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panchagni-vidya

पञ्चाग्निविद्या panchagni-vidya

The doctrine of the five fires: the Upanishadic teaching (Chandogya 5) of the soul's passage after death through five cosmic stages to rebirth.

Where this term appears

  • What happens after death in Hinduism? Essentials

    In the Chandogya Upanishad , in the teaching called the Panchagni Vidya , the "knowledge of the five fires," the sage describes the journey of the self through a cosmic cycle and then sets out two great roads t…

  • Why do Hindus cremate their dead? Essentials

    In the Chandogya Upanishad , the doctrine called the Panchagni Vidya , the "knowledge of the five fires," maps the whole cosmos as a series of five sacrificial fires into which the gods pour offerings, and the …

  • The vehicle Treatise

    In the fifth chapter of the Chandogya Upanishad , and again in the sixth chapter of the Brihadaranyaka , there is a teaching the tradition calls the panchagni vidya , the doctrine of the five fires.

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