Saṃsāra#In Hinduism

Saṃsāra (Devanagari: संसार) means "wandering",{{Sfn|Mark Juergensmeyer|Wade Clark Roof|2011|pp=271–72}}{{Sfn| Lochtefeld|2002|p=589}} as well as "world" wherein the term connotes "cyclic change".{{Sfn|Klaus Klostermaier|2010|p=604}} Saṃsāra, a fundamental concept in all Indian religions, is linked to the karma theory and refers to the belief that all living beings cyclically go through births and rebirths. The term is related to phrases such as "the cycle of successive existence", "transmigration", "karmic cycle", "the wheel of life", and "cyclicality of all life, matter, existence".{{Sfn|Mark Juergensmeyer|Wade Clark Roof|2011|pp=271–72}}{{cite book|author=Rita M. Gross |title=Buddhism After Patriarchy: A Feminist History, Analysis, and Reconstruction of Buddhism |url=https://archive.org/details/buddhismafterpat00gros |url-access=registration |year=1993|publisher=State University of New York Press|isbn=978-1-4384-0513-1 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/buddhismafterpat00gros/page/148 148] }} Many scholarly texts spell saṃsāra as samsara.{{Sfn|Jeaneane D. Fowler|1997|p=10}}

According to Monier-Williams, saṃsāra is derived from the verbal root sṛ with the prefix saṃ, Saṃsṛ (संसृ), meaning "to go round, revolve, pass through a succession of states, to go towards or obtain, moving in a circuit".{{cite book|author=Monier Monier-Williams|title=A Sanskrit-English Dictionary|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_3NWAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA1040|year=1923|publisher=Oxford University Press|pages=1040–41}} A nominal derivative formed from this root appears in ancient texts as saṃsaraṇa, which means "going around through a succession of states, birth, rebirth of living beings and the world", without obstruction. Another nominal derivative from the same root is saṃsāra, referring to the same concept: a "passage through successive states of mundane existence", transmigration, metempsychosis, a circuit of living where one repeats previous states, from one body to another, a worldly life of constant change, that is rebirth, growth, decay and redeath.{{cite book|author=Wendy Doniger |title=Karma and Rebirth in Classical Indian Traditions |url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_4WZTj3M71y0C |year=1980|publisher=University of California Press |isbn=978-0-520-03923-0|pages=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_4WZTj3M71y0C/page/n290 268]–69}} Saṃsāra is understood as opposite of moksha, also known as mukti, nirvāṇa, nibbāna or kaivalya, which refers to liberation from the cycle of birth and death.{{cite book|author=Shirley Firth |title=Dying, Death and Bereavement in a British Hindu Community |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pYNXC-HK1u0C |year=1997|publisher=Peeters Publishers|isbn=978-90-6831-976-7|pages=106, 29–43}}

The concept of saṃsāra developed in the post-Vedic times, and is traceable in the Samhita layers such as in sections 1.164, 4.55, 6.70 and 10.14 of the Rigveda.{{cite book|author=Louis de La Vallée-Poussin | author-link=Louis de La Vallée-Poussin|title=The way to Nirvana: six lectures on ancient Buddhism as a discipline of salvation|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ito8AAAAIAAJ|year=1917|publisher=Cambridge University Press|pages=24–29}}{{cite book|author=Yuvraj Krishan |title=The Doctrine of Karma: Its Origin and Development in Brāhmaṇical, Buddhist, and Jaina Traditions |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_Bi6FWX1NOgC |year=1997|publisher= Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan|isbn=978-81-208-1233-8 |pages=11–15 }} While the idea is mentioned in the Samhita layers of the Vedas, there is lack of clear exposition there, and the idea fully develops in the early Upanishads.{{sfn|Stephen J. Laumakis|2008|p=90}}{{Sfn|Dalal|2010|pp=344, 356–57}} Damien Keown states that the notion of "cyclic birth and death" appears around 800 BC.{{Sfn|Damien Keown|2004|p=248}} The word saṃsāra appears, along with Moksha, in several Principal Upanishads such as in verse 1.3.7 of the Katha Upanishad,[https://sa.wikisource.org/wiki/कठोपनिषदत्/प्रथमोध्यायः/तृतीयवल्ली Katha Upanishad प्रथमोध्यायः/तृतीयवल्ली] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200808211535/https://sa.wikisource.org/wiki/%E0%A4%95%E0%A4%A0%E0%A5%8B%E0%A4%AA%E0%A4%A8%E0%A4%BF%E0%A4%B7%E0%A4%A6%E0%A4%A4%E0%A5%8D/%E0%A4%AA%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%B0%E0%A4%A5%E0%A4%AE%E0%A5%8B%E0%A4%A7%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%AF%E0%A4%BE%E0%A4%AF%E0%A4%83/%E0%A4%A4%E0%A5%83%E0%A4%A4%E0%A5%80%E0%A4%AF%E0%A4%B5%E0%A4%B2%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%B2%E0%A5%80 |date=8 August 2020 }} Wikisource verse 6.16 of the Shvetashvatara Upanishad,[https://sa.wikisource.org/wiki/श्वेताश्वतरोपनिषत्/षष्ठः_अध्यायः Shvetashvatara Upanishad षष्ठः अध्यायः] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201026155809/https://sa.wikisource.org/wiki/%E0%A4%B6%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%B5%E0%A5%87%E0%A4%A4%E0%A4%BE%E0%A4%B6%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%B5%E0%A4%A4%E0%A4%B0%E0%A5%8B%E0%A4%AA%E0%A4%A8%E0%A4%BF%E0%A4%B7%E0%A4%A4%E0%A5%8D/%E0%A4%B7%E0%A4%B7%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%A0%E0%A4%83_%E0%A4%85%E0%A4%A7%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%AF%E0%A4%BE%E0%A4%AF%E0%A4%83 |date=26 October 2020 }} Wikisource verses 1.4 and 6.34 of the Maitri Upanishad.[https://sa.wikisource.org/wiki/मैत्रायण्युपनिषत् Maitri Upanishad] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201121174210/https://sa.wikisource.org/wiki/%E0%A4%AE%E0%A5%88%E0%A4%A4%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%B0%E0%A4%BE%E0%A4%AF%E0%A4%A3%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%AF%E0%A5%81%E0%A4%AA%E0%A4%A8%E0%A4%BF%E0%A4%B7%E0%A4%A4%E0%A5%8D |date=21 November 2020 }} Wikisource, Quote: ३ चित्तमेव हि संसारम् तत्प्रयत्नेन शोधयेत्GA Jacob (1963), [https://archive.org/stream/UpanishadVakyaKosha-AConcordanceOfThePrincipalUpanishadsAndBhagavad/UpanishadVakyaKoshaSktEng#page/n953/mode/2up A concordance to the Principal Upanishads and Bhagavad Gita], Motilal Banarsidass, pp. 947–48

