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On Hinduism
The target audience is 9th grader Abrahamic students in American Schools but it will be useful to anyone interested in learning about Hinduism. All answers are designed to answer in about a 3 minute time frame. We have also provided links to other reading materials and video links relating to each question.
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14. Afterlife
Rest in Peace (RIP) is an Abrahamic concept, as per which the body waits or rests in a grave. On Judgement Day, the body gets united with the soul and rises again. God will make judgement for who will go to heaven or eternal hell.
Hindus believe in reincarnation of the departed soul to a new body and soul does not rest. Hindus have a concept that if the soul is trapped inside the earth, then it’s called as a Preta (a disturbed soul and in suffering). Suffering in Hell is better as it’s temporary, but not getting trapped here. Thus to tell RIP is a disrespect to the departed Hindu.
“Param Gati Mile” (may the soul attain moksha), “Om Sadagati” and “Om Shanti” are appropriate expressions when a Hindu passes away.
Other reading material: Here is why saying ‘Rest in Peace’ is a disservice to the departed Hindu soul,
Relevant videos:
Contributor: Dilip Amin
Category:
14. Afterlife
Death is inevitable and deterministic (uncontrollable) according to the Hindu religion.
Death does not imply the cessation of our existence, but it means a new beginning. Death is just a small milestone on the journey of infinite miles of eternal existence. Thus the phenomena of death is linked to the concept of rebirth.
Hinduism has a deep rooted belief in the theory of rebirth; the idea of rebirth is connected to the idea of the ‘Atman’ or the Soul, the individual’s non-material inner self that is eternal. The soul cannot be experienced with the five sense organs but it does exist as a spiritual substance. When a human dies, the soul from his body detaches itself from the literal body and moves out in search of another body and there occurs rebirth.
How does the soul decide what it wants to be reborn again as? This question takes us to one of the most basic philosophical theories of Hinduism; the concept of Karma. Karma is the accumulated past actions waiting to come to fruition. One’s rebirth depends on past actions (Karma), good deeds taking you towards better births and immoral deeds taking you towards birth in lower category creatures like animals.
Thus Hinduism gives a highly positive interpretation to the concept of death and the journey beyond this life. We will always live in the form of a soul and death is a milestone on the journey of the soul.
In Bhagavad Gita, Supreme GOD Sree Krishna says to Arjun (Chapter 2, Sloka 22):
vāsānsi jīrṇāni yathā vihāya
navāni gṛihṇāti naro ’parāṇi
tathā śharīrāṇi vihāya jīrṇānya
nyāni sanyāti navāni dehī
As a person sheds worn-out garments and wears new ones, likewise, at the time of death, the soul casts off its worn-out body and enters a new one.
Other reading material:
Relevant videos: Swami Nikhil Anand What happens when we die?, What is Reincarnation?,
Contributor: Mona Raval
Category:
14. Afterlife