Among the fundamental ideologies of Hinduism is the belief that every being has a soul which is the reflection of God Himself. The soul was never born, it will never die; it gives to a human being the feel of the immortal. When a person dies, it is not the end. There is the hereafter — heaven or hell or another life, depending on the good or bad deeds done by one in this life.
In the ancient ages, the belief in the next life was taken to absurd lengths. They denied themselves all pleasure and enjoyment living a life of self-denial and puritanism. By practising fasting, penance, and virtue, they made this life hell in order to achieve a heaven in the next. With the advance of scientific thought and modernism these beliefs got progressively weakened, till heaven and hell were dismissed as old wives’ tales — credulous superstitions having little basis in fact or truth.
Today the world has become ungovernable, for, few believe in dharma or the fundamental principles that keep life going on an even keel. Since the slackening of the hold of the orthodox religion of old on the minds of the common man, the world seems to be heading towards chaos and senseless violence. As Voltaire said, even if there is no God, we have to invent one, so that the world operates in a smooth manner.
We say my house, my books, which means that I am something separate from the house or from the books.So we say my body, which means that I am not wholly the body, but the soul beyond. Many in the west, once believed that only humans had a soul and not the vast animal kingdom. Some went to such an extent as to hold that only the male had a soul and that women had no soul. Philosophers like Pythagoras who floated the idea of the soul and transmigration were dismissed as preachers of heresy. Many people went on believing that the body is all, and that when at death it is burnt or buried, nothing is left behind.
The most important buildings were the graves — the pyramids of Egypt which are graves of their emperors or nearer home, the Taj Mahal — the grave of Mumtaz Mahal and Shah Jahan and countless other mausoleums. When Arjuna loses his nerve and throws down his bow and arrow, unwilling to fight for fear of causing death to large numbers, Bhagvan Krishna says:“He who is born needs must die; he who dies is sure to be born again. The inexorable circle of life and death goes on.You are getting worried about a phenomenon (death) where there is no loss.”This is Krishna’s sermon, on the battlefield of life.A firm belief in the immortality of soul banishes all fear of death.
Take the Mahabharata war, tens of thousands fell dead on the battlefield. Yet there was no unnatural fear of death. The Mahabharata war was a sort of tournament, played strictly according to rules, not like a modern war, with no holds barred — all is fair in love and war. The Gita says, “God lives in the heart of all persons. They are the image of God. The aim of religion is Self-realisation; know what you are in reality.” Man through the ages has sacrificed his life and his all for an ideal — for truth or religion, honour or pledged word, or country.
The ideal may change, but man ’s capacity for sacrifice never finishes. That shows that one looks beyond the grave or the cremation. The soul, it is said, is beyond good and evil. It performs no deed good or bad; just watches as a witness. The good or bad deeds are performed by the body and the body ends at death. ¦
Take the Mahabharata war, tens of thousands fell dead on the battlefield. Yet there was no unnatural fear of death. The Mahabharata war was a sort of tournament, played strictly according to rules, not like a modern war, with no holds barred — all is fair in love and war. The Gita says, “God lives in the heart of all persons. They are the image of God. The aim of religion is Self-realisation; know what you are in reality.” Man through the ages has sacrificed his life and his all for an ideal — for truth or religion, honour or pledged word, or country.
The ideal may change, but man ’s capacity for sacrifice never finishes. That shows that one looks beyond the grave or the cremation. The soul, it is said, is beyond good and evil. It performs no deed good or bad; just watches as a witness. The good or bad deeds are performed by the body and the body ends at death. ¦