samsara

American  

[suhm-sahr-uh] / səmˈsɑr ə /

noun

1. Buddhism. the process of coming into existence as a differentiated, mortal creature.

2. Hinduism. the endless series of births, deaths, and rebirths to which all beings are subject.

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samsara British  

/ səmˈsɑːrə /

noun

1. Hinduism the endless cycle of birth, death, and rebirth

2. Buddhism the transmigration or rebirth of a person

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Etymology

Origin of samsara

First recorded in 1885–90, samsara is from the Sanskrit word samsāra literally, running together

Example Sentences

At the personal level, the incentive behind amassing karma was samsara, the continuance of the soul after death and the soul’s transformation.

From Textbooks • Apr. 19, 2023

This informs the belief that an individual will bear a future burden for harms committed in the present through the process of samsara, or transmigration and rebirth of the soul.

From Textbooks • Jun. 15, 2022

In short, human beings dwell, as the Buddhists say, in the realm of samsara, bound to a repeated cycle of desire and suffering.

From Washington Post • Jan. 13, 2021

Yet his karmic musings on samsara – the Buddhist concept of "continuous flow" – become an excuse for some extremely loose and self-indulgent writing.

From The Guardian • Jun. 22, 2012

Interestingly, the only escape from the cycle of birth and death known as samsara is not through the God realm but through the Human.

From New York Times • May 6, 2010