Just recently superstar of Indian cinema, Rishi Kapoor passed away. He was universally liked for his acting skills and roles in various Hindi movies. As expected, the nation erupted in paying homage on every social media site, newspapers and TV channels. There was widespread grief. However, what came as a surprise once again, most of the well meaning, literate and knowledgeable Hindus used the expression REST IN PEACE – RIP to express their condolences. This was seen across the media- social, digital or print. There is such lack of awareness of our cultural and historical traditions, that Hindus were writing RIP without understanding the meaning behind this Christian practice of paying homage. While I don’t doubt the good intentions of Hindus, what is really worrying is how we have become so unaware of the message of Shri Krishna in Gita.

Shri Krishna teaches Arjun in Gita – ‘death is like a change of clothes for the jiva atma. It goes from one body and mind to another, and continues its journey in a never ending cycle of birth and death, until it attains ‘Moksha’ or Mukti.’

वासांसि जीर्णानि यथा विहाय , नवानि गृह्णाति नरॊअपराणि ।

तथा शरीराणि विहाय जीर्णा , न्यन्यानि संयाति नवानि देही ।। 2.22 ।।

Bhagwad Gita, Chapter 2, Shloka 22

“Just like people shed worn-out clothes and wear new ones, likewise, AATMA casts off its worn-out body and enters a new one.”

‘जैसे जगत् में मनुष्य पुराने जीर्ण वस्त्रों को त्याग कर अन्य नवीन वस्त्रोंको ग्रहण करते हैं, वैसे ही जीवात्मा पुराने शरीरों को छोड़कर अन्यान्य नवीन शरीरों को प्राप्त करता है. अभिप्राय यह कि (पुराने वस्त्रों को छोड़कर नये धारण करने वाले) पुरुष की भाँति जीवात्मा सदा निर्विकार ही रहता है’

AATMA carries with it the accumulated consciousness of Karma during that particular life. Based on the ‘संचित कर्म’, AATMA enters a new body in a particular ‘योनी’.

This is common knowledge and I am sure, every Hindu knows about it.

If so, then why do Hindus write ?

· RIP / R.I.P.

· May the departed soul Rest in Peace

· We pray for the departed soul

· May God give peace to the departed soul

We need to understand that these expressions of homage are inappropriate or downright disrespectful to the departed Hindu person.

It seems that their frequent usage is most often due to one or more of the following reasons:

Just writing RIP is quick because we just mark our ‘attendance’, fulfilling a ritual. It is commonly seen on Facebook and WhatsApp posts

We write thus because others are also writing similarly, without understanding why they are doing it

We don’t know the difference between Soul and AATMA and we don’t care even if we don’t know!

and and we don’t care even if we don’t know! It doesn’t matter ‘ because all religions are same’ . If that is the case, then why we don’t see followers of Islam or Christianity writing Hindu homages?

. If that is the case, then why we don’t see followers of Islam or Christianity writing Hindu homages? What’s the big deal! When we write Soul, we actually mean ‘Aatma’! If that is so, then why not write ‘Aatma’ because Hindus have Aatma?

Let us try to understand the real meaning of REST IN PEACE or RIP

Leahy, Brendan (2012). His Mass and Ours: Meditations on Living Eucharistically. New City Press. p. 53. ISBN 9781565484481, stateS that-

Signs such as “RIP” (Rest in Peace) on the tombs of the early Christians didn’t just mean they died “peacefully” but that they died in the Peace of the Church , that is, united in Christ in the Church and not apart from it.

It is important for Hindus to understand that the person, their relative or acquaintance who has left this mortal world, deserves some lines of proper homage and prayer according to his/her beliefs in life while alive. We should not be that disrespectful especially in death.

We should be paying our homage to a departed Hindu in the phrases which pray for Atma, its good rebirth and eternal journey until it attains Moksha, becoming one with PARMAATMA.

दिवंगत आत्मा को भावभीनि श्रद्धांजलि ।

आत्मा को सद्गति प्राप्त हो ।

दिवंगत आत्मा को मोक्ष प्राप्त हो ।

दिवंगत आत्मा को उत्तम पुनर्जन्म प्राप्त हो ।

आत्मा की अनन्त यात्रा में भगवान मार्गदर्शन प्रदान करें, ऐसी प्रार्थना है ।

आदि……..

WHAT RESTS IN PEACE?

In Christianity and Islam, TIME is finite, as per their belief. There is no concept of rebirth. When a person dies, her/his body lies in grave until the end of time. If that person believed in Islam or Christianity, the body would REST IN PEACE otherwise, in eternal pain and discomfort. At the end of time, God/Allah will make all bodies rise from their graves and pass judgement on them. Therefore, the concept of REST IN PEACE – RIP (peace, if believed in Christianity). On the other hand, in Hinduism time is infinite. There are recurring and never-ending cycles of creation, sustenance, and destruction. Body is made of five elements – agni, vayu, jal, earth and Aakash, अग्नि, वायु, जल, पृथ्वी एवं आकाश. When a person dies, the AATMA moves on, takes rebirth in a new body, as per its accumulated karma in life. Dead body is cremated and all five base elements merge back into where they came from. Nothing is left of the body after death and cremation. That is why Hindus never pray for ‘body’ but for AATMA- for Sadgati, good rebirth or ‘moksha’.

