What does Hinduism teach about life after death?
Many Hindus believe that humans are in a cycle of death and rebirthThe belief that some part of a person (perhaps their energy) passes into a new life form after death. called samsara. The belief is that when a person dies, their atmanThe essence of a being. Can refer to body, mind or soul, depending on context, but usually indicates the soul that is reborn. is reborn in a different body.
Some believe rebirth happens directly at death, others believe that an atman may exist in other realms. Many Hindus believe that an atman may enter SwargThe Hindu heavenly realm where the gods reside. or NarakThe Hindu hellish realm. for a period before rebirth.
Hindu teaching includes the concept of karma/kammaActions, and the consequences of actions. An important concept in Buddhism, Hinduism and Sikhism. or 'intentional action'. The belief is that good or bad actions in life leading to positive or negative meritA beneficial influence built up through wholesome and skillful actions (karma), capable of affecting a person's future experience in this life and the next., determines the atman's rebirth.
Some Hindus believe that humans may be reborn in animal form, and that rebirth from human to animal form only occurs if an atman has repeatedly failed to learn lessons in human form.
The belief is that living life according to teachings in the scriptures will eventually lead to mokshaUltimate goal for all atman (spirits/souls) as laid out in Hindu scripture; escape from the cycle of reincarnation.. Some Hindu scriptures describe moksha as the atman becoming absorbed with Supreme Spirit BrahmanHindu belief in one true god, the Supreme Spirit, called Brahman, symbolised by the sacred syllable aum (or om). All beings are a part of Brahman., from where each atman is believed to originate. Other Hindu scriptures describe moksha as living in the realm of a personal God. The Bhagavad GitaThe Bhagavad Gita is one of the most revered and important Hindu texts. The Gita tells the story of Krishna鈥檚 incarnation as a chariot driver to Prince Arjuna and forms part of the Mahabharata. states:
Certainly never at any time did I not exist, nor you, nor all these kings and certainly never shall we cease to exist in the future. Just as in the physical body of the embodied being is the process of childhood, youth and old age; similarly by the transmigration from one body to another the wise are never deluded.