The Soul’s Eternal Journey: Reincarnation in Many Forms
Since the time we have buried and cremated our loved ones and have said goodbye to them
while looking up at the stars, one question has always followed us all like shadows.
“What becomes of their soul?”
While some believe that it ascended to the abode of the divine, others believe that it was a
fragment of the Earth and has now finally reunited with it.
But many cultures across the world hold a rather beautiful belief about something as
unfortunate as death, that it is not the end of the journey, but merely the beginning of another.
That life returns, again and again, to the ones it once flourished with …
When we think of reincarnation, we often imagine a person returning as another human
being. But what if the soul chooses a different path? What if life wears a different face every
time?
It is an impossible thought to prove, yet a beautiful one to entertain.
The Fellow Travellers
Philosophers and storytellers of Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism have imagined that life is
a vast and unbroken journey, irrespective of the form it takes. Life is not a ladder, but a circle.
Every lifeform is a fellow traveller soaring through the eternal currents.
Elsewhere in the stories of Indigenous folk, Animals are more than flesh and bones. They’re
the ones that were left behind and return as the messengers carrying whispers from another
world, or companions whose eyes seem to remember something that they can’t express
through words.
Have you ever wondered why that stray dog refuses to leave your doorstep? Why does that
pigeon return to your balcony every single morning? Or why the butterfly that landed on your
shoulder “by accident ” didn’t feel like stranger at all?
Some people might call it a mere coincidence, but for the heart! These moments are
something else.
Fellow Souls in Fur and Feathers: Seeing Animals as Eternal Companions
What if, beneath all the fur and scales, are the ones who started this journey with us, but left
this form on the way and are just continuing their eternal voyage beside us, only in another
body?
Think about this and visit a park, every macaque swinging through the trees, every bird
singing and gliding overhead, and every fish approaching you once you sit by the lake are not
just other life forms but people, just like us. Those are now in other bodies.
Every animal doesn’t seem just like an “animal” anymore; they’re now just fellow souls
who’ve lived countless lives and are continuing to traverse this eternal path just like us. Think
about all the stories present!
Embracing Reincarnation to Foster Compassion and Conservation
Suddenly, the “Wild” feels as if it is one of us, close to us. The Macaque becomes an elder,
the ant becomes someone starting a new chapter, and the sparrow feels like a distant traveller.
And that is what the message these beliefs hold! It’s not just a mere myth. Instead, it holds a
highly relevant message about compassion.
Stop asking “Is recreation real?” Instead, start asking, “How would the world change if we
start believing it as if it’s the truth?”
Would we still cage birds? Would we still pelt stones at stray dogs and hurt them? Would we
still destroy forests knowing they’re homes to millions of wildlife species? Species that were
once like us?
Conservation is often seen as something scientific or economic, but perhaps there’s another,
less scientific yet deeply human dimension to it as well. Animals don’t deserve our respect
because they were once human, but just looking at this possibility makes us realise that no
life is insignificant.
About the author
Bhavishya Raj is a Geography undergraduate at Kirori Mal College, University of Delhi, with a deep interest in wildlife, conservation, and the stories that shape our relationship with nature. He enjoys weaving together science, philosophy, and storytelling, believing that stories can be a powerful way to inspire compassion, curiosity, and a deeper connection with the living world.