Topic Research: Reincarnation

I have decided to do my project over Reincarnation as the topic most intrigues me. Reincarnation is one of the major part of Hinduism. I would love to use stories from the epics to analyze it. Three stories that I have chosen so far are:

Vishnu as Rama
Avatar of vishnu, In order to defeat Ravana, Vishnu as agreed to take a form as a human. Ravana can only be defeated by a human so god comes to earth to fulfill his duty. It is said in our religion that once Kalyug (age of darkness) increases beyond limits, god will come to earth as form of a human to defeat it. I would like to make my plot related to today's world and talk about god coming to earth to fight the evil.


Dasharatha's Karma
Karma, which I could incorporate into the story as well. I can talk about how his Karma affected his death. Then go further and talk about his life after death. what he can potentially be reincarnated as in the next birth cycle. I would also like to incorporate the Karmas of this ongoing world and talk about how it will affect people in their after life.

Sita as Lakshmi
Birth of Sita, I can use this to tell a love story. I can use Rama and Sita as a pair and then Vishnu and Lakshmi as a pair. How true love can be reincarnated together for next birth. We do rituals in weddings, where we make seven rounds across fire as family throws rice or flowers at the couples. I can talk about why that ritual is done and how it is meant for the couples to stay together even in the after life.

Souls are being transformed into many forms

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Topic Brainstorm

Lord Krishna with his mother 

Image: Commons

Reincarnation:

This topic would be something that I would be interested to write about. Throughout the epics of Hinduism, we learn that many gods and goddesses are reincarnated from previous lives. For example, many believe that Lord Krishna and Lord Rama are all incarnated form of Lord vishnu. I would like to understand the cycle of rebirth and how it all relates to the Karma, Moksha, Samsara and Nirvana. I have basic understanding to the theory of reincarnation, but I would like to further ponder on why it's part of the religion. 

Mahabharata:

I have previous knowledge of Mahabharata, which makes me more interested to read and write about the fights and wisdom that is given inside the book. Lord Krishna's birth and his childhood is one of my favorite stories from here so I would love to understand more about it and make my project over it. The war is also one of the most important epic battle for Hinduism, how Krishna guides Arjuna through out it really interesting. I have forgotten some details about it so I would love to refresh my memory over it.

Saraswati:

Saraswati is known to be a goddess of wisdom. It is said that she was created by Lord Brahma from a river. I do not have that much information on how she got to be known as the goddess of wisdom and learning. I would like to read about the birth and how she was known to be by doing the research. It will not only help me gain some knowledge, but also get me to write about my findings.

Food and Festivals:

Hinduism has lots of festivals, some that even last nine days. I can talk about all the festivals and the foods that are served with them. Also, help give meaning behind why the foods are related to the each particular festival. I celebrate almost all of festivals here since I am from a Hindu religion background. This project would be fun to correlate it with my experiences for each festivals.