakarma and other rites of passage (samskāras), who is engrossed in the study of the Vedas, who performs the six duties (twilight worship of sandhyā, ablutions, japa or recitation of sacred texts, homa or Vedic fire sacrifice, worship of deities and serving guests and all other living creatures)…Mahabharata 12.182.2

Who is saturated with purity and good conduct, who eats only the food that is left over after offering to the Deities, who is the beloved of his Guru, always keeps his religious vows and always pursues truth – he is indeed called a Brahmana. Mahabharata 12.182.3

Truth, charity, control over senses, absence of enmity, absence of cruelty, forgiveness, compassion and austerity – in whom these characteristics are seen, he alone is called a Brahmana. Mahabharata 12.182.4

He who pursues the duties of protecting masses, is engrossed in the study of Vedas, gives alms and collects taxes is called a Kshatriya. Mahabharata 12.182.5

Agriculture, dairy farming, trade, give charity, study the Vedas and remaining pure – he who has these characteristics is called a Vaishya. Mahabharata 12.182.6

That person who is always engrossed in enjoying material objects, who performs manual tasks, is impure, does not study the Vedas and indulges in inappropriate behavior – such a person is called a Shūdra. Mahabharata 12.182.7

If the characteristics of a Shūdra are not seen in a Shūdra, then he is not a Shūdra. And if the characteristics of a Brahmana are not found in a Brahmana, then he is not a Brahmana. Mahabharata 12.182.8

The snake asked: There are four Varnas in this world – Brāhmaṇas, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas and Shūdras. All the four of them accept the authority of the Vedas. If a Shūdra exhibits qualities of character such as truth, charity, forgiveness, refined behavior, ahimsa and compassion, then will he become a Brahmana? Mahabharata 3.177.18

Yudhishthira replied:  If the expected characteristics are not seen in a Brahmana or in a Shūdra, then that Brahmana is not a Brahmana and that Shūdra is not a Shūdra. Mahabharata 3.177.20 But the Shūdra in whom these qualities (of a Brahmana) are present is a Brahmana, and in the Brahmana in whom the qualities of a Shūdra are present is a Shūdra indeed. Mahabharata 3.177.21

Even the Shudra who knows the scriptures and is cultured becomes a Brahmana. Mahābhārata

13.143.46

In fact, in this same text (Chhāndogya Upanishad), we have the story of Satyakāma Jabāla, whose father was unknown and mother a maid of easy virtue. Yet, his fidelity to truth even at great personal risk made him eligible to acquire the knowledge of Brahman. Likewise, a cart driver Raikyamuni taught Brahmavidyā to King Jānashruti Pautrāyana. Even today, the Raikas are a nomadic, pastoral community in the Thar desert. And as discussed above, one’s birth into a specific varṇa is not just an accident but a choice resulting from karma that one had performed in his previous life. The problem arises when these social classes become very hierarchical and rigid with no ability to adopt another varṇa or profession.

Going beyond these controversies involving the role of varṇa in determining one’s personality, what does modern science have to say about the influence of genetics on one’s behavior? We all know that several mental disorders are indeed transmitted genetically. These disorders can run in families from generation to generation, which is why marrying genetically close relatives is forbidden in the Hindu community.

Modern genetics and behavioral sciences too have extensively studied the impact of one’s parentage on human behavior. The rapidly advancing field of Epigenetics indicates how distinctive traits including mental trauma and so on can be transmitted genetically across several generations.[189]

14.2 Environment

Identical twins raised in a different environment (e.g. one given up for adoption into a different family) grow up to be quite different individuals, more so than if they were raised together and offered the same opportunities etc. The impact of our surroundings, the educational and other opportunities offered to us, the communities that we live in on one’s personality has been studied well. Like all religions, Hindu Dharma too emphasizes that it is the duty of parents to educate their children, that we should select our companions and friends judiciously and that for our spiritual progress, we ought to avoid the company of evil doers and seek the company of those who are spiritual, virtuous and disciplined. The Dharmic traditions also emphasize selecting our environment by focusing our mind and senses only in ideas and objects that are noble and spiritual. In other words, we aren’t just passive implants into an environment. We also select some of the environment to place ourselves within.

14.3 Personal Effort

The third factor that shapes our personality is our own effort in acquiring specific abilities or skills, character traits, knowledge and in making conscious choices among various options. Even Hindu sacred texts that give great importance to one’s genetic inheritance as a factor in determining personality nevertheless state that we can make conscious choices and gradually alter our personality-

In the midst of the confusion of classes, those castes, whether concealed or revealed, that have been determined by their respective fathers and mothers, many be recognized by their particular occupations. Manusmriti 10.40

But in age after age in this world, according to the strength of their austerities and their seed, they are pulled up or dragged down in birth among humans. Manusmriti 10.42

By failing to perform the prescribed ceremonies and to obtain guidance from the Brāhmaṇas, the following Kshastriya castes have gradually sunk to the condition of Shudras among men....Manusmriti 10.43

In the Bhagavad Gita, no one is our greater enemy or well-wisher than ourselves-

Krishna said-

One should uplift the ātmā by the ātmā, and one should not degrade the ātmā. Indeed, the ātmā alone is the friend of the ātmā, and the ātmā alone is the enemy of the ātmā. Gita 6.5

For him who has conquered his ātmā by his own ātmā, the ātmā is a friend. But for him who has not conquered his ātmā, the ātmā remains hostile, like an enemy. Gita 6.6

One must be extremely disciplined, persevering and knowledgeable in the proper means of selfimprovement,

Krishna said-

Mighty Armed, without doubt, the mind is difficult to control and is restless. But, Son of Kunti, it can be controlled by constant effort (abhyāsa) and indifference towards worldly objects (vairāgya).

Gita 6.35

Yoga is hard to attain by one who is not self-disciplined in my opinion. But for one who is selfdisciplined, it is attainable by striving with proper means. Gita 6.36

Yogabhāṣhya 1.12 explains that the restless mind is like a river that never ceases to flow if it is not restrained. This mind-river either flows towards good, or it flows towards evil. If the mind-river flows towards good, it results in spiritual upliftment. But if it flows, due to attraction for worldly objects, towards evil, it results in getting trapped in the cycle of birth and deaths. One must block the current of the river flowing towards evil by ‘vairāgya’ or dispassion towards worldly objects and attractions towards them. And one must open the flow of the mind-river towards good through ‘abhyāsa’ or constant effort and discrimination between what is noble and what is not. 

In the present life, we have no control over the body that we are born with. Often, the environment that we are placed in is also largely non-changeable. But personal effort is that factor that we can influence considerably by making the right choices, effort and learnings as much as we can. Repeated effort in a specific direction leads to habit formation. A collection of habits constitute our character. Therefore it is essential to watch our actions so that we develop a Dharmic personality. The Upanishads and other texts teach-

Indeed, one becomes good by good karma, and bad by bad karma. Brihadāraṇyaka Upanishad 3.2.13

According as one acts, according as one behaves, so does he become. The doer of good becomes good, the doer of evil becomes evil. One becomes virtuous by virtuous action, bad by bad action. Brihadāraṇyaka Upanishad 4.4.5

Bad Karmas are the cause of bondage. When the effects of these bad Karmas is experienced, and is exhausted as a result, and thereafter when the mind and body are purified with good Karmas, then that person becomes inclined towards practicing austerities and Yoga. Mahābhārata 3.209.39

Acts of Yajnas, Austerity and Charity must not be forsaken and they must be performed.  Yajnas, Austerity and Charity are indeed the purifiers of the wise. Gita 18.5

A modern Hindu teacher also explains,

“Every person, through each thought, word, and deed, is constantly changing and altering the shape of his or her psychophysical system, which the Bhagavad Gita refers to as svabhāva, or inner disposition…Our actions leave behind results that alter our inner disposition – for better or worse.”[190]

14.4 Effects of Previous Lives

Whereas modern theories of personality acknowledge the first three factors, they do not include the last fact now being discussed – which is the effect of our previous lives on our personality. Although modern psychology indicates that the child develops his personality only by the age of four, it is seen that each child appears to be born with an inherent nature even before he turns four years of age-

“And yet, why does it appear that children often emerge from the womb with very different and distinct characteristics – characteristics that emerge long before the child is old enough to experience anything that could emerge long before the child is old enough to experience anything that could conceivable shape his or her personality? Additionally, many child psychologists claim that a child’s basic personality is often set by the age of four, but, if so, how exactly are later experiences molding the future personality? If a child is naturally impatient, for instance, being put into a situation in which patience is called for will more likely be perceived as tortuous rather than a growth experience. The child may learn to deal with his impatience in more constructive ways as he or she grows older, but the underlying impatience will still be there – it’s simply under better control. If experiences shape our personality, however, then being forced to wait should eventually result in a more patient persona, yet this is seldom the case. Life experiences may shape our coping mechanisms or even reveal to us things we may need to work on, but they rarely alter a person’s basic nature…”[191]

Modern psychological theories are simply inadequate in explaining why siblings too exhibit great differences in their personality even during their infancy-

“Despite what Western psychology teaches us about the overriding importance of family influence, those of us who have observed young children are immediately stuck by the great differences between one child and another within the same family. Psychologists try to account for this through differences on body, brain or genetic inheritance and then also suggest that the family environment is never quite the same for any two children. However, those who are around children find that the differences between siblings is often so great that the aforementioned factors, important as they may be, never seem to quite account for the observable facts. Even an infant who has not yet been subjected to much family influence already may show striking differences from the way its brothers and sisters behaved at the same stage of development. The notion that the child may bring its own innate tendencies into its present birth seems to fit the facts more closely, although it certainly runs into the prejudices of most Westerners and is quickly rejected on that account.”[192]

Hindu sacred literature gives the obvious explanation for this – that one’s personality is shaped by actions performed repeatedly in earlier lives-

The physical, mental and verbal abilities of people become apparent in this life due to practice in previous lives, despite being reborn. Vāmana Purāṇa 64.18

The Yogashāstra discusses quite elaborately how the saṃskāras, or the effects of voluntary actions, influence the very species or state (e.g. rich or poor) into which we are reborn. A portion of these saṃskāras also shape our personality in our current life – our likes and dislikes, aptitudes, phobias, philias, innate skills, natural talents and so on. As Swami Vivekananda explains-

“Just as a large number of small waves create a big wave, the effects of Karma accumulate to form tendencies, an aggregation of which in a personality we call character. Man is like a center attracting all the powers of the universe towards himself, fusing them all together and sending out his inner reaction to them as a current – the manifestation of his will, which in common parlance we call his personality or character.”[193]

The story of the rebirths of King Bharata in the Bhāgavata Purāṇa, as retold by Swami Vivekananda, brings together numerous concepts in this section and several preceding ones:

Story: The Many Lives of Emperor Bharata

“The great king Bharata in his old age gave over his throne to his son, and retired into the forest. He who had been ruler over millions and millions of subjects, who had lived in marble palaces, inlaid with gold and silver, who had drunk out of jeweled cups – this king built a little cottage with his own hands, made of reeds and grass, on the banks of a river in the Himalayan forests. Then he lived on roots and wild herbs, collected by his own hands, and constantly meditated upon Him who is always present in the soul of man. Days, months, and years passed. One day, a deer came to drink water nearby where the royal sage was meditation. At the same moment, a lion roared at a little distance off. The deer was so terrified that she, without satisfying her thirst, made a big jump to cross the river. The deer was with young, and this extreme exertion and sudden fright made her give birth to a little fawn, and immediately after she fell dead. The fawn fell into the water and was being carried rapidly away by the foaming stream, when it caught the eyes of the king. The king rose from his position of meditation and rescuing the fawn from the water, took it to his cottage, made a fire, and with care and attention fondled the little thing back to life. Then the kindly sage took the fawn under his protection, bringing it up on soft grass and fruits. The fawn thrived under the paternal care of the retired monarch, and grew into a beautiful deer. Then, he whose mind had been strong enough to break away from lifelong attachment to power, position, and family, became attached to the deer which he had saved from the stream. As he became fonder and fonder of the

deer, the less and less he could concentrate his mind upon the Lord. When the deer went out to graze in the forest, if it were late in returning, the mind of the royal sage would become anxious and worried. He would think, “Perhaps my little one has been attacked by some tiger – or perhaps some other danger has befallen it; otherwise, why is it late?”

Some years passed in this way, but one day death came, and the royal sage laid himself to die.

But his mind, instead of being intent upon the self, was thinking about the deer; and with his eyes fixed upon the sad looks of his beloved deer, his soul left the body. As a result of this, in the next birth he was born as a deer. But no Karma is lost, and all the great and good deeds done by him as a king and sage bore their fruit. The fruit was a born Jatismara, and remembered his past birth, though he was bereft of speech and living in an animal body. He always left his companions and was instinctively drawn to graze near hermitages where oblations were offered and the Upanishads were preached.

After the usual years of a deer’s life had been spent, it died and was born as the youngest son of a rich Brahmin. And in that life also, he remembered all his past, and even in his childhood was determined no more to get entangled in the good and evil of life. The child, as it grew

up, was strong and healthy, but would not speak a word, and lived as one inert and insane, for fear of getting mixed up with worldly affairs. His thoughts were always on the Infinite, and he lived only to wear out his past Prarabdha Karma. In course of time the father died, and the sons divided the property among themselves; and thinking that the youngest was a dumb, good-for-nothing man, they seized their share. Their charity, however extended only so far as to give him enough food to live upon. The lives of the brothers were often very harsh to him, putting him to do all the hard work; and if he was unable to do everything they wanted, they would treat him very unkindly. But he showed neither vexation nor fear, and neither did he speak a word. When they persecuted him very much, he would stroll out of the house and sit under a tree, by the hour, until their wrath was appeased, and then he would quietly go home again.

