The dharmachakra (Pali: dhammacakka, Devanagari: धर्मचक्र) or wheel of dharma is a widespread symbol used in Buddhism.[1][2] The symbol also finds usage in Hinduism, particularly in places that underwent religious transformation,[3][4][5][6] and in Jainism and in modern India.
Historically, the dharmachakra was often used as a decoration in East Asian statues and inscriptions, beginning with the earliest period of East Asian culture to the present.[7] It remains a major symbol of the Buddhist religion today.
Etymology
The Sanskrit noun dharma (धर्म) is a derivation from the root dhṛ 'to hold, maintain, keep',[8] and means 'what is established or firm'. The word derives from the Vedic Sanskritn-stem dharman- with the meaning "bearer, supporter". The historical Vedic religion apparently conceived of dharma as an aspect of Ṛta.[9]
Similar chakra (spoked-wheel) symbols are one of the most ancient in all Indian history. Madhavan and Parpola note that a wheel symbol appears frequently in Indus Valley civilization artifacts, particularly on several seals.[10][note 1] Notably, it is present in a sequence of ten signs on the Dholavira Signboard.[10][12]
Some historians associate the ancient chakra symbols with solar symbolism.[13] In the Vedas, the god Surya is associated with the solar disc, which is said to be a chariot of one wheel (cakra). Mitra, a form of Surya, is described as "the eye of the world", and thus the sun is conceived of as an eye (cakṣu) which illuminates and perceives the world.[14] Such a wheel is also the main attribute of Vishnu.[12] Thus, a wheel symbol might also be associated with light and knowledge.
The Buddha is said to have set the "wheel of dharma" in motion when he delivered his first sermon,[17] which is described in the Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta. This "turning of the wheel" signifies a great and revolutionary change with universal consequences, brought about by an exceptional human being. Buddhism adopted the wheel as a symbol from the Indian mythical idea of the ideal king, called a chakravartin ("wheel-turner", or "universal monarch"),[12][17] who was said to possess several mythical objects, including the ratana cakka (the ideal wheel). The Mahā Sudassana Sutta of the Digha Nikaya describes this wheel as having a nave (nābhi), a thousand spokes (sahassārāni) and a felly (nemi), all of which are perfect in every respect.[14]Siddhartha Gautama was said to have been a "mahapurisa" (great man) who could have chosen to become a wheel turning king, but instead became the spiritual counterpart to such a king, a wheel turning sage, that is, a Buddha.[18]
In his explanation of the term "turning the wheel of Dharma", the Theravada exegete Buddhaghosa explains that this "wheel" which the Buddha turned is primarily to be understood as wisdom, knowledge, and insight (ñāṇa). This wisdom has two aspects, paṭivedha-ñāṇa, the wisdom of self-realisation of the Truth and desanā-ñāṇa, the wisdom of proclamation of the Truth.[14] The dharmachakra symbol also points to the central Indian idea of "Dharma", a complex and multivalent term which refers to the eternal cosmic law, universal moral order and in Buddhism, the very teaching and path expounded by the Buddha.[19]
The original Lion Capital of Ashoka, from Sarnath. It originally supported a large dhamachakra on the top (reconstitution).
In the Buddhist Art at early sites such as Bharhut and Sanchi, the dharmachakra was often used as a symbol of Gautama Buddha himself.[18][14] The symbol is often paired with the triratna (triple jewel) or trishula (trident) symbolizing the triple gem, umbrellas (chatra), symbols of sovereignty and royal power, gems and garlands. It is also sometimes depicted alongside animals such as lions,[14] or deer.
There are different designs of the Buddhist dharmachakra with 8, 12, 24 or more spokes. In different Buddhist traditions, the different number of spokes may represent different aspects of the Buddha's Dharma (teaching). In the Indo-Tibetan Buddhist tradition for example, the 8 spoked wheel represents the noble eightfold path, and the hub, rim and spokes are also said to represent the three trainings (sila, prajña and samadhi).[20]
In Buddhism, the cyclical movement of a wheel is also used to symbolize the cyclical nature of life in the world (also referred to as the "wheel of samsara", samsara-chakra or the "wheel of becoming", bhava-cakra).[14] This wheel of suffering can be reversed or "turned" through the practice of the Buddhist path. The Buddhist terms for "suffering" (dukkha) and happiness (sukha) may also originally be related to the proper or improper fitting of wheels on a chariot'saxle.[21] The Indo-Tibetan tradition has developed elaborate depictions called Bhavacakras which depict the many realms of rebirth in Buddhist cosmology.
The spokes of a wheel are also often used as symbols of the Buddhist doctrine of dependent origination. According to the Theravada scholar Buddhaghosa:
“It is the beginningless round of rebirths that is called the ’Wheel of the round of rebirths’ (saṃsāracakka). Ignorance (avijjā) is its hub (or nave) because it is its root. Ageing-and-death (jarā-maraṇa) is its rim (or felly) because it terminates it. The remaining ten links [of Dependent Origination] are its spokes [i.e. saṅkhāra up to the process of becoming, bhava].”[14]
The earliest Indian monument featuring dharmachakras are the Ashokan Pillars, such as the lion pillar at Sanchi, built at the behest of the Mauryan emperor Ashoka. According to Benjamin Rowland:[14]
”The Sārnāth column may be interpreted, therefore, not only as a glorification of the Buddha’s preaching symbolised by the crowning wheel, but also through the cosmological implications of the whole pillar as a symbol of the universal extension of the power of the Buddha’s Law as typified by the sun that dominates all space and all time, and simultaneously an emblem of the universal extension of Mauryan imperialism through the Dharma. The whole structure is then a translation of age-old Indian and Asiatic cosmology into artistic terms of essentially foreign origin and dedicated, like all Asoka’s monuments, to the glory of Buddhism and the royal house.”
