Final answer:
The doctrine of transmigration of souls states that the soul can be reborn into a new body after death, with the cycle of rebirth being influenced by karma. In Hinduism, reaching union with Brahman is the goal, while Buddhism rejects the concept of a permanent soul and focuses on interconnected existence.
Step-by-step explanation:
The doctrine of transmigration of souls, also known as reincarnation or metempsychosis, is a philosophical and religious concept that suggests the soul of a person can be reborn into a new body after death. This belief is often linked with the concept of karma, where the actions of a person in their lifetime determine the quality or form of their next life. In many traditions, such as Hinduism and Buddhism, the cycle of death and rebirth is seen as a process of spiritual evolution, with the ultimate aim of the soul to achieve union with the divine or liberation from the cycle of rebirth.
In the context of Hinduism, the soul (atman) is believed to progress through various forms of life based on the actions (karma) performed in past lives. Therefore, a person's current social standing or life circumstances are thought to be a result of past lives' actions, supporting a hierarchical structure within the society. The ultimate spiritual goal is to merge with Brahman, the universal consciousness, thereby escaping the cycle of transmigration and achieving Moksha (enlightenment or liberation).
Contrastingly, Buddhism, while also believing in a cycle of rebirth, rejects the idea of a permanent soul (atman) and instead introduces the concept of Dependent Origination, where existence is considered a series of interconnected events without an eternal soul transferring from one life to another. Buddha's teachings suggest that actions create karma that results in the birth of new beings, but do not carry over a soul from one incarnation to the next. This philosophy challenged the caste system's concept of divinely appointed social roles.