Separated from the dead are these, the living. Our appeal to the Gods has been vouchsafed. We now repair to dancing and laughter, returning to prolong our span of days.
Rig Veda X, 18, 3
They carry him to be offered in the fire. The fire becomes his fire, the fuel his fuel, the smoke his smoke, the flame his flame, the cinders his cinders and the sparks his sparks. In this fire the gods offer the man as libation. Out of this offering the man emerges in radiant splendour.
Yajur Veda, Brihadaranyaka Upanishad VI, II-The Process of Rebirth, 14
Those even among householders who know this, as described and those too who, living in the forest, meditate with faith upon the Satya Brahman (Hiranyagarbha), reach the deity identified with flame, from him the deity of the day, from him the deity of) the fortnight in which the moon waxes, from him the deities of the six months during which the sun travels northward, from them the deity identified with the world of the gods (devaloka), from him the sun, from the sun the deity of lightning. Then a being created from the mind of Hiranyagarbha comes and leads them to the worlds of Brahmin. In those worlds of Brahma they become exalted and live for many years. They no more return to this world.
Yajur Veda, Brihadaranyaka Upanishad VI, II-The Process of Rebirth, 15
But those who conquer the worlds through sacrifices, charity and austerity reach the deity of smoke, from smoke, the deity of the night, from night the deity of the fortnight in which the moon wanes, from the decreasing half of the moon the deities of the six months during which the sun travels southward, from these months the deity of the world of the Manes and from the world of the Manes, the moon. Reaching the moon they become food. There the gods enjoy them, just as here the priests drink the shining soma juice-saying as it were: Flourish, dwindle.
Yajur Veda, Brihadaranyaka Upanishad VI, II-The Process of Rebirth, 16
And when their past work is exhausted they reach this very akasa, from the akasa they reach the air, from the air rain, from rain the earth. Reaching the earth they become food. Then they are again offered in the fire of man and thence in the fire of woman. Out of the fire of woman they are born and perform rites with a view to going to other worlds. Thus do they rotate. Those, however, who do not know these two ways become insects and moths and those creatures which often bite (i.e. mosquitoes and gnats).
Yajur Veda, Brihadaranyaka Upanishad VI, II-The Process of Rebirth, 16 (cont)
