For all of time, humanity has been obsessed with the fundamental understanding of what happens to us after we die. Is there some other eternal world after we leave this one? Is there some eternal being that grants us either rewards for our good deeds or punishments for our vices? Each religion has its own basic understanding of the immediate afterlife and the purpose of good deeds during life on Earth. Although Hinduism and Islam mirror each other in the concept of the absolute bliss that eternal paradise offers, they both have very different ideas about what happens immediately after someone passes or how to even reach that eternal paradise. When someone dies in the Hindu culture, their soul is automatically reincarnated into another body …show more content…
The soul will then be reborn into lower life forms, such as a dog or scorpion for a woman’s adultery, until all the negative karma has exhausted and can transmit itself into the form of a human or even a God. The purpose of life on Earth is to eventually achieve Moksha, which allows one to escape this redundant cycle and obtain eternal paradise. In order to achieve Moksha, a Hindu must stop identifying with their Jiva, individual and selfish pleasures, and instead focus on realizing that only the Atman is permanent. Those who do not realize the Self and their dharma (duty) will be subject to reincarnation. This issue is directly tackled in the story about Nacheketas in the house of death as he directly asks Death itself what happens after death. Nacheketas becomes very concerned after his father promises to give him to Death, and Death promises that if Nacheketas sacrifices all pleasures that he will tell him what the meaning of life after death is. After Nacheketas successfully accomplishes this, it is revealed that “Om is the self, the imperishable. The one who knows it obtains everything desirable. It is the ultimate support. Realizing it one revels in the infinite. The self came from nothing and nothing comes from it. (Kathopanishads