One day, when the wives of the brothers had treated him with more than usual unkindness, Bharata went out of a tree and rested. Now it happened that the king of the country was passing by, carried in a palanquin on the shoulders of bearers. One of the bearers had unexpectedly fallen ill, and so his attendants were looking about for a man to replace him. They came upon Bharata seated under a tree; and seeing that he was a strong young man, they asked him if he would take the place of the sick man in bearing the king’s palanquin. But Bharata did not reply. Seeing that he was so able-bodied, the king’s servants caught hold of him and placed the pole on his shoulders. Without speaking a word, Bharata went on. Very soon after this, the king remarked that the palanquin. But Bharata did not reply. Seeing that he was so able-bodied, the king’s servants caught hold of him and placed the pole on his shoulders. Without speaking a word, Bharata went on. Very soon after this, the king remarked that the palanquin was not being evenly carried, and looking at the palanquin addressed the new bearer, saying, “Fool, rest a while; if thy shoulders pain thee, rest a while.” Then Bharata laying the pole of the palanquin down, opened his lips for the first time in his life, and spoke, “Whom do you, O King, call a fool? Whom do you ask to lay down the palanquin? Who do you say is weary? Whom do you address as ‘you’? If you mean, O King, by the word ‘you’ this mass of flesh, it is composed of the same culture as yours; it is unconscious, and it knows no weariness and it knows no pain. If it is the mind, the mind is the same as yours; it is universal. But if the word ‘you’ is applied to something beyond that, then it is the Self, the Reality in me, which is the same as in you, and it is the One in the universe. Do you mean, O King, that the Self can ever be weary, that it can ever be tired, that it can ever be hurt? I did not want, O King – this body did not want to trample the poor warms crawling on the road, and therefore, in trying to avoid them, the palanquin moved unevenly. But the Self was never tired; It was never weak; It never bore the pole of the palanquin: for it is omnipotent and omnipresent.” And so he dwelt eloquently on the nature of the soul, and on the highest knowledge, etc. The King, who was proud of his learning, knowledge, etc., and philosophy, alighted from the palanquin, and fell at the feet of Bharata, saying,

“I ask thy pardon, O mighty one, I did not know that you were a sage, when I asked you to carry me.” Bharata blessed him and departed. He then resumed the even tenor of his previous life. When Bharata left the body, he was freed forever from the bondage of birth.”[194]

15.0 Benefits of Believing in the Doctrine of Rebirth[195]

A conviction in the doctrine of rebirth has several potential benefits as discussed below:

1.                   The person has a reduced fear of death. Even though death is inevitable for all of us, we fear it greatly. Knowing that death is not the end of life, and is just a doorway to the next life is a comforting belief that helps us cope with the fear of our death. Likewise, the death of a beloved relative or friend can cause immense grief in one’s life. Knowing that the dead person is not really ‘dead’ but has merely proceeded to the next station in the journey of his soul does not eliminate the grief completely, but does reduce it considerably.

“Reincarnation allows us to see our existence not in the context of a single brief earthly visit, but in the context of a hundred such visits. It allows us the luxury of recognizing that our deaths won’t be the end of our lives, but the beginning of another, and permits us to live out our lives without self-recrimination, knowing that everything we’ve done – no matter how selfish or evil – is a part of the sometimes painful process of spiritual maturation. It also permits us the dignity of securing our own salvation not through some carte blanche absolution resulting from membership in a particular religion or by professing a specific creed, but by taking responsibility for our own lives and actions and learning to grow beyond our very human frailties and weaknesses.”[196]

2.                   It can inspire or promote good behavior and offer hope of improvement to those whose conduct has been immoral in the past-

“Each life with all its actions and sufferings is on the one hand the inevitable consequence of the actions of a former birth, and the conditions on the other hand by the actions committed in it the next succeeding life. This conviction begets not only a real consolation to the sufferings of existence, which are universally seen to be self-inflicted, but is also a powerful incentive to habitual right conduct, and the instances from Indian epic and dramatic poetry are numerous in which a sufferer propounds the question, “What crime must I have committed in a former birth?” and adds immediately the reflection, “I will sin no more to bring upon myself grievous suffering in a future existence.”[197] 

“However, while these (western) religions remain largely skeptical of the validity of transmigration or its value as a theory or doctrine, there is little doubt that some sectors of humanity have benefitted from belief in transmigration. Perhaps the most significant contribution of this doctrine has been the promotion of an ethical worldview rooted in the belief in an afterlife shaped by earthy conduct, associated with the need to acquire divine knowledge and an understanding of the true nature of the soul in order to secure release from continuous deaths and rebirths.”[198]

3.                   The doctrine of rebirth makes us more accepting and resilient towards the temporary upheavals in our lives – like bankruptcy, lay-off; and also more balanced in our reactions to good fortune (e.g. winning a lottery). This is because we know that these incidents are but a small change in the many lives of our soul. A believer in the doctrine of rebirth is more forbearing, and has greater fortitude because he knows that these incidents are temporary, whereas the soul is eternal. 

“Belief in transmigration, incorporating as it does the promise or possibility of a better life to come, has also served as a support system for many of its followers through the ages. For those suffering under oppressive circumstances, a belief in transmigration has provided a vehicle for sustaining the hope of a better future for themselves and their children.”[199]

Each life is seen as a gift from Bhagavān to us so that we can make progress towards Moksha. Therefore, a believer in rebirth is always aware of the purpose of his life, and is not easily distracted by trivial things or incidents.

4.                   The doctrine of rebirth teaches that different souls are at different levels of spiritual wisdom and enlightenment. Each life is an opportunity given to us to learn and advance in our spiritual journey towards the Divine. This awareness can help us in being more patient and understanding towards others, whose beliefs and behaviors are primitive or different from ours. Every individual takes his own time to learn and progress, and it is not appropriate for us to be arrogant or intolerant towards others whom we deem to be less enlightened.

“The experiences of reincarnation connect you with the larger reality, with the interconnectedness of all things. It puts you in touch with your own journey of learning and increases your empathy and compassion for others. Everyone is on the same journey of the soul; we are all in the same boat.”[200]

5.                   A deep faith in the doctrine of rebirth makes us more sympathetic and appreciative of individual differences of cultures, languages, religions, opinions, behaviors, circumstances, health, looks and intelligence. As a result we do not discriminate against others on the bases of these differences, and realize the fact that we ourselves might have had the same different characteristics in a past life or in a future life. We become more accepting of our friends and family members – our kids, our spouses, our coworkers and so on. Our different lives are woven together like a web, and we have come together with them in our present life because of some purpose, or due to some connections from previous lives. Therefore, instead of fretting about, “Why did I get stuck with these relatives,” we believe that we have had some past connections that got us together.

6.                   A firm believer in rebirth has a greater understanding and peace regarding the perennial questions of spiritual philosophies – where have come from? Who are we? Why are we here on this earth?

7.                   Belief in rebirth makes us more open to alternative medical therapies like past-life regression. Numerous individuals have benefitted from these therapies which are based on the premise that we are reborn after our death. But fundamentalists who do not want to believe in rebirth after death have little tolerance for these highly beneficial alternative medical therapies.

8.                   The belief in rebirth also helps humans to have more compassion towards animals and plants. The Hindu belief is that humans, plants and animals have a similar soul, but different minds. In essence therefore, all living entities have the same soul. We have had animal and plant births in the past, and may have so in the future too. Likewise, our own near and dear ones may be reborn into non-human life-forms. This realization motivates us to be more compassionate and respectful towards non-human life-forms. In turn, this prevents wanton destruction of our environment, because animals and plants are seen not just as objects for our enjoyments, but as souls with whom we share this earth. Therefore, the belief in rebirth is beneficial for conservation of our environment.

“Closely related to the doctrine of karma is the belief in samsara, that is, the cycle of birth, death, and rebirth. Birth is not a new beginning. Just as death is not the end of existence. Birth is the entry onto the stage of the world, while death marks the point of exist. Living beings, however, have countless entrances and exits. Although there are differences in interpreting the doctrine of samsara, the possibility of rebirth in a non-human form is widely believed. The Hindu tradition affirms a general evolution of lifeforms from the simple into more complex forms. We are related to other life-forms by the fact that Brahman constitutes the ontological truth of all life, but also by the fact that we may have existed in these forms and may do so again in conformity with our desires and the operation of the law of karma. This is a further reason why other species ought not to be treated with cruelty and exploited recklessly to satisfy human greed. The doctrine of samsara, along with karma, underlines the ties and bonds that connects all species. The belief in samsara breaks down any sharp boundaries that differentiate one species from another and underlines the unity of all life forms.”[201]

“….this doctrine has been instrumental in the development in its adherents of an affection of all life forms, including animals and plants.”[202]

“To the surprise of many westerners, transmigration has also promoted the highly advanced notion of a systems view of the universe. All existences are seen as a single integrated system of interconnected beings and processes that, to different degrees, affect each other’s well-being.”[203] 

9.                   Rebirth provides a logical explanation of why there are disparities and inequalities in this world even though the Divine is just and fair towards everyone. It explains the case of child prodigies and why individuals have natural talents in particular things (e.g. sports, or painting). It explains why identical twins are very different behaviorally, or why siblings born of the same parents and raised in the same environment 

10.               It is more consistent with the compassionate nature of Bhagavān, who could not possible condemn anyone to an everlasting hell simply because of his beliefs. As it has been stated,

“Most people who believe in reincarnation accept that one lifetime simply isn’t enough time to absorb and integrate all the lessons that human experience presents, and that it makes good sense to accept a succession of lives, or incarnations, as part of the journey toward spiritual selfrealization. According to this perspective, our individual human lives are very much part of a greater cycle of evolutionary spiritual development, and the seemingly endless cycle of individual births, deaths and rebirths ensures that all the lessons of life are finally learned and assimilated by us all.”[204]

A loving parent has infinite patience with his recalcitrant prodigal child. He could never smite him or condemn the child to everlasting pain no matter how disrespectful and disobedient the child is. In Hindu Dharma, Brahman gives us not just one but many lives, so that we have several chances to understand the true nature of things, or ourselves and reach the Final Goal. The Abrahamic God gives the finite human being with finite understanding and a finite karma an infinite reward or retribution – all this just does not sound fair. Furthermore, the Doctrine of Rebirth absolves a just Divine of capriciousness in throwing different and even extreme challenges at some individuals versus providing others with happiness, abundance and good luck. It encourages us to take responsibility for our own actions and current state instead of laying the blame at the door of the Lord, or ‘fate’. Swami Vivekananda says: 

“It is the only theory that advocates the freedom of the human soul, and discourages the human tendency to lay all the blame for our weaknesses and sufferings on someone else or on a God or on a conjured-up ghost called fate. What is fate? It is only what we have made ourselves into. We are the makers of our own fate, we reap what we sow. None else has the blame, none else the praise. “The wind is blowing; those vessels whose sails are unfurled catch it, and go forward on their own way, but those which have their sails furled do not catch the wind. Is that the fault of the wind? Is it the fault of the merciful Father, whose wind of mercy is blowing without ceasing, day and night, whose mercy knows no decay, - is it His fault that some of us are happy and some unhappy? We make our own destiny. His sun shines for the weak as well as for the strong. His wind blows for the saint and the sinner alike. He is the Lord of all – the father of all, merciful and impartial…..Our attempts to lay the blame on Him, making Him the punisher and the rewarder, are foolish. His infinite mercy is open to everyone, at all times, in all places and under all conditions, unfailing and unswerving. Upon us depends how we use it….Blame neither man, nor God, nor anyone in the world. When you find yourselves suffering, blame yourselves, and try to do better.”[205]

11.               The philosophy of rebirth is one of hope when compared to the philosophy of atheism which generally advocates that we have no soul and that we simple melt into the elements once we die, with no soul that survives death, 

“Some people believe that the world is essentially meaningless, that our individual lives have come about by chance, and that when we die – when our brain is no longer functioning – we simply pass into nonexistence….Others believe that life has a spiritual purpose, and that we can all use the insights provided by our daily activities and our interactions with other human beings and the world around us for our personal growth and spiritual transformations….”[206] 

12.               The belief in Rebirth teaches us patience, and acceptance of unfulfilled dreams in this life with the hope that there will be future chances to realize those dreams.

“Reincarnation also gives us the gift of accepting that we don’t need to realize every hope and dream in the context of this single brief lifetime, for the opportunities we wish we’d had in this life may be realized in the next lifetime, or in the one after that, or the one after that. Consider how many people might find comfort in this life knowing that those things they’ve always wanted to do but lacked either the time, resources, energy, or courage to try may be realized in a future incarnation…..Reincarnation is the mechanism through which we may live the very life we’ve always wanted – or relive the one we’ve always loved – upon a stage from which we may act out a million possibilities, dream a billion dreams, and live an effortless eternity. If that fails to appeal to the deepest longings of the human heart, then I can’t imagine what might do it.”[207]

13.               The theory of rebirth is consistent with the evidence from several different fields like PLR studies or Parapsychology.

“Only reincarnation, however, stands up and defies the skeptic to explain how an otherwise normal and honest person can have detailed memories of a life lived long ago, in faraway places and even in the guise of another race or gender, and then have those memories verified by objective sources. This is either evidence of the inexplicable but unavoidable possibility that the human consciousness can make its way from a dying corpse to a quickening fetus with no more difficulty that we would have in changing clothes, or evidence that disembodied human personalities can somehow impress the memories of their former lives onto the still-living brain of a sensitive and a willing human; either of which is possible, however only if human consciousness survives the death of the very vessel of blood and tissue that houses it. This is what makes it not only an important question to explore and examine, but perhaps the single most important issue we can consider in this lifetime. What we decide about it will determine how we choose to live out this life. It’s that important.”[208]

16.0 Rebirth or Resurrection? Interfaith Perspectives

Hindus believe that in order to be valid, any spiritual philosophy must be personally verifiable, and it should not be opposed to logic or commonsense. Also, since souls are unchangeable themselves, any philosophy concerning them also must not be dependent on ideas or objects that are restricted in space or time. In technical parlance, Hindu texts state that all spiritual truths must pass the text of direct perception that is free from any fault, from logical observations that derive from such perception and also must conform to the Vedas-which are eternal records of spiritual truths. When we apply these Hindu criteria to test the validity of the Semitic notions of Life after Death, the result is a negative one. The preceding sections detailed why the theory of rebirth is valid from a Hindu as well as a modern perspective. Let us now appraise the Abrahamic concept of the Day of Judgment/ Resurrection from these perspectives.

16.1 Unanswered Questions in Abrahamic Paradigm

The theory of resurrection is riddled with several inconsistencies and leads to more questions than solving any.223 

First, it does not answer the question—Why did God create the Universe? Hinduism provides an answer and says that this Universe is only one in a beginning-less and endless cycle of creation and destruction and was created so that the souls can bear the fruits of their ‘unripe’ actions in the previous creation. 

The Lord Created the Sun, the Moon, the skies, the earth and the Heavens in this creation just as he had created in previous cycles of creation. Rigveda 10.190.3

Second, where were the souls before the individual was born? Christians and Muslims cannot answer this question satisfactorily. Sometimes, Christians say that God created souls out of nothing. But that begs the question – what was the purpose of creating these souls? Hinduism, on the other hand, answers that souls are birth-less and beginning-less and pass through a continuous cycle of birth and death till they attain salvation. 

The soul is never born, nor does it every die. And neither does it cease to exist after having come into existence. The soul is unborn, eternal, changeless and ancient. It does not get killed when the body is slain. Gita 2.20

Third, since right belief is central to salvation, what happens to babies who are aborted, or die at birth, or at a young age, and to people in remote parts of the world who have never heard of Christ or of Muhammad. And what will happen to all the people in the world who died before Christ and Muhammad were born? Will they go to heaven or to hell? St. Augustine, one of the greatest Christians who ever lived, said only the word of Jesus can lead us to heaven. He had the audacity to declare, that therefore, all infants who die and all those who have not heard the salvific word of Christ will go to Hell. In Islam too, numerous Hadiths from the mouth of Muhammad imply that all those who died in Jahiliya (‘the age of ignorance’) are burning in Hellfire. Modern psychologists will terms such thoughts as sadistic. Hinduism, on the other hand, grants the opportunity of future lives to these unfortunate people wherein they can work their way to salvation.

