A classic example where Gandhi and the Bahá'ís differ in their interpretations of sacred scripture relates to the subject of reincarnation. The sacred scriptures of the Hindu and Buddhist faiths mention reincarnation of the soul, and state that when a person dies, their karma dictates to a large extent the circumstances surrounding their next birth. After a number of births and deaths, the soul eventually attains its final ``release.'' (In contrast, Christians, Muslims, and many others believe that after death they will be judged and finally end up either in hell or in heaven.)
Bahá'ís do not believe in reincarnation, but Gandhi appears to have believed in the traditional Hindu idea of reincarnation. Specifically, Bahá'ís do not believe that the soul of a dead person is reborn again on earth to live a new life. Nor, for that matter, do they believe in a literal (``geographical'') heaven or a literal hell. Bahá'ís tend to believe that a literal approach to the interpretation of the concepts of ``rebirth,'' ``return,'' ``heaven'', ``hell'' etc. is inconsistent with science, and that these ideas refer instead to essentially metaphorical--not literal--realities. Indeed, Bahá'u'lláh has explained that terms like ``hell,'' ``heaven,'' ``rebirth,'' and ``return'' used in the holy books of the world religions are abstractions, metaphors, and should not be taken literally. He comments further about such terms:
Know verily that the purpose underlying all these symbolic terms and abstruse allusions, which emanate from the Revealers of God's holy Cause, hath been to test and prove the peoples of the world; that thereby the earth of the pure and illuminated hearts may be known from the perishable and barren soil. From time immemorial such hath been the way of God amidst His creatures, and to this testify the records of the sacred books
Wert thou to cleanse the mirror of thy heart from the dust of malice, thou wouldst apprehend the meaning of the symbolic terms revealed by the all-embracing Word of God made manifest in every Dispensation, and wouldst discover the mysteries of divine knowledge. Not, however, until thou consumest with the flame of utter detachment those veils of idle learning, that are current amongst men, canst thou behold the resplendent morn of true knowledge. Know verily that Knowledge is of two kinds: Divine and Satanic. The one welleth out from the fountain of divine inspiration; the other is but a reflection of vain and obscure thoughts
O brother, behold how the inner mysteries of ``rebirth,'' of ``return,'' and of ``resurrection'' have eachBahá'u'lláh originally addressed the Kitáb-i-Íqán to people versed in Muslim and Christian traditions, so the specific shades of meaning attached to metaphors such as ``return'' and ``rebirth'' are likely to be somewhat different when applied to the interpretation of these same metaphors as they occur in Hindu and Buddhist sacred scripture. But the fundamental point expressed by Bahá'u'lláh above--that concepts like ``return'' are metaphors--applies easily and equally to the sacred writings of all religions. For example, the word ``worm'' refers literally to a kind of animal. But applied to humans, the word ``worm'' can denote extreme baseness. So when we read in the Kaushitaki Upanishad that a human is ``reborn here either as a worm, or as a butterfly, or as a fish, or as a bird, or as a lion, or as a serpent, or as a tiger, or as a person, or as some other being in this or in that condition, according to his works, according to his knowledge,''[11] it does not necessarily mean that the person will be literally born as a worm, etc. An interpretation far more palatable to Bahá'ís is that in the next life, the person will have the qualities we associate with worms, such as extreme baseness. The worm, butterfly, fish, bird, lion, tiger, serpent, etc. are all metaphors.
Bahá'ís completely reject reincarnation as anything besides a powerful metaphor, but they do believe that human consciousness continues to function when our physical bodies die. Since we cannot fully grasp the nature of life after death while we continue to live in this world, our understanding is limited to the use of analogies. This limitation of our understanding is the main reason why the great world religions have used concepts like reincarnation, heaven, and hell to explain the nature of life after death. Direct access to the next world is impossible, even as a baby cannot have knowledge of the world outside the womb until after birth. Bahá'u'lláh describes the Bahá'í view of life after death as follows:
Know thou of a truth that the soul, after its separation from the body, will continue to progress until it attaineth the presence of God, in a state and condition which neither the revolution of ages and centuries, nor the changes and chances of this world, can alter. It will endure as long as the Kingdom of God, His sovereignty, His dominion and power will endure. It will manifest the signs of God and His attributes, and will reveal His loving kindness and bounty. The movement of My Pen is stilled when it attempteth to befittingly describe the loftiness and glory of so exalted a station. The honor with which the Hand of Mercy will invest the soul is such as no tongue can adequately reveal, nor any other earthly agency describe. Blessed is the soul which, at the hour of its separation from the body, is sanctified from the vain imaginings of the peoples of the world. Such a soul liveth and moveth in accordance with the Will of its Creator, and entereth the all-highest Paradise. The Maids of Heaven, inmates of the loftiest mansions, will circle around it, and the Prophets of God and His chosen ones will seek its companionship. With them that soul will freely converse, and will recount unto them that which it hath been made to endure in the path of God, the Lord of all worlds. If any man be told that which hath been ordained for such a soul in the worlds of God, the Lord of the throne on high and of earth below, his whole being will instantly blaze out in his great longing to attain that most exalted, that sanctified and resplendent station