Samsara
Etymology
From Sanskrit “saṃsāra,” from “sam-” (together, thoroughly) plus the root “sṛ” (to flow, run, move) — literally “a flowing or wandering through.” It pictures ordinary life as continual drifting from one existence to the next, driven by karma. The word carries a built-in judgment: this ceaseless motion is something to be released from, not celebrated.
noun · /sum-SAR-uh/
The cycle of birth, death, and rebirth that beings are bound to in Indian traditions.
What it names
Existence experienced as an endless, wearying loop — the condition that liberation is meant to escape.
Example
The burnout felt like a small samsara: quit, recover, take another job just like it, repeat.
Related idea
Samsara is the cycle one is trapped in; moksha (or nirvana) is the release from it — the problem and its solution named separately.
See also