Fourth, since bodies are resurrected and reunited with souls on the Day of Judgment, what will happen to those individuals whose graves have been destroyed. If God can still bring together their scattered remains, then why waste land by burying the dead at all? The atoms which constituted the body of Abdul become a part of the environment when Abdul dies and is buried. In a few years, these atoms will become a part of the body of Peter. When the Day of Judgment comes, will the Abrahamic God assign these atoms to the resurrected body of Abdul or of Peter? A Hindu parable explains the futility of tying our identity to anything physical because matter is being recycled constantly-

When Karna died from the arrows shot by Arjuna, Krishna blessed the former for his generosity and other good qualities and offered to perform his funeral. Karna requested that his cremation be performed at a pristine spot in the world – a spot where no funeral had ever been performed, and which was not tainted with the remains of any creature that had lived in the past. Krishna told Karna that this was not possible because each and every spec on this earth had been once a part of the body of some creature or the other. Billions of creatures have lived on this earth, and they have lived tens of thousands of lifetimes, having been reborn and assuming different bodies. Their eternal souls have recycled different clumps of matter repeatedly from one life to another.

In the Sikh tradition too, Guru Nanak mocked at the Abrahamic belief in the resurrection of the body by stating that the earthly remains of the body of a dead Muslim cried out when a potter collected clay from a graveyard, made pots from them and then baked them in a kiln.

Fifth, what are the souls of the dead doing till the Day of Judgment. Have they been put to sleep or are they getting bored or are they tormenting the living in the form of ghosts?

Sixth, is it not unfair that the soul of person who died in, say 100 AD, will have to wait longer in nervous anxiety than someone who died today, especially since no one knows whether he will go to Heaven or to Hell. 

Seventh, when will the Day of Judgment dawn? Both Christians and Muslims declare that it will come all of a sudden. This uncertainty over the exact timing has well been utilized by Christian priests to terrorize the masses using a fear psychology and has even given birth to bizarre sects like the Moonies of Korea. Such cultists believe that the end of the world is close, say within 5 years. Consequently, they abandon all secular activity and close themselves in rooms to chant the name of Jesus, waiting for the D-Day. Due to adherence of such false ideologies, such people often commit suicide in frustration and disappointment when they find that the expected Day of Judgment has not arrived. 

In addition, the laity generally depends upon the Church for interpretation of scriptures. The uncertainty over the time of the Day of Judgment has often tempted the Christian clergy to fleece poor Christians, since uncertainty breeds a fear psychosis. For instance, Medieval Popes sold ‘Letters of Indulgence" to rich Christians at huge amounts of money and falsely promised them palaces, chariots etc. in Heaven in lieu thereto. The Muslims go a step further. Their texts declare that Archangel Gabriel will sound a Trumpet from Heaven to herald the start of the Day of Judgment. One wonders how that sound will reach the earth since there interstellar space is largely a vacuum and sound waves need a medium to travel. 

Eighth, we observe that some people shine as child prodigies (E.g. Shankaracharya, Joan of Arc). Two twins, who are born in the same household and are brought up in the same environment show different behaviors. Why should this happen? Christians and Muslims can only blame God for such phenomena while Hinduism will point to the deeds done in previous lives. Hinduism states that each action of ours creates some mental impressions (samskaras) and we carry these from one life to the next. Due to these samskaras, people show different inclinations, behaviors, likes and dislikes etc. naturally.

Ninth, the Theory of Resurrection often presupposes that our earthly bodies are resurrected on the Day of Judgment. But what if someone lived his life with a physical or some other imperfection, like skin blemishes or undeveloped limbs? It would be cruel to expect these individuals to dwell eternally in heaven or in hell in the same defective body that they had while they lived their earthly life.

Tenth, suicide bombers or victims of violence by others often do not die with their body intact. It is often impossible to retrieve their entire bodies for burial in a single grave. What kind of a body will these individuals obtain on the Day of Judgment? It is often seen that Islamist suicide bombers place a metal cup over their private parts so that at least their organs will be intact in heaven, allowing them to have unlimited sex with the heavenly beauties even if their other body parts have been dismembered.

Eleventh, saints in Christianity and martyrs (and religious warriors) in both Islam and Christianity do not have to wait for the Day of Judgment to enter heaven. They enter heaven as soon as they die. But we see that their bodies still lie buried in the graves and have not been resurrected. So if their bodies do not have to be resurrected to enable them to enter heaven in a physical form, why should it be necessary for others to bury their corpses for resurrection? Couldn’t God use the same mechanism to create bodies for lay Christians and Muslims the same way he does for martyrs, religious warriors and saints?

Twelfth, what clothing will the resurrected individuals wear upon resurrection because the clothing on their corpse deteriorates within a short time?

Thirteenth, what about individuals whose graves get destroyed? For the purpose of expansion of the Ka’ba in Mecca and build other facilities for pilgrims, the Saudi authorities destroyed even graves of the companions of Muhammad. Likewise, it is an open secret that graves are often ‘turned over’ ever few years because only finite space is available for burials. In other words, every few years, the decomposed remains are exhumed from graves, mixed with those from other graves and then buried in a common put. The presence of catacombs in Rome, Lima and other places where Roman Catholicism has been the dominant faith is a visible proof of this phenomenon. So will these individuals be denied resurrection for no fault of theirs?

Fourteenth, the Abrahamic heaven has a staff of attendants, Houris, handsome boys and so on to serve those who enter this abode. But till the Day of Resurrection, most of them must be sit idle because they will have very few people to serve. Or are they created by God just before the entry of the believers after the Day of Judgment?

Fifteenth, we are in a Space Age currently. There is a significant possibility that sometime in the future, people might move to other planets or even live their entire lives on spaceships or space stations. What happens to those who die while away from earth and whose bodies cannot be retrieved for a burial on our planet? Will they be denied resurrection and subsequent stages?

16.2 Gateway to Evil and Ego

In Chapter 16 of Gita, Bhagavan Krishna warns (to paraphrase): "The egoistic people say- ‘I have done this action today. I will do this tomorrow. I practice charity, perform religious rites for attaining Heaven’. Indeed, overcome with ego, such people bring about their ruin." The warning of our Lord is so very true and it clearly depicts the dangerous mentality that naturally results from the doctrines preached by the Semitic faiths. These religions teach that we should perform good actions to go to Heaven, while Hinduism says that we should perform good actions not because they lead us to salvation but because they ought to be performed as an offering to God. In fact, Hindus hold that good actions performed with a sense of ego can only lead to further rebirths. It is clear as daylight that the Christian/Muslim concept is not conducive to development of virtues like humility, gentleness of character and so on while the Hindu theory naturally leads to humility and gentleness of characters. Indeed, when the Christian missionaries first landed in India, the Hindus were appalled to witness their haughtiness and arrogance. What else will one expect from followers of St. Paul who (in one of his Epistles in the New Testament) states that due to his service to the Christian God, he feels like a runner who will come first in the competition and win the prize! In fact, humility seems to be one virtue lacking in the lives of so many Biblical and Muslim prophets, as is evident from stories of their lives in the texts of these religions.

16.3 Logical Inconsistencies and wrong assumptions

Belief in the doctrine of Resurrection and Passage to Heaven and Hell leads to several contradictions as it is based on false assumptions. For instance, in the Gospel of Luke, Jesus commands a fig tree to bear fruit out of season. When it does not bear fruit, Jesus curses the tree and as a result, the tree withers away and dies. Jesus states arrogantly that whosoever does not listen to him will perish likewise. This incident should lead to the conclusion that plants are living and are capable of understanding the ‘word of God.’ But then if they have souls, will they be judged in the same manner as men? St. Augustine vehemently opposed this notion and declared that plants and animals do not have souls since man alone is created in the image of God and he alone can discern the difference between good and evil. This is contradicted by modern science, which declares that they too are living creatures. Hindu Dharma too declares the same and adds that we can be reborn as humans, as plants, as animals or as something else to reap the fruits of our actions.

16.4 A Whimsical Abrahamic God

We see that in this world, some people are born rich, whole other are born poor. Some are born in virtuous and noble households while others are born amongst sinners. Some live amongst Christians (or Muslims) while others have never met any member of these faiths. In all these pairs, the former alone will attain salvation (according to Christians and Moslems) while the rest will go to hell since they have lost the only chance they had to hear the liberating word of Christ/Muhammad. Is it not unfair?. Why does God create people unequally and yet judge them by the same rules? It would have been fairer on the part of God to have given another birth to these helpless beings so that they had a better chance to listen to His ‘liberating’ message.

The Koran often says- "He guides whosoever He pleases and leads astray whomsoever He wills" while the Bible describes numerous incidents where the Christian God himself leads people astray, causing their ruin. If God himself leads people astray, what will the poor Satan do? And how will such God-damned people be judged once they die? Hinduism declares, on the other hand, that we choose to be good or bad of our own volition and due to the effects of actions performed by us in our previous lives. For instance, if we devote our present lives to good activities, we will naturally be more inclined towards good and noble things in our future lives and vice versa.

The Bible (especially the Gospels) often comforts the naturally disadvantaged poor, sick and the needy by saying that their suffering on this earth will lead them to the riches of heaven while ‘it is easier for a camel to pass through a needle’s eye than for a rich man to enter heaven.". This other-worldly and antirich view can only lead to the ruin of this world. Also, such statements have no logical basis—what is the sense in suffering here just in order to go to heaven later? Why in the first place did God create people unequally. Hinduism supplies a good answer by saying that inequalities at birth are due to our actions in previous lives. The Semitic God is thus whimsical and lacks commonsense. 

Not only does the view that there is only one life not explain the inequalities amongst individuals on the basis of birth, but it does also not explain why some human beings are born with often debilitating and disabling congenital defects like blindness, deafness and so on. What was God’s plan for them that he created them with these disabilities?

16.5 Opposed to Human Nature 

Some human beings naturally take more time to understand certain things. Obviously then, some people will take more time to understand and believe in the "right doctrines" of Christianity and Islam, while others will take less time for the purpose. But these faiths allow us only one life to understand these ‘profound truths.’ Is it not unfair that God condemns such people, otherwise good intentioned and noble hearted, to everlasting Hell? Or maybe the Semitic faiths do not exhibit a proper understanding of human nature. Some people who are inquisitive by nature, like to confirm things personally before they believe in them. It might take some of us more than one lifetime to get convinced that ‘Muhammad is the Last Prophet’ or that ‘Jesus is the only Son of God.’ Should we then, go to Hell because of our well-meaning inquiry? On the contrary, Hinduism displays exemplary understanding of Human psychology and states that we can improve our lot from one life to another (or the other way round). As Sri Krishna states in the 8th chapter of Gita- "Men attain perfection through the efforts of several lives." Rebirth does not condemn or judge others-

“Reincarnation is not interested in ridiculing, belittling, or otherwise humiliating us into changing, but simply in showing us where we are and how far we have yet to go. In its purest form, it is an optimistic and enlivening process, for it continually points us toward the direction our heart truly desires to go – in the direction of joy, peace and love. It may seem a stern and even cruel master at times, but in the end we will emerge from the process thankful for the patience and gentleness it has shown. It is, after all, simply the process of the soul redefining itself and, in the course of doing so, moving all life toward new heights of self-achievement and self-fulfillment.”[209]

16.6 Opposed to the Notion of a Just God: No Abrahamic Explanation of Evil and Suffering

People who subscribe to the Abrahamic belief in Resurrection often feel great distress and anguish when they suddenly undergo suffering (say due to an accident) although they know that they have not committed any sin. "Why did I have to suffer although I did not do any wrong?" They find no solution to this vexing problem. On the other hand, a Hindu discerns that suffering, whose cause is not known, could be due to some Karma that he did in his previous lives and that he must continue to do good karma in his present line to prevent suffering in future. He holds himself accountable for his suffering and does not blame others or God, nor does he loose courage. A modern Hindu teacher remarks quite aptly-

“One of the most powerful inferential arguments for upholding the fact of reincarnation is that, without the existence of reincarnation and karma (reincarnation and karma are inseparable in the philosophical system of Santana Dharma; you cannot have one without the other), the existence of human suffering has no satisfactory explanation and no coherent meaning. Logically speaking, we can only explain the meaning of suffering that we observe in the world by inferring the fact of reincarnation and karma.”[210]

“The Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity and Islam) especially find it difficult to explain the reason for suffering and evil. Throughout the two-thousand-year history of Christian philosophy, for example, Christian philosophers and theologians have attempted to create innumerable explanations for the existence of suffering – so many, in fact, that these attempts at explanation became a whole category of philosophical argument called “theodicies”. None of these attempts, however, have ever been proven philosophically sustainable, demonstrable or satisfactory. The reason why this is precisely because it is impossible to explain the existence of suffering without turning to the concepts of karma and reincarnation.

Without the soul being an eternal reality that existed before the creation of the material body, there is no explanation whatsoever that can be offered for why a good, merciful, all-knowing and allpowerful God would allow some of His children to be born less than whole. Only the Dharmic path can give in intellectually satisfactory and spiritually comforting explanation for this reality of human suffering.”[211]

16.7 Root of Religious Persecution and Fear Psychology of Abrahamic Religions 

Islam and Christianity allow us only one life. They also exhort their followers to spread their religion. Great rewards are promised by the Bible to Christians and by the Koran to Muslims if they spread their religions. Finally, both Islam and Christianity declare that their religions alone lead to salvation and that people who do not subscribe to their beliefs are condemned by God and are destined for eternal Hell. The first factor, combined with the rest, has made a deadly mix ever since these religions were founded. In every nook and corner of the world, one can see Christian priests chanting "Repent ye for the hour is at hand. Acknowledge Christ as your savior and ye shall be saved." The Muslims do the same and state- "For the Kafirs, Allah has prepared a blazing fire whose fuel are men and idols." The Muslims and Christians see a sense of urgency to convert the whole world to their faith and thus "save the damned souls" before they die. Such an ideology has led to countless bouts of persecution of unfortunate men and women by Christians and Muslims. The histories of these two faiths are soaked in the blood of millions of innocent men and women who suffered for not adhering to these religions. In the Americas, the Christians worked millions of ‘heathen’ American Indian Natives to death and then ‘honored’ them with Christian burial. The Muslim chronicles boast of countless campaigns of Muslim rulers and of ordinary Muslims in which several thousand infidels were dispatched to hell.

In contrast, the record of Hinduism and other religions believing in rebirth after death is much more honorable and religious persecution by members of these faiths is more of an exception rather than a rule. Even the most fanatical Hindus will declare that good Christians and Muslims will be reborn as Hindus and then attain salvation. So where is the question of religious persecution or forcible conversions?

