Knowledge Bank

Only Humans Attain the Afterlife

Through this body, the soul experiences happiness and sorrow as a result of its virtuous and sinful deeds. With this same body, sinners endure suffering on the path to Yama’s abode, while the righteous proceed joyfully to Dharmaraj. Notably, only humans acquire a subtle, transitional body after death, which Yama’s attendants carry to Yama's domain. Other creatures, like animals and birds, do not possess such a body. They are directly reborn into another form of life. These beings wander in a gaseous form after death before entering the womb for rebirth into a specific life form. Only humans experience the fruits of their good and bad deeds in both this world and the afterlife.

How did Mahabharata get its name?

महत्वाद्भारवत्वाच्च महाभारतमुच्यते। Once, under the instruction of Sage Vyasa and in the presence of Devas and Rishis, Mahabharata was placed on one side of a weighing balance and all the other scriptures on the other side. Mahabharata stood heavier. Due its heaviness and greatness, it was called Mahabharata.