Concept in Hinduism

Human beings find both birth and death to be very mysterious. How did this little creature come into the womb of the mother? Where was it before it came? How did it exist in the narrow confines of that frail body? These are questions which tantalise us about the birth of a baby but after the little creature comes out of the womb we can see it and have some association with it. But when someone dies the story is a little different. The person who we had been seeing and having contact with all these years, is suddenly cut off from us and no longer occupies the body which we are familiar with. This is indeed a strange phenomenon. Actually the phenomenon of birth is the same but in the reverse order, so it doesn’t make us unhappy since we can experience the little creature with our five senses but when the same thing happens in the opposite way and life jumps out of the body and the body disintegrates, we cannot grapple with it since our five senses are useless. They just can’t handle the situation. Even though the phenomenon of death is something we see very often, we still have not learnt how to tackle it. Just as the love of life is the greatest of all loves, so the fear of death is the greatest of all fears. We are always inclined to think that death is a punishment meted out by an unfair Law. We don’t see that death is only the other side of the coin of life. In Hinduism, “life and death” are not opposites - “birth and death” are opposites, but life includes both and goes on forever!

We always fear the unknown. We always fear the dark since our senses cannot work in the dark. We fear the dark room because we don’t know what it contains. The same applies to death. Ignorance is the source of all our fears. Nobody has returned after leaving the body and told us what is on the other side. We are ignorant of what happens to this life energy when it quits the body which it has inhabited for so many years. If we had some idea of what happens when the life leaves the body, we would not be so terrified at this natural process which is as normal as the process of birth. Hindu scriptures, especially the Garuda Purana, give a clear account of the process of death. So this is something which everyone should understand so that they know what to expect and will not be devastated by this natural event.

Before we go into the process, we must understand that in Hinduism, death is not the end of the journey of the embodied soul which is known as the ‘jivatma.” This jivatma is actually a reflection of the “Paramatma” or the Supreme Soul. It has all the qualifications of the Paramatma. It was never born and thus it can never die. It is beyond duality and the three functions of the mind — “desa, kala and nimitta” - space, time and causation. By a special process it has chosen to limit itself into the confined space of a body. When the time for its stay in this prison comes to an end it takes off for other realms! So at the outset we are made aware of the fact that death is not a punishment, but it is actually a release from punishment. But like the proverbial bird which has been caged for a long time, the jivatma is loathe to let go of its cage and fly into the unknown.

When the jivatma enters the embryo, it connects with the embryo through an astral cord just like it connects to the person into whose womb it enters through an umbilical cord. The astral cord cannot be seen by us since it is a subtle thing but of course the second cord is a physical thing and can be seen by us when the baby comes out of the uterus. You will notice that the first thing the doctor does after birth is to cut this umbilical cord, thus severing the connection with the womb which had been nourishing it for ten months. Thus the physical connection with the mother ends at birth and a new life begins for the baby. Of course in a human being the emotional connection may last for years! In animals it is of short duration. However the embodied Self which we call the jivatma still has the astral cord which connects it with the body which it is occupying. This cord remains with the jivatma all through its sojourn in the body which takes on many shapes from baby-hood to adult hood.

At the time of death when the jivatma leaves its body, this astral cord is severed since it has no more use for this cord which had been imprisoning it to the physical body for so many years. This again can be compared to the umbilical cord which is cut as soon as the baby is born since it has no more use for something which had been confining it into the narrow confines of the uterus in a most tortuous and inexplicable manner. Once this is cut the jivatma can easily move out of the confining limits of the body. However for a person who does not know the mechanics of death, this cutting of the astral cord is very traumatic just as it must be for the baby when the umbilical cord is cut. Hence all babies cry loudly as soon as they are born since they have entered a new dimension which they are not familiar with! At this stage the unprepared jivatma does not know it is dead and tries its best to re-enter the body it has just left which it can see lying below it. It will try to re-enter through any of the nine orifices of the body. That is why the Hindus say that you must immediately tie the two big toes of the body as soon as it is dead. Apparently this cuts off the entrance through the two lower orifices. We also plug the ears, the nostrils and keep the mouth closed by tying a ribbon or cloth round the chin and over the head. This stops the jivatma’s attempts to re-enter the body through one of the various orifices.

According to Hinduism there are five vital energies which govern the functions of the various parts of the body. These control all the automatic responses of the body like breathing in and breathing out, digestion, functioning of the various organs like the heart, stomach, nerves etc. We have absolutely no control over these. When the astral cord is disconnected, these five will slowly start to leave the body. Since these vital energies control everything they will know about the time of departure long before it is known to the person or even the doctor or the people in attendance.