The word saṃsāra is related to Saṃsṛti, the latter referring to the "course of mundane existence, transmigration, flow, circuit or stream".

The word literally means "wandering through, flowing on", states Stephen J. Laumakis, in the sense of "aimless and directionless wandering".{{sfn|Stephen J. Laumakis|2008|p=97}} The concept of saṃsāra is closely associated with the belief that the person continues to be born and reborn in various realms and forms.{{cite encyclopedia|url=https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/hinduism|title=Hinduism|encyclopedia=The Canadian Encyclopedia|access-date=2015-07-31|archive-date=2014-02-27|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140227223922/http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/en/article/hinduism/|url-status=live|date=2014-08-21|first1=David J.|last1=Goa|first2=Harold G.|last2=Coward}}

The earliest layers of Vedic text incorporate the concept of life, followed by an afterlife in heaven and hell based on cumulative virtues (merit) or vices (demerit).{{cite book|author1=James Hastings|author2=John Alexander Selbie|author3=Louis Herbert Gray|title=Encyclopædia of Religion and Ethics|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UD8TAAAAYAAJ |year=1922|publisher=T. & T. Clark|pages=616–18|isbn=9780567065124}} However, the ancient Vedic Rishis challenged this idea of afterlife as simplistic, because people do not live an equally moral or immoral life. Between generally virtuous lives, some are more virtuous; while evil too has degrees, and the texts assert that it would be unfair for god Yama to judge and reward people with varying degrees of virtue or vices, in an "either or,” and disproportionate manner.{{Sfn|Jessica Frazier|Gavin Flood|2011|pp=84–86}}{{cite book|author=Kusum P. Merh |title=Yama, the Glorious Lord of the Other World |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XSoKAQAAMAAJ |year=1996|publisher=Penguin |isbn=978-81-246-0066-5 |pages=213–15}}{{cite book|author= Anita Raina Thapan|title=The Penguin Swami Chinmyananda Reader |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iDiRLzPFOPIC |year=2006|publisher=Penguin Books |isbn=978-0-14-400062-3 |pages=84–90 }} They introduced the idea of an afterlife in heaven or hell in proportion to one's merit, and when this runs out, one returns and is reborn.{{Sfn|Jessica Frazier|Gavin Flood|2011|pp=84–86}}{{cite book|author=Yuvraj Krishan |title=The Doctrine of Karma: Its Origin and Development in Brāhmaṇical, Buddhist, and Jaina Traditions |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_Bi6FWX1NOgC |year=1997|publisher= Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan|isbn=978-81-208-1233-8 |pages=17–27 }}{{cite book|author1=Patrul Rinpoche|author2=Dalai Lama|title=The Words of My Perfect Teacher: A Complete Translation of a Classic Introduction to Tibetan Buddhism|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=40i38mGQ6aAC |year=1998|publisher=Rowman Altamira|isbn=978-0-7619-9027-7|pages=95–96}} This idea appears in ancient and medieval texts, as the cycle of life, death, rebirth and redeath, such as section 6:31 of the Mahabharata and section 6.10 of the Devi Bhagavata Purana.{{Sfn|Jessica Frazier|Gavin Flood|2011|pp=84–86}}Yuvraj Krishan (1988), Is Karma Evolutionary?, Journal of Indian Council of Philosophical Research, Volume 6, pp. 24–26

