What happens after death in Hindu- Bhagwata Purana & Garud Purana

Life After death?

According to Bhagwat Purana, if one has been noble and pious in life, upon leaving the body they will be directed towards the heavenly planets aka the world of the demigod. In this heavenly world, the soul will revel in for many years before taking birth as a human again.

On the other hand, if someone has been immoral and evil, based on their karma, the Yamadhutas - the messengers of Yamaraja, the god of Death picks them and takes them to the hell. Hell is the place where one will be tortured and go through agony. A moment in Heaven will feel like a fraction of a second but the same moment in the hell will feel like an eternity due to the sufferings. Once someone pays their dues, they will be born on the earth again but not necessarily as a human, they can be born in any form of the 84,00,000 species on the earth.

Now for someone decent enough, not to extremes good or evil, which is like most of the people, it’s a little different process again. For them, they will fall into a deep sleep at the time and remain that way for the next 7 months post which they will wake up and catch themselves in a womb. The condition of the fetus is full of pain and misery. The soul will be aware but it will be bounded and gagged. If someone is fortunate enough, they will remember all that they did to end up in that specific womb, why precisely they were born in a particular family. Then after spending 2 months in such a state it will be born with no memories of any of those things or the past life. The state is defined in the Bhagavat Purana with in-depth details.

The lord Krishna says, those who leave their physical body remembering him, achieves his nature. (Bg. 8.5, 8.6)

As per the above-mentioned statement, if someone has adapted spiritual life and remembers Krishna in their last moments, they will come back to the world in their original structure of knowledge, eternity, and harmony or they will take birth in some other universe or planet but with Krishna’s presence around. When this period ends, they will come back with Krishna to Goloka either as Krishna’s friends or his relatives.

So in the end, it’s up to the soul or a person where it goes after the death based on it’s how it nurtures the mind and, of course, it’s karma.

As per Garuda Purana, someone who is about to die loses its ability to speak. They can’t speak or talk even if they want to. During this time, they get Divya Drishti (Vision) within them and they understand and appreciate the whole world. Later, alas all their senses get demolished and they become stiff and unable to move. Saliva begins dripping from their mouth. If a person has committed a lot of sins in life, they lose their life from down.

After the death, the Yamadutas instantly bind the soul and take it away. On their way to Yamaloka, if the soul is tired, it’s not allowed to rest. The Yamadutas frighten the soul telling them about the pains they are about to go through. Listening to which the souls get scared but no sympathy being shown to the soul. When the hungry and tired soul becomes unable to walk on the fiery sand, the Yamadutas start hitting the soul with a lash. That soul falls many times, collapses, and then made to get up to walk again.

Finally after this dark and painful journey, at Yamaloka, the soul is asked to show the place where it lived and then it meets the Yamaraja. With his consent, the soul comes back to the place where it died for a limited time.

Once it reaches and sees the body, the soul pleads to occupy its body again but Yamadootas don’t allow that.

In this entire process, rituals and prayers play an essential part. Hence in Hindus, apart from Pind Daan, it’s necessary to donate food, a cow, footwear, and an umbrella to help the deceased ones for their journey to Yamaloka.

For reference, Garuda Purana is generally read after the death of someone to their family and friends. In this book, everything that happens to a soul for their every deed on the earth once it reaches the other world is described in detail.

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