Hindus and Christians, unlike secular humanists, do not believe that death is final. However, they have radically differing views on what happens after death.
Christians believe that there is one life, appointed for man to die once, and after which comes judgment (Hebrews 9:27). Hindus, in contrast, believe in a cycle of death and rebirth called samsara. One is reborn or reincarnated (punarjanma) to experience life again with the soul (atman) being transmigrated into a new physical body—whether human or animal.
In the Hindu scripture Bhagavad Gita, Krishna explains this to Arjuna saying that “as 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” (2:22). Thus, the soul is eternal, while the physical body is considered as a mere husk or shell that carries the true life (jiva).
This cycle of birth-death-rebirth repeats again and again until the atman becomes self-aware of its own divine perfection that it achieves liberation (moksha). The soul achieves moksha, when it becomes one with the supreme reality (paramatman) experiencing a cessation of passions (nirvana) and release from suffering (duhkha). This union with the divine results in ultimate bliss (ananda). This is the ultimate goal which the Hindu yearns to attain.
The Intermediate State
Hindus believe that there exists an intermediate state after death wherein the atman transmigrates to other realms before returning to this world. Within Hindu cosmology, a person can remain for a time either in the celestial abode of the gods (swarga-lokha), the realm of hell (naraka-lokha), or one of the numerous realms found in the vast Hindu cosmology. There is also a minority view within Hinduism that views these realms as not transitory but as the final resting place.
The Role of Karma
Hinduism stresses that a person’s actions or deeds (karma) have a causative effect. Thus, good intentions and actions are rewarded while bad intentions and actions are punished. A person who performs dharma (righteous way of action or duty) by renouncing evil deeds, worshipping the gods, and fulfilling one’s duties to family is merited with good karma.
On the other hand, a person who performs adharma (unrighteous way of action or neglecting duty) by pursuing wicked deeds, failing to worship the gods, and ignoring one’s duties to family. is demerited with bad karma.
Over a lifetime, a person accumulates good or bad karma, determining his or her reincarnation. A person who has lived a good karmic life is reborn in a higher state of being with their soul transmigrating to a human body. The greater the merit of one’s karma, the greater is one’s condition in life, such as being born in a higher caste, without handicaps, etc. Meanwhile, a person who has lived a bad karmic life is reborn in a lower state with his soul occupying an animal’s body.
Samsara, meaning wandering, is not eternal. This cyclic existence continues until a person has achieved enough karma leading to virtue or purity (punya) that they come to self-actualize their true divine identity and break free of the cycle. Hinduism believes that eventually, everyone achieves moksha.
The Importance of Funeral Rites
Hinduism places tremendous importance on funeral rites (antyesti). These extensive final rites are performed meticulously and with great reverence. Without it, Hindus believe that the spirit cannot transmigrate and is left to wander this realm aimlessly.
Thus, the funeral rites are done immediately seeking to send the departed soul to a favorable life without delay. The rites conclude with the body of the departed being cremated on a funeral pyre being lit by the eldest son. The body is destroyed so that the spirit is freed to travel to its next stage. Most Hindu communities observe long mourning periods often for a whole year.
The Gospel of Hope for the Hindu
Death is often described as sleeping and awakening to a new life. However, the reality is that death is cruel and heartbreaking. There is no hope of the resurrection of the body. There is only being caught up in the cycle of samsara.
Samsara is often presented in a positive light as a process of learning whereby the soul becomes self-aware of its divine reality and is purged of its earthly passions through numerous cycles of spiritual evolution. However, the concept of samsara is a cursed cycle of existence whereby the individual is to save himself from his fate by his works. Hinduism places a crushing burden upon the individual by its works-based model of salvation.
For the Hindu, the gospel of Jesus Christ reveals that the only true God announces the liberating message: though the wages of sin is death, the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus (Romans 6:23). There is nothing one must do to earn or merit this everlasting life in the presence of God for there is nothing one can do. All are sinners whose righteous deeds are but filthy rags before God (Isaiah 64:6).
Yet, through the Saviour Jesus Christ’s perfect life of obedience to the will of the Father, his death upon the cross for the sins of humanity, and his resurrection from the grave, all who believe in him shall not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16).
Christopher Poshin David serves as the Minister of Word and Sacrament at Trinity Presbyterian Church in Chennai. He is also the author of the book, Engaging Hinduism: Rethinking Christian Apologetics in India.
