Dr. Samani Mangal Pragya
There are few beliefs in the context of existence of soul and rebirth in the philosophical world
- Soul exists, but there is no rebirth.
- Rebirth exists, but there is no existence of soul.
- Soul and rebirth, both are non-existents.
- Soul and rebirth, both exist.
Christianity and Islam religion believe in the existence of soul, but, they do not affirm the chain of rebirth. Buddhists do not believe in the existence of soul at all, but they do believe in the concept of karma and rebirth on the basis of cittasantati (continuity of psyche). The Cārvāka philosophy does not believe in any transcendental or meta-sensual beings and objects like soul, God, rebirth etc.
All other Indian philosophies do believe in the existence of all the three i.e. soul, God and rebirth. These philosophies have accepted the eternal existence of the soul. Although, they differ regarding the nature of soul, even then they unanimously accept the eternal existence of the soul. In Acārāṅga, it has been said that 'jassa natthi purā pacchā, majjho tassa kao siyā.[1]' That which does not have a beginning or end, how can there be a middle of it? The authors of the āgamas generally do not take the support of logic in the description of realities, but, while proving the existence of the soul, the Acārāṅga has used this logic. The soul exists at present, which itself proves that the soul had existed in the past and will remain existent in the future. The acceptance of the eternal existence of the soul clearly proves the reality of the existence of pre-birth and rebirth.
Genesis of philosophical thinking begins with the speculation upon pre-birth and re-birth. In the very beginning of the Ācārāṅga Sūtra, there are queries like 'atthi me āyā ovavāie, natthi me āyā ovavāie, [2] i.e. whether my soul is subject to rebirth or not, who is that which moves in all cardinal and intermediate directions etc.
'ke ahaṃ āsi ke vā io cuo iha peccā bhavissāmi''-what was I in the previous births, what will I become in the next birth etc. are the queries that construct the foundation of philosophical thinking.
The concept of rebirth is unanimously accepted in the Indian thinking. Almost all the thinkers have contributed to establish and develop this concept with their intuitive thinking. In Indian philosophy, the root cause of rebirth is - karma. Due to karma, birth and death occurs.
árāgo ya doso vi ya kammabīyam,
Kammaṃ ca jāimaraṇaṃ vayanti'
Avidyā, Vāsanā, Adṛṣṭa etc. are the synonymous technical terms stand for karma itself.