The historical origins of the concept of reincarnation, or Punarjanman, are obscure, but the idea appears in texts of both India and ancient Greece during the first millennium BCE.{{cite book|author=Norman C. McClelland|title=Encyclopedia of Reincarnation and Karma|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=S_Leq4U5ihkC |year=2010|publisher=McFarland|isbn=978-0-7864-5675-8 |pages=102–03 }}{{cite book|author1=Clifton D. Bryant|author2=Dennis L. Peck|title=Encyclopedia of Death and the Human Experience|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4Zt2AwAAQBAJ |year=2009|publisher=SAGE Publications|isbn=978-1-4522-6616-9 |pages=841–46 }} The idea of saṃsāra is hinted in the late Vedic texts such as the Rigveda, but the theory is absent.A.M. Boyer (1901), Etude sur l'origine de la doctrine du samsara, Journal Asiatique, Volume 9, Issue 18, pp. 451–53, 459–68{{cite book|author=Vallee Pussin|title=The way to Nirvana: six lectures on ancient Buddhism as a discipline of salvation|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ito8AAAAIAAJ|year=1917|publisher=Cambridge University Press|pages=24–25}} According to Sayers, the earliest layers of the Vedic literature show ancestor worship and rites such as sraddha (offering food to the ancestors). The later Vedic texts such as the Aranyakas and the Upanishads show a different soteriology based on reincarnation, they show little concern with ancestor rites, and they begin to philosophically interpret the earlier rituals, although the idea is not fully developed yet.{{sfn|Stephen J. Laumakis|2008|p=90}} It is in the early Upanishads where these ideas are more fully developed, but there too the discussion does not provide specific mechanistic details.{{sfn|Stephen J. Laumakis|2008|p=90}} The detailed doctrines flower with unique characteristics, starting around the mid 1st millennium BCE, in diverse traditions such as in Buddhism, Jainism and various schools of Hindu philosophy.{{sfn|Stephen J. Laumakis|2008|pp=90–99}}Gavin D. Flood (1996), An Introduction to Hinduism, Cambridge University Press, {{ISBN|978-0521438780}}, p. 86, Quote: "The origin and doctrine of Karma and Samsara are obscure. These concepts were certainly circulating amongst sramanas, and Jainism and Buddhism developed specific and sophisticated ideas about the process of transmigration. It is very possible that the karmas and reincarnation entered the mainstream brahmanical thought from the sramana or the renouncer traditions. Yet, on the other hand, although there is no clear doctrine of transmigration in the vedic hymns, there is the idea of redeath, that a person having died in this world, might die yet again in the next."Padmanabh S. Jaini 2001 "Collected Paper on Buddhist Studies" Motilal Banarsidass, {{ISBN|81-208-1776-1}}, p. 51, Quote: "Yajnavalkya’s reluctance to discuss the doctrine of karma in public (...) can perhaps be explained by the assumption that it was, like that of the transmigration of Atman, of non-brahmanical origin. In view of the fact that this doctrine is emblazoned on almost every page of sramana scriptures, it is highly probable that it was derived from them."Govind Chandra Pande, (1994) Life and Thought of Sankaracarya, Motilal Banarsidass {{ISBN|81-208-1104-6}}, p. 135, Quote: (...) They Sramanas could have been connected with the Harappan Civilization which is itself enigmatic. It seems that some Upanishad thinkers like Yajnavalkya were acquainted with this kind [sramanic] thinking (...) and tried to incorporate these ideas of Karma, Samsara and Moksa into the traditional Vedic thought. The evidence for who influenced whom in the ancient times, is slim and speculative, and the odds are the historic development of the Saṃsāra theories likely happened in parallel with mutual influences.{{cite book|author=Wendy Doniger |title=Karma and Rebirth in Classical Indian Traditions |url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_4WZTj3M71y0C |year=1980|publisher=University of California Press |isbn=978-0-520-03923-0 |pages=xvii–xviii }}; Quote: "There was such constant interaction between Vedism and Buddhism in the early period that it is fruitless to attempt to sort out the earlier source of many doctrines, they lived in one another's pockets, like Picasso and Braque (who were, in later years, unable to say which of them had painted certain paintings from their earlier, shared period)."

While saṃsāra is usually described as rebirth and reincarnation (Punarjanman) of living beings (Jiva), the chronological development of the idea over its history began with the questions on what is the true nature of human existence and whether people die only once. This led first to the concepts of Punarmṛtyu ("redeath") and Punaravṛtti ("return").{{Sfn|Buitenen|1957|pp=34–35}}{{Sfn|Mircea Eliade|1987|pp=56–57}} These early theories asserted that the nature of human existence involves two realities, one unchanging absolute Atman (Self) which is somehow connected to the ultimate unchanging immortal reality and bliss called Brahman,{{Sfn|Jessica Frazier|Gavin Flood|2011|p=18}}{{Sfn|John Bowker|2014|pp=84–85}} and that the rest is the always-changing subject (body) in a phenomenal world (Maya).{{Sfn|Jessica Frazier|Gavin Flood|2011|pp=18–19, 24–25}}{{Sfn|Harold Coward|2012|pp=29–31}}{{Sfn|John Geeverghese Arapura|1986|pp=85–88}} Redeath, in the Vedic theosophical speculations, reflected the end of "blissful years spent in svarga or heaven", and it was followed by rebirth back in the phenomenal world.{{cite book|author1=Robert S. Ellwood|author2=Gregory D. Alles|title=The Encyclopedia of World Religions|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1pGbdI4L0qsC |year=2007|publisher=Infobase Publishing|isbn=978-1-4381-1038-7|pages=406–07}} Saṃsāra developed into a foundational theory of the nature of existence, shared by all Indian religions.{{Sfn|Obeyesekere|1980|pp=139–40 }}

Rebirth as a human being, states John Bowker, was then presented as a "rare opportunity to break the sequence of rebirth, thus attaining Moksha, release".{{Sfn|John Bowker|2014|pp=84–85}} Each Indian spiritual tradition developed its own assumptions and paths (marga or yoga) for this spiritual release,{{Sfn|John Bowker|2014|pp=84–85}} with some developing the ideas of Jivanmukti (liberation and freedom in this life),Klaus Klostermaier, Mokṣa and Critical Theory, Philosophy East and West, Vol. 35, No. 1 (Jan., 1985), pp. 61–71Norman E. Thomas (April 1988), Liberation for Life: A Hindu Liberation Philosophy, Missiology, Volume 16, Number 2, pp. 149–60Gerhard Oberhammer (1994), La Délivrance dès cette vie: Jivanmukti, Collège de France, Publications de l'Institut de Civilisation Indienne. Série in-8°, Fasc. 61, Édition–Diffusion de Boccard (Paris), {{ISBN|978-2868030610}}, pp. 1–9 while the others content with Videhamukti (liberation and freedom in after-life).M. von Brück (1986), Imitation or Identification?, Indian Theological Studies, Vol. 23, Issue 2, pp. 95–105Paul Deussen, {{Google books|2h0YAAAAYAAJ|The philosophy of the Upanishads|page=356}}, pp. 356–57

