Heaven and Hell Aren’t Places. The Gita Explains Where Does the Soul Go
Riya Kumari | May 20, 2025, 23:58 IST
( Image credit : Times Life Bureau, Timeslife )
When you hear “heaven and hell,” images pop into your mind: eternal bliss, endless punishment, maybe clouds and harps, or flames and pitchforks. The Bhagavad Gita invites us to see these concepts not as final destinations but as parts of a much deeper journey — one that reflects the way our actions and mindset shape our experience in life and beyond.
We often imagine the afterlife like a movie set—golden gates, celestial harps, a booming voice with a checklist of sins. Or the opposite: fire, fury, and regret on loop. These images comfort or terrify, depending on the script we’ve grown up hearing. But the Bhagavad Gita gently steps in and offers something quieter. Wiser. More intimate. It doesn’t describe places. It describes states—of consciousness, of being, of awareness. And it invites you to understand that heaven and hell don’t come after death. They’re unfolding, subtly, silently, within you—right now.
1. The Soul Does Not Die. It Just Moves
When Arjuna, overwhelmed by grief on the battlefield, asks Krishna about death, Krishna answers without fear, without sentimentality. He speaks a truth so steady, it silences everything else:
“न जायते म्रियते वा कदाचिन्
नायं भूत्वा भविता वा न भूयः।
अजो नित्यः शाश्वतोऽयं पुराणो
न हन्यते हन्यमाने शरीरे॥” (2.20)
“The soul is never born, nor does it ever die; it has never come into being, does not come into being now, and will not come into being in the future. It is unborn, eternal, changeless, and ancient. It is not destroyed when the body is destroyed.”
You are not the body. You are the one within it. You are not your thoughts, emotions, roles, or name. You are the witness. The one who sees it all come and go. So when the body falls away, where does the soul go? Wherever its nature takes it.
2. Your Final Thought Shapes the Next Beginning
The Gita reveals a quiet law of spiritual physics: the final state of your mind at death carries you forward into what comes next.
“यं यं वापि स्मरन् भावं
त्यजत्यन्ते कलेवरम्।
तं तमेवैति कौन्तेय
सदा तद्भावभावितः॥” (8.6)
“Whatever state of being one remembers when they leave the body, that state they will attain, O Arjuna—because it is shaped by their lifelong tendencies.”
In other words, your afterlife isn’t chosen in a moment. It’s carved by every moment. Every time you chose anger over understanding. Every time you paused to forgive instead of react. Every thought, every habit, every inner leaning—it shapes what you'll remember at the very end. And that remembrance becomes your direction.
3. Heaven and Hell Are Psychological States
The Gita doesn't offer geographical heaven or hell. It speaks of gunas—the three qualities of nature that shape your mind, choices, and destiny:
“सत्त्वं सुखे सञ्जयति
रजः कर्मणि भारत।
ज्ञानमावृत्य तु तमः
प्रमादे सञ्जयत्युत॥” (14.9)
“Sattva binds one to happiness, rajas binds to action, and tamas, covering knowledge, binds to ignorance.”
Where do you go after death? Wherever your mind has been living all along. If your heart has cultivated peace, your soul moves toward that frequency. If your mind has lived in chaos or fear, your next path reflects that too. Not as punishment. Not even as reward. Just as reflection.
4. Karma Isn’t Keeping Score. It’s Just Echoing You
Karma, in the Gita, isn’t about cosmic revenge. It’s not an invisible referee penalizing your wrong moves. It’s about the residue of intention. The subtle imprint of every choice you make.
“कर्मण्येवाधिकारस्ते
मा फलेषु कदाचन।
मा कर्मफलहेतुर्भूः
मा ते सङ्गोऽस्त्वकर्मणि॥” (2.47)
“You have a right to perform your actions, but not to the results. Do not be attached to the fruits of your actions, nor to inaction.”
Your soul carries the texture of your actions. Not the drama. Not the drama's reward. Just the direction they point toward. So heaven isn’t waiting for you. It’s growing inside you—or not—depending on how you live.
5. Moksha: The Liberation Beyond All Paths
The Gita doesn’t just talk about where you go. It speaks of what you can become. Free. Free from returning. Free from becoming. Free from cycling through pain, desire, ego, fear. This is moksha—the soul remembering itself as it truly is, not as what it’s collected.
“ब्राह्मी भूते प्रसन्नात्मा
न शोचति न काङ्क्षति।
समः सर्वेषु भूतेषु
मद्भक्तिं लभते पराम्॥” (18.54)
“Established in the divine, the soul neither grieves nor desires. It sees all beings as equal and attains supreme devotion to Me.”
This is the end of wandering. Not a place, but a realization: you were never lost to begin with.
So Where Does the Soul Go?
