b. What happens when we die?

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