Here it is important to understand the basic differences between आत्मा and SOUL. Let us examine that.

What is आत्मा?

Soul is not Atma (आत्मा) and Atma (आत्मा) is not soul. This needs clarification.

The word आत्मा has no synonym in English language. It is unique in Sanskrit language and Hindu ‘sanskriti’ or culture. The word आत्मा is not translatable. Atma takes rebirth in a new body after the old body withers away or dies. It is immortal and distinct from चित्त. आत्मा has been described by Shri Krishna in Bhagwat Gita as following:

वासांसि जीर्णानि यथा विहाय , नवानि गृह्णाति नरॊअपराणि ।

तथा शरीराणि विहाय जीर्णा , न्यन्यानि संयाति नवानि देही ।। 2.22 ।।

Bhagwad Gita, Chapter 2, Shloka 22

जैसे जगत् में मनुष्य पुराने जीर्ण वस्त्रों को त्याग कर अन्य नवीन वस्त्रोंको ग्रहण करते हैं, वैसे ही जीवात्मा पुराने शरीरों को छोड़कर अन्यान्य नवीन शरीरों को प्राप्त करता है. अभिप्राय यह कि (पुराने वस्त्रों को छोड़कर नये धारण करने वाले) पुरुष की भाँति जीवात्मा सदा निर्विकार ही रहता है.

This is the concept of reincarnation in Hinduism. Just as men discard old and worn out clothes and acquire new ones, similarly when the body becomes old and withered, ‘ATMA’ discards this body and acquires a new body. Death is but a change of attire in an uninterrupted eternal journey of ‘atma’ in the ever spinning wheel of time – काल चक्र!

Bhagavad Gita – Chapter 2, Verse 23.

नैनं छिन्दन्ति शस्त्राणि नैनं दहति पावकः।

न चैनं क्लेदयन्त्यापो न शोषयति मारुतः।।

इस उपयुर्क्त आत्मा को शस्त्र नहीं काटते, अभिप्राय यह कि अवयवरहित होने के कारण तलवार आदि शस्त्र इसके अन्गों टुकडे़ नहीं कर सकते। वैसे ही अग्नि इसको जला नहीं सकता अर्थात् अग्नि भी इसको भस्मीभूत नहीं कर सकता। जल इसको भिगो नहीं सकता. क्योंकि सावयव वस्तु को ही भिगोकर उसके अन्गों को पृथक्-पृथक् कर देने में जल की सामर्थ्य है. निरवयव आत्मा में ऐसा होना सम्भव नहीं। उसी तरह वायु आर्द्र् द्रव्य का गीलापन शोषण करके उसको नष्ट करता है अतः वह वायु भी इस स्व-स्वरूप आत्मा का शोषण नहीं कर सकता।

आत्मा is indestructible. Weapons cannot cut it, fire cannot burn it, water cannot wet it and air cannot dry it. It is beyond the effect of elements.

What is SOUL?

The concept of Soul exists only in Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity and Islam). It is considered the immortal essence of a living being. According to Catholic theologian Thomas Aquinas, only in human beings the soul is immortal whereas in animals, birds or other living creatures it dies with the death of the body. However, there is a difference in opinion on whether Soul in humans is immortal or dies. Ezekiel says that the soul of the person how sins will die with his body. It is not a metaphorical phrase! It is the actual theological belief.

There are diverse descriptions and explanations on soul and body in Christianity by King James Version (KJV), also known as the Authorized Version(AV) or King James Bible (KJB). It is an English translation of the Christian Bible for the Church of England, Aristotle and Plato have described their views on the soul. According to The Septuagint (from the Latin septuaginta, “seventy”), which is the primary Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible and some related texts into Koine Greek (Greek Old Testament), the word ‘soul’ is described as – “life or vital breath”. It specifically refers to a mortal, physical life, but in English it is variously translated as “soul, spirit, self, life, creature, person, appetite, mind, living being, desire, emotion, passion”.

There are theories on soul by Socrates, Plato and Aristotle. For our discussion, Abrahamic religious beliefs, especially Catholic Christian beliefs are important because they have their views on what happens to soul after death. This is also the belief of Islam with variations in the type of rewards in heaven according to how they died or what type of life they lived. Christianity, Judaism and Islam do not believe in rebirth or reincarnation.

According to their belief, when body dies, the soul which is immortal, is immediately judged by the Lord or Allah, either to eternal life in heaven or damnation of hell.

When the ‘end of time’ comes, there will be a ‘resurrection’ of body. The soul will re-unite with it and become human again. The ‘saved’ and ‘the damned’, both will experience eternal happiness or eternal suffering in both body and soul. This can be read in detail at “Catechism of the Catholic Church”, on the official website of Vatican, specifically in Part One- The Profession of Faith.

Do souls die?

There is big confusion here. Some say that souls die while others say that soul is immortal.

“The soul that sinneth, it shall die.” Ezekiel 18:20. “Every living soul died in the sea.” Revelation 16:3. The Christian faith asserts that according to God’s Word, souls do die! We are souls, and souls die. Man is mortal (Job 4:17). Only God is immortal (1 Timothy 6:15, 16). The concept of an undying, immortal soul goes against the Bible, which teaches that souls are subject to death.

So, I hope that now we understand the difference between आत्मा and SOUL.

SOUL is not Atma (आत्मा) and Atma (आत्मा) is not SOUL!