A belief in rebirth is incompatible with the fear psychology that Abrahamic belief in resurrection promotes. For this reason, Christianity and Islam have suppressed the former, 

“Why were the reincarnationist beliefs suppressed? The obvious answer is because such beliefs threatened authority. In promising multiple rebirths, reincarnation rendered the proclamations of the Pope or the Grand Mufti or whoever was the ruling head at the time transitory and, truth be told, irrelevant.              Clearly, the religious                 authorities             were dependent upon the single-life scenario for their very livelihood, making the belief in multiple lives far too dangerous to allow to stand. As a result, reincarnation remained largely outside of Asia for a better part of the last twenty-one centuries.”[212]

Ian Stevenson repeatedly noted that among Muslim households in India and elsewhere, children who reported remembering previous lives were scolded and asked to suppress these memories because Islam did not belief in the theory of rebirth. Belief in a single life followed by the Day of Judgment and an eternal hell or heaven thereafter is a fundamental or core doctrine of Abrahamic faiths that is totally controverted by the Theory of Rebirth and the related evidence, 

“….While the scientific community has little to lose if reincarnation should ever be proven (and, indeed, much to gain in terms of acquiring a means of assessing historical knowledge from the past), Western-style religion would have much to lose. It would mean nothing less than a rethinking of thousands of years of orthodoxy; and so it should come as no surprise that some of reincarnation’s most formidable attacks come from the religious community. To many of the faithful it’s not merely a question of testing a hypothesis, but of keeping order. So firmly entrenched in Western theology is the concept of the single life and final judgment that there is the fear that reincarnation might well overturn the whole apple cart, so to speak, and threaten the very mechanism by which Western religion functions. Without a fear-based theology to maintain the religious hierarchies of Christianity and Islam (and, to a lesser extent, Judaism), control over the faithful could well be jeopardized, and presumed chaos would follow. Missionary work would grind to a halt if the natives ever got wise to the fact that they could “repent” in the next life, and by extension, it was always imagined many a church pew would grow cold if the congregation caught similar wind of the idea. In effect, if reincarnation were ever to be proven true, it would mean nothing less than the death of traditional Western religion as taught over the last two millennia.”[213]

A loving parent has infinite patience with his recalcitrant prodigal child. He could never smite him or condemn the child to everlasting pain no matter how disrespectful and disobedient the child is. In Hindu Dharma, Brahman gives us not just one but many lives, so that we have several chances to understand the true nature of things, or ourselves and reach the Final Goal. The Abrahamic God gives the finite human being with finite understanding and a finite karma that result in an infinite reward or retribution – all this just does not sound fair or logical.

16.8 Based on a Geocentric theory of the Universe 

The Christians believe that by accepting Jesus Christ as the Son of God alone can we go to heaven. Muslims hold that we must believe in the Prophet-hood of Muhammad. Now, both of these gentlemen were born on this earth. So, if there is any life on some other planet, how do the people in those planets attain salvation? Obviously, the Bible and the Koran are based on a geocentric notion of the Universe or they preclude the existence of any intelligent life in our infinite Universe-something that would be an anathema to modern scientists (and Hindu sages). The Hindu scriptures clearly declare that the Universe is infinite and there is life in different forms in the whole Universe. This seems closer to the truth.

16.9 Non Verifiability of the Theory of Resurrection

According to the Semitic texts, no one but the Prophets can visit Heaven or Hell before the Day of Judgment. So, basically there is no proof that Christian or Muslim Heaven/Hell exist. The accounts of these places given by Biblical prophets like Ezekiel and St. John and by Muslim texts are selfcontradictory and quite childish and laughable. On the other hand, there have been numerous cases recorded in which people have come to recollect their previous lives. I personally know people who recall their previous lives. In fact, Hindu scriptures clearly declare that anyone can practice Yoga and learn about his previous lives. While in Samadhi, it is also possible to establish communion with the souls that have attained Moksha. So, everything is verifiable in the Hindu theory of life and death and it is therefore, consistent with the scientific method.

16.10 No Purpose served by an Eternal Hell

Modern states punish criminals either to chastise and reform them, or to set an example before the society (deterrence effect) and also to prevent them from repeating criminal activity. Retribution (on behalf of victims of the crime) is not regarded as an honorable reason for punishing criminals. Thus, the punishment meted out to criminals is intended to serve a positive purpose. But no positive purpose is apparent in eternal damnation of sinner by God. In a single lifetime, we can commit only finite sin. So why should a sinner get infinite misery for finite sin? This leads us to the conclusion that Christian and Islamic God is not loving, rather He is sadistic. To top it, several Christian fathers (including St. Augustine) have stated that amongst several joys that Christians in Heaven experience is the sight of sinners suffering in Hell. Contrast this with the numerous tales in Hindu scriptures in which sages and pious men in Heaven beg God to release sinners from torment in Hell. The whole ideology of Semitic Hell is thus based on a fear psychology.

The doctrine of an Eternal Hell doctrine must be rejected completely because it is opposed to the notion of a loving and a caring God:

“……there are some people in particular religions who think that if you do not become spiritually perfect in this one lifetime, or take to a particular religion to be saved, you enter eternal damnation. However, this is hardly logical. One reason why there cannot be an eternal, fiery hell is because the short life of a wicked man is but a flash compared with eternity. Such a life of a wicket person certainly produces negative effects, bad karma, that the man must later endure, but his existence and actions are a finite cause and his hell can last only so long before he is absolved of the reactions to his bad deeds. However, if there is an eternal damnation caused by his actions, this means that there is an infinite effect produced by a finite cause. This is impossible and illogical. Nonetheless, then he or she will indeed enter into dark, confusing, and even painful forms of existence through

which he must endure until rectified. Thus, it is a temporary situation based on the progress or lack thereof of the individual.

Furthermore, a merciful, loving God would not create an eternal damnation. Such a terror is a product of an unholy or incomplete doctrine created by mankind. This again shows the defective nature of humans. Creating a faulty nature in humankind so they can become an everlasting fuel to feed an eternal hell fire is not God’s purpose in His creation. If such was the case, who could be saved? How many men are so spotless that they can receive a direct pass to heaven? Even the most saintly often have faults to work out. A hell for us to live in eternally does not exist, nor should we worry about it.”[214]

Consider a wicked person who has no faith in the ‘true (Abrahamic) belief’. He can very well outsmart God and save himself from eternal hell by mandating that his body is cremated upon death so that it cannot be resurrected and thereby he is not sent to an eternal hell for horrific unending tortures.

16.11 Frightening Prospects in Semitic Theology of Heaven 

The Semitic Heaven is a place limited by space. No intelligent person would like to dwell in a finite space for infinity, no matter how blissful that place is. So, the Semitic heaven is not better than an eternal jail and is therefore as scary as the Semitic Hell. 

“….it is hell that makes heaven so heavenly…..If you gorge on a favorite food day and night, that food will eventually become a torture to swallow; it is only in its absence that it retains its appeal. So it is with heaven: keep a person there eternally and it becomes a prison; allow a person to visit it between reincarnations and it resumes its role as the paradise it was meant to be.”[215]

 “…Most people…believe that the essence of who we are – our soul ….goes to some place. Heaven is the favored destination for most; a place where our conscious personality, no longer shackled to the limitations and burdens of physical existence, survives within a perpetual state of bliss and joy throughout eternity. Some add to this by also embracing a belief in Hell: a perpetual state of torment for those who turn their evil and thus are doomed to exist forever within a conscious state of agony, regret, and fear.

Both positions, however suffer from the same problem…which is that they see our time here on this planet as but a blink of the eye of eternity, with the decisions we make – or fail to make – while in the body having profound and eternal ramifications. Unfortunately, this reduces the physical world to little more than a cosmic hatchery that exists only to birth souls, each of which will spend a short amount of time in it before …plunging…to their eternal state. While admittedly this idea does manage to make this single life of paramount importance, it also forces one to wonder why a physical realm is necessary at all. If the physical universe exists merely as a vehicle for our creation, why couldn’t the process be circumvented entirely and we be created directly into the spiritual realm, as was supposedly the case with God’s angels? Why all the unnecessary pain and hardship of a physical existence – especially one in which there exists the very real danger that we might earn Hell through our misdeeds – if the spirit realm is the only destination that awaits us? In such a context, physical existence seems not only pointless, but in many ways, even hazardous.”[216]

The Muslim scriptures like Koran describe Heaven as a place where rivers of wine flow eternally, where there are beautiful virgins and also pearl complexioned boys waiting on the inhabitants, and where men are potent on sexual matters. In short, the Islamic heaven is a place abounding in the pleasures of sex. There is absolutely no mention of the higher pursuits of life like literature, art, music and the like. A Hindu need not even comment on the uselessness of such a pornographic reward from God. The Islamic heaven is a sexist place where men enjoy sexual pleasures with multiple women but their wives can only have sex with their husband. In fact, fanatical Mullahs often motivate Muslim men to commit acts of terror by enticing them with the prospects of unbridled sex with Houries in even if they were to get martyred. In medieval ages, Muslim generals would goad their soldiers to attack the Europeans with fury during wars by shouting the word ‘Houries’ repeatedly. 

The Abrahamic faiths do not believe that animals and plants have an ātmā.[217] It is unclear whether those in heaven are alive or are just mechanical creations. If the Abrahamic heaven lacks dogs, cows, horses, cats, flowering plants and other creatures that are source of joy in our lives, it must be a sad place.

As stated earlier, Hindu Dharma does not believe in eternal hells or eternal heavens. These are merely temporary abodes. Their pleasures or tortures are temporary. And even a heaven is nothing but a jail compared to the eternal freedom in Moksha. This is the reason why the denizens of heaven, like Indra, are lampooned in Hindu texts as creatures who have been infatuated by their pleasures, resulting in their fall. 

16.12 Resurrection is a Mind Deadening Philosophy

As we have noted above, the Semitic Philosophy of resurrection is opposed to logical reasoning, to observed facts, to commonsense, to all ideas of fairness/justice and to modern science. The only leg it stands upon is blind faith. During the heydays of Christianity, such blind faith plunged Europe into dark ages and the rise of modern Western civilization began only after Humanism and the Age of Reason commenced in Europe. Muslims no doubt say that the same was not the case with the Islamic civilization. But the truth is that the advancement of Science and arts in the Arab Empire was not due to Islam but rather in-spite of it. And all well-known Philosophers, Mathematicians, scientists, poets etc. were persecuted during their life-times in the Arab Empire, as made so clear in the book "Why I am not a Muslim" by Ibn Warraq. In contrast, the Golden Ages of Hinduism have always coincided with the golden age of Hindu/Indian Science and Art. This is because our philosophy of verifiability of religious experience and emphasis on ‘Prajnā’ or the understanding of Truth (as opposed to blind belief in the Semitic faiths) fosters Free Will and Intelligent thinking. Of course, many in the prosperous and materially advanced West still adhere to the Abrahamic notions. But in an overwhelming majority cases, the adherence is nominal or is merely out of tradition (or a case of a split mind) rather than out of conviction arising from careful thought.

Conclusion: We have given only a few reasons why the Hindu theory of Rebirth and Karma is preferable to the Christian and Muslim theories of Resurrection and the Day of Judgment. It is because of these reasons that belief in rebirth is spreading like wildfire in the West. For instance, although only 2-3% Americans subscribe to Hinduism or Buddhism, almost 25% believe in the Hindu concepts of Rebirth and Karma. A Gallup Poll in 1994 demonstrated that 27% of Americans believed in rebirth. In 1997, a similar survey carried out in UK with 8000 respondents revealed that a quarter of them believed in it.[218] A Harris poll taken in 2003 revealed that a quarter of all Americans believed in some version of reincarnation after death.[219] The National Study of Youth and Religion, Wave I survey in 2003 showed that of the English and Spanish speaking Americans, 13.4% definitely believed in reincarnation, and another 35.9% thought that it was possible. In 2009, the Pew Research Center’s Forum on Religion and Public Life published the results of a survey according to which 22%  Christian Americans and 24% Americans overall believed in Eastern or New Age notions of reincarnation.[220] The numbers must have surely risen since then with the weakening on Christian taboos of one birth/ one life dogma.

17.0 Objections against the Rebirth Theory and Responses

As with any doctrine of any faith tradition, the Rebirth theory has also attracted objections and criticisms. We note some of them below and attempt to respond to them-

Objection: The human population has been increasing constantly in the history of our planet. From a few hundred thousand, there are now billions of humans inhabiting the earth today. Where did all these extra souls come from? 

Answers: 

“Those who do not accept the idea of reincarnation sometimes argue that the total number of human beings should have been depleted because so many human beings must have been liberated from death and rebirth since the beginning of creation. But Hinduism refutes this objection by stating that many subhuman beings through the course of evolution are being born as human beings. Consequently, the number of human beings is increasing. Hinduism also asserts that divinity is equally present in every soul, whether that be in a human or a subhuman body. Otherwise it goes against the idea of God’s omnipresence.”[221]

“The Vedic universe is abuzz with continuous soul traffic: some souls degrade to subhuman species and subterranean regions, some stagnate in human species and on the earthly realm, some rise to supra-human species and celestial regions, and some – a rare few – break entirely free to return to the spiritual world, never to return again. The fuel for this soul traffic is karma: bad karma degrades the soul, mediocre karma stagnates, good karma elevates, and outstanding karma liberates.”[222]

Swami Sivananda says: 

It is not necessary that the same persons are reborn, and none else. In the process of evolution into the human life many from lower births also come up to the human level. All these are controlled by superhuman powers or by the Divinity, God or Īshvara Himself. Further rebirth need not necessarily be on this earth plane alone. It can take place anywhere in the Universe.[223] Similarly, Swami Muktananda says:

There are many more worlds than the world we know. There is the world of the moon and the world of the sun. There is heaven and hell, and the worlds of Indra and Varuṇa. Individual souls keep passing through these worlds... When bodies die here and their souls pass from here to other worlds, the population here goes down; when more souls take birth here, the population goes up.[224]

Objection: If we have all lived before, then why don’t we remember our past lives?

Answer: This objection has been responded to in detail above and below is a recapitulation-

“….Whoever you were and whatever you did in previous existences, it’s what you do in this life that really matters…….there has to be a reason why the vast majority of us have no memories of former lives. It seems that, by and large, we were not meant to remember them. Yet, deep down inside, we will never forget the lessons we have learned during those previous existences and that are firm embedded in our souls. So perhaps, there’s no need to gain a forced entry to that hidden chamber of memories. Your present life may well be chosen on the basis of how well you coped with your previous incarnations, and what lessons you still need to learn….The challenge is to make the very best of your present life, for your own good, as well as for others.”[225]

“Forgetfulness of our past lives enables us to start a new life afresh without being burdened by the memories of the past. This burden can be agonizing and disorienting; agonizing because of the many traumatic memories involved; and disorienting because it would make living according to our present bodily identity difficult.”[226]

Objection: Why are past life recollection instances higher in eastern countries (where they already believe in rebirth) than in western nations?

Answer: This is due to pattern recognition. In western nations, most people do not believe in rebirth because of their following Abrahamic traditions. Therefore such cases are not easily recognized or even dismissed. See above for more details.

Objection: If we have to keep dying every time, what is purpose of being born?

Answer: One is not immortal even in his single life if there were no rebirth. Single life theory is adhered to by atheists (who do not believe in an immortal soul), Abrahamics (who believe in a single life followed by eternal heaven or hell) and both these theories have holes in them. Our multiple lives are different opportunities to advance on the path of Dharma and Moksha. The scriptures therefore declare-

The Supreme Lord manifested Buddhi (Intellect), senses, mind and the vital breaths (prāṇa-s) of living creatures so that they engage in their desires and gratify their senses, undergo repeated births and perform actions that bear fruit, uplift themselves in successive lives and eventually attain Moksha. Bhāgavata Purāṇa 10.87.2

Objection: When a branch from some species of plants is cut and planted, it becomes a new, independent plant. Likewise, a single Banyan tree sprouts roots that eventually separate out and become new trees. Does the original soul divide into many in these cases?