Approximately 4–5 hours before death, the chakras situated below the feet get detached, symbolizing disconnection from the earth plane!! This is why the feet of the person start to get cold. At the actual time of death, the jivatma will be pushed out of the body through one of the orifices. Apparently it has no choice in this matter. The cosmic energies will decide on the gate of egress depending on the type of life which the person has lead during his sojourn on earth. Enlightened souls who have no more attachments or bonds with the body, will choose to leave through the Sahasrara chakra on top of the head which is also known as the Brahmarandra which apparently is the place through which the jivatma originally enters into the foetus which will make up his body in the future. One will be able to see a small drop of blood on top of the head showing the site of exit. This is very rare as one can imagine. Such a person will have no rebirth and will go Satya Loka which is the highest of the lokas. Those who have led a life of debauchery with no control over their lower animal instincts will naturally exit through the two lower orifices. People who have led a noble life helping people, resorting to spiritual practices etc will exit through the higher orifices governed by the upper chakras.

The human being knows a lot about the external world but knows hardly anything about the mechanism of his inner self. Of course modern medicine has done a lot of research on the gross organs but nothing at all has been done which explains how the internal machine is run. The rishis, as has been mentioned before, were more interested in the internal Being and they discovered that the whole of the internal mechanism is under the control of 5 vayus or winds called the “pancha pranas.” These are the five vital energies which control the entire running of our inner system over which we have absolutely no control. They are known as “prana vayu, apana vayu, vyana vayu, udana vayu and samana vayu.”

Within 21 minutes of the jivatma leaving the body, the samana vayu will exit. It is the one which is in overall charge of the breath. Within 48 to 64 minutes, the prana vayu will exit. The doctor will normally declare the person to be dead when the prana vayu exits. Even now there is a small chance of reviving the patient. If the body is left as it is, the udana vayu will exit only between 6 to 12 hours. After the udana vayu leaves there is hardly any hope of reviving the patient. The apana vayu will leave after 8 to 18 hours. Finally, if it is a normal death through old age the vyana vayu can take as much as 14 days before it leaves. But if death was by an accident or suicide, the vyana may continue up to 90 days so that efforts made to revive the body during this period have a good chance of success. The discriminating and calculating mind filled with memories and ability to discern between different emotions will also die with the death of the body. That portion of the mind which exits with the jivatma is just a bundle of vasanas or tendencies which have been built up during the course of a lifetime. This doesn’t have the ability to discriminate so any pleasant thing which goes on around the body of the corpse will be multiplied hundred fold. Unfortunately any unpleasant thing will also be multiplied. Hence it is very important that all the people who are hanging around the body should think good thoughts and chant from the scriptures and sing bhajans (hymns) instead of weeping and wailing.

In the Bhagavad Gita, Lord Krishna tells his friend Arjuna of the importance of the last thought at the time of death. Hence in many religions, a priest or some holy man is brought to give final unction to the dying person. Amongst the Hindus the relations or friends will sit around and repeat the names of God and chant passages from the scriptures and the Bhagavad Gita so that the last thought will be an elevating one. Lord Krishna says that this is not enough because at the very last moment, the mind will naturally jump to that which has been a primary concern for him during the course of his life. Therefore Krishna says that if we want our last moment to be sweet, we should practice having noble thoughts all our life so that our mind will naturally go to that thought which has been prominent in our mind during the course of our life.

Once the astral cord has been severed, the jivatma cannot continue to occupy the body to which it has been attached for such a long time. It is pushed upwards out of the body and pulled from above - a magnetic pull to go up, which is the opposite of the force of gravity which pulls the baby down at the time of birth. It tries to re-enter the body through one of the orifices, that is why we are told to close all the nine orifices. If we observe carefully we might observe some slight movement of the hand or leg soon after it has been pronounced dead.

The jivatma continues to hear the voices of the loved ones who sitting below. Actually it even hears the thoughts of those who are standing below. It tries to talk to them and tell them that it is still there but of course nobody hears it. This is the time for its relatives to ask for forgiveness for all the negative things they may have done to it during its time on earth. It will be able to hear their thoughts. This ensures that it does not carry negative emotions like hurt, hatred, anger and greed on its onward journey.

At this point of time it will be floating along the ceiling, seeing and hearing everything that is happening in the room. Generally it will keep floating around the body until the body is cremated. It will accompany the body in the funeral procession all to way to the crematorium or burial ground, observing everything. Hence the Hindu tradition insists that cremation should be done within four hours of death if possible.