{{Quote box

|quote = The First Truth

The first truth, suffering (Pali: dukkha; Sanskrit: duhkha),

is characteristic of existence in the realm of rebirth,

called samsara (literally “wandering”).

|source = —Four Noble Truths, Donald Lopez[http://www.britannica.com/topic/Four-Noble-Truths Four Noble Truths, Buddhist philosophy] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160422075712/https://www.britannica.com/topic/Four-Noble-Truths |date=22 April 2016 }}, Donald Lopez, Encyclopædia Britannica{{cite book|author1=Robert E. Buswell Jr.|author2=Donald S. Lopez Jr.|title=The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DXN2AAAAQBAJ |year=2013|publisher=Princeton University Press|isbn=978-1-4008-4805-8|pages=304–05}}

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The Sramanas traditions (Buddhism and Jainism) added novel ideas, starting about the 6th century BC.{{Sfn|Michael Myers|2013|p=79}} They emphasized human suffering in the larger context, placing rebirth, redeath and truth of pain at the center and the start of religious life.{{Sfn|Michael Myers|2013|pp=79–80}} Sramanas view saṃsāra as a beginningless cyclical process with each birth and death as punctuations in that process,{{Sfn|Michael Myers|2013|pp=79–80}} and spiritual liberation as freedom from rebirth and redeath.{{cite book|author1=Paul Williams |author2=Anthony Tribe |title= Buddhist Thought: A Complete Introduction to the Indian Tradition |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BVvFBQAAQBAJ |year=2000|publisher=Routledge |isbn=0-415207002 |pages=18–19, chapter 1 }} The saṃsāric rebirth and redeath ideas are discussed in these religions with various terms, such as Āgatigati in many early Pali Suttas of Buddhism.{{cite book|author1=Thomas William Rhys Davids |author2=William Stede |title=Pali–English Dictionary |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0Guw2CnxiucC&pg=PA94 |year=1921 |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass |isbn=978-81-208-1144-7 |pages=94–95, Entry for Āgati}}

Across different religions, different soteriology were emphasized as the saṃsāra theories evolved in respective Indian traditions.{{Sfn|Mark Juergensmeyer|Wade Clark Roof|2011|pp=272–73}} For example, in their saṃsāra theories, states Obeyesekere, the Hindu traditions accepted Ātman or Self exists and asserted it to be the unchanging essence of each living being, while Buddhist traditions denied such a soul exists and developed the concept of Anattā.{{Sfn|Obeyesekere|1980|pp=139–40 }}{{Sfn|Mark Juergensmeyer|Wade Clark Roof|2011|pp=272–73}}[a] [http://www.britannica.com/topic/anatta Anatta] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151210185046/http://www.britannica.com/topic/anatta |date=10 December 2015 }}, Encyclopædia Britannica (2013), Quote: "Anatta in Buddhism, the doctrine that there is in humans no permanent, underlying soul. The concept of anatta, or anatman, is a departure from the Hindu belief in atman (“the self”)."; [b] Steven Collins (1994), Religion and Practical Reason (Editors: Frank Reynolds, David Tracy), State Univ of New York Press, {{ISBN|978-0791422175}}, p. 64; "Central to Buddhist soteriology is the doctrine of not-self (Pali: anattā, Sanskrit: anātman, the opposed doctrine of ātman is central to Brahmanical thought). Put very briefly, this is the [Buddhist] doctrine that human beings have no soul, no self, no unchanging essence."; [c] Edward Roer (Translator), {{Google books|3uwDAAAAMAAJ|Shankara's Introduction|page=2}} to Brihad Aranyaka Upanishad, pp. 2–4; [d] Katie Javanaud (2013), [https://philosophynow.org/issues/97/Is_The_Buddhist_No-Self_Doctrine_Compatible_With_Pursuing_Nirvana Is The Buddhist ‘No-Self’ Doctrine Compatible With Pursuing Nirvana?] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150206211126/https://philosophynow.org/issues/97/Is_The_Buddhist_No-Self_Doctrine_Compatible_With_Pursuing_Nirvana |date=6 February 2015 }}, Philosophy Now; [e] David Loy (1982), Enlightenment in Buddhism and Advaita Vedanta: Are Nirvana and Moksha the Same?, International Philosophical Quarterly, Volume 23, Issue 1, pp. 65–74; [f] KN Jayatilleke (2010), Early Buddhist Theory of Knowledge, {{ISBN|978-8120806191}}, pp. 246–49, from note 385 onwards; Salvation (moksha, mukti) in the Hindu traditions was described using the concepts of Ātman (self) and Brahman (universal reality),[http://berkleycenter.georgetown.edu/essays/moksha Moksha] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201025105212/https://berkleycenter.georgetown.edu/essays/moksha |date=25 October 2020 }}, Georgetown University while in Buddhism it (nirvāṇa, nibbāna) was described through the concept of Anattā (no self) and Śūnyatā (emptiness).{{sfn|Stephen J. Laumakis|2008|pp=68–70, 125–28, 149–53, 168–76}}{{cite book|author1=Masao Abe |author2=Steven Heine |title=Buddhism and Interfaith Dialogue |url=https://archive.org/details/buddhisminterfai0000abem |url-access=registration |year=1995 |publisher=University of Hawaii Press |isbn=978-0-8248-1752-7 |pages= [https://archive.org/details/buddhisminterfai0000abem/page/7 7]–8, 73–78}}{{cite journal | last=Loy | first=David | title=Enlightenment in Buddhism and Advaita Vedanta: Are Nirvana and Moksha the Same? | journal=International Philosophical Quarterly | volume=22 | issue=1 | year=1982 | pages=65–74 | doi=10.5840/ipq19822217 }}