Answer: There are infinite ātmā-s that pervade every spot of the universe as well as our own bodies. But only one of them, called the ‘abhimānī ātmā’ possesses the body it pervades. The other ātmā-s don’t. In fact, phenomena like ‘possession’ involve surrendering the possession of one’s body to another ātmā. When a new organism is created from a portion of another organism, a different ātmā can take care of the new organism provided it is viable. Therefore, no division of souls is needed and each ātmā remains eternal, unchanged and unborn.

Objection: Even though the ātmā is the same between different lives, the bodies and personalities are different. In other words, despite the sameness of the ātmā, it is a part of two separate and different individuals living different lives. Therefore, rebirth ensures that the deeds done by one individual result in happiness or sorrow for a different and separate individual in the next life. Hence, the phenomenon of rebirth cannot be a logical consequence of the doctrine of Karma.

Answer: Joys and sorrows are experiences that the ātmā feels through the subtle body (sūkshma or liṇga sharīra) and the latter two transmigrates along with the ātmā. The different bodies are merely different conduits or agents through which fresh karma is done and results of past karma are transmitted to the subtle body and the ātmā. An individual does not become different when it wears a different set of clothing. Our real identity is the ātmā which does not have a personality because the latter is an attribute of the subtle body and the gross body.

Objection: Does Reincarnation Generate Spiritual Apathy?

Answer: This is not true. Here is the counter-perspective to this objection-

“The ultimate goal of reincarnation is for the soul to evolve spiritually, and it never ceases its efforts to move a person toward that goal. While some people may choose to ignore the soul’s urging throughout their entire lifetimes, eventually they will tire of their fight, and, like a bit of brackish water temporarily stalled within an eddy of a slowly moving river, they will ultimately rejoin the inexorable march toward their own spiritual evolution. Whether it takes two, ten, or a thousand lifetimes to achieve progress, eventually each soul will acquire the maturity to recognize that it needs to take advantage of every opportunity it’s being given to advance and move on, for one never knows what hardships and trials the next incarnation may hold. In fact, once people recognize that the next incarnation might not afford them the opportunities this one does, reincarnationist beliefs might even serve as an incentive toward spiritual growth.”[227]

Objection: If we have lived infinite lives, and each life is a learning experience, then why are we not much more advanced?

Response: Here is the counter to this objection-

“Objectors to rebirth nevertheless often ask, “If all of us have lived thousands of lives why are we not much further advanced?” Such questioners equate reincarnation with progress, whereas it only provides the opportunity for progress. Consider the daily “reincarnation” cycle. If mere multiplication of days made one automatically wise, then all octogenarians would be sages!”[228]

Objection: The doctrine of rebirth promotes social injustice. For instance, rebirth into a lower caste is taken as a punishment for one’s evil karma in the past –

Those whose conduct here has been good will quickly attain a good birth (literally womb), the birth of a Brahmin, the birth of a Kshatriya, or the birth of a Vaisya. But those whose conduct here has been evil, will quickly attain an evil birth, the birth of a dog, the birth of a hog or the birth of a Chandāla. Chhāndogya Upanishad 5.10.7  

Naturally then, members of higher castes will look down upon those of lower castes because the latter have done bad karma in the past lives.

Answer: 

“Of course, this socially unjust system [the caste system] does either nothing to prove or disprove the validity of reincarnation. What it does demonstrate, however, is humanity’s propensity toward using religion to justify and perpetuate inequality and protect social privilege. Even the institution of slavery was maintained for centuries by appealing to certain religious dogmas and traditions. As such, before we in the West point a finger at the inherent injustice of India’s caste system we should look carefully at the class distinctions evident within our own societies first. While the caste system may be a result of errant religious beliefs, is it any worse than the natural tendency within all countries to consign individuals from birth to a lower economic class because of political, racial, gender, religious, or economic distinctions? Yet few people hold Western religious concepts responsible for these injustices, nor do they suggest that such inequalities are evidence that a particular faith structure is false; therefore why is reincarnation condemned because of a single erroneous belief about it?

That some religions use reincarnation as a means of justifying oppressing is undeniable, yet ultimately irrelevant. The willingness to oppress one’s fellow citizen is a human failing; it should not serve as the litmus test for a particular religion’s authenticity, but instead merely serve as a reflection of a particular society’s level of spiritual development.”[229]

Moreover, birth is taken as only one determinant of one’s true caste in the Hindu scriptures. See the detailed consideration of this topic earlier.

Objection: According to some Hindu scriptures, the last thought in one’s mind at the moment of death is what determines the state into which the person is reborn. Isn’t this too random, and disconnected to what the Law of Karma teaches? If an evil person happens to be thinking about Īshvara at the moment of his death perchance, does he deserve to get Moksha? Conversely, if a virtuous person happened, perchance, have evil thoughts, will be forgo the fruit of his good karma and be reborn in a lower species? In this regard, we might cite these verses-

For whatever object a man thinks of at the final moment, when he leaves his body -- that alone does he attain, O son of Kunti, being ever absorbed in the thought thereof. Gita 8.6

Therefore, at all times constantly remember me and fight. With your mind and understanding absorbed in Me, you will surely come to Me. Gita 8.7

Answer: This is a misinterpretation of the verses of Gita. It is the dominant thoughts or tendencies of our life that come to the mind at the time of death. Death is a process, and is not instantaneous. Therefore during the last moments of death, irrespective of what we may try to think, we undergo a total life recall and the dominant nature comes to the fore as our last thoughts. This is the interpretation of all commentators of these verses even though the popular understanding takes them literally. In fact, the second verse itself says that one must remember the Lord at all times, and not just while dying, so that if the warrior were to die instantaneously due to beheading (for instance), he will only remember the Lord at the instant of his death due to his persistent habit of remembering Him while he was alive. Swami Rama Tirtha explains-

You might say that, according to the common belief, a man is reborn according to his thoughts at the time of his death. How, then, can this belief be reconciled to the theory that the rebirth is caused by the unfulfilled desires to be fulfilled in the next life? ...The ideas and the thoughts which come at the time of the death of a man are responsible for his next life. But, at the same time, the Vedanta asserts that at the time of death only those thoughts and desires come to mind, which were uppermost during the life of the man.[230]

Objection: The doctrine of Rebirth is about blaming the victim. For instance, consider this verse:

Due to the effect of the remainder bad Karma (whose fruit has not been reaped) committed in previous lives, men are born as idiots, dumb, blind, deaf, deformed and as those who are despised by the virtuous. Manusmriti 11.53

Answer: What are the alternative explanations for that except blame one’s random fate or God? Rather than blaming these unfortunate individuals who are suffering, we ought to alleviate their pain and make efforts to help their overcome their disabilities. An implicit faith in the doctrine of rebirth actually helps the sufferer to accept his state and aspire for a better future.

18.0 The Hindu Funeral Ceremony

18.1 Antyeṣhṭi Saṃskāra 

The word ‘Antyeṣhṭi’ means the final Ishti (=Yajna). A human being’s entire life, if lived according to the guidelines of scriptures, is one continuous Yajna – worship to the Divinity. Therefore, it is very fitting that when he dies, his very body, that had performed acts of Dharma while living, should itself be cremated as an offering to the Divine powers. In the Rigveda and in other Hindu traditions, some alternate ways to dispose-off the body are also mentioned, like burial, placing it on tree branches or just immerse it in a river. However, cremation has always been the dominant method that gained even more prominence in the Hindu society with the passage of time. The reason is that cremation is consistent with the Hindu spiritual viewpoint that our body is merely a temporary garment that the ātmā wears and yet the latter becomes attached to the body that it makes alive-

“Cremation is the best way of destroying a dead body. This is highly beneficial for the departed soul. If the body is not burnt, the Jīva is linked to the earth. The soul hovers round or hangs about the dead body on account of Moha or attachment to the physical body. Its journey to celestial regions is interfered with.”[231]

Numerous unwritten customs accompanying the cremation ceremony emphasize to the ātmā that it must overcome the attachment to its perishing body at the soonest and proceed along its onward journey. For example, the near and dear ones leave the cremation ground without looking back at the pyre. The scriptural chants too are extremely meaningful and meant to emphasize the ephemeral nature of our body and all the worldly relationships dependent on temporary physical existence versus the eternal existence of the ātmā and its eternal relationship with the Supreme Divine.

 “….The vibrations set up by the recitation of Mantras and the offerings and oblations of water, bring solace and comfort to the departed soul. The Sapindikarana ceremony helps the Jīva to pass from the Preta Loka to the Pitri Loka. He is then enrolled among the Pitris or the ancestors. The son walks three times round the dead body of his father before fire is set to the pyre and sprinkles water once, reciting the mantra: “Go away. Withdraw and depart from here.” The bones are collected on the next day and thrown into a river. Those who can afford take them to Benares or Haridwar and throw them into the Ganga. It is believed that the soul whose mortal remains are consigned to the sacred Ganga attains to the higher regions of spiritual light and splendor and, in the end, salvation.”[232]

18.2 Major Steps in Cremation[233]

18.2.1 Preparing for Cremation: If a person had died in away from his home (e.g., in a hospital), his body is brought to his home and is purified by bathing it, or sprinkling it with water. It is covered with new clothes, and often sprinkled with sandalwood powder, tulsi leaves and so on. Mantras or names of Bhagavān are chanted in the right year of the corpse to soothe the ātmā which might still be within the body, and remind it that the ātmā is eternal and the body is perishable. All women meet with the departed person for the last time, and bid him goodbye. Typically, only men proceed to the cremation ground.

18.2.2 Journey to the Cremation Grounds: The body is placed on a simple bier that is constructed with the help of bamboo or other wooden sticks tied together with reeds or ropes. The body is wrapped with cloth sheets and then tied to the bier. The bier is lifted at its four ends by his family members, especially his sons and those belonging to the same or the younger generation, and carried to the cremation ground. At the front of the procession is a person who carries a pot containing a fire which is used to light the pyre. As the procession moves forward, the mourners chanting the names of Bhagavān, or sacred mantras, or simple declarations of truth like ‘Ram Naam Satya Hai’ (Only the glory of Rama is eternal, all else is perishable).

18.2.3 Pre Cremation Ceremonies: Led by a Pundit, the male family members (especially the sons, or nephews of the deceased) perform a shrāddha ceremony in which the Devas are invoked and pleaded with to provide a safe passage to the ātmā of the deceased. They are given offerings of rice balls (‘piṇda’), which are placed at cross-roads on the way, within the home and also at the cremation grounds.

18.2.4 Preparing and Lighting the Pyre: A stack of wood is piled on a demarcated area (either a platform, or an area of loose dirt whose boundary is marked with bricks etc.) that has been purified by sprinkling of Ganga water and chanting of mantras. The bier is placed on the pyre, and several more logs of wood are placed over it with the chanting of mantras, and pouring of ghee. 

In the Vedic scriptures therefore, the descriptions prescribe digging of a rectangular cavity in the earth as if offering the body into a fire altar. The corpse and the fuel (firewood, ghee etc.) are placed in that cavity for the cremation. The cavity symbolized a fire altar pit. In modern       times    however,          the firewood is placed on a raised rectangular platform. The body is placed on a layer of wood, and is then covered with more wood before being set afire.

The son goes around the pyre thrice, and then lights it. The cremation must be performed before the next sunset. If the person died very close to the sunset, the cremation is performed next morning, in the early hours after the sunrise. Sometime after the pyre has been lit, the son takes a wooden shaft to crack open the skull of the burning corpse so as to release the soul from the crown of the head.

18.2.5 Departing from the Cremation Ground: All the participants then leave the cremation ground without looking back. Before entering their homes, they must purify themselves (or preferably, bathe). The immediate family members make offerings of water in the southern direction to the Devas.

18.2.6 Consolation of the Family Members: For several days, no food is cooked in the home of the immediate family members. All food for them is brought by their friends, relatives and neighbors. The visitors provide consolation to the family members during the difficult time, reflect upon the meaning of life, the transitory nature of this world and the eternity of the ātmā and Bhagavān. It is recommended that our grieving be moderate so as not to cause pain to the ātmā of the departed person.

Krishna said to Yudhishthira:

King, if a person grieves too much in his mind for his dead dear ones, his grief causes great pain to his departed ancestors. Mahābhārata 14.2.2

18.2.7 Collecting the Funeral Remains: The fire consumes the body leaving a pile of ashes and bones within two days. Thereafter, the son and other male relatives go to site to collect those parts that are not destroyed completely, like ribs and some parts of the skull and fingers. The son first pours milk on what is left of the pyre – the pile of ashes. Thereafter, he is guided by an experienced person to sift out the bone remnants with his own hands and collect them in a container. These bones are then washed with milk and flowers are placed on them with the chanting of mantras. The bones are then tied within a bag. The remaining ashes are also collected in bags.

17.2.8 Post Cremation Immersion of Ashes: The remains that are collected from the pyre are then taken to a holy river, or pond or to the ocean for immersion. Or, they may be buried in a forest or in a field. This step is again accompanied by the performance of a ceremony, and is done within four days of the death of the departed person. 

18.2.9 Prayers for the Departed: The surviving family members make donations in the memory of their lost relative, and organize prayer ceremonies in the belief that these noble acts would lessen his evil karma and enhance his good karma as well as ensure a safe passage to his next life. The importance of keertan for the benefit of the departed has been described thus-

“Prayer, or better yet is kirtan, which is the chanting or singing of the Lord’s holy names, can be extremely helpful for the departed and for their progress towards heaven and higher realms. It gives solace, comfort, as well as guidance to the departed. By concentrating on God while leaving the body allows the person the best possible opportunity to attain the highest destination after death. Whereas grief, sorrow, and weeping for them will cause pain and arouse clear memories of the mundane life of the past. This distracts them from their progress through the astral realms or toward heaven and makes their progress through the astral realms or toward heaven and makes them wish to return to the Earthly plane to be with their loved ones again.

Therefore, friends and relations should not display much sorrow during the funeral or in thoughts and reflections of the departed, the vibrations of which can be felt by those who have recently left their bodies.”[234]

18.2.10 Post Cremation Ceremonies: Depending on family and regional traditions, the ceremonies can last several days. It is believed that the ātmā of the dead person acquires a temporary subtle body called ‘preta’ which takes nine days to form. The deceased ātmā has still not overcome its attachments to people, places and objects that it encountered during its life in the

cremated body. It is still in a state of shock and pain of having lost its body, and imagines itself to be intensely thirsty and hungry. During this period, the family members perform religious ceremonies to invite the preta and eat the food and drink offered by them. On the 10th day, worship is performed to Yama, the Deva of death, to help the preta shed its preta body and move on to its next life. In many Hindu communities, family members do not visit temples for these 10 days and non-family members do not eat food at the home of the deceased person. Family members also donate the clothing and other personal effects of the deceased to needy and poor persons.

18.2.11 Sapiṇdikaraṇa: On the twelfth day, a shrāddha ceremony is performed to unite the departed person with his ancestors who are not reborn yet.[235] During this ceremony, pindas or rice balls are offered to three prior generations of dead ancestors, and then these balls are united. A feast is given to the Brāhmaṇas, and charity is made in the memory of the dead relative. His personal belongings like clothing etc., are donated to the poor.