According to Harrison, the symbolism of "the wheel of the law" and the order of Nature is also visible in the Tibetan prayer wheels. The moving wheels symbolize the movement of cosmic order (ṛta).[22]
Wheel symbolism was also used in Indian temples in places that underwent a religious transformation from Buddhism,[26][27] such as Jagannath temple, whose deity is believed by some scholars to have a Buddhist origin.[28][29] It also finds use in other ancient temples of Odisha, the most famous of which is the Konark Sun Temple.
Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, the first Vice President of India, stated that the Ashoka Chakra of India represents the "wheel of the law of dharma", as well as "Truth or satya", "Virtue" as well as "motion", as in the "dynamism of a peaceful change".[30]
Some Buddha statues also depict the related Dharmachakra Mudrā, a hand sign depicting the turning of the Dharma wheel.
A very similar wheel symbol also appears in the flag of the Romani people, hinting to their nomadic history.
In non-Buddhist cultural contexts, an eight-spoked wheel resembles a traditional ship's wheel. As a nautical emblem, this image is a common sailor tattoo, which may be misidentified as a dharmachakra or vice versa.
The sonnenrad is a similar symbol used by occultists and neo-nazis.
Falun Gong uses the concept of a similar wheel as a central concept
In the Unicode computer standard, the dharmachakra is called the "Wheel of Dharma" and found in the eight-spoked form. It is represented as U+2638 (☸). As emoji: ☸️.
Gallery
Historical and archeological examples
Reconstitution of approximate layout of Sanchi at the time of the Mauryas, showing the pillar topped by a dharmachakra.
Sandstone depiction, c. 2nd Century BCE, Bharhut, Indian Museum – Kolkata.
Flag of the Romani People. It contains blue and red colour to represent the heaven and earth respectively, and uses a 16 spoke Dharmachakra to symbolise their tradition and to pay homage to their Indian origin.
Notes
^These symbols, however, are elongated and not circular. Spoked wheel vehicle are virtually absent in Harappan civilisation.[11] Therefore interpreting these symbols as spoked wheel is a matter of debate.
^ abGrünwedel e.a.:"The wheel (dharmachakra) as already mentioned, was adopted by Buddha's disciples as the symbol of his doctrine, and combined with other symbols—a trident placed above it, etc.—stands for him on the sculptures of the Asoka period."[15]
^Goetz: "dharmachakra, symbol of the Buddhist faith".[16]
References
^ abJohn C. Huntington, Dina Bangdel, The Circle of Bliss: Buddhist Meditational Art, p. 524.
^
Day, Terence (1 January 2006) [1982]. "The Concept of Obligation". The Conception of Punishment in Early Indian Literature. Editions SR (volume 2). Waterloo, Ontario: Wilfrid Laurier University Press. p. 42. ISBN9780889208384. Retrieved 5 March 2024. The importance of the conception of Dharma in early brāhmanic thought is so considerable that it has seemed either that it replaced Ṛta as the leading philosophical and religious conception or that the earlier concept was at some time absorbed into it. It is probably more true that Dharma was conceived as an aspect of Ṛta which became so useful for framing religious, moral and social regulations, that interest in it and discussion of its applications to social and moral order eclipsed all discussions of metaphysical and theological ideas.
^ abThe Ancient Indus Valley: New Perspectives
By Jane McIntosh. p. 377
^ abLudowyk, E.F.C. (2013) The Footprint of the Buddha, Routledge, p. 22.
^Issitt, Micah. Main, Carlyn. (2014). Hidden Religion: The Greatest Mysteries and Symbols of the World's Religious Beliefs, ABC-CLIO, p. 186.
^A Lamp Illuminating the Path to Liberation: An Explanation of Essential Topics for Dharma Students by Khenpo Gyaltsen (translated by Lhasey Lotsawa Translations, Nepal: 2014, pp. 247–248).
^Sargeant, Winthrop (2009), The Bhagavad Gita, SUNY Press, p. 303.
Anthony, David W. (2007), The Horse The Wheel and Language. How Bronze-Age Riders From The Eurasian Steppes Shaped The Modern World, Princeton University Press
Beer, Robert (2003), The Handbook of Tibetan Buddhist Symbols, Serindia Publications, Inc., ISBN978-1932476033
Day, Terence P. (1982), The Conception of Punishment in Early Indian Literature, Ontario: Wilfrid Laurier University Press, ISBN0-919812-15-5
Goetz, Hermann (1964), The art of India: five thousand years of Indian art, Crown
Grünwedel, Albert; Gibson, Agnes C.; Burgess, James (1901), Buddhist art in India, Bernard Quaritch
Harrison, Jane Ellen (2010) [1912], Themis: A Study of the Social Origins of Greek Religion, Cambridge University Press
Inden, Ronald (1998), Ritual, Authority, And Cycle Time in Hindu Kingship. In: JF Richards, ed., "Kingship and Authority in South Asia", New Delhi: Oxford University Press
Nath, Vijay (March–April 2001), "From 'Brahmanism' to 'Hinduism': Negotiating the Myth of the Great Tradition", Social Scientist, 29 (3/4): 19–50, doi:10.2307/3518337, JSTOR3518337
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![The Flag of India has the Ashoka Chakra at its center representing the Dharmachakra.[30]](/en/File:Flag_of_India.svg)
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