It goes inward. To the peace you built within it. To the clarity you nourished. To the truth you chose over distraction. And if not—if it's still bound, still restless—it journeys on. Not in punishment. In pursuit. You aren’t going to heaven or hell. You are growing toward them—or through them—every single day. So pause.
Not to fear death, but to listen to life. To clean the mirror. To soften the mind. To let go. Because in the end, the soul doesn’t go somewhere else. It returns to itself. And that… is the most sacred destination of all.
1. The Soul Does Not Die. It Just Moves
Mindful
( Image credit : Pexels )
When Arjuna, overwhelmed by grief on the battlefield, asks Krishna about death, Krishna answers without fear, without sentimentality. He speaks a truth so steady, it silences everything else:
“न जायते म्रियते वा कदाचिन्
नायं भूत्वा भविता वा न भूयः।
अजो नित्यः शाश्वतोऽयं पुराणो
न हन्यते हन्यमाने शरीरे॥” (2.20)
“The soul is never born, nor does it ever die; it has never come into being, does not come into being now, and will not come into being in the future. It is unborn, eternal, changeless, and ancient. It is not destroyed when the body is destroyed.”
You are not the body. You are the one within it. You are not your thoughts, emotions, roles, or name. You are the witness. The one who sees it all come and go. So when the body falls away, where does the soul go? Wherever its nature takes it.
2. Your Final Thought Shapes the Next Beginning
Thought
( Image credit : Pexels )
The Gita reveals a quiet law of spiritual physics: the final state of your mind at death carries you forward into what comes next.
“यं यं वापि स्मरन् भावं
त्यजत्यन्ते कलेवरम्।
तं तमेवैति कौन्तेय
सदा तद्भावभावितः॥” (8.6)
“Whatever state of being one remembers when they leave the body, that state they will attain, O Arjuna—because it is shaped by their lifelong tendencies.”
In other words, your afterlife isn’t chosen in a moment. It’s carved by every moment. Every time you chose anger over understanding. Every time you paused to forgive instead of react. Every thought, every habit, every inner leaning—it shapes what you'll remember at the very end. And that remembrance becomes your direction.
3. Heaven and Hell Are Psychological States
Happy or Sad
( Image credit : Pexels )
The Gita doesn't offer geographical heaven or hell. It speaks of gunas—the three qualities of nature that shape your mind, choices, and destiny:
- Sattva (purity, harmony) – when you live with clarity, compassion, and balance.
- Rajas (passion, restlessness) – when desire drives you, and satisfaction always lives in the future.
- Tamas (darkness, inertia) – when confusion, apathy, and ignorance rule your actions.
“सत्त्वं सुखे सञ्जयति
रजः कर्मणि भारत।
ज्ञानमावृत्य तु तमः
प्रमादे सञ्जयत्युत॥” (14.9)
“Sattva binds one to happiness, rajas binds to action, and tamas, covering knowledge, binds to ignorance.”
Where do you go after death? Wherever your mind has been living all along. If your heart has cultivated peace, your soul moves toward that frequency. If your mind has lived in chaos or fear, your next path reflects that too. Not as punishment. Not even as reward. Just as reflection.
4. Karma Isn’t Keeping Score. It’s Just Echoing You
Help
( Image credit : Pexels )
Karma, in the Gita, isn’t about cosmic revenge. It’s not an invisible referee penalizing your wrong moves. It’s about the residue of intention. The subtle imprint of every choice you make.
“कर्मण्येवाधिकारस्ते
मा फलेषु कदाचन।
मा कर्मफलहेतुर्भूः
मा ते सङ्गोऽस्त्वकर्मणि॥” (2.47)
“You have a right to perform your actions, but not to the results. Do not be attached to the fruits of your actions, nor to inaction.”
Your soul carries the texture of your actions. Not the drama. Not the drama's reward. Just the direction they point toward. So heaven isn’t waiting for you. It’s growing inside you—or not—depending on how you live.
5. Moksha: The Liberation Beyond All Paths
Inner child
( Image credit : Pexels )
The Gita doesn’t just talk about where you go. It speaks of what you can become. Free. Free from returning. Free from becoming. Free from cycling through pain, desire, ego, fear. This is moksha—the soul remembering itself as it truly is, not as what it’s collected.
“ब्राह्मी भूते प्रसन्नात्मा
न शोचति न काङ्क्षति।
समः सर्वेषु भूतेषु
मद्भक्तिं लभते पराम्॥” (18.54)
“Established in the divine, the soul neither grieves nor desires. It sees all beings as equal and attains supreme devotion to Me.”
This is the end of wandering. Not a place, but a realization: you were never lost to begin with.
So Where Does the Soul Go?
Not to fear death, but to listen to life. To clean the mirror. To soften the mind. To let go. Because in the end, the soul doesn’t go somewhere else. It returns to itself. And that… is the most sacred destination of all.