Hi, Hinduism DIR!
This question occurred to me today: let's say Bob died today. How long would it take for his soul to be reincarnated, be it in the form of a human, animal, or whatever?
Another question (and it might sound weird): Can souls be reincarnated into inanimate objects or plants?
Thank you.
Quoting from an older post of mine. This is Brihadaryanka Upanisad. Times can be very long as people usually(i.e. according to scripture) go to other worlds before returning to this world. And since the flow of time itself is different in various worlds (time passes slowly in more heavenly worlds and faster in less heavenly or hellish worlds). So the system is complicated
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The mechanism of rebirth as espoused by Yajnavalka (Brihadaryanaka Chapter 4)
Now as this self (atman) grows steadily weaker and begins to lose consciousness, these vital functions (praana-s) throng around him.
Taking into himself these particles of light (these praana-s), he descends back into the heart. When the person (or deity) connected to the sight turns back (into the heart) people say "He is sinking; he can't see!" . (Similarly for smell, taste, speech, touch and perception praana-s). Then the top of his heart lights up, and with that light the self exits the body;
and as his lifebreath departs, all his vital functions (praana-s) depart with it.
He then descends into a state of mere awareness and develops into one who is endowed with perception.
Then, learning and rites , as well as memory, take hold of him again.
It is like this. As a caterpillar, when it comes to the tip of the blade of grass, reaches out to a new foothold and draws himself into it, so the self (atman), after it has knocked down this body and rendered it unconscious, reaches out to a new foothold and draws itself onto it.
....similar simile given with weaver and clothing...
Clearly this self is the brahman-this self made of perception, made of mind, made of sight, made of breath, made of hearing, made of earth , made of water, space, wind, light and the lightless, made of desire and desireless, anger and angerless, made of righteous and unrighteousness, made of everything. What a man turns out to be depends on how he acts and how he conducts itself. If his actions are good, he will turn out to be something good. Similarly for bad. A man resolves in accordance with his desire, act in accordance with his resolve, and turns out to be in accordance with his actions. On this point there is this verse:-
A man who's attached goes with his actions,
To the very place to which his mind and character cling.
Reaching the end of his action, of whatever he has done in this world-
From that world he returns back to this world,
Back to action.
Now a man who does not desire- who is without desires, who is freed from desires, whose desire is only the Self- his vital functions (prana) do not depart with him. Brahman he is and to Brahman he goes. Thus is the verse:-
When they are all banished.
Those desires that lurk in one's heart;
Then the mortal becomes immortal,
And attains brahman in this world.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Read Brihadaryanaka Section 4 if you can. Its the core text of the oldest Upanisad, and Yajnavalka's words are the earliest extant source of everything in Vedanta that follows.
Note that rebirth is a quasi-natural process. It has very little to do with punishment and reward. Because one is attached to desires, the Atman remains attached to the mode of these desires, the various prana-s which that take Atman to that world which is most habitable for those desires/fears/unconscious habits to express themselves fully. (explicit comparison is made in the previous chapter on how desires create the dream world based on such impulsions. In dreams what you fear the most often takes shape driven by that fear. Similarly hopes etc.). After the desires have worked themselves out completely in those other world, one return back to this world through another set of such desire based connection to pick up where they left off.
