Reincarnation - Rebirth
Reincarnation simply means rebirth. Soul keeps changing the body one after another. It gets a bodies based on its deeds done in human life.
Soul, when in other than human body – e.g. in an animal, a bird or an insect, does not act independently. It acts either under the direction of a human being or just by natural instinct. It does not and cannot think. All its actions are controlled by others or by natural instinct. Because of that, its actions are neither rewarded nor punished.
When leaving human body, if the good deeds equal bad deeds, one is born as an ordinary human being in the next life. If good deeds exceed bad deeds then one is born as an intellectual human being. If bad deeds exceed good deeds, one is born as an animal, a bird or insect etc. based on the severity of the bad deeds.
Basically, deeds good or bad are done through:
thought,
word and
action
One reaps the fruit good or bad by receiving or paying for the deeds done with similar organs. E.g. harsh talker, liar, back stabber etc gets a life of an animal or of a mute human being.
The soul adjusts in the body it gets, whether it is a human, an animal, a bird or an insect. Soul is like water, without a color. Color makes the water colored. Same way, the soul is known as by the body it is in.
Soul continues to move from one body to another. It starts body at the time of conception, and departs at the time of death. Same soul can be a man, woman, elephant, ant or any other living being, and back and forth as well.
As humans discard worn out clothes and wear new ones, similarly soul discards the useless old body and starts a new body.
Humanity
Humanity is considering others pleasure and pain, profit and loss as your own. Not being afraid of unjust person, no matter how powerful he is, and be afraid of just person no matter how powerless he may be. Working with the full force for the protection and promotion of just person, even if one has to suffer heavy losses, even if one loses ones life during the pursuit.
All the living beings other than humans have a common characteristic. i.e. be afraid of the strong and frighten the weak; they even kill others for their selfish motive. Humans with similar characteristics be considered non-human beings. Being kind and helpful to the weak is a human characteristic.
Definition Of Non Violence
Never to have enmity of any kind, towards any living being – human, animal, bird or insect, is defined as non-violence.
Hurting, punishing or killing a living being does not by itself make the action violent. It is the cause behind it that matters.
Killing an animal, which kills people or destroys crops, is not an act of violence. Killing an animal or a bird for food or fun is a violent action.
To punish a person for the crime committed is not violence. Rather, not to punish a criminal is a violence. Because, if the criminal is not punished, he would harm many more innocent people, thereby creating much more violence.
The purpose of punishment is to deter the criminal from committing the crime again and to alert the others not to engage in such an act. Only harsh punishment can reduce the crime and save many people from the miseries of the crimes.
If someone attacks you and you respond with force, it is not violence. Anyone trying to harm the society or the nation, should be dealt with firmly and with force. That will save millions from sufferings. Therefore that is non-violence.
Ref: Translation of Yog Darshan by Maharishi Ved Vyas
Veda:
The Vedas are the most important scripture. The meaning of the word Veda is knowledge. The Vedas were revealed in 4 sections at the dawn of the creation to the 4 saints (Rishis):
Rig Veda - Agni Rishi
Yajur Veda - Vayu Rishi
Sam Veda - Aditya Rishi
Atharva Veda - Angira Rishi
