“R.I.P.” (Rest in Peace!)
A conscious reading…
C’mon! Everyone knows what R.I.P means so why should we even talk about it ?
When a person dies just write those 3 words and we are done!
Well ..
I would say moot question is; why does R.I.P. pops up in our mind as the very first thought of giving our condolences for a dead ? Why is it so important to talk about it?
Let’s try to understand why!
We have evolved as a human centuries ago and since then we have been learning continuously and improvising but somehow for last few hundred years ,we have become very oblivious to our history, to our roots ,to our surroundings, specially to the notions and doctrines imposed on the society by western culture & by some Abrahamic & Semitic religions. The Vedic culture followed by our ancestors for 1000s of years have been lost and depriving every day. You may not be consciously aware that using R.I.P to express condolences to a dead is also alien expression to the Vedic culture however this notion have been adopted by us passively in past few decades and have been used inadvertently since then.
So guess what? R.I.P actually has a vast significance for a Soul and incorrect use of R.I.P for a dead may have unimaginable consequences for the departed soul! Don’t believe me? Let’s take a read to understand, why?
To know it all we need to briefly understand different practices and different belief systems followed specially in three major religions of the world; Christianity ,Islam & Santana Dharma which is also known as Hinduism since last few hundred years. I would also try to shed some lights on my understanding of life after death in these religions as use of R.I.P. and the notion of life after death are tightly coupled to each other.
Let’s quickly look at Christian views.
Christianity is almost 2000 years old religion and is followed by the largest number of people across the world. It’s a monotheistic religion which believes in one god & one life and no afterlife. The origin of “RIP” or “Rest in Peace” is started in Christianity first where upon death of a Christian the last ritual is performed by burying the dead body in the ground and recite prayers for the dead. It is presumed that the dead is going to rest in the ground till be resurrected by Jesus and face the judgement day.
Christianity compares death with a deep sleep i.e. after death, the soul enters into a sleeping state that continues until the Last Judgment, which occurs after general resurrection. On that day, the Jesus appears to judge the soul based on his/her life and actions and the resurrected will be assigned either to eternal life (Heaven) or eternal damnation (Hell).
The Bible says, “For those who die in Christ, death is union with the Lord. For the wicked, death begins an eternity of suffering.”
Christianity believes that everyone is born sinful. This means that everyone is born with a built-in urge to do bad things and to disobey God. Hence everyone would likely to serve time in Hell unless they believe faithfully and firmly in Lord Jesus. Bible interprets “They that have done good shall go into life everlasting, and they that have done evil into everlasting fire; which shall torment the bodies of the damned followed by everlasting pain & suffering. ”
To reduce these sufferings from the hellfire, the phrase R.I.P. / Rest in Peace is used which plainly implies ‘May the soul Rest in Peace forever!’
Now let’s look at what does Islam says.
Islam is almost 1400 years old religion. It is the fastest growing religion and has 2nd highest number of followers across the world .Islam believes in judgment day after death which is similar like Christianity but with a materialistic life after death similar to the one on earth. It is also a monotheistic religion which believes in one and only one god ‘Allah’.
Islam believes that the present life is a trial in preparation for the next realm of existence or ‘Otherworldly’ afterlife which is also called ‘Jannah/Jannat/Paradise’. This ‘Otherworldly’ afterlife is similar to the current life but with access to unlimited materialistic resources ,beautiful female companions exceeding beauty and refinement, unlimited worldly pleasures, all available only for pious men who are brought to heaven with ‘Allah’ being in charge of everything.
Quran interprets “Followers of Islam must perform good deeds in the service of Allah throughout their life and must thank Allah for all the things he has provided to us. If a person forgets his duties and doesn’t do his good deeds in the name of Allah, in his afterlife, must face the ‘Day of Judgement’ where everyone will be judged”.
