Talk:What Happens when We Die - The Dhārmic Viewpoint
Hindus believe that the individual is composed of the
- ) physical or the gross body,
- ) the subtle body and
- ) 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, in a rich or noble household, or even in a life form superior to a 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 beliefs are not sufficient for obtaining salvation. These merely make him fit to embark upon the path of realization of spiritual truths (Yogas). 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 enter 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 the sixth which is derived from Prakriti. When the Jīva, which is the master, acquires a body and when he leaves it, he takes it 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 a woman, and also a 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), is set free (to go to the higher worlds). But whoever answers it not, him having become rain, it rains down here. Either as a worm, as an insect as a fish as a bird, as a lion, as a boar, 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 reaches 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.