We need to speculate on these questions before understanding rebirth / reincarnation:
- If we are only born once present birth is the first and last, then why everyone has different quota of happiness and sorrow, why everyone is not same in status and health etc. (An atheist might say that the climate of every country is different, so all are not the same and everyone experiences different happiness and sorrows according to the circumstances and their deeds.)
- If a human being has only one birth, then why is someone born in a very rich industrialist’s house and lives a life of luxury and why is someone born in a roadside beggar’s house and suffers?, If you do not believe in reincarnation, then what would be the answer to this? Fate? But fate is based on deeds and the newborn baby has not done any deeds yet?…And this is a huge injustice someone enjoying luxury and happiness from birth and someone starts suffering from birth.
- Why are some babies have handicaps from birth, why are some dumb and deaf from birth? (An atheistic answer could be that the father’s faulty semen/sperm or other medical reasons. If that is the case, then the same man had another child who was born absolutely healthy, how?.
- If our present birth is our first and last birth, then do we get the fruits or do we pay for our good and bad deeds before our death completely? if this was true then, we have many examples of many wrongdoers, criminals who always lived happily and died a natural death, never got punished, similarly, we also have seen many great saints who have done great humanitarian work whole life and yet suffered, who led a life full of sorrow. If we don’t believe in the reincarnation/rebirth doctrine then what will be the answer to this?
- A person who does good deeds dies without enjoying its fruits, does this mean his good deeds were a waste and not paid for? similarly someone did big crimes and sinful acts, yet lived happily and died without getting punished, does this mean he has escaped ?
There is a proverb in Sanskrit “नास्ति चेन्नास्ति नो हानिरस्ति चेन्नास्तिको हतः ।”
A believer says, there is next birth so do good deeds, they will be paid for if not now then definitely in the next birth, the atheist says how can one be so sure, that we will be born again..? but its a commonsense if we accumulate good deeds we are benefited, if not in a very realizable or monetarily rewarding, at least this gives us a happy feeling. If One trusts hindu (sanatan dharm) doctrine of rebirth, and has done good deeds, he/she will get its benefits in next births, In case there is no re-birth, he dosn’t have anything to lose because he hasn’t accumulated any sins anyways. On the other hand a sinner will have to pay for his sins in next births, that is what we see many good people suffer and bad people enjoy, this is all attributed to the past birth/s actions and deeds/misdeeds.Those religions or sects which do not believe in Reincarnation /Rebirth
Some religions / sects, though claim to not believing in rebirth, but indirectly they actually advocate rebirth in some form or the other, that is, after death, God or Ishwar decides whether the dead person should be sent to heaven or hell. Which means that whatever deeds the person did with the body, which is now dead, he has to suffer the consequences of those deeds in heaven or hell… this is, in a way re-incarnation.All sanatan dharm scriptures support the theory of rebirth
The real meaning of rebirth! The eternal theory of rebirth! Sanatan Dharma philosophy (Doctrine) says that death is merely the transfer of the soul from one body to another body. In the Bhagavad Gita, God says: वासांसि जीर्णानि यथा विहाय नवानि गृह्णाति नरोऽपराणि। तथा शरीराणि विहाय जीर्णा-न्यन्यानि संयाति नवानि देही ॥ (२। २२) Just as we discard our old worn out clothes and wear new ones, similarly the soul discards the old body and gets a new one. Thus it can be said that the soul is a more permanent element than the body, which keeps transferring itself from one temporary abode to another. The type of new body that the soul will get is based on the deeds and actions of his past birth/s (new body doesn’t mean human body a soul can be reborn as an animal, bird, tree, plant etc., as well )The Nachiketa story of Kathopanishad is one of the biggest proof of the rebirth doctrine, –
the dialogue between Yamraj and Nachiketa is very important, Yamraj being pleased with Nachiketa offered three boons (vardaan), Nachiketa in his third vardaan asked Yamraj –
