Beings … transmigrate through the four states of existence: life, death, intermediateness, and birth. The intermediate state is the time from when a being has finished one mode of existence until obtaining the next mode of existence, and it usually said to be 49 days. “Transmigration” is a translation of the Sanskrit word saṃsāra, which means “flowing” or “wandering.” Ancient Indian Upaniṣads held that after going through five processes that occur after cremation, one is either born as a human or goes to heaven. This was known as the “five fires and two paths” teaching. In contrast, Buddhism held that in these four states of existence one transmigrates between the six paths, the five destinies and the heavens.