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Re: saMsAra = Reincarnation? (fwd) Re: saMsAra = Reincarnation?
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To: alt-hindu@uunet.uu.net
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Subject: Re: saMsAra = Reincarnation? (fwd) Re: saMsAra = Reincarnation?
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From: drai@ix.netcom.com (DHARMBIR RAI)
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Date: 22 Mar 1995 02:49:45 GMT
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From netnews@ix.netcom.com Tue Mar 21 21: 40:23 1995
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Newsgroups: alt.hindu
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Organization: Netcom
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References: <3ka9au$52q@ucunix.san.uc.edu>
All Interested:
The word reincarnation itself came into existence in English because of
the need to express the Hindu concept of life and birth cycle. I
suppose that in the past the English language was not as open to
directly assimilate foreign words as it is now (as evidenced by the
free use of words like guru, mantra, nirvana etc). Just as
reincarnation has three different meanings (Webster) samsar also has
several meanings although they are all interrelated. The first meaning
of samsar is the process of continuous cange from one state to another.
The second is world. The cycle of life and death gets associated with
coming into the world and leaving it and is called samsar chakra
(cycle). Since the concept of cycle is in a way implicit in the
continuous process of change (in the case of finite number of states),
the word samsar itself is used for samsar chakra. The word ‘punarjanma’
(rebirth) denotes a specific phase of the cycle and not the entire
process. Curiously few like to use the word ‘punarmaran’ (redeath!)
although it is an equally imortant phase of the cycle (punarapi jananam
punarapi maranam punarapi janani jathare shayanam --Charpat Panjarika
Stotram by Shankaracharya) and one often encounters the question ‘what
after death’ but hardly ever ‘what before birth’.
So the correct translation of reincarnation is samsar, since originally
it was incorporated in English to convey the different meanings of that
very word.
Rai-Sharma
