Saṃsāra (Buddhism)

Translations of
saṃsāra (Buddhism)
Englishcycle of existence, endless rebirth, wheel of dharma, beginningless time
Sanskritsaṃsāra (Dev: संसार)
Palisaṃsāra (Dev: संसार)
Bengaliসংসার (sôngsar)
Burmeseသံသရာ
(MLCTS: θàɰ̃ðajà)
Chinese生死, 輪迴, 流轉
(Pinyin: shēngsǐ, lúnhuí, liúzhuǎn)
Japanese輪廻
(Rōmaji: rinne)
Khmerសង្សារ, វដ្ដសង្សារ
(UNGEGN: sângsar, vôddâsângsar)
Korean윤회, 생사유전 Yunhoi, Saengsayujeon
Laoວັດຕະສົງສານ
Mongolianᠣᠷᠴᠢᠯᠠᠩ, орчлон (orchilang, orchlon)
Sinhalaසංසාරය (sansāra)
Tibetanའཁོར་བ་
(khor ba)
TagalogSamsala
Thaiวัฏสงสาร
VietnameseLuân hồi
Glossary of Buddhism

Saṃsāra (in Sanskrit and Pali) in Buddhism is the beginningless cycle of repeated birth, mundane existence and dying again. Samsara is considered to be suffering (Skt. duḥkha; P. dukkha), or generally unsatisfactory and painful. It is perpetuated by desire and ignorance (Skt. avidyā; P. avijjā), and the resulting karma and sensuousness.

Rebirths occur in six realms of existence, namely three good realms (heavenly, demi-god, human) and three evil realms (animal, ghosts, hell). Saṃsāra ends when a being attains nirvāṇa, which is the extinction of desire and acquisition of true insight into the nature of reality as impermanent and non-self.