Sam is the main character of the novel and is one of the original colonizers of the planet who came from Earth several generations previously. Sam is his most ordinary name, but over the course of his many reincarnations, he has been called many others, including Lord Kalkin, Mahasamatman, Tathagatha, Buddha, and the Lord of Light. He also assumes the identity of a man named Lord Murugan for a time.
Disgusted with the actions of the other original settlers, who have withheld technology from the new worlds and set themselves up in a pantheon of HIndu-like gods, Sam leaves the domed city in which they live and quietly introduces a counter movement based on Buddhism. He is not truly a Buddhist, but simply promotes the teachings as a means to oppose the gods. As his movement becomes stronger, the gods begin to push back, resulting in two large battles separated by 50 years, in which Sam is first defeated but then victorious.
Sam is a con-man of sorts, using trickery and deception to fight and escape his enemies. He also has the god-like ability to control electromagnetic forces, but he resists being formally recognized as a god by the others. He is executed once by the gods for his opposition, but manages to survive by transferring to another body. Later he has his soul transmitted into space, but is drawn back into a body after 50 years by Yama to continue his battle against the gods.
Sam has been romantically involved in the past with the goddess Kali when both were in different bodies. He has fathered many children, including Tak, the keeper of the archives in the celestial city.
