saMsAra = Reincarnation?

[hal_computer at earthlink.net]

Since everyone on this list seems to be giving his/her twopenny worth
on the meaning of the word Samsaara, here is my contribution:

Samsaara from sam = together; saara = flow. i.e. a flowing together.
In Buddhist literature, this has been used to connote (the wheel of 
samsaara, etc.) the continuity (flow) of identity through successive lives. 
In another sense and in modern Indian languages, it comes to
mean society, family, etc., units that flow together. Metaphysically,
in Hinduism, a state opposed by sannyasa (discarding of togetherness,
renunciation). It is interesting that in Malayalam, it means "to chat,
chatter". It is the flowing together of tongues or words, or of 
consciousness through words.