18.2.12 End of Mourning: On the thirteenth day, a ceremony is performed to complete the entire funeral. Shanti Mantras are recited for peace and happiness. The family members now wear new clothing and give up their mourning. 

18.2.13 Alms Giving: The family members should also fulfill the last wishes of the dead person and fulfill any duties and obligations that he may have left unfulfilled. This relieves the soul of any guilt and remorse. When someone meets a traumatic or violent death, he may not have time to prepare for his onward journey to the afterlife. It is then the duty of his children to offer worship on his behalf, give alms, and organize recitations of scriptures in the hope that the departed soul will derive comfort from these actions, till it finally proceeds onward.

18.2.14 One Year Remembrance and Ceremony: In the eleventh or twelfth month of the lunar calendar since the death of the relative, his sons or nephews perform a shrāddha ceremony similar to the one performed on the twelfth day. In that ceremony, he and the prior two generations of dead ancestors are offered food, and worship is performed for the welfare of their invited ātmā-s. They are said a final goodbye and requested to proceed on their onward journey. During this period of 11-12 months, the family members do not celebrate festivals or participate in weddings ostentatiously (if at all they do participate). But after this one year post death ceremony, the normal life routine resumes.

18.2.15 Annual Remembrance: Every year, a fortnight

(15 lunar dates) is set aside to remember the departed ancestors, pay homage to them, and offer them food and drink ceremoniously. Many Hindu families will not

observe any festivities or schedule any social gatherings or parties during this period. Today, this custom is not observed by most Hindus. However, the purpose of these annual remembrances is not merely to honor and provide relief only to one’s own forefathers, but to benefit all creatures, as clarified in verses like these below[236]-

Whosoever in my family have been deprived of piṇḍa offerings and water because they had no children or spouse, to them I offer sesame and water. May these offerings prove to be undiminishing for them. They who were my relatives, or were not my relatives, or were my relatives in another life, and they whose parched throats ask for water, may my water offering satiate them eternally. Matsya Purāṇa 101.24

They who are suffering in multiple ways in hells, for their comfort I make offerings of water. From a blade of grass to all Devas, ancestors, humans, mothers and fathers, insects and worms, the residents of the seven worlds, the residents of all known and unknown worlds all the way up to the realm of Brahmā – may all residents of these worlds attain relief and happiness with these offerings given in faith by me during the Shrāddha ceremony. Vāyu Purāṇa 110.21-40

18.3 Non-Typical Funeral Practices in the Hindu Society

The following are not accorded cremation:[237]

1.       Children younger than the age of two years are buried or cast away in water.

2.       Victims of epidemics are cast away in water.

3.       Pregnant women.

4.       Ascetics are buried in soil, or their bodies are tied with weights and immersed in holy rivers like the Ganga. They are not cremated because their body is already purified with the light / fire of spiritual wisdom and knowledge, and therefore there is no need to purify it with physical fire to help transfer the soul to the next world.[238]

5.       In some cases, a person went missing and was presumed dead. If his body was not traced, an effigy was made, the departed ātmā was ceremoniously summoned and the effigy was cremated as if it were the corpse.[239]

Little children are not cremated because it is assumed that they have lived too short a time to develop an attachment to their body or to their surroundings.

A child younger than two (2) years shall be buried, and no water shall be offered to his or her departed soul. Yājnavalkya Smriti 3.2a

Several Hindu Sadhus are buried, and not cremated. Historically, the Sadhus of the Nātha Shaivite community were buried. This tradition was quite strong in areas of Northwestern India, where the population converted to Islam. As a result, the graves of these Nātha Yogis were taken to be those of Sufis or other Muslim saints by these peoples upon their conversion. An example is that of Jhulelal, the Sindhi Hindu saint. Today, his grave site is under the possession of local Sindhi Muslims in Pakistan, who claim that Jhulelal was a Muslim. The Islamic practice of burial was also often a convenient means to usurp prominent Hindu shrines during Islamic rule in India. Hindus considered a site containing graves and bones as defiled, and hesitated from reclaiming it once the Muslim leader was buried therein. Shah Hamdan, an Islamic preacher who converted thousands of Kashmiris to Islam, was buried within the famous Kali Mandir in Srinagar. This de facto converted the Hindu shrine into a Muslim place of worship. In Sehwan in Sindh, Lal Shahbaz Qalandar was buried inside the ancient Shiva temple. Today, this mausoleum is visited as a site of pilgrimage by Sufi Muslim Sindhis. Many other examples can be cited where areas considered as sacred by the Hindus were defiled by invaders who buried their dead and thus exhibited their right over the land.

Additionally, members of some Hindu communities do not practice cremation, or at least did not practice cremation in the past. For example, the Bishnoi community of arid Rajasthan observed the practice burial. This was consistent with their emphasis on environmental conservation. Firewood was scarce in arid Rajasthan, and the dry soil or sand was idea for burial, and saved trees from being cut.

There are other local customs like some Hindu communities simply burying their dead on the banks of holy rivers like the Ganga during certain periods of time and covering the grave with a saffron cloth, as was seen during early 2021.

19.0 Interfaith Perspectives: Funeral Practices in Different Religions

Within the Dharmic traditions, cremation is the norm for funeral. They all also share the same cremation grounds. This is in contrast to the Abrahamic religions in which different sects have separate burial grounds. E.g. Catholics and Protestants have their own graveyards among Christians, as do Shia and Sunnis among the Muslims. Hindu teachers offer the following reason why cremation should be preferred over burial-

“If the body is buried, it is believed that the onward journey to the higher realms becomes more difficult. It is the fire god, mainly, who is the first aid to the soul to sever its connection from the physical tenement and to take his astral body to the higher realms. This becomes very clear when we see that as long as the physical body is visible – either above or below the earth due to the attachment felt by the ego and the astral body, it naturally hovers around it for a number of days or months unless it is lifted up by the proper prayers and worship to God and angels. After the soul has departed from the body, what is there in the body to be loved anymore? Therefore, to dispose of it through fire is beneficial for spiritual, social and even for health reasons, and the problem at last is being slowly understood in the scientific world of the west…”[240]

The Jains often employ Hindu priests for the cremation, but their post-funeral ceremonies are much shorter and simpler. The Jains believe that there is not much time gap between a person’s death and his rebirth. Therefore, they do not perform the shrāddha ceremonies much, nor do they have extended mourning periods. The ‘phool’ are dispersed as the Hindus do.[241]

The Sikhs have also devised their own cremation ceremony from the Hindu prototype. These ceremonies are described in their fairly modern manuals called the Rahit Namas. The ashes of the dead are scattered either in the same places as the Hindus of the region, or at a place called Kiratpur Sahib on the Satluj river because their 7th Guru Har Rai was cremated and his ashes dispersed into the waters at that site. Recitations from the Guru Granth Sahib, their holy scripture (and regarded as the embodiment of the Guru) are done during the post-funeral ceremony in the memory of the departed person. Sikhism does not permit the performance of Shrāddha ceremonies. However, contemporary records of resident Brahmana families in Haridwar and other places show that the Sikh Gurus, their families and those of many Sikh leaders down to the 19th century continue to perform Hindu ceremonies for their family members.

In many ancient cultures, the dead (especially those who were rich) were buried with considerable material possessions. It was believed that the dead could use these possessions in their next life. A prominent example is that of the Pyramids, in which Egyptian Pharaohs and their families were buried with veritable treasures and articles of utility of all kinds. 

The Abrahamic religions believe that on the Day of Judgment, Archangel Gabriel sounds his trumpet. This brings to life the buried dead. Therefore, burial is the chosen mode of disposal of corpses and cremation was considered a sacrilege and an abomination. However, due to cost and other reasons, Christians and Jews in the west are switching to cremation in large numbers. To face this changing situation over which they have no control, Christian institutions have grudging accepted cremation with certain conditions. For instance, the Catholic priest must blessed the ashes before their burial if the family has cremated their dead family member. During the reason terror reign of the Islamist group ISIS, it was seen frequently that their captives were cremated. The Islamists believed that a cremated corpse has no hope of resurrection on the Day of Judgment. 

20.0 Between Death and Rebirth

However, just as we feel nostalgic about and attached to our old home that we have abandoned, the departed ātmā also feels attached to its old body and to the friends and dear relatives whom he had known when alive. But the ātmā realizes soon that the bonds he had with his friends and relatives are over and they were temporary anyway. According to some accounts, the ātmā is assisted by beings of light after death to its next abode, which may be a temporary heaven or hell, or this very earth because in Hinduism there are no everlasting hells and heavens. This next abode depends on the karma that the person performed in his previous lives- good karmas lead to good abodes and bad lead to bad ones. These effects or residues of karma performed by us (‘karmāshaya’, or ‘saṃskāra’) and our behavioral tendencies (‘vāsanā-s’) are stored in our Manomaya Kosha, and they travel with the transmigrating ātmā.

The ātmā is then reborn in its next abode. There are 14 levels of existence (‘loka’) according to Hindu scriptures, and human existence is somewhere in the middle. People with a very good stock of virtuous karma (‘puṇya-karma’) may be reborn as Hindu equivalents of ‘gods’ (devatās) or other semi-divine beings in different heavens or other realms, and those with very bad karma (‘pāpa-karma’) will be reborn in hells or in lower life-forms on this earth. A modern Hindu scholar describes what happens to the ātmā in this intermediate state-

“At death, the soul leaves the physical body and remains suspended in an ethereal form. If one has been able to conquer desires, there are no ties or attractions to bind it down. It ascends straight up towards the vast immanent Universal consciousness, to the realm of complete peace and harmony. However, this does not happen to many for multiple desires extend their nooses all around us. Those who are able to overcome most of them rise up and taste of the land of tranquility. This is their stay in heaven. But when the remaining tendrils of desire begin to pull at them, they come earthwards again and are reborn according to their residual karma.

But what happens to those who are totally enmeshed in desires during their life? On death, they leave their physical bodies but desires continue to cling to ethereal forms as they had done to the physical one. Now comes the problem. The glutton, who was always obsessed with food, continues to long for good things to eat; indeed, may see good things spread all around but can neither touch them nor eat because now he does not have either the physical hands or mouth. The craving punishes him and he cannot satiate it. This dreadful state of longing but being unable to indulge in longing is hell, purgatory or Naraka as the Hindus call it.”[242]

20.1 Memories of Life between two deaths:

Individuals who have past life recollections general report the following three types of memory of the time between their two lives (i.e. between death in the previous life and their rebirth):[243]

1.       No memory at all: Most people have no memory at all of the intervening period between two lives.

2.       A memory of having spent that time on the earth. This is the case with a few of the individuals. Typically, subjects with this memory recall having spent their time close to where they had died.

For example, one person claimed that after he was murdered, he saw the murderers drag his body into a field. Thereafter, he lived on a bamboo tree close to the scene of the murder for years, till he followed a passing man, who was to be his father in the next life, to his home.

3.       A memory of having spent time in another realm (e.g. a heaven). This type of memory is more common than the second case, but still rare compared to the first case (of no memory). In these cases, the subjects often suggest that in the extra-terrestrial realm, a sage met them and advised them to return to the earth.

20.2 Time taken for a Jīva to be reborn:  

According to Hindu scriptures and modern research, there is no fixed time that elapses between death and rebirth because there are numerous factors that determine this duration,

People wish to know the exact period that elapses from the time of leaving the body and being born again... Now, there is no definite period of time in this matter. In main two factors decide this issue viz., the nature of the individual Karma and the last impression before death. It may vary from hundreds of years to a few months even. Those that work out some of their Karmas in other planes in subtler regions, take a considerable time before entering a fresh body. The interval is very long, for a year of the earth period passes off as a single day on the celestial plane...

A very sensual individual with strong craving or one with intense attachment sometimes is reborn quickly. Also in cases where life is cut short by a violent death or a sudden unexpected accident, the Jīva resumes the thread very soon.[244]

“…..there is no definite time period for how long it may take between death and another physical birth. It depends on many factors, which mostly evolve around the person’s karma and the last impressions in one’s mind at the time of death. For some who have intense material attachments or cravings, they may be ready to enter another body right away. So, they may take another birth within a few days after death. This is especially the case when children die young and are ready to proceed to the next life. For others, they may need to work out a good portion of their karma in subtle realms, even in regions of heaven or hell. However, these also consist of a life after death but in the subtle dimensions. This can take some considerable time, even many years, before they are ready for another birth in the Earthly realm. Of course, I mean time as measured in Earthly years since years on the celestial regions are much longer. People who have done many pious activities can spend much time in the higher regions before they use up their good karma after which they will be born on Earth again. Those who are spiritually advanced may spend many years in the higher dimensions before ever taking birth again in the Earthly realm, or may never have to return at all and merely progress further along in higher and heavenly realms. They may simply progress through higher and higher realms of being until they are released from material existence altogether. Yet, sometimes such advanced souls will take birth on Earth and accept a human form with a mission to work for the upliftment of society in general.”[245]

The time interval between two lives is apparently shorter where the subject had died a violent death.[246]  Another factor often ignored is the fact that according to Hindu tradition, time moves at a different speed in different realms-

Ten years of the earth plane is equal to ten days for the Devas in heaven.262

Modern studies by a parapsychologist have this to say about the duration of time between two lives- [247]

“The interval between the previous personality’s death and the subject’s birth is usually less than three years. In 616 cases from ten different cultures, Stevenson found that the median interval was fifteen months although Stevenson says that in the cases he has examined, the intermission length varies from a few hours to more than twenty years.”[248] 

21.0 Death by Suicide and Euthanasia

In general, suicide as a means of escaping one’s responsibilities and challenges of life is considered a sin. Hindu tradition states that no funeral ceremonies or annual post-mortem ceremonies be performed for someone who has committed suicide, except if it is one’s mother. Sons are obligated to perform the funeral and post funeral rites of their mother, no matter what.

There are no injunctions against suicide in the Vedic scriptures as such but some passages are interpreted to prohibit suicides by later commentators or authors of Dharma digests. For instance, Medhātithi, in his commentary on Manusmriti, interprets a verse of Yajurveda[249] as an injunction against suicide, and as a damnation to hell for such people. The actual context however shows that the verse merely admonishes people who spend their entire lives in pleasures of the flesh and have no spiritual dimension in their lives. 

The injunctions against suicide are meant to dissuade individuals from taking this drastic step. In some Dharmashāstras (e.g. Kātyāyana), even the community in which a suicide has occurred is subjected to a fine. This seems to be an acknowledgement of the failure of the community in preventing or its complicity in causing the suicide.