The Ajivika tradition combined saṃsāra with the premise that there is no free will, while the Jainism tradition accepted the concept of soul (calling it "jiva") with free will, but emphasized asceticism and cessation of action as a means of liberation from saṃsāra it calls bondage.{{cite book|author=Padmanabh S Jaini, George L Jart III |editor=Wendy Doniger |title=Karma and Rebirth in Classical Indian Traditions |url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_4WZTj3M71y0C |year=1980|publisher=University of California Press |isbn=978-0-520-03923-0 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_4WZTj3M71y0C/page/n156 131]–33, 228–29}}{{cite book|author=Christopher Partridge|title=Introduction to World Religions|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Z3AjAwAAQBAJ |year=2013|publisher=Fortress Press|isbn=978-0-8006-9970-3|pages=245–46}} The various sub-traditions of Hinduism, and of Buddhism, accepted free will, avoided asceticism, accepted renunciation and monastic life, and developed their own ideas on liberation through realization of the true nature of existence.{{cite book|author=George L Jart III |editor=Wendy Doniger |title=Karma and Rebirth in Classical Indian Traditions |url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_4WZTj3M71y0C |year=1980|publisher=University of California Press |isbn=978-0-520-03923-0 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_4WZTj3M71y0C/page/n156 131]–33}}

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| footer = Liberation/release from saṃsāra, called moksha, is considered the ultimate goal in Hinduism.

}}

In Hinduism, saṃsāra is a journey of the Ātman.{{Sfn|Mark Juergensmeyer|Wade Clark Roof|2011|p=272}} The body dies but not the Ātman, which is eternal reality, indestructible, and bliss.{{Sfn|Mark Juergensmeyer|Wade Clark Roof|2011|p=272}} Everything and all existence is connected, cyclical, and composed of two things: the Self, or Ātman, and the body, or matter.{{Sfn|Jeaneane D. Fowler|1997|p=10}} This eternal Self called Ātman never reincarnates, it does not change and cannot change in the Hindu belief.{{Sfn|Jeaneane D. Fowler|1997|p=10}} In contrast, the body and personality, can change, constantly changes, is born and dies.{{Sfn|Jeaneane D. Fowler|1997|p=10}} Current karma impacts the future circumstances in this life, as well as the future forms and realms of lives.{{cite book|author=Mukul Goel|title=Devotional Hinduism: Creating Impressions for God|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=63w84TKjEu0C |year=2008|publisher=iUniverse|isbn=978-0-595-50524-1|page=6}}Christopher Chapple (1986), Karma and creativity, State University of New York Press, {{ISBN|0-88706-251-2}}, pp. 60–64 Good intent and actions lead to good future, bad intent and actions lead to bad future, in the Hindu view of life.{{Sfn|Jeaneane D. Fowler|1997|p=11}} The journey of samsara allows the atman the opportunity to perform positive or negative karmas throughout each birth and make spiritual efforts to attain moksha.{{Cite book |last=Mishra |first=R.C |title=Moksha and the Hindu World View |publisher=SAGE Publications |year=2013 |pages=22–24 |language=English}}

A virtuous life, actions consistent with dharma, are believed by Hindus to contribute to a better future, whether in this life or future lives. The aim of spiritual pursuits, whether it be through the path of bhakti (devotion), karma (work), jñāna (knowledge), or raja (meditation) is self-liberation (moksha) from saṃsāra.{{cite web|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/hinduism/concepts/concepts_1.shtml |last=Flood|first=Gavin|date=2009-08-24|access-date=2015-07-31|archive-date=2014-04-11 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20140411171600/http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/hinduism/concepts/concepts_1.shtml |url-status=live | title=Hindu concepts| work=BBC Online| publisher=BBC}}{{cite book|author1=George D. Chryssides|author2=Benjamin E. Zeller|title=The Bloomsbury Companion to New Religious Movements |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HLZMAgAAQBAJ |year=2014|publisher=Bloomsbury Academic|isbn=978-1-4411-9829-7|page=333}}

The Upanishads, part of the scriptures of the Hindu traditions, primarily focus on self-liberation from saṃsāra.{{Sfn|Jeaneane D. Fowler|1997|pp=111–12}}{{cite book|author1=Yong Choon Kim|author2=David H. Freeman|title=Oriental Thought: An Introduction to the Philosophical and Religious Thought of Asia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=omwMQA_DUVEC|year=1981|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|isbn=978-0-8226-0365-8|pages=15–17}}{{cite book|author=Jack Sikora|title=Religions of India: A User Friendly and Brief Introduction to Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism, and the Jains|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FLRifVnKnh8C |year=2002|publisher=iUniverse|isbn=978-1-4697-1731-9|pages=17–19}} The Bhagavad Gita discusses various paths to liberation.{{Sfn|Mark Juergensmeyer|Wade Clark Roof|2011|p=272}} The Upanishads, states Harold Coward, offer a "very optimistic view regarding the perfectibility of human nature", and the goal of human effort in these texts is a continuous journey to self-perfection and self-knowledge so as to end saṃsāra.{{Sfn|Harold Coward|2008|p=129}} The aim of spiritual quest in the Upanishadic traditions is to find the true self within and to know one's Self, a state that it believes leads to blissful state of freedom, moksha.{{Sfn|Harold Coward|2008|pp=129, 130–55}}

All Hindu traditions share the concept of saṃsāra, but they differ in details and what they describe the state of liberation from saṃsāra to be.{{Sfn|Jeaneane D. Fowler|1997|pp=10–12, 132–37}} The saṃsāra is viewed as the cycle of rebirth in a temporal world of always changing reality or Maya (appearance, illusive), Brahman is defined as that which never changes or Sat (eternal truth, reality), and moksha as the realization of Brahman and freedom from saṃsāra.H Chaudhuri (1954), The Concept of Brahman in Hindu Philosophy, Philosophy East and West, 4(1), pp. 47–66{{cite book|author=M. Hiriyanna |title=The Essentials of Indian Philosophy |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QeRIP-TuKLAC |year=1995|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass |isbn=978-81-208-1330-4 |pages=24–25, 160–66 }}

