The Ashoka Chakra (Transl:

Ashoka Ashoka, also known as Asoka or Aśoka ( ; , ; – 232 BCE), and popularly known as Ashoka the Great, was List of Mauryan emperors, Emperor of Magadha from until #Death, his death in 232 BCE, and the third ruler from the Mauryan dynast ...

's wheel) is an Indian symbol which is a depiction of the

dharmachakra The dharmachakra (Sanskrit: धर्मचक्र, ) or wheel of dharma is a symbol used in the Dharmic religions. It has a widespread use in Buddhism.John C. Huntington, Dina Bangdel, ''The Circle of Bliss: Buddhist Meditational Art,'' p. ...

(English: "wheel of

dharma Dharma (; , ) is a key concept in various Indian religions. The term ''dharma'' does not have a single, clear Untranslatability, translation and conveys a multifaceted idea. Etymologically, it comes from the Sanskrit ''dhr-'', meaning ''to hold ...

"). It is so-called because it appears on a number of

edicts An edict is a decree or announcement of a law, often associated with monarchies, but it can be under any official authority. Synonyms include "dictum" and "pronouncement". ''Edict'' derives from the Latin edictum. Notable edicts * Telepinu ...

Ashoka the Great Ashoka, also known as Asoka or Aśoka ( ; , ; – 232 BCE), and popularly known as Ashoka the Great, was List of Mauryan emperors, Emperor of Magadha from until #Death, his death in 232 BCE, and the third ruler from the Mauryan dynast ...

, most prominent among which is the

Lion Capital of Ashoka The Lion Capital of Ashoka is the capital, or head, of a column erected by the Mauryan emperor Ashoka in Sarnath, India, . Its crowning features are four life-sized lions set back to back on a drum-shaped abacus. The side of the abacus is ad ...

. The most visible use of the Ashoka Chakra today is at the centre of the

Flag of India The national flag of India, Colloquialism, colloquially called Tiraṅgā (the tricolour), is a horizontal rectangular tricolour flag, the colours being of India Saffron (color)#Political & religious uses, saffron, white and Variations of gree ...

(adopted on 22 July 1947), where it is rendered in a

navy blue Navy blue is a dark shade of the color blue. Navy blue got its name from the dark blue (contrasted with naval white) worn by officers in the Royal Navy since 1748 and subsequently adopted by other navies around the world. When this color name, ...

colour on a white background, replacing the symbol of '' charkha'' (

spinning wheel A spinning wheel is a device for spinning thread or yarn from fibres. It was fundamental to the textile industry prior to the Industrial Revolution. It laid the foundations for later machinery such as the spinning jenny and spinning frame, ...

) of the pre-independence versions of the flag. It is also shown in the Ashoka Chakra medal, which is the highest award for gallantry in peacetime.

Symbolic history

When

Gautama Buddha Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha (),* * * was a śramaṇa, wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist lege ...

achieved

enlightenment Enlightenment or enlighten may refer to: Age of Enlightenment * Age of Enlightenment, period in Western intellectual history from the late 17th to late 18th century, centered in France but also encompassing (alphabetically by country or culture): ...

Bodh Gaya Bodh Gayā is a religious site and place of pilgrimage associated with the Mahabodhi Temple complex, situated in the Gaya district in the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Bihar. It is famous for being the place where Gautam ...

, he came to

Sarnath Sarnath (also known as Deer Park, ''Sarangnath'', ''Isipatana Deer Park'', ''Rishipattana'', ''Migadaya'', or ''Mrigadava'')Gabe Hiemstra, "Buddha Chronicle 24: Kassapa Buddhavaṃsa". ''Wisdom Library'', 14 September 2019. is a town nort ...

. There, he found his five disciples, Assaji, Mahānāman, Kondañña, Bhaddiya and Vappa, who had earlier abandoned him. He introduced his first teachings to them, thereby establishing the

Dharmachakra The dharmachakra (Sanskrit: धर्मचक्र, ) or wheel of dharma is a symbol used in the Dharmic religions. It has a widespread use in Buddhism.John C. Huntington, Dina Bangdel, ''The Circle of Bliss: Buddhist Meditational Art,'' p. ...

