The Gonds seem originally to have had no idea of a place of abode for
the spirits of the dead, that is a heaven or hell. So far as can be
conjectured, their primary view of the fate of the spirits of the dead,
after they had come to consider the soul or spirit as surviving the
death of the body, was that they hung about the houses and village
where they had dwelt, and were able to exert considerable influence
on the lives and fortunes of their successors. An alternative or
subsequent view was that they were reincarnated, most frequently in
the bodies of children born in the same family, and less frequently in
animals. Whether or no this doctrine of reincarnation is comparatively
late and borrowed from Hinduism cannot be decided. In Bastar, however,
they have now a conception of retribution after death for the souls
of evil-doers. They say that the souls are judged after death, and
the sinful are hurled down into a dense forest without any sulphi
trees. The sulphi tree appears to be that variety of palm from which
palm-liquor or toddy is obtained in Bastar, and the Gond idea of a
place of punishment for departed sinners is, therefore, one in which
no alcoholic liquor is to be had.
(f) Religion