The dualistic devotional traditions such as Madhvacharya's Dvaita Vedanta tradition of Hinduism champion a theistic premise, assert the individual human Self and Brahman (Vishnu, Krishna) are two different realities, loving devotion to Vishnu is the means to release from saṃsāra, it is the grace of Vishnu which leads to moksha, and spiritual liberation is achievable only in after-life (videhamukti).{{Sfn|Jeaneane D. Fowler|2002|pp=340–47, 373–75}} The nondualistic traditions such as Adi Shankara's Advaita Vedanta tradition of Hinduism champion a monistic premise, asserting that the individual Atman and Brahman are identical, and only ignorance, impulsiveness and inertia leads to suffering through saṃsāra. In reality they are no dualities, meditation and self-knowledge is the path to liberation, the realization that one's Ātman is identical to Brahman is moksha, and spiritual liberation is achievable in this life (jivanmukti).{{Sfn|Jeaneane D. Fowler|2002|pp=238–40, 243–45, 249–50, 261–63, 279–84}}

{{main article|Saṃsāra (Jainism)|Karma in Jainism}}

File:Saṃsāra.jpg

In Jainism, the saṃsāra and karma doctrine are central to its theological foundations, as evidenced by the extensive literature on it in the major sects of Jainism, and their pioneering ideas on karma and saṃsāra from the earliest times of the Jaina tradition.{{Sfn|Jaini|1980|pp=217–36}} Saṃsāra in Jainism represents the worldly life characterized by continuous rebirths and suffering in various realms of existence.{{Sfn|Jaini|1980|pp=226–28}}{{cite book|author= Paul Dundas|title=The Jains |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=X8iAAgAAQBAJ |year=2003|publisher= Routledge|isbn=978-0415266055 |pages= 14–16, 102–05 }}{{cite book|author=Tara Sethia |title=Ahimsā, Anekānta, and Jainism |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QYdlKv8wBiYC |year=2004|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass |isbn=978-81-208-2036-4|pages=30–31}}

The conceptual framework of the saṃsāra doctrine differs between the Jainism traditions and other Indian religions. For instance, in Jaina traditions, soul (jiva) is accepted as a truth, as is assumed in the Hindu traditions, but not assumed in the Buddhist traditions. However, saṃsāra or the cycle of rebirths, has a definite beginning and end in Jainism.{{Sfn|Jaini|1980|p=226}}

Souls begin their journey in a primordial state, and exist in a state of consciousness continuum that is constantly evolving through saṃsāra.{{Sfn|Jaini|1980|p=227}} Some evolve to a higher state, while some regress, a movement that is driven by karma.{{Sfn|Jaini|1980|pp=227–28}} Further, Jaina traditions believe that there exist Ābhāvya (incapable), or a class of souls that can never attain moksha (liberation).{{Sfn|Jaini|1980|p=226}}{{cite book|author= Paul Dundas|title=The Jains |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=X8iAAgAAQBAJ |year=2003|publisher= Routledge|isbn=978-0415266055 |pages= 104–05 }} The Ābhāvya state of soul is entered after an intentional and shockingly evil act.{{Sfn|Jaini|1980|p=225}} Jainism considers souls as pluralistic each in a karma-saṃsāra cycle, and does not subscribe to Advaita style nondualism of Hinduism, or Advaya style nondualism of Buddhism.

The Jaina theosophy, like ancient Ajivika, but unlike Hindu and Buddhist theosophies, asserts that each soul passes through 8,400,000 birth-situations, as they circle through saṃsāra.{{Sfn|Jaini|1980|p=228}}{{cite book|author=Padmanabh S. Jaini|title=Collected Papers on Jaina Studies|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HPggiM7y1aYC |year=2000|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass|isbn=978-81-208-1691-6|pages=130–31}} As the soul cycles, states Padmanabh Jaini, Jainism traditions believe that it goes through five types of bodies: earth bodies, water bodies, fire bodies, air bodies and vegetable lives.{{Sfn|Jaini|1980|pp=223–24}} With all human and non-human activities, such as rainfall, agriculture, eating and even breathing, minuscule living beings are taking birth or dying, their souls are believed to be constantly changing bodies. Perturbing, harming or killing any life form, including any human being, is considered a sin in Jainism, with negative karmic effects.{{Sfn|Jaini|1980|pp=224–25}}

A liberated soul in Jainism is one who has gone beyond saṃsāra, is at the apex, is omniscient, remains there eternally, and is known as a Siddha.{{Sfn|Jaini|1980|pp=222–23}} A male human being is considered closest to the apex with the potential to achieve liberation, particularly through asceticism. Women must gain karmic merit, to be reborn as man, and only then can they achieve spiritual liberation in Jainism, particularly in the Digambara sect of Jainism;{{cite book|author=Jeffery D Long|title=Jainism: An Introduction|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ajAEBAAAQBAJ&pg=PT36|year=2013|publisher=I.B. Tauris|isbn=978-0-85773-656-7|pages=36–37}}{{cite book|author=Graham Harvey |title=Religions in Focus: New Approaches to Tradition and Contemporary Practices |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wrTsCwAAQBAJ&pg=PT182|year=2016|publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-134-93690-8|pages=182–83}} however, this view has been historically debated within Jainism and different Jaina sects have expressed different views, particularly the Shvetambara sect that believes that women too can achieve liberation from saṃsāra.{{cite book|author= Paul Dundas|title=The Jains |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=X8iAAgAAQBAJ |year=2003|publisher= Routledge|isbn=978-0415266055 |pages= 55–59 }}

