Religious Interpretations of Reincarnation

Since the origin of mankind the concept of “reincarnation” has been, and still is a mystery, which people are trying to solve. In the present article the effort is made to first define the term(the belief that after death one can be born again as a different person, animal, or any other living creature) Reincarnation, in its literal meaning i.e. based on its literary origin and then the corresponding terms used in various religious texts. Depending on the evolution of civilisations the concept of reincarnation too spread world-wide, but with a discrimination based on the religious beliefs. This article tries to understand the various religious beliefs for 'reincarnation'. Starting from Hinduism, which seems to be the originator of the concept, having a strong belief in rebirth (even gods reincarnate), the beliefs of Jainism, Buddhism, Sikhism, Christianity and Islam are discussed in the present piece of work. It was observed that although many religions like Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism and Sikhism do believe in reincarnation but there exists differences in their beliefs. Majority of Christianity and Islam discard the very concept of reincarnation but there exist some sub-sects that have been observed to believe in life after death. An effort to compare various beliefs is made in the present piece of work, related researches as well are included in the text.