Samsara
Samsara is the round or cycle of birth and rebirth that all Hindus are subject to in the Hindu worldview. Each person at the time of death possesses a karmic account balance; whether the actions are good or bad determines that agent's future destiny.
The literal meaning of the word “samsara” is “to wander across.” It signifies that, in Indian thought, a person's life force does not pass on with the death of the body, but instead wanders across. That is, the life force migrates to another time and body, where it continues to live.
An illustration of the interrelation of the concepts of karma and samsara occurs in the Bhagavad Gita (Chapter IX, verses 30–31). Krishna says: “Even he with the worst karma who ceaselessly meditates on me quickly loses the effects of his past actions. Becoming a high-souled being, he soon attains perennial peace. Know this for certain: the devotee who puts his trust in me never perishes.”
The term samsara also finds a home in Jainism, Buddhism, and Sikhism. To a Western way of thinking, this is known as reincarnation. Reincarnation carries with it a burden; the agent will have to live through generations over and over again. This is contrary to the goals of Indian religions, which stress that individuals must break the cycle of karma and samsara to be free of the burden of life. This release from life is the goal of life, and is called moksha.
In Autobiography of a Yogi, Paramahansa Yogananda writes, “Life by life man progresses (at his own pace be it ever so erratic) toward the goal of his own apotheosis. Death, no interruption in this onward sleep, simply offers man the more congenial environment of an astral world in which to purify his dross.”
Such spiritual release is only possible when an individual has a true knowledge of the illusion of life. As it's written in the Svetasvatara Upanishad, “By knowing God man is free from all bonds.” Atman, or self, returning to God is overcoming a separation. The doctrine of Brahman-Atman recognizes that self and God are ultimately a unity.