In contrast to Buddhist texts which do not expressly or unambiguously condemn injuring or killing plants and minor life forms, Jaina texts do. Jainism considers it a bad karma to injure plants and minor life forms with negative impact on a soul's {{IAST|saṃsāra}}.Lambert Schmithausen (1991), Buddhism and Nature, Studia Philologica Buddhica, The International Institute for Buddhist Studies, Tokyo Japan, pp. 6–7 However, some texts in Buddhism and Hinduism do caution a person from injuring all life forms, including plants and seeds.Rod Preece (1999), Animals and Nature: Cultural Myths, Cultural Realities, {{ISBN|978-0-7748-0725-8}}, University of British Columbia Press, pp. 212–17Christopher Chapple (1990), Ecological Nonviolence and the Hindu Tradition, in Perspectives on Nonviolence, Springer, {{ISBN|978-1-4612-4458-5}}, pp. 168–77;
L. Alsdorf (1962), Beiträge zur Geschichte von Vegetarismus und Rinderverehrung in Indien, Akademie der Wissenschaften und der Literatur, F. Steiner Wiesbaden, pp. 592–93

File:The wheel of life, Trongsa dzong.jpg showing the bhavacakra and six realms of saṃsāra in Buddhist cosmology.{{cite book|author1=Patrul Rinpoche|author2=Dalai Lama|title=The Words of My Perfect Teacher: A Complete Translation of a Classic Introduction to Tibetan Buddhism|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=40i38mGQ6aAC&pg=PA61|year=1998|publisher=Rowman Altamira|isbn=978-0-7619-9027-7|pages=61–99}}]]

{{main article|Saṃsāra (Buddhism)| Bhavacakra |Six realms}}

Saṃsāra in Buddhism, states Jeff Wilson, is the "suffering-laden cycle of life, death, and rebirth, without beginning or end".{{cite book|author=Jeff Wilson|year= 2010|title= Saṃsāra and Rebirth, in Buddhism| publisher= Oxford University Press|isbn= 978-0195393521| doi=10.1093/obo/9780195393521-0141}} Also referred to as the wheel of existence (Bhavacakra), it is often mentioned in Buddhist texts with the term punarbhava (rebirth, re-becoming); the liberation from this cycle of existence, Nirvāṇa, is the foundation and the most important purpose of Buddhism.{{cite book|author=Edward Conze |title= Buddhist Thought in India: Three Phases of Buddhist Philosophy |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kY5TAQAAQBAJ |year=2013|publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-134-54231-4|page=71 }}, Quote: "Nirvana is the raison d’être of Buddhism, and its ultimate justification."{{sfn|Gethin|1998|p=119}}

Saṃsāra is considered permanent in Buddhism, just like other Indian religions. Karma drives this permanent saṃsāra in Buddhist thought, states Paul Williams, and "short of attaining enlightenment, in each rebirth one is born and dies, to be reborn elsewhere in accordance with the completely impersonal causal nature of one's own karma; This endless cycle of birth, rebirth, and redeath is saṃsāra".{{sfn|Williams|2002|pp=74–75}} The Four Noble Truths, accepted by all Buddhist traditions, are aimed at ending this saṃsāra-related re-becoming (rebirth) and associated cycles of suffering.{{sfn|Paul Williams|Anthony Tribe|Alexander Wynne|2012|pp=30–42}}{{sfn|Robert Buswell Jr. |Donald Lopez Jr. |2013|pp=304–05}}{{cite book|author=Peter Harvey|editor=Steven M. Emmanuel|title=A Companion to Buddhist Philosophy| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=P_lmCgAAQBAJ |year =2015| publisher=John Wiley & Sons|isbn=978-1-119-14466-3|pages=26–44}} Quote: "the first features described as painful [dukkha] in the above DCPS [Dhamma-cakka-pavatana Sutta in Vinaya Pitaka] quote are basic biological aspects of being alive, each of which can be traumatic. The dukkha of these is compounded by the rebirth perspective of Buddhism, for this involves repeated re-birth, re-aging, re-sickness, and re-death."

Like Jainism, Buddhism developed its own saṃsāra theory, that evolved over time the mechanistic details on how the wheel of mundane existence works over the endless cycles of rebirth and redeath.{{cite book|author=Kevin Trainor |title= Buddhism: The Illustrated Guide|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_PrloTKuAjwC |year=2004|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-517398-7 |pages=62–63 }}; Quote: "Buddhist doctrine holds that until they realize nirvana, beings are bound to undergo rebirth and redeath due to their having acted out of ignorance and desire, thereby producing the seeds of karma".{{sfn|Dalai Lama|1992|pp=xi–xii, 5–16}} In early Buddhist traditions, saṃsāra cosmology consisted of five realms through which wheel of existence recycled. This included hells (niraya), hungry ghosts (pretas), animals (tiryak), humans (manushya), and gods (devas, heavenly).{{cite book|author=Robert DeCaroli |title=Haunting the Buddha: Indian Popular Religions and the Formation of Buddhism |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=q_2XtkSRyTYC|year=2004|publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-803765-1|pages=94–103}} In latter traditions, this list grew to a list of six realms of rebirth, adding demi-gods (asuras), which were included in gods realm in earlier traditions.{{cite book|author=Akira Sadakata|title=Buddhist Cosmology: Philosophy and Origins|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bcYGAAAAYAAJ|year=1997|publisher= Kōsei Publishing 佼成出版社, Tokyo|isbn=978-4-333-01682-2|pages=68–70}} The "hungry ghost, heavenly, hellish realms" respectively formulate the ritual, literary and moral spheres of many contemporary Buddhist traditions.

