samsara (Sanskrit, ‘going around’), in Hindu thought, the ceaseless rounds of rebirth that constitute the human predicament. Samsara speaks of the relentless cycle of coming and going in transmigration of the soul from body to body in this and other worlds. It is the manifestation of karma, for one’s deeds bear fruition in the timing, status, form, and nature of the phenomenal person in future lives. Ordinary individuals have little prospect of release and in some systems the relationship among karma, rebirth, and samsara is a highly mechanical cosmic law of debt and credit which affirms that human deeds produce their own reward or punishment. For theists the Deity is the ultimate controller of samsara and can break the cycle, adjust it, or, by the god’s kindness or grace, save one from future births regardless of one’s actions. See also AVATAR. R.N.Mi.