If a man survives after a suicide attempt, the Dharmashāstras (Yama Smriti 20-24) enjoin him to pay a fine, and also enjoin that his children and friends must also pay a fine to the state. Then, both the survivor of the suicide attempt, and his children and friends are required to perform penances. Others are asked to shun such families and not dine or dwell with them. Parāshara Smriti 4.4 states that a Brahmana who touches the corpse of a person that has died by hanging himself becomes impure and has to perform an expiation to regain his purity. Vishnu Dharma Sutra 22.56 states that no water is offered in the funeral ceremony of the person who has committed suicide. In general, suicide is considered a papa-karma (evil act with negative karmic consequences) because the human body is a gift and one ought to use it for making progress on the paths of Dharma and Moksha-

“Suicide is evil,” think in this way, I do not wish to end my body. I am fearful that if I commit suicide, I might be reborn in an even lower life-form. Mahābhārata 14.180.20

One cannot escape the effects of prior Karma through suicide. He can only delay them or split them between multiple lives. Several Hindu scriptures also warn that because suicide often results after a period of intense, uncontrollable emotions, the person might transfer into the ‘Preta-Yoni’ for eons after his death before he overcomes this state and is able to reborn.

Several exceptions to this general rule (“suicide is an evil act”) are given in Hindu scriptures, or permitted in the Hindu tradition. These cases are not regarded as ‘suicide’ (ātmahatyā) but rather as ‘self-sacrifice’ (ātmatyāga):

a)       Sacrifice of their lives by soldiers during warfare.

b)      Hindus are allowed to commit suicide to escape capture by an invading army. In particular, in medieval times, the Hindu womenfolk committed a mass suicide by immolating themselves before their city fell to invading Islamic invaders. For example, in the 13th century, an estimated 24000 Hindu women of the western Indian city of Jaisalmer committed a mass suicide, while their menfolk were killed in the battle for defending their city. They did so out of the fear (resulting from historical instances) that as war booty, they will be sexually abused by the Muslim soldiers, sold off as sex slaves in markets in other Muslim nations or that even their dead bodies might be defiled by the invaders. In parallel, their husbands would fight to their deaths. The ‘suicide-pact’ between Hindu wives and husbands engaged in saving their honor, religion and their homes in the face of Islamic invasions was referred to as ‘Jauhar-Shākā’ with ‘Jauhar’ referring to the self-immolation of wives and other women, and ‘Shākā’ referring to the fight till death of the outnumbered Hindu husbands and other males.

c)       Brāhmaṇas are allowed to commit suicide as an atonement of serious crimes (such as murder), rather than suffer capital punishment from the state. Modern India is a secular state and this option is no longer permissible. A celebrated case is that of the Hindu philosopher Kumārila Bhatta who immolated himself in a slow burning fire to atone for his treacherous behavior towards his Buddhist Gurus. 

d)      As an atonement by non-Brāhmaṇas for committing heinous crimes. For example, several verses of Yājnavalkya Smriti (3.247-248) prescribe suicide to atone for the sin of murdering a Brahmana.

e)       Hindu monks are allowed to terminate their lives by immersion in water or a sealed cave or by self-immolation when they believe that their worldly obligations are over. Many notable examples of Hindu saints ending their lives this way are recorded in our tradition. E.g., Saint Jnaneshvar (12-13th cent.) ended his life by entering an underground cave, whose mouth was then sealed at his request. A variant of this is monks engaging in intense meditation that could result in death as well. (E.g. Devarāhā Bābā in 1990).

f)       Individuals suffering from incurable and painful diseases can end their lives (euthanasia). An ancient sacred tree (it is mentioned as an ancient tree even in scriptures that are 2000 years old) named Akshayavata in the holy city of Allahabad attracted numerous such patients who jumped into the Ganges from its branches. 

g)      Aged people tormented by the terminal, painful and incurable illnesses of old age may request assistance to end their lives and refuse any medical treatment (similar to hospice). 

h)      When death is imminent, some people refuse any further food or life prolonging medical treatment and choose to depart from their dying bodies on their own terms, willfully. 

i)        A small portion (less than 0.1%) of widows immolated themselves on their husband’s funeral pyre. It was believed that this sacrifice propelled the couple to a long stay in heaven, although several authoritative Hindu scriptures either ignore this practice or even condemn it. The practice was legally banned in British India in 1829 CE and even earlier in the territories of the Peshwā rulers. Several commentators on Dharma like Medhatithi condemned it as did Hindu saints like Bhagavān Swaminarayan.

j)        Fast unto death to seek redress from injustice is mentioned and permitted in Hindu codes of Dharma. This was popularized in recent times by Mahatma Gandhi who often took a fast unto death against the British Rule to protest against their unjust policies. The fast is broken only if the oppressor addresses and remedies the cause of the grievance.

k)      Passive resistance against violent aggression: Hinduism stresses a lot on non-violence, and in modern times, Mahatma Gandhi even used it as a tool to counter violence and aggression. In the 14th century, 12000 Hindu monks, priests and laity offered passive resistance by forming a noncombatant wall to oppose the Islamic invaders lead by Ulugh Khan who were attacking the Srirangam temple. They were butchered to mercilessly, but in the meantime, another party of Hindus managed to smuggle out sacred icons from the temple to a safe location. 

l)        Offer one’s life to save that of a worthy as indicated in the following verse-

Those who lose their life while protecting a cow, a Brahmana, a King, a friend, their wealth or their wife go to heaven. Vishnu Dharma Sutra 3.45

m)    In the Jain tradition, it is considered meritorious to end one’s life by slow starvation (‘Sallekhana’, or ‘santhārā’). Jains are very pacifist people and abhor violence and injury to all creatures. Since even normal day to day living involves injury and violence to other creatures, this mode of slow starvation is considered an atonements for all these sins of violence and injury (even though it might have been unintentional and involuntary). This practice still exists although instances are rare.

n)      As a part of rituals performed towards the end of one’s life: Ancient Hindu scriptures[250] mention the Sārasvata and Drāshadvata rituals in which the aged performer of the sacred rite followed the course of sacred rivers towards their sources in the high and cold Himalayas, where he may have eventually given up his life. Likewise, a Smriti says-

The Vānaprastha can proceed in the Īshāna direction, living on wind alone, till his body fails. Yājnavalkya Smriti 3.55b

Such exceptions were not considered sins or suicide, and the individual indulging in these was entitled to all religious ceremonies upon his/her death. The current Indian laws derive in large part from British colonial laws which are themselves based on the Justinian Code that considered all acts of suicide as a sin. But as seen above, the traditional Hindu law and customs allowed for several exceptions.

But outside these exceptions, suicide in general was considered an evil act with negative karmic consequences.      

22.0 Bibliography

Acknowledgements: The images used in this document are taken from various websites.

Original Texts: Representative passages from Hindu sacred literature were cited using standard translations with or without slight modifications, for illustrative purposes. Some translations are mine. It was not my intent to create an exhaustive compilation of all relevant scriptural passages here because that would have led to multiple volumes. The sacred texts used for this essay are: Rgveda, Atharvaveda (Shaunaka Samhita), Yajurveda (Madhyandina Samhita), Satapatha Brahmana, Taittiriya Brahmana, Aitareya Aranyaka, Shāṇkhāyana Āraṇyaka, Taittiriya Aranyaka, Aitareya Upanishad, Kaushitaki Upanishad, Paingala Upanishad, Jaiminiya Upanishad Brahmana, Chhandogya Upanishad, Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, Subala Upanishad, Katha Upanishad, Shvetashvatara Upanishad, Taittiriya Upanishad, Maitrayaniya Upanishad, Mundaka Upanishad, Prashna Upanishad, Mahānārāyaṇa Upanishad, Garbha Upanishad, Manusmriti, Yajnavalkya Smriti, Parashara Smriti, Vishnu Dharmasutra, Katyayana Smriti, Baudhāyana Gṛhya Parisheṣha Sūtra, Shukranitisara, Mahabharata,[251] Bhagavad Gita, Anugita, Harivansha Purana, Brahmasutra, Nyayasutra, Yogasutra, Dharmaputrikā Saṃhitā, Siddhanta Sutra, Bhagavata Purana, Vamana Purana, Matsya Purana, Vayu Purana, Markandeya Purana, Skanda Purana, Garuda Purana, Brahma Purana, Brahmavaivarta Purana, Narada Purana, Padma Purana, Charaka Samhita, Sushruta Samhita, Shankaracharya’s and Ramanujacharya’s commentary on Brahmasutras, Satyartha Prakash of Swami Dayanand Saraswati.

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White, Ruth. 2001. Karma & Reincarnation. Samuel Weiser, Inc. York Beach (Maine, USA)

Yogiji Maharaj. 2015. 101 Tales of Wisdom as Told by Yogiji Maharaj. Swaminarayan Aksharpith: Ahmedabad

[1] Cited in ‘Paraloka aura Punarjanma’ special number (1969) of the Kalyāṇ magazine published by Geeta Press, Gorakhpur, p. 122

[2] The Sages Speak About Life & Death. 1995. Chinmaya Mission West. Piercy (California)

[3] James Lewis (2001), p. 146

[4] Stephen Knapp (2008), p. xvi

[5] John Mumford (1999), p. 85-87

[6] R S Sethi (2008), pp. 21-22

[7] Allan J Danelek (2010), p. 7

[8] Allan J Danelek (2010), p. 8

[9] Allan J Danelek (2010), p. 8

[10] “Man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment.” New Testament, Hebrews 9.27

[11] For example, the Koran says that the faces of Christians and Jews will become that of Apes and Pigs after the Day of Judgement.

[12] This view is adhered to very strongly in the Islamic tradition.

[13] In recent decades however, cremation is becoming an extremely preferred choice for funeral among Christians and Jews and therefore some institutions like the Catholic church have come up with a compromise. For instance, cremation is considered permissible provided the ashes are blessed by a Catholic priest. As an interesting side note, Islamist terror organizations like ISIS prefer to cremate their captives (Muslim or otherwise) in the belief that thereby, their enemies will lose their chance to live an eternal life. Likewise, Islamist suicide bombers are known to cover their private organs in metallic cups in the hope that at least these will be resurrected intact to enable them to enjoy sexual pleasures in heaven.

[14] In some branches of Christianity however, hell is not a permanent residence but just a purgatory. The ‘sinners’, after suffering horrific tortures and purified as a result are then sent to heaven.

[15] The Sikh views are similar to Hindu viewpoints. Jains are atheists and Buddhists are agnostic but they nevertheless subscribe to the doctrine of rebirth till Nirvāṇa or an extinguishing of the Samsāra for the liberated soul is achieved. Our concern is mainly with the Hindu views.

[16] This is a very basic statement of the Hindu viewpoint of which many varieties with regard to the nature of Moksha exist. However, rebirth is fundamental to all these viewpoints. A more nuanced and detailed description of the Hindu viewpoint is provided in subsequent sections.

[17] Sushila Blackman (1997), pp. 42-44

[18] Yogiji Maharaj (2015), pp. 61-62. The story is narrated in Yoga Vashishtha.

[19] Swami Akhandananda Sarasvati (1963), pp. 186

[20] For an introductory overview of how widespread this doctrine has been in various cultures, refer to Nevill Drury (2002), Joseph Head & S L Cranston (1979).

[21] Mikel Burley (2016), pp. 15-16 and Chaitanya Charan (2017), pp. 20-21, 125-144

[22] The following popular but eminently readable and comprehensive book argues for acceptance of reincarnation even in Abrahamic religions – Paul Roland (2008). It gives numerous examples of reincarnation type cases from the West. See also Arthur and Joyce Berger (1991) for an interfaith pro and con perspective on Reincarnation.

[23] Allan J Danelek (2005), p. 314

[24] Another term used for transmigration is ‘metempsychosis.’

[25] Swami Bhaskarananda (2002), p. 95

[26] Chaitanya Charan (2017), p. 181

[27] Jeffrey Armstrong (2007), pp. 16-17

[28] Hammerman and Lenard (2000), p. 66

[29] Farnaz Ma’sumian (2002), p. 119

[30] Jeffrey Armstrong (2007), p. 21

[31] Jeffrey Armstrong (2007), p. 21

[32] Chris Carter (2012), p. 36 33

 Cited in Hanumandas Poddar (1969), p. 612. The book gives some examples where rebirth involved genus and gender changes.

[33] Sri Sadguru Keshavadasji (1970), p. 130-131. For a more detailed account, reproduced from the New Delhi edition (dt. 8 February 1966) of the newspaper ‘Hindustan’, refer to ‘Paraloka aura Punarjanma’ special number (1969) of the Kalyāṇ magazine published by Geeta Press, Gorakhpur.

[34] Diane Ahlquist (2007), p. 247

[35] John Snyder (1984), p. 23

[36] Mikel Burley (2016), p. 22

[37] This is also the view of Buddhists, Jains and some Hindu streams like the Sāṃkhya Darshana.

[38] Stephen Knapp (2008), p. 81

[39] See Brihadāraṇyaka Upanishad 4.3.35-4.4.7

[40] The number of the aphorisms however is per Shankaracharya’s commentary.

[41] The five senses of knowledge are: sight, taste, touch, smell and hearing. The five senses of action are: locomotion, speech, excretion, grasping and procreation). 45  In fact, individuals in a prolonged state of coma often report having heard what was being said around them when they regain their consciousness. 46  In some individuals, as the vital forces dissipated in the body start aggregating, he might suddenly feel reinvigorated for a short time. People around him might also notice that this individual has suddenly become more energetic and has a ‘glow’ on his body.

[42] Sri Sadguru Keshavadasji (1970), p. 14

[43] James Braid (1850), pp. 10-14

[44] The text is not yet published and I have copied the summary of relevant section (with minor changes and leaving out the footnotes) from Christèle Barois (2020), available online at https://doi.org/10.34000/JoYS.2020.V3.002

[45] Swami Sivananda (1996a), p. 71. See Siddhānta Sūtra 2.3.12 and the traditional commentary on it. Traditional commentaries on Manusmriti 1.56 cite a verse by Sanandana that defines Puryaṣhṭaka slightly different, but the entities enumerated in this verse too add up to the same net result.

[46] Sushila Blackman (1997), p. 13

[47] Sushila Blackman (1997), pp. 15-16

[48] Sushila Blackman (1997), p. 16

[49] Sushila Blackman (1997), pp. 18-19

[50] For a scientific description of NDEs, refer to Pim van Lommel (2010). The author does introduce irrelevant theories like Quantum theory of consciousness, psychic abilities and so on that detract from his otherwise fairly good case.

[51] According to the commentary of Shankarāchārya.

[52] Swami Chidbhavananda, pp. 479-481

[53] For this viewpoint, refer to Rāmānujāchārya’s commentary on Brahmasūtra 4.2.19 (= Brahmasūtra 4.2.20 in Shankaracharya’s commentary).

[54] The colors of the path remind one of the lights of different colors that those undergoing NDEs (Near Death Experience) have reported. See Jeffrey Long and Paul Perry (2017), p. 15.

[55] Sri Sadguru Keshavadasji (1970), pp. 19-20

[56] Sri Sadguru Keshavadasji (1970), pp. 19-20

[57] Sri Sadguru Keshavadasji (1970), p. 20

[58] Sri Sadguru Keshavadasji (1970), p. 20

[59] Sri Sadguru Keshavadasji (1970), pp. 20-21

[60] Sri Sadguru Keshavadasji (1970), p. 21

[61] The present article is restricted to expounding the Hindu views of rebirth. Sikh viewpoints are practically the same, whereas the Jaina and Buddhist viewpoints differ in some details. For a comprehensive survey of Buddhist views on rebirth, refer to Story (2010).

