Ashoka Chakra

The Ashoka Chakra is a depiction of the Dharma Chakra; a wheel represented with 24 spokes. It is so called because it appears on a number of edicts of Ashoka, most prominent among which is the Lion Capital of Ashoka. The most visible use of the Ashoka Chakra today is at the centre of the Flag of India (adopted on 22 July 1947), where it is rendered in a navy blue colour on a white background, replacing the symbol of charkha (spinning wheel) of the pre-independence versions of the flag.

This article is about the symbol. For the military decoration, see Ashoka Chakra (military decoration).

Illustration of the Ashoka Chakra, as depicted on the flag of India.
Depiction of a chakravartin, possibly Ashoka, with a 16-spoked wheel (1st century BCE/CE)

India's highest peacetime military decoration awarded for valour, courageous action or self-sacrifice away from the battlefield is also called Ashoka Chakra.

Symbolic history

When Gautama Buddha achieved enlightenment at Bodh Gaya, he came to Sarnath, on the outskirts of Varanasi. 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. This is the motive 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.[1] The first 12 spokes represent 12 stages of suffering. Next 12 spokes represent no cause no effect. So, due to awareness of mind, formation of mental conditioning stops. This process stops the process of birth and death i.e. nibbāna. The twelve causal links, paired with their corresponding symbols, are:

  1. Avidyā ignorance
  2. Sanskāra conditioning of mind unknowingly
  3. Vijñāna consciousness
  4. Nāmarūpa name and form (constituent elements of mental and physical existence)
  5. Ṣalāyatana six senses (eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind)
  6. Sparśa contact
  7. Vedanā sensation
  8. Taṇhā thirst
  9. Upādāna grasping[2]
  10. Bhava coming to be
  11. Jāti being born
  12. Jarāmaraṇa old age[3] and death[4] – corpse being carried.

These 12 in forward and reverse represent a total 24 spokes representing the dharma.

Inclusion in National Flag of India

Ashoka Chakra was included in the middle of the national flag of India. The circular Ashoka Chakra illustrates the progressiveness of the country.

See also

Notes
  1. Maha Nayaka Thera, http://www.sundaytimes.lk/110710/Plus/plus_10.html, The correct use of the 'Dharmachakra'
  2. See, for example, Rhys Davids & Stede (1921–25), p. 149; and, Gombrich (2005).
  3. See Rhys Davids & Stede (1921–25), p. 279, entry for "Jarā," retrieved 19 November 2008 from "U. Chicago" at http://dsal.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/philologic/getobject.pl?c.1:1:1721.pali%5B%5D . More than simply "old age," the PED provides the additional meanings of "decay, decrepitude"; and, these additional translations are reflected in the Buddha's reputed words in the Jarā Sutta (below). However, for the sake of semantic conciseness, the compound term jarā-maraṇa is here represented as "old age and death."
  4. See Rhys Davids & Stede (1921–25), p. 524, entry for "Maraṇa," retrieved 19 November 2008 from "U. Chicago" at http://dsal.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/philologic/getobject.pl?c.2:1:3896.pali%5B%5D . The PED further contextualizes maraṇa with "death, as ending this (visible) existence, physical death...." That is, in Buddhism, maraṇa does not refer to death of the conscious process or the end of the associated suffering.
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