If we read the text in holy Quran and hadith about judgment day, it can be interpreted as, “A door or window will open inside their grave and they will be judged. The door will lead to one of the two realms either eternal Heaven or Hell for a duration to serve or to suffer forever. ”
Hence in Islam, saying R.I.P is “Haram (Forbidden)” but still some have no problems using it. To a dead Muslim soul they rather use “Inna lillahi wa inna ilaehi raajeoon” which means “I am from Allah and to Him shall I return.”
Now let’s look at the point of view of Santana Dharma/Hinduism.
Santana Dharma/Hinduism is almost 5000 years old and one of the oldest ‘Dharma’. It is third most followed religion in the world. It believes in reincarnation and the journey that continues after death.
According to Santana Dharma, Life and Death is a cycle through which a soul has to go through till it attain the ultimate abode which is ‘Moksha’/Salvation after which cycle ends and Soul is not reincarnated. Santana Dharma is a Polytheistic religion which believes in many gods and many incarnation forms of gods during since the universe came to existence.
The 5000 years old Vedas doesn’t give one liner answer on afterlife & soul’s journey but it leads to more deep and profound information on Birth-Life-Death-Afterlife-Rebirth cycle which helps to understand afterlife and soul’s journey. The vastness of Vedas and Shastras is like a rabbit hole, the deeper one goes the knowledge keeps expanding makes one questions everything till not satisfied.
The cycle of Reincarnation ties with person’s karma (deeds) of past life and current life in every birth and is similar to a punishment for the soul as it has to continuously travel from Bhu Loka (Earth) to different lokas (Preta loka,Yam Loka,Pitra Loka,Narak Loka,Swarg Loka) and travel back to bhu Loka to take rebirth as human again in different yonis till it is liberated from this cycle and attains Moksha.
It’s clear from above that the soul never rest after death. So in Hinduism using “R.I.P./Rest in Peace” for a departed soul does not accord well with the Karmic cycle (the cycle of Reincarnation). In fact saying ‘R.I.P.’ can even be considered as good as condemning the soul to suffer by ‘getting stuck and locked up’ into a standstill. That would no longer allow soul to be able to free itself from the attachment with the physical body and would prevent it to evolve and liberate to Mukti!
So it’s completely understandable that for a departed Christian soul, it’s correct to express condolences by using ‘R.I.P./Rest in Peace’ as the body is buried underground and soul is assumed to be attached with the physical body which should rest in peace however it is very incorrect to say the same for a departed Sanatani/Hindu soul as in Santana Dharma/Hinduism body is cremated and soul is released to follow karmic cycle to prepare for its next body, Soul can never ‘Rest in Peace’.
So how should one correctly express condolences for a departed Sanatani/Hindu so that the soul journey is not affected?
Here are few suitable ways to express condolences which accord with Santana Dharma:-
- ओम शांति /Om Shanti. (*This is used always for only living beings. That means ‘May the loved ones of departed soul find Peace & let the Peace prevails’.)
- भगवान दिवंगत आत्मा को मुक्ति /मोक्ष प्रदान करे /‘May the Soul/Atma/Jiva attains Moksha/Mukti.’
- Or ‘May the soul liberate to Moksha.’
- Or ‘May the soul achieve the highest abode.’
- भगवान दिवंगत आत्मा को सद्गति दे, ओम शांति. (May the God liberate the departed soul, Ohm Shanti)
- Or भगवान आत्मा को शांति दे/May the soul find peace .
As we have evolved to current human state, we must also learn basic dharmaic notions and manifest our consciousness to a higher state of mind to be aware of right and wrong. Our future generations learns watching what we do, What we say, what we follow, choices we make, decisions we take and how we treat others so before you shrug it off and say ‘Who Cares?’ or ‘No big deal’ let this sink in!
The intention of this blog is not to criticize any religion and it should not be read with that perspective but soul purpose is to do a course correction specifically for the followers of Sanata Dharma/Hinduism. I would just hope that this little information will allow one to ponder and reflect carefully before expressing condolences to a departed soul next time.
🙏
