Introduction to Jainism and its Culture

Author(s): Balbhadra Jain
Publisher: Kundkund Gyanpith Indore

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(4) The realm of ghosts - Many incidents provide evidences that after death many persons are reborn in the realm of ghosts. In fact, the realm of ghosts is the realm of gods (devatā). Those who are termed a preta-yoni (ghosts) are, in fact, gods of that specific class. Their bodies are not gross or tangible like ours but subtle or ethereal. Their bodies cannot be caught with something solid. They cannot be confined within some solid thing. They are like a shadow and can take any desired form and shape. They have a different kind of knowledge as compared to ours. It is called avadhi-jñāna. With the help of this knowledge they can remember their liking and disliking of the past birth and punish or reward the related person. In the technical terms their body is called vaikriya-śarīra (mutable body). Their life-span is also much longer than that of human beings.
I have a cousin of almost the same age as mine. Once in a while, a goddess in the form of a beautiful woman appears before him during the night and talks to him. Many men and women living in that house have often seen her coming and going and talking to children. I have had many occasions to listen to and examine the truthfulness of information given by that goddess to my cousin. According to the goddess, six reincarnations earlier my cousin and she were husband and wife. After his death in that birth my cousin had undergone six incarnations while the wife reincarnated as a goddess. Since then she continues to be in the same realm. Drawn by the relationship and love of that earlier birth she visits my cousin.
Many people have witnessed, heard or read about numerous incidents related to ghosts and spirits. Although such incidents have not been examined scientifically, their number is far from insignificant. There are also a large number of people who have been tortured or rewarded by ghosts as a consequence of some related incident from the past birth.
(5) Needless to say that Indian religions accept the theory of reincarnation whereas modern people do not. Nevertheless, many famous scientists, after due research, have also reached to the conclusion that after the death of the body the soul continues to live and is reborn. Some prominent names worth mentioning are – Meyers,
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