What do Hindus believe happens after death?

Answer 1

It is very difficult to categorize and explain the Hindu religion, as there are many sects and ideals.

They believe that human beings have souls. These souls are "immortal and imperishable." Thus a person's soul is in an everlasting cycle of life and death. They believe that you can only break this cycle when you achieve enlightenment.

Many factors effect what happens to you after death. These include the choices you have made in life, your state of mind at the time of your death, the cause of your death, and your funeral preparations.

A person's soul can go to a lower, middle, or higher world. As you would expect, the lower world is for evildoers and is thus painful to endure, the middle world for the average person, and the higher world for righteous people, and thus is pleasurable. However, the soul's stay at any level is only temporary, is its experience there is said to teach a lesson.

Hindus believe that your soul will come back as either an animal or human which very much depends on the life you had before.

If you are bad and mean you are likey to come back as a spider or poor human but if you are friendly and kind you are likey to come back as something beuatiful e.g butterfly.

HINDUISM AND REINCARNATION:

According to Brahmajnana, the supreme Hindu knowledge, death is the very end of our life and there is nothing beyond it.

Ordinary Hindus believe that after their death their soul enters another body, resulting in reincarnation.

THE VEDAS AND REINCARNATION:

1. Rigveda 1.10. 14

8. O spirit of the dead! Go to the highest heaven and meet with Yama and your ancestors.

Carry with you only the good Karmas leaving behind the bad. Seek a body and a new home (reincarnate) and a life of glory.

According to Brahmajnana, the reference here is to the spirit of a compulsive action that is automatically abolished, to prevent the damage the action would cause. 'Ancestors' refers to previous attempts of the action, which too got abolished.

The fate of the abolished action depends on the track record of similar actions.

If the track record of similar actions is bad, the abolition is made irreversible. (goes to hell). If it is good, it is recycled with some modification, which we call reincarnation.

2. Atharva Veda 4.5.30 - Prayer to Agni for exemption from disease and death:

12. Reverence be to Yama, reverence to death; reverence to the fathers and to those that lead (to them) [death's messengers?]

Even here 'death' refers to an abolished action. In this mantra, prayer is offered to Agni to make the person immortal.

It is obvious that 'Yama' refers to compulsive force and Agni to Voluntary force.

YAMA AND DEATH:

Yama symbolizes the compulsive force. Since the force is not under our control immaculate discipline is necessary to use it. Therefore, Yama was considered as Yamadharma or the god of justice.

However, more often than not, use of Yama force resulted in disasters. Therefore, Yama is supposed to play a role after our death only.

HINDUISM AND LIFE AFTER DEATH:

A Hindu who has mastered Hinduism wouldn't believe in Heaven, Hell and Reincarnation. This is because he can safely use dreaming (Indra) force and compulsive (Yama) force.

For ordinary Hindus, the use of these forces is forbidden and therefore, they would believe in Heaven, Hell and Reincarnation.

Answer 2

It is a popular belief both among Hindus that they reincarnate after their death.

VEDAS AND REINCARNATION:

Let's consider Rigveda 1.4.10-8

O Spirit of the dead! Go to the highest heaven and meet with Yama and your ancestors.

Carry with you only the good Karmas leaving behind the bad. Seek a body and a new home (reincarnate), and a life of glory.

BRAHMAJNANA AND REINCARNATION:

If we take the literal meaning of the above mantra it means that Yama is the Hindu god of death and according to Vedas we Reincarnate.

Yama is the god of compulsion and the most powerful and least controllable Hindu god for actions. Many of the actions executed with Yama force get abolished, to prevent adverse effect on other actions. The mantra is about such 'dead' actions. 'Ancestors' refers to previous attempts of the action that got abolished.

Karma is the facilitating/ retarding force associated with actions. If the dead action is associated with retarding force only, it would god to hell (get abolished irreversibly).

If it is associated with facilitating force then the dead action would be re-executed after some modifications (Reincarnation).

YAMA AND DEATH:

Yama was the god of justice (Yamadharma). This means that Yama force is the most difficult to control and we what we do must be acceptable to all. However, more often than not, use of Yama resulted in disasters. Therefore, Yama was made the god of death. Death here refers to actions that got abolished and not to our death.

THE BELIEF IN REINCARNATION:

we believe in reincarnation because we take the literal meaning of Hindu scriptures. We use reasoning instead of logic. We consider life part by part and not as a whole.

Thus, according to Brahmajnana, the supreme Hindu knowledge, our life ends at our death.

Answer 3

hindu believe in immortality of soul and take the body as only clothes of soul.

They believe that after death the soul again take a new body according to the result of work done in last life i.e. KARMA and can be reborn in the form of human or other animal. They believe that there are 8400 thousand life form for every soul

Answer 4

Hindus believe rebirth happens after death and depending on you deeds in you past live(s) it determines, your class your status your parents if you are a human or animal and so on and so forth

Answer 5

Hindus believe that when you die, your soul leaves your body and roams around in this earth for 13 days. If no proper vedic karma is done than it will roam around as ghost. If proper vidhi is done than it will move on to take punishment or gifts for the karmas it has done. There it after when karma finishes soul will take new birth.

Answer 6

i am hindu so i should know this well we believe when we die that we are reborn.

Answer 7

The Vedic Mythologies, from which Hindus derive many of their beliefs, tell the spirit to return to earth again and again, until Absolute TRUTH is found by humans.

Answer 8

Hindus believe that after you die your soul takes another birth. This belief is called Reincarnation (punarjanma).