The saṃsāra concept, in Buddhism, envisions that these six realms are interconnected, and everyone cycles life after life, and death is just a state for an afterlife, through these realms, because of a combination of ignorance, desires and purposeful karma, or ethical and unethical actions. Nirvāṇa is typically described as the freedom from rebirth and the only alternative to suffering of saṃsāra, in Buddhism.{{cite book|author=Carl B. Becker |title=Breaking the Circle: Death and the Afterlife in Buddhism |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hbgjrC7o-mYC |year=1993|publisher=Southern Illinois University Press |isbn=978-0-8093-1932-9 |pages=viii, 57–59 }} However, the Buddhist texts developed a more comprehensive theory of rebirth, states Steven Collins, from fears of redeath, called amata (death-free), a state which is considered synonymous with Nirvāṇa.{{cite book|author=Steven Collins |title=Nirvana: Concept, Imagery, Narrative |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=d5pshUYiUVwC |date=2010 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-88198-2 |pages=38 }}{{cite book|author=Frank J. Hoffman |title=Rationality and Mind in Early Buddhism |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=O3ecE9j3qXsC|year=2002|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass |isbn=978-81-208-1927-6 |pages=103–06 }}

Sikhism incorporates the concepts of saṃsāra (sometimes spelled as Saṅsāra in Sikh texts), karma and cyclical nature of time and existence.{{cite book|author= Arvind-Pal Singh Mandair|title= Sikhism: A Guide for the Perplexed |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Jn_jBAAAQBAJ |year=2013|publisher=Bloomsbury Academic |isbn=978-1-4411-5366-1 |pages=145–46, 181, 220 }} Founded in the 15th century, its founder Guru Nanak incorporated the cyclical concept of ancient Indian religions and the cyclical concept of time, state Cole and Sambhi.{{cite book|author1=W.O. Cole |author2=Piara Singh Sambhi |title=Sikhism and Christianity: A Comparative Study |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=G8KMCwAAQBAJ |year=2016|publisher=Springer |isbn= 978-1-349-23049-5 |pages= 13–14}}{{cite book|author= Arvind-Pal Singh Mandair|title= Sikhism: A Guide for the Perplexed |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Jn_jBAAAQBAJ |year=2013|publisher=Bloomsbury Academic |isbn=978-1-4411-5366-1 |page=176 }} However, states Arvind-Pal Singh Mandair, there are important differences between the Saṅsāra concept in Sikhism from the saṃsāra concept in many traditions within Hinduism. The difference is that Sikhism firmly believes in the grace of God as the means to salvation, and its precepts encourage the bhakti of One Lord for mukti (salvation).{{cite book|author=H. S. Singha |title=The Encyclopedia of Sikhism |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gqIbJz7vMn0C |year=2000|publisher=Hemkunt Press|isbn=978-81-7010-301-1 |pages=68, 80}}

Sikhism, like the three ancient Indian traditions, believes that body is perishable, that there is a cycle of rebirth, and that there is suffering with each cycle of rebirth.{{cite book|author1=Pashaura Singh |author2=Louis E. Fenech |title=The Oxford Handbook of Sikh Studies |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7YwNAwAAQBAJ|year=2014|publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-100411-7|pages=231, 607}} These features of Sikhism, along with its belief in Saṅsāra and the grace of God, are similar to some bhakti-oriented sub-traditions within Hinduism such as those found in Vaishnavism.{{cite book|author=James Thrower |title= Religion: The Classical Theories|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=luQnAAAAYAAJ|year=1999|publisher= Georgetown University Press|isbn=978-0-87840-751-4 |pages=40 }}{{cite book|author=J. S. Grewal |title=Religious Movements and Institutions in Medieval India |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MSkvAAAAYAAJ |date=2006 |publisher= Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-567703-4 |pages=394–95}} Sikhism does not believe that ascetic life, as recommended in Jainism, is the path to liberation. Rather, it cherishes social engagement and householder's life combined with devotion to the One God as Guru, to be the path of liberation from saṅsāra.{{cite book|author1=Pashaura Singh |author2=Louis E. Fenech |title=The Oxford Handbook of Sikh Studies |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7YwNAwAAQBAJ|year=2014|publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-100411-7|pages=230–31}}

• Rebirth (Buddhism)
• Rota Fortunae
• Resurrection

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{{refend}}

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• {{Cite book |last=Dundas |first=Paul |author-link=Paul Dundas |date=2002 |orig-year=1992 |title=The Jains |url={{Google books|X8iAAgAAQBAJ|plainurl=yes}} |edition=Second |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-0-415-26605-5 |location=London and New York }}
• {{Cite book |editor-last=Jaini |editor-first=Padmanabh S. |date=2000 |title=Collected Papers On Jaina Studies |url={{Google books|HPggiM7y1aYC|plainurl=yes}} |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass |location=Delhi |edition=First |isbn=978-81-208-1691-6 }}
• {{Cite book |last=Sethia |first=Tara |date=2004 |title=Ahiṃsā, Anekānta and Jainism |url={{Google books|QYdlKv8wBiYC|plainurl=yes}} |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass |isbn=978-81-208-2036-4 }}

{{refend}}

• [http://www.stephen-knapp.com/reincarnation_a_simple_explanation.htm Reincarnation: A Simple Explanation]
• [http://webspace.ship.edu/cgboer/samsara.html The Wheel of Life], C. George Boeree, Shippensburg University
• [http://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/view/document/obo-9780195393521/obo-9780195393521-0141.xml Saṃsāra and Rebirth], Buddhism, Oxford Bibliographies

{{Indian philosophy}}

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{{Hindudharma}}

{{Jainism topics}}

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Category:Buddhist philosophical concepts

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