What is the meaning of 'samsaara'? Kindly enlighten me.

Swāmi replied: ‘Saṃsāra’ means good essence (sam=good, sāra=essence) and represents this world as its meaning. Does this mean that this world is the good essence? The human being is in this world and hence, it shall find any good or excellent only in this world as long as he lives in this world. Then, the worldly pleasures giving enjoyment must be the good essence of this world. You have tasted only one food item and say that it is the best. When you taste some other food item, which is far far better than your present food item, then only you can have a comparative study to say which is better. Hence, you must taste God also and then compare with the worldly bonds. God available in this world is only contemporary human incarnation. The energetic incarnation is not seen by eyes very easily unless you do very long penance for very long time. All your lifetime is wasted in seeing God as energetic incarnation. There is time to talk with Him and get divine bliss from the spiritual knowledge preached by Him. When the same God came in human form and stands before you, you need not spend even one minute to see Him. All your lifetime can be utilized in talking with Him to get the divine bliss. Who is wise? Is the person spending all his lifetime to see the energetic form of God or the person who sees the human form of God immediately? Energetic form is a silk shirt and human form is a cotton shirt. You like a person in silk shirt and hate the same person in cotton shirt! Villagers of Bṛndāvanam tried to worship Indra, who is servant of God in energetic form and who is a peon in the silk shirt. They neglected Kṛṣṇa in human form, who is the minister in cotton shirt! Is this not the climax of foolishness based on the climax of ego and jealously developed due to repulsion between common human media? Hence, saṃsāra means the good essence, which can be applicable to this world, provided you recognise your contemporary human incarnation in this world. The Veda says that if you don’t recognise Kṛṣṇa (Human incarnation) here, you will not also recognize Viṣṇu in the upper world because after death your body also becomes energetic form. You will not recognize Viṣṇu due to repulsion between the two common energetic bodies. You have not recognized Kṛṣṇa here due to repulsion between the two common human bodies. By this, you are losing God here and there and hence, everywhere and every time (Mahatī vinaṣṭiḥ – Veda).

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