Comparing Hinduism And Afterlife In Southern Asia

Throughout the many religions of the world, each having their own views and beliefs have guided their followers to what they deemed to occur after death. However, not all religions believe in an afterlife. There are some that believe a being does not carry on into a new life but rather just ends and is at rest. On the contrast, there are also some who believe that there is in fact a life after death, such as Hinduism.

Hinduism is a worldwide religion, based in Southern Asia, in which followers believe in practices of Karma and a reincarnation based afterlife. The Hindu religion, a major cultural tradition of Southern Asia, began roughly 4,000 years ago as a derivative of Aryan beliefs, in which they revered their gods and used song for the

Much like Christians have the goal of salvation and gaining entry into Heaven to be with their all mighty God, Hindus have a goal that they strive to achieve known as Renunciation. It would seem simple to free oneself from the bonds of the never ending cycle by generating good Karma, but eventually even the Karma runs out. When people die and are collecting the fruits of their life before, it is possible that they are reincarnated to a place known as the ‘World of Fathers’, but even then when they have sipped their Karmic rewards dry they too are thrown back into the cycle and reborn to another life on Earth in some form

Much in the same respect it is impossible for somebody to lose karma based on their actions, they can only add to their negative karma. Even with an overabundance of negative karma a person can be cleansed and purified at death with their deathbed rites. The purpose of the deathbed rites is to calm the mind and purify the body. Although the body can be purified by using Ganges water, the coming of the mind is the most important aspect because it is thought that a person’s dying thoughts can have severe consequences on the form they are reborn into in the future (Deziel). Along with the deathbed rights, there are also the last rites which are known as Antyeshti. Within The last rites, a family is given time to mourn after which they accompany the body to prepare for cremation. Throughout the Hindu religion, the dead are cremated rather than buried in an effort to swiftly detach the soul from human form on earth. This practice allows the soul to move on to the next step in the reincarnation process and prepare for