[62] Sri Sadguru Keshavadasji (1970), p. 28-29

[63] Sri Sadguru Keshavadasji (1970), pp. 29-30

[64] Swami Adiswarananda (1986), pp. 169 - 171

[65] See Prashna Upanishad 1.9, Br Up. 3.2.5.3, Chhāndogya Upanishad 5.20.4-5

[66] See Brihadāraṇyaka Upanishad 6.2.15; Chhāndogya Upanishad 5.10.2; Prashna Upanishad 1.10

[67] Allan J Danelek (2006), 26-27

[68] But according to some scholars and texts (like the Vishnudharmottara Purāṇa), this temporary state of Preta is meant only for human beings. Other creatures do not pass through this stage. The Preta body is comprised of three basic elements (space, air and fire) and has no contribution from the other two basic elements (water and earth). See ‘Paraloka aura Punarjanma’ special number (1969) of the Kalyāṇ magazine published by Geeta Press, Gorakhpur, pp. 139-140. The Preta body is also referred to as ‘Ātivāhika Deha’.

[69] ‘Paraloka aura Punarjanma’ special number (1969) of the Kalyāṇ magazine published by Geeta Press, Gorakhpur, pp. 609-610

[70] John Mumford (1999b), pp. 102-103

[71] Sri Dharma Pravartaka Acharya (2015), p. 158

[72] This verse is very similar to Katha Upanishad 2.2.15 = Mundaka Upanishad 2.2.10 = Shvetashvatara Upanishad 6.14

[73] Blackman (1997), pp. 54-56

[74] Sushila Blackman (1997), p. 37

[75] Sadhu Aksharajivandas, p. 20-22; Sadhu Mukundcharandas, pp. 66-67; Poddar (1969), 473-475

[76] Quoted in Chris Carter (2012), p. 39

[77] Translated by Yuvraj Krishan (1997), p. 137

[78] Swami Rama Tirtha (1973), 263-265

[79] Quoted in Chris Carter (2012), p. 38

[80] For details, refer Sadhu Mukundcharandās (2016), pp. 47-54

[81] Sadhu Mukundcharandas (2009), p. 49-50

[82] Sadhu Mukundcharandas (2009), pp. 51-52

[83] Sadhu Mukundcharandās (2016), p. 66

[84] However, other atheistic Indian religions, now extinct, like the Chārvāka, did not admit the existence of any soul or its rebirth. They regarded consciousness merely as a product of the four basic elements (water, earth, air and fire).

[85] All translations from the Charaka Saṃhitā are from Sharma and Dash (1976), vol. 1, p. 215 sqq. with slight modifications.

[86] ‘Paraloka aura Punarjanma’ special number (1969) of the Kalyāṇ magazine published by Geeta Press, Gorakhpur, pp. 230-231. In some cases, saintly Hindu leaders did not remember their past lives but made a guess, based on their present life’s habits and circumstances. For instance, Vinoba Bhawe guessed that he was a Bengali in his previous life, whereas he was a Marathi in his present life. See ibid, p. 73.

[87] One could refer to the relevant publications of the Geeta Press (e.g. the ‘Paraloka and Punarjanma’ special number of the Kalyan magazine), the Swaminarayan Sampradaya, the autobiography of Swami Rama or especially, the four volume ‘Cases of Reincarnation Type’ by Ian Stevenson, published by the University Press of Virginia. For several examples from Nepal of past life recollection, OBE (Out of Body Experience), NDE (Near Death Experience) and other parapsychic phenomena, refer to Mohan Kharel (2014).

[88] Sture Lönnerstrand (1994)

[89] Hanumandas Poddar (1968), pp. 452-459

[90] A similar viewpoint expressed in Skanda Purāņa, Kāshīkhanda 38.89

[91] Chaitanya Charan (2017), pp. 158-159

[92] Chris Carter (2012a), p. 38

[93] Chaitanya Charan (2017), pp. 181-183

[94] Allan J Danelek (2005), p. 93

[95] Allan J Danelek (2010), pp. 39-40

[96] Allan J Danelek (2005), p. 92

[97] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyperthymesia <checked on 07 April 2022>

[98] Allan J Danelek (2010), pp. 37-38

[99] Allan Danelek (2005), p. 94. See also Cranston, Sylvia and Carey Williams (1999), pp. 7-10

[100] Ruth White (2001), p. 63

[101] John Snyder (1984), pp, 37-38; Ian Stevenson (1966), pp. 291-315; Chaitanya Charan (2017), pp. 84-86

[102] John Snyder (1984), pp. 29-32

[103] John Snyder (1984), pp. 32-33; Ian Stevenson (1966), pp. 332-333; 339

[104] Chris Carter (2012a), p. 43

[105] John Snyder (1984), p. 37

[106] Allan J Danelek (2010), p. 23

[107] Allan J Danelek (2010), p. 24

[108] Allan J Danelek (2005), p. 75

[109] Chaitanya Charan (2017), p. 85

[110] Chaitanya Charan (2017), p. 86

[111] John Snyder (1984), p. 37

[112] Allan J Danelek (2005), p. 85

[113] Allan J Danalek (2005), p. 85

[114] Allan J Danelek (2005), p. 85

[115] John Snyder (1984), p. 38

[116] See Cranston, Sylvia and Carey Williams (1999), pp. 59-60

[117] Allan J Danelek (2005), p. 88

[118] Allan J Danelek (2005), p. 89

[119] Allan J Danelek (2005), p. 89

[120] John Snyder (1984), p. 38

[121] See also Cranston, Sylvia and Carey Williams (1999), pp. 60-61 on why Clairvoyance and Telepathy can be ruled out as a source of past life recollection.

[122] John Snyder (1984), p. 38

[123] Chris Carter (2012), pp. 48-49

[124] Allan J Danelek (2005), p. 97

[125] Cranston, Sylvia and Carey Williams (1999), pp. 58-59

[126] ibid 132  Allan J Danelek (2010), p. 18

[127] Trutz Hardo (2005), p. xii

[128] Trutz Hardo (2005), pp. 138-139

[129] Trutz Hardo (2005), pp. 140-141

[130] Chaitanya Charan (2017), pp. 27-28

[131] Trutz Hardo (2005), pp. 137-138

[132] Mark Pitstick (2009), p. 148

[133] Chaitanya Charan (2017), p. 159

[134] Mark Pitstick (2009), p. 142

[135] Trutz Hardo (2005), pp. 114-120

[136] David Fontana (2009), pp. 124-125

[137] Hammerman and Lenard (2000), pp. 240-241

[138] Hammerman and Lenard (2000), pp. 240-241

[139] Hammerman and Lenard (2000), p. 241

[140] Allan J Danelek (2005), p. 99

[141] Pravrajika Suddatmaprana (2010), pp. 245-258

[142] Hammerman and Lenard (2000), p. 241

[143] Hammerman and Lenard (2000), p. 242

[144] Sadhu Mukundcharandās (2016), p. 154

[145] Ibid. 154  Allan J Danelek (2005), pp. 79-82

[146] Mark Pitstick (2009), p. 143

[147] Mark Pitstick (2009), p. 144

[148] Mark Pitstick (2009), p. 144

[149] Douglas de Long (2013), pp. 8-9

[150] Allan J Danelek (2005), pp. 134-136

[151] Hammerman and Lenard (2000), p. 211

[152] Bhikkhu Analayo (2018), p. 81

[153] The story, with some modification, is narrated in Vyāsa’s commentary on the Yoga Sūtra 3.18.

[154] Hammerman and Lenard, p. 320

[155] Ruth White (2001), pp. 49-50

[156] Roy Stemman (2012), p. 78

[157] Roy Stemman (2012), p. 78

[158] Allan J Danelek (2010), p. 25

[159] Allan J Danelek (2010), pp. 25-26

[160] Sadhu Mukundcharandas, p. 72

[161] Swami Sivananda (1993), pp. 82-83. Uddyotkara in his comment on Nyāya Sūtra 3.1.19 too gives a similar argument in a somewhat greater detail.

[162] Swami Sivananda (1993), p. 83

[163] Siddhānta Sūtra of Vyāsa 2.3.22

[164] Sadhu Mukundcharandas (2009), p. 74

[165] Allan J Danelek (2010), p. 27

[166] Allan J Danelek (2005), p. 49

[167] Allan J Danelek (2005), pp. 50-51

[168] Roy Stemman (2012), pp. 119-120

[169] There are several other Hindu beliefs – e.g. positive effect of Samskāras, grace of a Guru or a Deva that help Hindus rationalize why some children are very spiritually gifted. See Agarwal (2006).

[170] Linda Johnsen (1994), pp. 47-57

[171] Ibid, 28 – 46.

[172] The primary texts are Charaka Samhita (Sharma and Dash 1976) and Sushruta Samhita (Atridev 1958), both of which are normally dated before 200 CE.

[173] Charaka Samhita, Sutrasthana 11.6-33, extracts from which have been reproduced in a section above. Sushruta Samhita, Sharirasthana 2.57 adds that individuals who have purified their minds with intensive study of scriptures start recollecting the previous lives. 

[174] Charaka Samhita, Sharirasthana 4.8

[175] Susruta Samhita, Sharirasthana 3.18

[176] ibid, 3.30; Charaka Samhita, Sharirasthana 4.15-19

[177] The text is typically dated to the early centuries of the first millennium by modern Indologists but is several centuries older in my estimation. A similar statement is made in another passage Nirukta 14.6, which is considered an interpolation in the original text that is dated to 6th century BCE. In my opinion however, this section within this passage occurs is not an interpolation.

[178] Hammerman and Lenard (2000), p. 237

[179] Swami Chinmayananda (1997)

[180] G C Pande (1994), p. 52

[181] Jonathan Bader (2000), p. 84

[182] Swami Bharati Tirtha, the previous pontiff of the Shringeri Monastery, was initiated into monk-hood as a teenager. All the pontiffs of the influential Kanchi Kamakoti monastery in the last 120 years have been nominated as successors in their teenage years.  196  Rajayoga is sometimes considered a separate path from Karmayoga, and is quite strongly fused with Jnanayoga.

[183] For instance, the ‘no-death’ doctrine preached by Sanatsujāta in Mahabharata V.42-45

[184] Jeffrey Armstrong (2007), p. 20 

[185] Allan J Danelek (2005), pp. 189-190

[186] Allan J Danelek (2005), p. 241

[187] Chris Carter (2012), p. 66

[188] Sadhu Mukundcharandās (2016), p. 99

[189] For an introduction to Epigenetics, see https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3052688/ <checked on 19 April 2022>  or https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epigenetics <checked on 18 April 2022>

[190] Swami Adiswarananda (2006), p. 14

[191] Allan J Danelek (2005), p. 45

[192] Swami Rama and Swami Ajaya (1986), p. 92

[193] Swami Vivekananda, quoted in Swami Tapasyananda (2010), pp. 1-2

[194] Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda, Advaita Ashrama: Calcutta (1989), volume 4, pages 111-114

[195] Trutz Hardo (2005), pp. 212-222; Sadhu Mukundcharandas (2009), pp. 62-65

[196] Allan J Danelek (2005), p. 267

[197] Paul Deussen (1966), p. 314

[198] Farnaz Ma’sumian (2002), p. 119

[199] Farnaz Ma’sumian (2002), p. 120

[200] Hammerman and Lenard (2000), p. 316

[201] Anantanand Rambachan (2015), p. 146-147

[202] Farnaz Ma’sumian (2002), p. 119

[203] Farnaz Ma’sumian (2002), p. 120

[204] Nevill Drury (2002), p. 11

[205] Swami Tapasyananda (2010), p. 212

[206] Nevill Drury (2002), p. 8

[207] Allan J Danelek (2005), pp. 267-268

[208] Allan J Danelek (2005), p. 267 223  Several of these arguments are taken from chapters 13-14 of the Satyārtha Prakāsh of Swami Dayanand Sarasvati (1824-1883 CE).

[209] Danelek (2010), pp. 140-141

[210] Sri Dharma Pravartaka Acharya (2015), pp. 164-165

[211] Sri Dharma Pravartaka Acharya (2015), pp. 166-167

[212] Allan J Danelek (2010), p. 12

[213] Allan J Danelek (2005), p. 108

[214] Stephen Knapp (2008), p. 92

[215] Allan J Danelek (2005), p. 120

[216] Allan J Danelek (2010), p. 9

[217] An exceptional case is of the Roman Catholic St. Francis of Assissi who believed that animals too have souls but this belief is rejected as heretical by mainstream Christian denominations. See Cranston, Sylvia and Carey Williams (1999), p. 275.

[218] Sadhu Mukundcharanadas (2009), p. xii.

[219] Allan J Danelek (2010), p. 16, Chaitanya Charan (2017), p. 21

[220] Roy Stemman (2012), pp. 3-4

[221] Swami Bhaskarananda (2002), p. 95

[222] Chaitanya Charan (2017), p. 185 

[223] Swami Sivananda (1979), p.201

[224] Swami Muktananda (1978), p.117

[225] Roy Stemman (2012), p. 261

[226] Chaitanya Charan (2017), p. 158

[227] Allan J Danelek (2005), p. 113

[228] O R Krishnaswami (2016a), p. 328

[229] Allan J Danelek (2005), p. 121

[230] Swami Rama Tirtha (1973), p. 265

[231] Swami Sivananda (1993), p. 99

[232] Swami Sivananda (1993), pp. 99-100

[233] See Antyeshti Samskar Committee,  VHP-A (2009).

[234] Stephen Knapp (2008), p. 85

[235] Interestingly, “When NDErs encounter deceased beings, they are usually relatives rather than friends or acquaintances. NDErs may encounter someone during their experience who seems familiar, but they do not know who they are. Many NDErs may see a picture of a deceased relative later in life and recognize the person as the one encountered in their NDE. A number of NDErs describe meeting deceased pet….” (Jeffrey Long and Paul Perry 2017:17-18). We might add that typically, NDErs are not reported to have met distant ancestors, but only their grandparents and so on. In one case, an NDEr was warmly received my a male whom he did not recognize. Later, his mother told him that he was an illegitimate child and the male who had received him was his deceased real biological father!

[236] Cited in ‘Paraloka aura Punarjanma’ special number (1969) of the Kalyāṇ magazine published by Geeta Press, Gorakhpur, p. 369

[237] Rajbali Pandey (1969), p. 243

[238] Rajbali Pandey (1969), p. 272

[239] Rajbali Pandey (1969), p. 272

[240] Sri Sadguru Keshavadasji (1970), p. 23

[241] During cremation, the ends of the bones that do not turn into ashes flare open like the petals of a flower (‘phool’).

[242] R K Sanyal (2001), p. 168

[243] Chris Carter (2012), pp. 35-36

[244] Swami Sivananda (1979), 153-154

[245] Stephen Knapp (2008), p. 88

[246] Chris Carter (2012), p. 38

[247] Swami Sivananda (1979), 198

[248] Chris Carter (2012a), p. 37

[249] Yajurveda, Mādhyandina Samhitā 40.3

[250] E.g. Latyayana Shrauta Sutra of Samaveda

[251] All references are from the vulgate published by the Geeta Press (Gorakhpur) unless stated otherwise.