Saṃsāra

Saṃsāra (Skt., Pāli, Prkt., ‘wandering’). Transmigration or rebirth; in Asian religions, the cycle of birth and death as a consequence of action (karma). Liberation (mokṣa, nirvāna, kaivalya) is release from samsāra, conceived as either going beyond samsāra or realizing it to be an illusion (māyā). The idea of samsāra, like karma, is possibly of non-Vedic or heterodox origin, though the matter is contentious.

The word samsāra does not appear in the Vedas, but the idea of redeath (punarmṛtyu) does, and the śrāddha and sapindakarana rites may have been to prevent the dissolution of the deceased in the next world, which is contrary to later Hindu views of the need to prevent rebirth.

The basic pattern of release or continued transmigration is found in later Hinduism, transmigration being regarded as undesirable. Indian theism such as Śaiva Siddhānta, regards samsāra as a means for the dispensation of grace (anugraha), the ultimate reason for samsāra being the liberation of souls: thus Śiva both conceals himself (tirobhāva) and reveals himself (anugraha).

In Buddhism, samsāra is the cycle of continuing appearances through the domains of existence (gati), but with no Self (anātman) being reborn: there is only the continuity of consequence, governed by karma.

Among Jains, the whole universe depends on the conscious and unconscious (jīva, ajīva) elements. Saṃsāra is the process through which souls are able to be disentangled from the material.