. This is the motif taken up by Ashoka and portrayed on top of his pillars. The 24 spokes represent the twelve causal links taught by the Buddha and paṭiccasamuppāda (Dependent Origination, Conditional Arising) in forward and then reverse order. The first 12 spokes represent 12 stages of suffering. The next 12 spokes represent no cause no effect. So, due to awareness of the mind, the formation of mental conditioning stops. This process stops the process of birth and death, i.e. nibbāna. It also depicts the “wheel of time”. The twelve causal links, paired with their corresponding symbols, are: # Avidyā ''ignorance'' #

Saṅkhāra (Pali; संखार; Sanskrit: संस्कार or ) is a term figuring prominently in Buddhism. The word means 'formations' or 'that which has been put together' and 'that which puts together'. In the first (passive) sense, ' refers t ...

''conditioning of mind unknowingly'' #

Vijñāna ''Vijñāna'' () or ''viññāa'' ()As is standard in WP articles, the Pali term ''viññāa'' will be used when discussing the Pali literature, and the Sanskrit word ''vijñāna'' will be used when referring to either texts chronologically subse ...

'' not being conscious'' #

Nāmarūpa Nāmarūpa () is used in Buddhism to refer to the constituents of a living being: ''nāma'' is typically considered to refer to the mental component of the person, while ''rūpa'' refers to the physical. Most often found as a single compound word ...

''name and form'' (constituent elements of mental and physical existence) # Ṣalāyatana ''six senses'' (eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind) #

Sparśa Sparśa (Sanskrit: स्पर्श; Pali: ''phassa'') is a Sanskrit term that is translated as "contact", "touching", "sensation", "sense impression", etc. It is defined as the coming together of three factors: the Ayatana, sense organ, the A ...

''contact'' #

Vedanā ''Vedanā'' (Pāli and Sanskrit: वेदना) is an ancient term traditionally translated as either "feeling" or "sensation." In general, ''vedanā'' refers to the pleasant, unpleasant and neutral sensations that occur when our internal sen ...

''sensation'' #

Taṇhā (from Pāli; ) is an important concept in Buddhism, referring to "thirst, desire, longing, greed", either physical or mental. It is typically translated as craving, and is of three types: ''kāma-taṇhā'' (craving for sensual pleasures), ' ...

''thirst'' #

Upādāna ''Upādāna'' उपादान is a Sanskrit and Pali word that means "fuel, material cause, substrate that is the source and means for keeping an active process energized". It is also an important Buddhist concept referring to "attachment, cl ...

''grasping'' #

Bhava The Sanskrit word ''bhava'' (भव) means being, worldly existence, becoming, birth, be, production, origin,Monier Monier-Williams (1898), Sanskrit English Dictionary, Oxford University Press, Archiveभव, bhava but also habitual or emotio ...

''coming to be'' #

Jāti ''Jāti'' is the term traditionally used to describe a cohesive group of people in the Indian subcontinent, like a caste, sub-caste, clan, tribe, or a religious sect. Each Jāti typically has an association with an occupation, geography or trib ...

''birth'' #

Jarāmaraṇa is Sanskrit and Pāli for "old age" () and "death" ().; Quote: "death, as ending this (visible) existence, physical death". In Buddhism, jaramarana is associated with the inevitable decay and death-related suffering of all beings prior to their r ...

''old age and death'' – ''corpse being carried''. These 12 in forward and reverse represent a total 24 spokes representing the

. The Ashoka Chakra depicts the 24 principles that should be present in a human.

Inclusion in the national flag of India

Ashoka Chakra was included in the middle of the national flag of India. The chakra intends to show that there is life in movement and death in stagnation. Originally, the Indian flag was based on the ' flag, a flag of the

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party, or simply the Congress, is a political parties in India, political party in India with deep roots in most regions of India. Founded on 28 December 1885, it was the first mo ...

adopted by

Mahatma Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (2October 186930January 1948) was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalism, anti-colonial nationalist, and political ethics, political ethicist who employed nonviolent resistance to lead the successful Indian ...

after making significant modifications to the design proposed by

Pingali Venkayya Pingali Venkayya (2 August 1876/8 – 4 July 1963) was an Indian freedom fighter, known for designing the initial version of the Flag of India, Indian National Flag. Apart from his role in the independence movement, Venkayya was a Lecturer#Ind ...

. This flag included ''charkha'' which was replaced with ''Ashoka Chakra'' by the proposal of

Ambedkar Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar (Bhīmrāo Rāmjī Āmbēḍkar; 14 April 1891 – 6 December 1956) was an Indian jurist, economist, social reformer and political leader who chaired the committee that drafted the Constitution of India based on t ...

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Notes

{{reflist, 2, refs = Recommended reading http://www.logopie.com/what-makes-ashoka-chakra-a-great-symbol/ Culture of India National symbols of India Memorials to Ashoka

Symbolic history

Inclusion in the national flag of India

Construction Sheet

See also

Notes