What happens at death if we haven’t attained liberation? When a person dies, the only “death” is that of the physical body. The mind, which contains a person’s mental impressions, continues after death. When the person is reborn, the “birth” is of a new physical body accompanied by the old mind with the impressions from previous lives.

When the environment becomes conducive, these samskaras again reassert themselves in the new life. Thankfully, this process doesn’t go on eternally. When we attain God-realisation or Self-realisation, the law of karma is transcended, the Self gives up

its identification with the body and mind, and regains its native freedom, perfection and bliss.

When we take a hard look around us, the world doesn’t seem to make much sense. If we go by appearances, it would seem that countless people have escaped the noose of fate: many an evil person has died peacefully in bed. Worse, good and noble people have suffered without apparent cause, their goodness being repaid by hatred and torture.

If we look only on the surface, the universe appears absurd at best, malevolent at worst. But that’s because we’re not looking deeply; we’re only viewing this lifetime, seeing neither the lives that precede this one nor the lives that may follow. What we do know, however, is that everyone, no matter how depraved, will eventually, through the course of many lifetimes and undoubtedly through much suffering, come to realise his or her own divine nature. — Vedanta.org