Studies in the Origins of Buddhism c13.128

c13.128

Eschatology.—The eschatological beliefs of this period appear¹⁰⁸ to have been few and vague. The doctrine of rebirth is unknown.¹⁰⁹ At death the body is doubtless destroyed but apparently not in any final manner; the righteous dead, with the assistance of Agni, Pūṣan and Savitṛ go to the heaven of Yama.¹¹⁰ There with a perfected body they enjoy a very secularly imagined blessed existence in the company of the Fathers and the gods.¹¹¹ The wicked are either destroyed at death, or, what is perhaps more likely, fall in the subterranean abyss of darkness.¹¹² The soul is the breath—Prāṇa, Ātman, or life—Asu, or mind—manas.¹¹³ Personal identity is apparently preserved in afterlife.¹¹⁴