Only after the cremation does it becomes convinced that the very basis of its survival on this planet is no more. The body to which it had been attached for such a long time has merged into the five elements. Now the jivatma experiences complete freedom. The boundaries of the body which had been holding it down for so long has been broken and it can travel anywhere just by the power of is thought. However the attachment to its body and environment is so strong that for 11 to 16 days it moves about, around the places which it had occupied during its sojourn on earth. If it’s attached to its children it will stay in their room, if attachment was to money it will stay around the safe or it will wander around its favourite haunts like the garden, its normal walks etc. This is why Hinduism insists on doing the sraddh ceremony for 12 days at least. These are the important rites and rituals one has to do after a person dies. It is incumbent on the eldest son and/or relatives to do these rites. So however pressing the job he is doing, he should make it his priority to do these last rites for his mother or father since this will be the best thing he can ever do for them in this life. Only these rites done for the jivatma by its closest relatives can convince it of the fact that it is indeed dead. These rites enable it to turn its thoughts to the path into which it has to go and the moment it thinks, it goes. At last it decides to go to the periphery of the earth plane and make the attempt to cross over to the other side. It is said that there is a kind of a tunnel here which it has to cross so the first 12 days after death are crucial. That is why the Hindus insist on doing kriyas (rites) for the first 11 days ending with the 12th day on which poor feeding, giving of charity etc is to be done. Some people extend it for 15 days, ending on the 16th day.

Just as we do so many things for the baby after it is born, it is equally important that the children or grand children or brothers and sisters do these kriyas correctly. All these rituals and prayers are really food for the jivatma which will help it on its onward journey. They aid in its journey through the tunnel. At the end of the tunnel there is a bright light signifying the entrance into the astral world. If it had been worshipping some deity or guru, that deity or guru would be waiting there to conduct it along the right path. Depending on the intensity of its devotion, the deity or guru might even be waiting for it at the very moment of departure from the body.

On the 11th, 12th or 16th day Hindus conduct yajnas (fire ceremonies), prayers and rituals by which the jivatma is united with its ancestors, friends, relatives and guides. All these spirits who are already there and who have not been re-born are happy to see it and welcome it to its new abode. The jivatma is then taken to the “Great Karmic Board” to review its life on the earth plane. The whole of its past life is played like a movie in this pure light. There is neither God nor judge here. The jivatma has to judge itself in the same way as it judged others in its lifetime. It might ask for revenge against the people who troubled it, or for forgiveness. It also experiences guilt for all the wrongs it had done to others and is ready to accept self punishment in order to end the karmic bond. Since it is no longer bound by the body and the ego, its own final judgment becomes the basis for its next life. In other words the jivatma makes out a complete blue print for its future life in which all the problems it has to face, all the punishments it has to undergo and all the challenges it has to overcome are made clear. It actually chooses every detail of the type of person it wants to become. It chooses its own punishments and rewards. The amount of guilt it experiences decides the severity of the punishment. Hence we see that forgiveness is a great virtue. We have to learn to forgive and get forgiveness in this life itself.

Once this blue print has been made there is a kind of cooling period in which the jivatma is taken to various realms depending on its karmas (actions) on the earth plane. Rebirth takes place according to the blueprint we have made for ourselves. The time taken before another birth also depends on our desire to evolve further. We choose our parents and enter the mother’s womb at different times. It might be at the very moment of the egg formation or during the 3rd or 4th month and sometimes even at the last moment before birth. The laws that govern our lives are so beautifully designed that the time and place of birth, the planets that are in ascendency etc are already there and constitute our horoscope! Many of us think that our stars are good or bad and that we are lucky or unlucky but actually all this is due to the blueprint you yourself have made for your future life.

For about 40 days after birth, the baby remembers its past life and laughs and cries sometimes. After this the memory is completely cut off and it continues with its life as if it had never existed before.

The contract he had made with the “Great Karmic Court” comes to play on the earth plane when he is born again. Most people curse God or their karma for the bad times they have to pass through on the earth plane. It is most important that all of us realize that the life we have to pass through now, whether good or for bad is the chance that a compassionate law gives us in order to help us to honour our agreement which had been totally drawn up by us. Whatever we have got now is exactly what we had asked for. No one else is to be blamed. We are truly the makers of our own destiny. The law allows us to make reparations for the wrongs we had committed in a previous life. If I am cursed with frequent and unbearable headaches now, it is due to my having hit someone on the head in my previous life (of course this is a simplification). I have chosen to endure these headaches now in order to get a reprieve from my previous actions and thus enable me to continue forward on my evolutionary trend. All the people we come into contact in this life have been selected by us! They are just actors in the play of our lives for which we have already selected the script and which has been produced and is being directed by us!! Thus even the greatest criminal gets another chance to save himself. In Hinduism nobody is condemned to eternal punishment. The cosmic laws are totally just. There is nothing to be frightened of death. It is only one side of the coin of life.

Hari Aum Tat Sat. 

Source: Garuda Purana