Hindu concept
Samsaraसंसार
saṃsāra — the cycle of birth, death, and rebirth
In short
Samsara is the continuing cycle of birth, death, and rebirth that the soul passes through, driven by karma. Bound by desire and ignorance, beings are reborn again and again across lifetimes. Release from this cycle — moksha — is the ultimate aim of Hindu spiritual life.
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What it means
Samsara means 'wandering through' — the round of lives in which the soul takes body after body, its circumstances shaped by the karma of past actions. It is a vision of existence as vast and recurring rather than a single lifetime, and of the self as older and deeper than any one life.
The Bhagavad Gita offers a gentle image of this passage: as a person sheds worn-out clothes and puts on new ones, so the embodied self lays aside worn-out bodies and takes on new ones. The turning of samsara is not meant to frighten but to point beyond itself — toward the freedom (moksha) that ends the cycle.
A verse on Samsara
“vāsāṁsi jīrṇāni yathā vihāya navāni gṛhṇāti naro 'parāṇi”
Bhagavad Gita 2.22 · Chapter 2, Sankhya YogaAs a person sheds worn-out garments and puts on new ones, so the soul casts off worn-out bodies and takes on others that are new.
Krishna's counsel to Arjuna at Kurukshetra — the soul is never destroyed; only the worn body is set aside. The Gita sits within the Mahabharata's Bhishma Parva.
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About Samsara
What is samsara?
Samsara is the cycle of birth, death, and rebirth that the soul passes through, driven by karma. Beings are reborn across lifetimes until they attain liberation (moksha) from the cycle.
How does one escape samsara?
Through moksha — liberation attained by self-knowledge, devotion, or selfless action. Realizing the true, deathless self frees the soul from the round of rebirth.
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