Punarjanma : Re-Birth

Hinduism (Sanatana Dharma) teaches that the atma or jiva (soul) is intrinsically pure. It is because of material desires and the ignorance of I-ness and Mine-ness that it goes through the cycles of birth and death. The death of one's body does not destroy one's jiva or atma which is eternal. The jiva takes on another body as a consequence to it's karmas. This is called Punarjanma (Rebirth) or reincarnation. As long as the jiva remains attached to material desires and ignorance it remains subject to the cycles of birth and death. According to the puranas it repeatedly takes birth in the 8,400,000 different life-forms, that include all phylum in the animal and plant kingdoms. Birth in a human body is the highest and rarest of all births, providing an opportunity to attain mukti or liberation of the atma. There are many recorded cases of people who remember details of their past births. By the grace of God or guru the jiva is reborn as a human to purge the layers of base instincts, and overcome his or her moral and spiritual failings. Sometimes a released or enlightened soul(a mukta) is reborn by God's wish to carry out a spiritual mission. When a jiva takes on another body, it is God who gives it an appropriate birth in relation to its karma. When it enters the new physical(sthul) body it does so with its subtle (suksma) and causal (karan) bodies. The four categories into which the jiva is born are: 1) Udbhij (born of seeds i.e plants) 2) Jarayuj (born of womb i.e mammals) 3) Swedaj (from sweat i.e bugs) & 4) Andaj (born of egg i.e birds and reptiles) Hari Om.