There is this doubt regarding death, some say that the soul remains after death and some say that it does not remain, I want advice from you in this regard, so that I can gain knowledge on this subject. Yamraj first tested whether Nachiketa was worthy of this knowledge or not. He offered many human worldly temptations to Nachiketa so that instead of asking for this secret, he could accept worldly pleasures. But Nachiketa remained firm. Pleased with this firmness, Yamraj then said to him- न साम्परायः प्रतिभाति बालं प्रमाद्यन्तं वित्तमोहेन मूढम् । अयं लोको नास्ति पर इति मानी पुनः पुनर्वशमापद्यते मे ।। Those fools who are blinded by the worldly pleasures and money, cannot understand and will not have the inclination to improve his life after death. they think this is the only world, there is no other world, such person/s, gets trapped in my clutches again and again (he/she is born again and again and dies again and again). Yamraj then preaches Nachiketa on the nature of Soul (aatma)- न जायते म्रियते वा विपश्चिन्नायं कुतश्चिन्न बभूव कश्चित् । अजो नित्यः शाश्वतोऽयं पुराणो न हन्यते हन्यमाने शरीरे ॥ (१ । २ । १८) This eternal conscious soul is never born never dies; it is neither born from anything nor is it itself made of anything (i.e. it is neither the effect of anything nor the cause; it is neither a change nor is it subject to change). It is unborn, eternal (always present, beginningless), It is eternal (ever-lasting, eternal) and ancient and does not get destroyed even when the body is destroyed. The above description proves the immortality of the soul. Later, Yamraj tells about the fate of those people who die without knowing their soul – योनिमन्ये प्रपद्यन्ते शरीरत्वाय देहिनः । स्थाणुमन्येऽनुसंयन्ति यथाकर्म यथाश्रुतम्॥ (२।२।७) Based on ones Karma (deeds) different souls attain different bodies some with good deeds may get Devta yoni (Angel in heaven), Some may become animals, birds, insects, and even plant and tree. जातस्य हि ध्रुवो मृत्युर्ध्रुवं जन्म मृतस्य च । तस्मादपरिहार्येऽर्थे न त्वं शोचितुमर्हसि ॥ (गीता २। २७)The birth and death doctrine is profoundly mysterious, Rishi-Muni (sages) have deeply speculated & understood this doctrine and elaborated the same in sanatan dharm (Hindu) scriptures. Above verse of Geeta says that those who are born will definitely die and those who die will definitely take birth. God himself has revealed this as an absolute truth.
Man suffers the consequences of his sins alone (Maharishi Uttang)
At the end of his life, a man leaves everyone and travels alone to the other world. Attachment like my mother, my father, my wife, my son and my things causes unnecessary pain. All the relatives, friends keep relations with the person tillnhe earns money, in the after life (After death) all leave him, What he carries with him to the other world is only his good and bad deeds (Dharm and Adharm). The desires of sinful men increase day by day and the desires of virtuous men diminish day by day. All the wealth earned by a man is always enjoyed by his friends and relatives, but that fool suffers the consequences of his sins alone.As long as our karma (both good and bad) remain, we will not get salvation (Moksha)
Both good and bad deeds are destroyed only when they are experienced (Bhog) and endured, but since we have the (deeds) Karma Accumulated in endless / uncountable number of births, accumulated deeds deposits are so huge that they can never be destroyed by experiencing, because current birth’s deeds which have not given the results will be deposited in your karma bank. So what scriptures say is, our efforts cannot destroy all deeds, and without which we cannot get Moksha (salvation) and hence we will take birth again and again and will keep dying again and again! In brief, understand why karmas can never be destroyed due to which man has to take birth again and again. We have had crores and billions of human births and innumerable karmas of every birth are accumulated which are called accumulated karmas.Our present body is the result of just a small bunch of chosen karma’s (good and bad both) of past births: …
Means by the grace of almighty God, we have got this present body to experience and endure a very small section of / mix of our own karma’s in billions and billions of previous innumerable births. We have to experience and endure (Bhog) the results of those good and bad deeds, for the enduring of which, this present body is made – this is what is called Fate / destiny (or prarabdh/ bhagya) Our destiny is pre-decided, so when that is completely experienced and endured in lifetime then death occurs. And then re-birth happens with new fate, based on same above principle (this holds true if human birth happens, because only human beings are allowed to do new karma, among all the rest of living beings on the planet. All the other life forms including the angels in heaven are all called “bhog yonis”, means they cannot do any new karma that can be counted /deposited as good or bad , they just have to bear the results of their fate, they are 95-100% dependent on their fate, only Human beings can influence and change their fate by making effort) .References:
- Kalyan, Parlok evum punarjanm ank, geeta press, page 383.
- Kalyan Parlok evum punarjanm ank, geeta press, page 15