History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v7.c95.200

v7.c95.200

Before proceeding further some remarks are called for about what might possibly happen when a man's body dies. There are mainly three possibilities, viz. (1) annihilation, (2) endless retribution in heaven or hell and (3) punarjanma (transmigration. Those who do not believe in an individual immortal self, including some most eminent²⁵¹⁴ men such as G. B. Shaw, hold the first view and even in ancient India (as the Kathopanisad I. 20 testifies) there were people who had doubts about survival after death. Those who hold that there is no survival after death are not troubled by other questions. Therefore, the most vital question is the one about survival after death. The very first verse of Śv. Up. puts forward four problems, is brahma the cause, whence do we come, what sustains us and whither we are going? Many of those who believe in God, heaven and hell do not admit pre-existence of the soul but only post-existence. They believe that if a man leads a virtuous career in this life (and virtue according to them consists in obedience to the will of God as disclosed to their intellect in Revelation such as the Bible or the Koran) he would have an eternal life of bliss in heaven and that if one led a life of sin and evil, he would after death remain for ever in hell. Very few accept the first possibility (annihilation) because it is in conflict with man's cherished desires and with deep-rooted emotional certitude that efforts made in a long life, the mental and spiritual equipment acquired cannot have been meant to be dissolved altogether without leaving any trace behind. The 2nd possibility also leads to the prospect of eternal reward or eternal damnation for acts done during a life of a few years' span and becomes unacceptable to many by the unparalleled disproportion between deeds (as causes) and their endless rewards or retribution (as effects). Therefore, to many people the third possibility of transmigration appeals, since it allows continued existence of the soul after physical death in some other forms and environments.